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Oṁ sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, mā kaścid duḥkha bhāg bhavet. Oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ. Śrī Dīt Nārāyaṃ Bhagavān Kī Jai, Śrī Deviśvara Mahādeva Kī Jai, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān Kī Jai. Dear respected Svāmī Avatār Purījī, and all our sannyāsīs, Namo Nārāyaṇa and Hari Om. Praṇām to all of you. Yesterday, I was very happy to see that I can also slowly retire. Our dear friend who was playing the Bānsurī was doing very well. One friend. And I hope he will progress faster than once every twelve years. As he said, it took him twelve years to start. So it’s beautiful. Anyhow, about this instrument, you know very well, most of you. And the music that is being offered on this instrument is mostly Indian classical music. Every instrument is just something like a human being, or a living being, and it speaks itself, its message. And the musician is only supplying the prāṇa so that the instrument can deliver what it needs to deliver. And so the musician, of course, has to remember certain rules of the rāga, and at the same time, there is a freedom for allowing to really express the message, whatever it needs to be. Just like Svāmī Avatār Purījī keeps saying every day since he arrived: that is just to be an instrument of the Divine, and as much as possible, forget our personal things, our ideas, our preferences, and so on. And I remembered one rāga that is somehow describing this process of the dance between remembering that principle or the rules of the rāga, and at the same time allowing that being, the inner being, to play through the body of the instrument. And I remembered one rāga that expresses this dance in a way: on the one hand, by maintaining the rules of the rāga, and on the other hand, by expressing it with inner freedom. Just like our human life, it has some rules, we know. If we don’t follow them, it’s not human life anymore. And then we need saintly beings, like our beloved Gurudev, to remind us again and again that we are human. We somehow tend to forget every now and then. And so the rāga is called Rāga Kīravāṇī. Although it’s traditionally from South India, but somehow it was also spread to the North Indian music. And it has a certain Middle Eastern feeling in it. And I always think of the religion, the Sufi and the Islam religion, when I hear or play this rāga. And I really admire them for a few things. First of all, it is the endeavor for continual remembrance of God. You know, when we travel, what do we see in most airports? Prayer rooms that are mostly filled with people from Islam and the Sufi religion. And if you don’t mind me saying, do we really have such discipline and such eagerness to do our prayers, our remembrance so much? I have one little funny story. Last year, when I was coming back from Europe via Australia, I went in Melbourne into one of these prayer rooms. And I was sitting there and doing my mālā. And then, without opening my eyes, I could hear someone else enter the room. And he started to do his prayer or his practice as quietly as possible to respect everybody else, but there was only me and him. And maybe, I’m not sure if you can relate to it so much as we are from far away countries. You see, in New Zealand, we are ten. And most of the time, I spend time in the ashram alone. And whenever another bhakta comes and we have āratī together or a satsaṅg, maybe just one, we both rejoice in the company of each other. So when he started to do his prayers, I was so happy. I could feel, really, the presence—it doesn’t matter which religion—but the presence of a bhakta was there. Just like a Svāmī, Avatār Purī arrived, we feel the presence of a great, great love for God here with us. And so, then when our practice was over, I left the room. And I was still in this feeling, this beautiful feeling in my heart, and then there was one young lady, and she comes to me and she’s looking, and she says, "I know who you are." I say, "Please tell me, I’m trying 25 years to find out." Why didn’t you come earlier? Anyhow, we started to talk, and we found out that she is also Viśva Gurujī’s disciple, and so on. And I had some cherries in my bag, and I thought, because you can’t bring any fresh fruits to New Zealand. So I offered her some, and we started to eat. And I told her my story about this Muslim devotee who was praying there, and I admired their discipline, just like what I told you now. And so I said to myself that we will eat the cherries together, so we ate the cherries there, and I told her about the experience with the Muslim who had the prayer there, the feelings, what I have described to you now. And she said, "Well, but where is the border between discipline and fanaticism?" And as we were eating, we needed to put these stones, you know, from cherries, somewhere. I said, would you have a handkerchief or a tissue by chance? And she said, "Yes, yes." And she had a bag which was about double the size of this. And she opened the zip and opened the lid, and I didn’t want to look—it’s her personal thing—but I just looked in, and the whole bag was full of, you know, the things for ladies’ eyes and makeup. And I thought, where is the border between? You see, when it is for our body, we are willing to do so much. When the child goes to kushaṅg, to the parties, to the pub, to the cinemas, that’s all good. But the moment we start meditation, devotion, and prayers, there’s something weird with this. So anyhow, these rāga in the Sufi tradition, they hold like this. And they have this special dance, a special dance. They start to turn around and around. And then, when they establish in the spinning, they open the arms like this. One hand points up and one down, as if it’s a dance between the divine and the earthly life. And I always think about this, you know, when it can happen even in our spiritual endeavors. That sometimes we can get a little bit in a hurry. I must, I must, and so on. Get enlightened, and it happens. We forget that we are on the earth and that we are human beings. Not even that, we are also human beings. And that we have our duty to serve and protect and give and love everyone. In fact, you know, Holy Gurujī’s and Viśwagurujī’s words, seva is more than mokṣa. When Mahāprabhujī appeared to Viśvagurujī and gave him the duty, he said, "Go and serve all living beings." Because service to all is service to me. And you may use this in the Anuṣṭhān if you struggle sometimes. Try to sit there for others. Try to do it so that I become a better instrument of divine love to serve all beings. May my heart be bigger, more pure, and kind. Anyhow, let’s go back to music, okay? So, a little bit of a rāga. We used to have this lying down practice, but it’s a little bit cold today, so remain seated. Unless you feel very drawn to it, you’re welcome. Just relax, find a comfortable position. Gently close your eyes. Let your face muscles relax. Your shoulders. And withdraw your awareness inwards, towards your heart center, and relax in this inner temple of your heart. Whilst we chant Aum together three times, allow your inner peace, your inner feelings of compassion and love for the whole world to come out. Deep inhalation. Deep inhalation. Śrī Deep Narāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai Hari Om.