TV Channel

Part 1: The Eternal Truth of Sanātana Dharma: The Immortal Self and the Journey of the Soul We begin this program with a prayer to the unbroken lineage of gurus. This lineage was started by Śiva himself, and the grace that flowed through him was sustained during the middle period by Ādi Śaṅkarācārya. All the grace that has streamed through every master in this line now rests with our present guru. To that sacred lineage of Gurus, we offer our salutations. We are in beautiful Kapiti, a picturesque beach town, very relaxed, about seventy kilometers north of Wellington. We have a good gathering of people who practice yoga and who have taken mantra from Swāmījī. We also have a lovely group of girls representing the Māori community, who will be presenting something truly special. It takes effort, and we are looking forward to it. This evening’s program will start with Māori culture, after which Swāmījī will hold a satsaṅg. A light vegetarian meal will follow at the end—though we may make it a heavier one, not too light. Welcome, everyone. What we are about to witness is being transmitted to one hundred and eighty-five countries via webcast. Namaste. So, please come and introduce yourselves a little. Come, please. It is the ancient culture of the Māori, and this yoga is at the very center of their lives. Tēnā koutou koutou, my name is Matiu Tehuki, and it is my privilege and honour to speak to you today—to stand on behalf of the mana whenua, on behalf of the people of this land of Aotearoa, to represent the Māori culture today, to welcome Swamijī on behalf of our people who have been in this country, and on behalf of all the peoples who now live in this country together. We are a very proud culture, and we are very happy that our culture can now extend beyond these waters. It is so wonderful that we can be connected to you, our brothers and sisters around the world, right now today. We are about to offer a small performance with some performers from Lamachi South School over here. They are all very good-looking, but there are a couple of boys at the back there with our pretty girls! We will do two songs. The first is called “E Te Iwi,” a song of greeting. It acknowledges all the people, saying we come together with love—a welcome song. Then we will perform a poi. A poi is a song accompanied by poi that you will soon see them swing. In the past, warriors used them to make their hands and wrists supple for fighting, but now they are used to help tell stories. We hope you enjoy it. The song is about listening to the voices of our ancestors and staying in touch with them. Open the windows; it is getting very hot. Thank you. Will you stay for the program? Very good. The next protocol? Yes, take the mic. I just remembered from Yoga Vāsiṣṭha, an old yoga scripture, a beautiful moment when Rāma asks his master Vasiṣṭha, “Please tell me, what is the way? How can a human being reach liberation? How can a human realize God?” And his master Vasiṣṭha replied, “You can imagine spiritual development as one very large circle. One fourth of that circle is your own spiritual effort. The second fourth is the study of the holy scriptures. But the entire remaining half of the circle is called Guru Kṛpā, Guru Vākya—the grace of the self-realized master and the blessing of receiving the teachings, the words of the Self-Realized Master.” It is just a small story, yet very often, when we are all so happy to be with Swāmījī again, I remember this moment. The truth is that whatever has ever inspired us in life—no matter from which spiritual tradition or part of the world—always comes from some great heart who realized God and had so much compassion for others that they did not want to keep this knowledge for themselves but wished to share it with the people. I wanted to say briefly that the greatest blessing in human life is to meet a self-realized master, and the greatest blessing is to receive these teachings. Nothing more can come as an inspiration for our own practice. Anand Swamiji, we are all so happy, even with such a busy schedule. Brahmānandaṁ parama sukhadam kevalaṁ jñānamūrtim, dvandvātītam gagana sadṛśam, tattvamasyādi lakṣyam, ekam nityam vimalam achalam, sarvādhī sakṣibhūtam, bhāvātītam triguṇarahitam, sadgurum tam namāmyaham. Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ. Rabhavatu. Salutation to the Cosmic Light, Lord of our Hearts, Omniscient and Omnipresent. In His divine presence, good evening, dear brothers and sisters. With respect to the culture of the Māori, the owners of this land, and to dear brothers and sisters from different parts of the world: the future of mankind, the future of our planet, and the culture of tomorrow—our juniors, the children—they performed a very nice, beautiful, modern modified Māori dance. Yes? There was a touch of modern dance in it. It is good. Mixing is always good. So very nice. Thank you. Especially when I come to this part of the world, on this coast near Kapiti, I enjoy very good weather, very good nature, and very good people. The spot where we are sitting, this house or building, has always been a spiritual center. Before it was a church, now it has become a yoga and life center, a Vedic cultural center, a Sanātana Dharma center. Sanātana Dharma is known as the eternal religion. Sanātana Dharma is the root of all religions, all knowledge, all sciences, and all spiritual mantras and ceremonies. Many of you know the word Sanātana, and many of you do not know what Sanātana is. What do I mean by “eternal religion”? I would like to explain. Sanātana Dharma believes in one universal God. There is only one. It has many names given by people according to their language, culture, thinking, and feelings. That universal one we call in the Sanskrit language Brahman—the God who has no form. You cannot touch it, you cannot smell it, you cannot see it. You cannot hold it, yet it is ever and ever with you, omniscient and omnipresent. That means cosmic consciousness and individual consciousness; there are these two in this universe, and this universe is known as an endless universe. Ananta Brahmāṇḍa, the phenomenon of Brahman—that is called Brahmāṇḍa. And space is like the body of the mother, and that cosmic consciousness is known as Hiraṇya Garbha, the golden embryo, the golden egg. The golden egg means the cosmic consciousness is within this space. You may remember, and you certainly know that in Christianity, the month of April or May brings Easter. Easter specially emphasizes the egg. Where does this come from? That egg refers to what the Vedas have said since the Satyuga, millions of years ago: Hiraṇya Garbha, golden egg, golden embryo. Now, space and consciousness. There is no empty space at all. It is omniscient, omnipresent. There is only one—there is no two. Only one. Within that consciousness there is a seed, a life, an egg, which holds the soul, the life, the seed. Similarly, at the core point, the central point of that endless cosmic consciousness, there is one seed, and that seed is known as divine will. Ichchā Śakti. Śakti means energy, Ichchā means willpower. The space and embryo, the egg or the consciousness, are perfectly balanced. That balancing principle is known as yoga—not the exercises you are doing, stretching, relaxing, postures, sitting, standing on the head, on the shoulders, this and that. Those are exercises, not yoga. They may be a way to yoga, but yoga itself is that which balances, harmonizes, and unites space and consciousness. Now, that consciousness is called Sanātana. Sanātana means everlasting. Sanātana means eternal, immortal—that which cannot be destroyed by any weapon, that cannot be destroyed by any element, and that death cannot take away. Everlasting, immortal, cosmic consciousness. That is Sanātana. That means the Self. Now, within this is a tendency, like a seed. There is one vṛtti, or a thought. We can say thought, we can say desire, but He has no desires. Yet no words can really explain it. So it is said, “Eko’haṁ bahusyāmī”—I am one, I will become many. Endless universe, only one. Eko Brahma Dvitīya Nāsti—One is the reality. Only there is one truth. So I am one, and now I will multiply myself. I will manifest myself. That manifestation of the cosmic consciousness began with the central point of the universe and awoke as a resonance, the sound which is declared in yoga, in Sanātana Dharma, in Vedic culture, in Hinduism: Oṃ. And that Om is what in Christianity is called Amen, A-U-M. Through this resonance the billions of planets, stars, and solar systems are created. And we are one stream or wave of that resonance. Each individual is part of that cosmic Self—not body, not mind, not emotion, not intellect, not memory, and not the soul. The Self—the soul is an individual. The soul is a victim of destiny. The soul is born, the soul leaves this body, the soul goes into the astral world. It is the soul that goes to heaven or hell, or whatever you call it. But in heaven, in hell, and everywhere beyond, there is oneness, and that is the Ātmā, the Self. That Self is like space, that is Brahman. You can try to shoot a bullet into the sky and then look with a magnifying glass. Do you see any holes anywhere in space? Do you see a crack? No. You cannot destroy space. Similarly, you are immortal. You are immortal. You are never born, and you will never die. You exist forever, and you will continue to exist. But the soul is in transit. The soul is those vibrations of desires. Day by day, complications grow—feelings, attachment. Attachment, ignorance, selfishness, greed, anger, hate, jealousy—these create a negative energy, and the individual soul is caught in it. If we can purify this, become free from these qualities—negative qualities, ego, hate, jealousy, desire—then you will know that, yes, you are immortal. As long as you do not have this knowledge of ātmā jñāna, you will have fear. You will be scared because you feel guilty, and one who is not guilty is not afraid. So it is very simple to know whether you are self-realized or not. I am not going to judge you and give you a certificate that you can take home and frame, declaring “Vishvagurū, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, Paramahaṁsa, Svāmī Maheśvarānanda of Yoga in Daily Life certifies that Mr. So-and-so and Mr. So-and-so are from today self-realized.” And you could hang it, and everybody would say, “Oh, you are self-realized!” That is not how it works. We are saying nicely now that you are immortal, you will never die, do not be scared. And you all think, “Yes, that is nice, we are relaxed.” But suppose through this window, and the second window, and the third window, and the fourth window, or the fifth window, a wild tiger jumps in. What would happen with the self-realized one? Would you still peacefully sit and listen to Swāmījī? And what would Swamiji do? Would he keep on speaking? No—peacefully. So theory and practice are different. Tons of theory are nothing compared to a grain of practice. Thus, that divine consciousness, cosmic consciousness, the individual is travelling in it and is wrapped in it. We have three levels of consciousness: unconscious, subconscious, and conscious. The unconscious is where all our karmas—our deeds, or what you call destiny—from past lives are stored. Many, many past lives—all are stored, like a backpack. No matter where you go in this universe after the death of the body, you are carrying your own karma. There is no storeroom anywhere. God said, “Carry your own self with you.” And Jesus said, “Do not carry with you anything.” That is it. It means do not carry these heavy, burdened karmas; become free of them. Leave everything away. Believe, trust that God will give you everything if it is in your karma, in your destiny. And if not, you will get nothing. Destiny. The second level is the subconscious. In the subconscious all the karmas, experiences, impressions, feelings, and visions are stored. The subconscious begins from the first day, minutes, or seconds of your life when you are descending from the astral world, preparing to come into the physical world. It begins with Puruṣa and Prakṛti. Puruṣa is male, Prakṛti is female. Puruṣa is consciousness, and Prakṛti is nature. These flowers cannot develop if there is no consciousness in them. Yet consciousness alone can do nothing without Prakṛti, without qualities. I think this is not a plastic flower. You see, we think it is only a flower, but in it is life. In this flower is consciousness, God consciousness. The very same consciousness that you have is the same consciousness in this flower. This flower is a life, not a date, and it took time to develop. Each petal expresses its beauty, its karma, deeds, qualities, and so on. You are nothing without this flower. The embryo in the mother’s body is like a flower. As the growing embryo expands, the body, hands moving, legs moving, and you open your palms and fingers—these are the petals. Each limb of the body is like one petal. And this flower, its string, or stem—the stem—is connected to Mother Earth. That stem is the navel of the mother and the navel of you, connecting and nourishing you. So it comes from the womb of Mother Earth. You also come from the womb of your mother. There is the same consciousness, and this flower has a destiny too. What will happen to this flower? What a destiny that today it came to this holy altar! What a destiny that this flower comes into my hands, and so many people around the world see this flower. This flower has become immortal. Yes, it will be on YouTube, and you can see it all the time. Is it not true? Yes. So this is life. When everything is prepared in the cosmos, your soul begins to descend, coming ceremonially. Beautiful. Welcome to this planet. You do not remember, but I can tell you—I remember. I remember your coming, too. It was like being freed from prison, from loneliness and emptiness, but you did not know where you were going. I told a story yesterday, and I will tell it again. There were two souls wandering in the empty space of the universe, twin souls. One said to the other, “Brother, now we will enter into a mother’s body, and we will live there and develop.” The other replied, “We are in the mother’s body, we are in the universe.” “No, no, there will be other things. There will be the five elements, liquid and warmth, and we will be closed inside but will feel comfortable.” The other said, “You are crazy, schizophrenic. There is nothing like this. Where do you get such a fantasy?” He answered, “No, no, it is true.” “Never. I don’t believe. Only tell such things to fanatics.” Now the time is prepared. Father and mother are coming together. Now your subconsciousness begins. In what condition was the mother? In what condition was the father? What was the place? What kind of constellation was in the stars? What was the position of the moon? What was the position of the sun? Where is the earth in its cycle? There are periods when the earth is sleeping, and there is a period when the earth is awake. Certain people know when to put seeds into the ground so that they will grow well and no bugs or other creatures can destroy that plant. So your subconsciousness begins from that very time. And you begin to manifest it inside the mother’s body. Now, twin brothers, one soul says to the other, “Now, my dear brother, see where you are.” He said, “Wow, it is beautiful. This is eternal life. I feel someone touching us. But I cannot stretch out my hands.” He replied, “Oh, you have hands also.” He said, “Yes, look, my legs are developing, getting better.” You know, this is like a flower, a lotus, which in Indian mythology is said to arise from the navel of Viṣṇu, and on the top of that lotus Brahmā is manifested. So where is Viṣṇu? He is residing in the ocean of nectar. And where is the embryo? In the liquid of the mother’s body. And there is the developing embryo, and the Ātmā, the soul inside, that is Brahmā, the creator. That will become the creator, too. Then the twins said, “And you know, brother, after three months we will be born. You see, we will come out of the mother’s body, and people will touch us and feel us, and we will see everything. And you know, we will eat and drink milk through the mouth.” He exclaimed, “Are you crazy? All the time you tell me terrible things. We will drink and eat through the mouth? No! We are taking nourishment through the navel. We will not be born.” The other said, “Yes, we will be.” “I don’t believe.” And then, “Yes, yes, yes. True, you told me.” So this is the process of the subconscious. All the dialogue you have with your mother during the time in her womb, and the situation around the mother—where she is, in which house she lives, and how your father is with her—all of that is very important. Part 2: The Blossoming of Consciousness: A Christmas Satsaṅga on Love and Unity The special duty of the father is to be very gentle, very kind, and happy — always supportive, giving comfort and everything needed. In this way, you will also become more spiritual and free from fear. This is called the dharma, the duty, the principle of the father. There is a specific obligation, a special mode you must enter — not simply to flee when your wife or girlfriend becomes pregnant. She may not know how or where to work; she may have no money, no electricity, no warm water. Unfortunately, throughout the world, countless women and mothers are deeply sad. No one is there to dry their tears, and that is a great misfortune. In the animal kingdom, the male or father remains near the bird or other creature all the time. But this one animal called the human, sadly, often does not care. That is why love has been lost in the world, why trust between human beings has been lost. Our subconscious begins on the very first day, when our journey starts from the astral world into the physical world. Everything from that moment until the present — this entire past period — is subconscious, and that is called psychic. You know, sometimes doctors, when they cannot understand your illness, have a very convenient term. Now the world has developed the latest label: psychic. It is psychological. But you have pain. They take X‑rays, they do ultrasounds or sonography. There is nothing, yet you have pain. The doctor says, “There is nothing,” but you still have pain. Then the doctor will say, “Yes, I can understand you. It’s psychic. You should go to a psychiatrist or psychologist.” You go home, walk into your bathroom, and think, “I’m psychic. Oh, God.” Your wife comes home and says, “Darling, you look a little sad today.” “Yes, I’m psychic. The doctor said I’m psychically ill.” What is a psychic? Nothing. But this is the kind of fear Saul experienced; he was scared, it was unpleasant, and he went through many terrible situations. God protect us from negative environments and negative activities. So all that happens from that time to this very minute is psychic, and you can only purify it through love. That love is the love of all, love for all creatures — not for a particular person. If you concentrate your love on one, you are again closed inside a case, like a bird. That will bring you much suffering. You want to expand your wings, but you cannot fly. Therefore, universal love: love for every being, seeing all as myself and myself as part of all — that is called universal love. Then there is a third level of consciousness, which is called conscious, awakened — now. Whatever we experience in this world through sound, through vision, through smell, through taste, and through touch — these are only the five senses through which we can experience anything from the world and learn anything. So your conscious level means you should know where to go and where not to go. What you speak, what you eat, what you touch, what you smell — all of that will influence your entire being. So we have the unconscious, the subconscious, and the conscious. These are three levels. Through prayers, through meditation, through the practice of mantra, these three levels of consciousness will be purified. Once they are purified, another horizon opens. It is like a flower now opening each petal. The unfoldment of each petal is the development of your free qualities, and you come to higher consciousness. Finally, we realize our origin: we are nothing but one, that cosmic consciousness. We are part of that one. This is why God Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna in the fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā: Mame vaso jīva loke, jīva bhūta sanātana. “I live in every creature, in everyone I live. All are my sanātana, my relatives. They originate from me.” So the one cosmic consciousness, the cosmic Self, Brahman — and we, all creatures, not only humans but all — our origin is that supreme one. The purpose of practicing meditation, the purpose of practicing mantra, the purpose of prayers and doing something good — all of it moves in one direction: that one day we may become one with the Supreme. This is what we learn in the satsaṅga. Today this is a satsaṅga. It is said in Sanātana Dharma: let them believe what they believe. Your duty is to support them so that they become one with their belief. You should not discriminate. Do not criticize other cultures, other religions, or other countries. Feel that they are yours and you are that. I feel — I will share my feeling — that we are sitting at a dining table. One likes to eat rice, another would like to eat spaghetti, a third would like pizza, and a fourth would like to eat an Indian chapati. Why not? You are four, seated at the same dining table, and you order the food according to your choice and enjoy it. No one asks, “Why are you eating spaghetti?” And no one tells you, “Why are you eating chapati now?” And you should not force anyone: “You all must eat pizza or get out!” You would never do that. So we are all sitting in the same boat. Let us go together. That is why it is called “one in all and all in one.” This is the beauty of spirituality: that every religion should respect each other. If every religion learns to respect each other, there will be no war and no terrorism, I can assure you. All that threatens us, everything we fear or are scared of, comes only because we do not trust, we discriminate, and we insist, “It is mine, this is the best. We are right, my religion is the best, my culture is the best.” This is the problem in the world. We have to cultivate peace within our heart. A man once told a story about Mahātma Gandhi and a king. He went to a swāmī or saint and asked, “Can you explain to me exactly what peace is and how to realize peace?” The monk, the swami, went into his hut and brought out one seed grain, which he gave to him. “This is peace. Go and put it in the ground, take care of it, and cultivate it.” So he went home and said, “Well, the holy man gave me only this one seed, one grain of wheat, and he said, ‘This is peace.’” They put it in the ground, and after two or three months, he got a handful. Next season, he planted it again in his field and harvested a few kilos. Purījī, Purījī… I will not be egotistical, I will not be greedy, I will love all, I will respect all, I will tolerate everything, I will forgive everything, and I will work for peace. Then you will see this flower, which was closed, open your heart, and no one will be happier in this world than yourself. It will make your life comfortable, happy, healthy, and fearless. Then everyone will love you. When this flower came into your garden, you said, “Now it is blossoming. Look how beautiful. Oh, beautiful flower.” All the time your eyes are there, even though the flower had some thorns before. It had to pass through the thorns, through all kinds of weather — cold, hot, hurricanes, and everything — but it became that beauty. And this beauty is you. That is the Sanātana Dharma. Sanātana Dharma is the origin of all dharmas. It is the universal Dharma. This flower reached its destination, just like a seed reaches the sea (in German, I think, it is called a sea). It reached its destination, experiencing so many difficulties, but finally managed to arrive. Similarly, we are all presently mortal beings, and we have experienced many, many disappointments. We have swallowed many bitter things, but God may help us. It is the Sanātana that protected this, and it blossomed into all these beautiful petals and reached its goal. So think of the Sanātana Dharma; the unfoldment of beautiful qualities from your consciousness will help you. This satsaṅga — sat means truth, and saṅgha means to be together. Therefore, always go where there is talk of love, God, spirituality, unity, brotherhood, service, compassion, mercy, and no discrimination between religion, culture, country, nation, or whatever you call it. That will be peace. And now a beautiful time is coming. It is Christmas. Everyone is waiting for good presents. Christmas can make a happy marriage, or Christmas can break a marriage. Boys, do not forget your wife on Christmas Day. Bring her something, and this is the day to forgive. As Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” So this is the day: if you love Jesus, if you believe in Jesus, if you understand Jesus, if you understand His teaching and His being, then you should also forgive. Pray for forgiveness. Many, many marriages are broken through misunderstanding. What is a misunderstanding? You missed it. You did not understand; you went sideways. If you are under this love, understanding, and kindness, then there is no misunderstanding. So you missed it — try to come under the same roof, the same feelings, the same things. Do not break the heart of your husband, and do not break the heart of your wife. Think of the beautiful children. For the sake of your children, you should work on Christmas day. Now, my dear ones, come, let us hold our hands, and let us promise in front of this divine tree, this Christmas tree, that our lives will shine again, lighting up like this tree. This Christmas tree — what you call it, we call the light tree. And this light tree tradition began in India ten thousand years before. God Rāma came back home. The people were happy, and at that time there was no electricity, so they hung many, many oil lamps on the tree branches. They also hung a lot of fruits on different trees and placed water, sweets, and food under the trees, because people came to see God Rāma, who had returned after fourteen years from the forest. Everyone found something — toys for children, because mothers came with their little babies. That tree we call Dīvālī. Dīvālī means the lamps, the flames. And so that tree we now also call the Christmas tree. It is united, but we do not understand. So we shall harmonize. Christmas Day is a day of love. Jesus was an incarnation of love. Now, love does not mean always thinking about sex. No. Love is a thousand percent different from what you may think about this emotional or physical thing. No. Where love is, there is beauty. Where love is, there is unity. Where love is, there is kindness. Purījī, Purījī… I am the divine angels; they are God’s messengers. So decorate the Christmas tree, and on this day you can open your heart. I know every one of you has a happy marriage, definitely. And if not, then it is your mistake. But Christmas Day is your only chance this year to find the way back to each other. Say, “I am sorry.” You must take the first step. Dedicate yourself, surrender your ego inwardly; then you will see again — suddenly the blossoms will open. Give the presence of kindness, understanding, harmony, and love. Jesus was an incarnation of peace; he offered himself and was not ready to fight. So no religion, no one should fight with each other; understand spirituality. This is a divine period of time now, when millions of people around the world will celebrate this Christmas. And who can win the heart is a star, no? That is why Jesus is called a superstar. Yes, if you can win the heart of your wife, I tell you, you are the superstar. And if you cannot win the heart of your wife, then you are a star that breaks — what we call a falling star. What do you call this? A meteor. So you just fall, and you are burning, and you turn into ashes and fuse. So he who falls from his wife’s eyes, from whom there is no longer any hope, and she who falls from her husband’s eyes, having nowhere hope — you are burned into ashes. And therefore, again, affliction. The Christmas day is affliction. But may we ever and ever shine in this heaven, in the endless universe, like that brilliant star. And when the star sparkles, the illumination of the star is your happiness. You see, the same meanings we find in our festivals, in our Vedas, in the Upaniṣads, which were written several thousand years before. We have the same festivals in Islam and in other religions too. No jealousy, no conflict — respect, respect. So, try. I tell you, this is in me speaking now. You can see Jesus, okay, because it is Christmas time. And in this church here, we so often pray to Jesus, so often. So do not think that Jesus is not here; he is active, and he supports me always. I tell you, one day, a few years ago — I think nearly twenty years — I was in Czechoslovakia, at that time Czechoslovakia, now it is Czech and Slovak. In the middle of Slovakia, during my lecture, many people came and received mantra, dīkṣā, and blessing. One man received a mantra and a blessing, went home, and then could not sleep. He said, “I was loving only Jesus. I said, ‘Only You, my Lord, Jījā, I love only You.’ And now Swamiji came into my life, and I love him also. So Jījā will be angry. He will be angry that I was not loyal. Now I share the love between Jījā and Swāmījī.” So he could not sleep. At one o’clock in the night, he came to my hotel. In the reception, of course, they did not let him go up. He said, “I will do nothing. I will just wait, please, only waiting in front of Swamiji’s room. In the morning, when Swāmījī comes out, I will say, ‘Here is your mālā, please,’ and I love Jesus.’” That is all. You see, this is a kind of conflict. In the morning, he came and told me the whole story. I said, “Don’t worry.” He said, “But Jesus will be angry with me.” I said, “No, no, he’s my colleague; I will tell him.” “Really?” I said, “Yes.” He then said, “Please then tell him that I love him very much.” I replied, “I also love him very much.” And he relaxed. The burden, the heaviness he had — the conflict between two religions or beliefs — he was freed. Now he is a very happy, very spiritual, and very kind man. He understands everything now. He loves Jesus more now than before. He used to tell me that before he loved Jesus with fear: “I will do it, it will be a sin. Oh God, oh God.” And now he is free. So it is a time for freedom. Celebrate Christmas with great happiness, with great love, with forgiveness. And if you can give a present to your wife, or husband, or father, or friends, then give the presence of forgiveness. Surrender. Develop friendship. Like these divine beings — it does not matter whether we speak of Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Buddha, Jesus, and so on — they win the hearts of all. So you should be part of that: win the heart of everyone. Try. How can it be that you cannot win the heart of your wife? Oh God! And you must know how she suffers without you. Or you lost the heart of your husband, and you know how he suffers. Ladies, do not think that only you love the man and the man does not love you. Your husband loves you a thousand times more than you love him. Men are very great personalities of love. They just do not show it, because a man has a little bit of pride there. They do not want to show it. Someone told me that in one country — in Holland or somewhere — there is a special day when all the men go and kill whales. On that day, all the whales come into a single bay. Purījī, they kill because they say, “If you kill one whale, then you are a man.” So to prove that you are a man, you do not need to prove it by killing whales. Go to the doctor and see if you are male or female — that is enough. What stupid thinking! So do not believe blind beliefs like that. You are as you are, and Mother Nature has created you as you are. I support your relationships with your mother, your father, your brother, your sisters, your husband, your wife, your neighbors, and with all. So celebrate Christmas with this consciousness, and it will become divine, holy. I wish you already now: Happy Christmas and Happy New Year. A blessed Christmas, and you will find under the tree all that you lost. And just like under this roof, you will find everything. Or under your fruit tree, you will find all the fruit. The tree has many, many significances. It is the tree of life. You are the tree. Everyone who finds shelter in you will receive everything. Make a step towards your dear ones. Use the words, “I am sorry, forgive me, it was my mistake.” When you surrender, you win. Whoever can surrender has won, and whoever cannot is a victim. So, all the best, and God bless you. Thank you for coming. I am very happy to see you, and I wish you well once more. Happy, blessed, divine Christmas and a successful New Year — healthy, happy, harmonious. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī, Deveśvara Mahādeva Kī, Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Kī, Sanātana Dharma Kī. Oṃ Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaḥ, Sarve Santu Nirmāyāḥ, Sarve Bhadrāṇi Paśyantu, Mā Kaścid Duhkhabhāg Bhavet. Oṃ Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ Prabhavatu. May all be happy, may all live free, may all be healthy, and may we all protect this planet. Peace, peace.