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A few days ago, I mentioned that this Trilokī Āśram and its surroundings are like a beautiful bubble. It has such good energy that we are here, completely protected from the outer world. This protection is most important when we come to a yoga class or to the ashram, especially on retreats. Always try, at the door of the ashram, to leave all your problems behind. It is like the carpet in front of a door where you clean your feet, or where you leave your shoes to the side before entering a space. When you enter this ashram, try not only to put your shoes aside but to put aside all problems and bad news from around us. Try to be here completely with yourself, especially if you are on an Anuṣṭhāna. It is also important to be truly in the satsaṅg. There is a story Viśvagurujī sometimes tells about a man who was waiting at home for a friend. Seeing he had an hour and a half, he told his daughter-in-law, "I will go meditate in my room. If my friend comes a little later, tell him I am meditating and will come very soon." He went to meditate. His friend arrived thirty minutes early, and the daughter-in-law told him, "My father will come very soon. He is just now buying shoes." Of course, the man was meditating, and you can hear everything around you during meditation. He heard what she said and was disturbed. After his friend left, he asked his daughter-in-law, "Daughter, why did you say I was buying shoes? I told you I was meditating." The girl replied, "Yes, father, but what were you thinking about when your friend came?" He thought for a moment and said, "Oh, yes. I was thinking about buying shoes in that moment." The meaning is this: when we are in a seminar or in ashram satsaṅg, try not to be in another space and time, "buying shoes" or something else. In yoga, if we want to accomplish something, it is vital to be aware of this moment, now. Usually in the world, we are not aware of what is happening around us. We are perhaps aware some small percent of the time, but mostly not. Once, I put a large picture of Shiva in the ashram, about one and a half to two meters tall. After a week, I asked people, "Did you see something new in the room?" Some said, "Oh yes, you removed that old chimney." I said that was years ago, and asked again if they saw anything new. They saw nothing. Then I showed them the picture, and they said, "Oh yes!" That is our life. Mostly we walk through life unaware. That is the difference between us and the yogīs. A yogī is aware of everything. They are in this moment, here and now. When you are here and now, you see what happens around you. I think men have the same problem when their partner asks, "Do you see something different about me?" Whatever you say will be wrong. So, try to be aware. If you are aware, you will see different things around you. If you are not aware, anything can happen. There is a good show on National Geographic about the brain. It shows how, in one moment, a person can be at a hotel desk. Someone comes for information, the desk clerk says, "Just a moment," goes under the desk, and a completely different person comes up. The visitor does not see the difference. Sometimes, during a conversation, what is behind changes, and people do not notice. That is our condition in life. Those yogīs who are able to be aware of things around them, aware of each moment, are also able to see what will be in the future. Sometimes it is not precognition. If you look at the sky and are aware of it, you may know that rain will come. We should be aware. That is the aim for us: not to be in the past, thinking, "Oh, what sorrow was in my life?" or worrying, "What will be in the future?" I always have a joke about elephants. A herd of elephants was walking, and a little elephant at the back complained all the time: "Oh, how thirsty I am." Imagine, the whole day they walked to water, drank, and everyone asked the little elephant, "Now you are okay, you are not thirsty anymore?" They started their journey again, and after five minutes the little elephant said, "Oh..." Everyone asked, "What? What?" The little elephant said, "How thirsty I was." Such is our life. "How thirsty I was." Are you thirsty now? "No, but I was so thirsty." Or we live in fear of what will be: "I will be thirsty in the future." That is our condition and our problem. Therefore, it is said that if you are mostly in the present moment, you will not have a problem. Of course, if you have a pain in this moment, that is a different condition. But mostly we are in fear, stress, and tension. When we enter the ashram on a retreat, try to put aside all these "dirty shoes" and try to be, for these three, seven, or however many days—even for a few hours in the ashram—in this completely different energy. This is the energy of satsaṅg. In life, as we hear so many times from Viśvagurujī, we have to choose which part we will take: Uttān (elevation) or Patan (fall). If we are in satsaṅg, in good society, talking about positive things that make us stronger and teach us how to solve problems and be happy inside, that is satsaṅg. But if you are in a society that is always complaining, always trying to find the negative things—in Croatian we say "trying to find the hair in the egg"—always seeing something negatively, with conspiracy theories, it will make us weaker and more fearful. Fear is darkness, and such thoughts will make us go into patan. That is Kusaṅg, bad society. Everyone says, not only in yoga but everywhere, if you want a good life, to change your life and make progress, you need to change your thoughts and change your society. So many times we hear from Viśvagurujī: "Which food we eat, in that condition will be our body. Which kind of drink we use, that our tongue will go. And which society we have, that we will become." We will go on that path. Now we have the opportunity to be in satsaṅg—satsaṅg with the Guru. This is not only a retreat. Usually during summer, people have yoga retreats on the coast or in the mountains. But we have something completely different. We have the Upaniṣad. We are here, not in the Kali Yuga. Here and now, in Strelka, in this area, is the Satya Yuga. Why? How is it possible? It is easily possible. The kind of thoughts we have is what we will see around us. Someone may live in paradise, but if inside they have negative thoughts and suffering, they will be in hell. I once saw an excellent story in a movie: an Afro-American jazz musician died and ended up in the heaven of people who love country music. For one person that is heaven, for another it may be hell. Everything depends on what kind of thoughts and feelings we have inside. Here, with Viśvagurujī, is such strong energy, a strong Ābhā Maṇḍal, this aura of the whole place—this bubble I mentioned at the beginning. It makes that change; it changes the energy of all of us. It changes our thoughts and feelings in a good way. Therefore, if we are in Kali Yuga, in this place we are in Satya Yuga. We are in the ancient time when people had the opportunity to sit with great masters, great ṛṣis, and receive that energy. That energy will change us. It is also very important to keep that energy when we go home. Not to pick up our "shoes" again at the entrance of the ashram. Remain in those "shoes." You do not need the old ones. Leave all those things in front of the ashram door, and when we go home, just do not take them. When we get home, try not to jump immediately into the muddy water. Try to keep this purity, this energy, this kind of thought and sādhanā. Of course, we are in normal life, and dirt will come. Slowly, slowly, we will reach that time when our dress becomes dirty. Why did I say "dress"? In the Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma, the very wise and great warrior, was always in a white dress. When we read such great stories, it is always important to know the real meaning. We have had great luck that Viśvagurujī has explained this many times, and we have it recorded. Viśvagurujī said, "Why is he in the white dress?" Because our life should be as if we are wearing a nice white dress. We enter into the mind, we should pass through all mind, and go out of that mind, but remain in the white dress. That is also the bhajan Chadḍhāriyā: we get this shawl, this body—not only the physical body, but all five bodies. We should not only try to keep it clean, but in this life try to wash it more and make it cleaner. Like in that bhajan mentioned at the beginning: when I came to this earth, I was crying and others were happy. There was joy and a great feast. But when I will go, when I will die, let it be that I am in joy and others will cry. That is the best explanation of how to live our life. If we are not good persons, if we are troublemakers, when we die people will say, "Oh, thank God, one problem less in my life." But if we lead a positive life, if we really live like a yogī—which means a good, positive person who is there to help, who supports others and does not make problems—we will go easily, nicely, without suffering. For other people, it will be, "Oh, pity, he passed away. I will miss that person." For such a life, we need to be changing all the time, changing and keeping positive thoughts in our mind. We need satsaṅg all the time. Try to avoid kusaṅg. Viśvagurujī gave another picture: if we are near muddy water, even if we are not going in, but we stand near it and throw a stone into the water, some water will dirty our dress. Sometimes, even if we do not throw a stone, just being near such water, the gas or bubbles that burst can dirty our clothes. Hans Joganand said nicely: "If you enter a café, a bar, or a restaurant where everybody is smoking, and you are not smoking—you just enter and go out—you will smell of cigarette." That is kusaṅg. Even if we are not talking, we are in kusaṅg. Something will enter our ear like a worm. In the beginning, nothing, but it will dig and dig and dig. We have had a lot of kusaṅg in our life. Maybe we have many such worms eating the tree. What to do? We need treatment, and that treatment is darśan; that treatment is satsaṅg. Never think, "I don't need satsaṅg. I read in a book that when I sit and read a good book, I am in satsaṅg." Yes, but that is an excuse. Real satsaṅg is when we are together. Real satsaṅg is when we are with Gurudev. That is why we hear many times from Viśvagurujī, "Today is the best constellation." Why? Because we are in satsaṅg, we have darśan. That is the best. It is not so easy. You know all these stories. But really, try to be a little aware. How many people are on earth? How few people are in satsaṅg? Satsaṅg is really very, very rare. Be aware that we are now in satsaṅg, in a holy place. All these trees and all this green are making a wall around us, a protecting wall. We are in this bubble of positive energy. Utilize this. Really utilize it. Try to put this coat, which is full of the smell of cigarettes, out in the air, out in the sun. Over these few days we are here, it will get a nice smell again. Keep that smell of satsaṅg. Avoid kusaṅg. And our life will go on. We will be content, happy inside, without fear. That is the aim: to be a good, positive person, not a troublemaker; to be one who protects the environment, protects your family; to give support and always think, "How can I help?" Every day here in the ashram you will hear that help is needed. If you have time, try to dedicate a little of it. When asked for karma yoga, never think, "I will help them." No, that is the chance to do something for ourselves. That is also a big problem. When we think, "Oh, now it's time that I don't need to do anything. I have done enough work. I am an old disciple, and the young people should do something now." That is also a virus program. Never think you are an "old disciple." Always think we are all young spring chickens. We are disciples, and we are protected when we think this way. When we think, "I am an old disciple, now it's time for the young to work," in that moment our way to patan starts. Our ego and everything else will just destroy us. All the time, be in the thought that "I am a disciple and I am young." We will remain young and be protected from our ego. We have the opportunity to practice everything. We have all four yogas. It is only important that we try to practice, to change ourselves in a better way. Never think, "I am too old to change." Always change. That is this positive way of changing. In the end, at the end of our life, I hope we will sing like in the bhajan Chadḍhāriyā: I will not cry, I will be happy, and I will laugh. Nice and easy, we will go to the light. Siddhīpā Nambakwanā Kī Jai.