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As I mentioned at the beginning of this evening, it is advisable first to pray to Gaṇeśa, to this divine form that protects us, removes problems and disturbances, grants us wisdom, and offers shelter. Therefore, the first bhajan will be "Sumero Ghana Nāma Gurudeva." In the tradition of Indian philosophy and the yogīs, we always bow down to our teacher, to one who is higher than us. This means we accept the other as a teacher. He possesses more knowledge and wisdom, and I too wish to have this. I desire that this wisdom may enter into me so that I can understand it, work with it, and use it. I must be humble and bow down to your holy feet to receive your protection, your wisdom, and your shelter. Please make my work successful and grant me a good beginning. You are the protector of the entire universe. Thus, we are not merely speaking of our neighbor or our physical father or mother, but we are approaching the energy of the whole universe, so exalted. Please, with your protective energy, your wisdom, with all that you are, be present in every cell of my being. Help me, protect me. We also say at the outset, in this sentence, that our Gurudev, our teacher, our spiritual master, is this very form of Gaṇeśa. He gives us protection and grants us wisdom and knowledge, and we bow down to him. This is also the experience of the saints; they too bow down to their masters. We can also do Sumeru Gaṇanāmī. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Kṛpā Kṛiyā Jayā. The next bhajan we will chant is titled "Mānavatā Dhīra Dhīra Cāla." This means we are searching. Now we have the information; we are disciples, we have a master, and he tells us about the universe, how it is connected, and what we can attain—this highest state. We receive this information about how the entire world functions. Now the Master says to us, "Yes, you have this information, and now you should practice so that you, within yourself, will realize this." That is the purpose for which the Master comes: to tell the human being about this aim of becoming one with the Self. Then he says, "Do it slowly, go slowly, step by step." Practice what you receive. Practice the system, do it systematically, and do it slowly so that you will cross inward. You will cross inward beyond all the obstacles, all the rivers which are our nervous system, our thoughts, and our feelings—everything connected within us as our personality. This we must cross, purify, and clear. For when we do this, consciousness will become more and more clear within us, and then we are that. We will become that. This path is not easy because we have the outer world and we are connected to it. In the outer world, much information comes, and these attempts arise: 'This is all I would like to have,' or 'I would like to experience this.' We can satisfy all these senses with various things. Yet we must take care that it does not catch us, that it does not hold us and pull us down into the outer world. This can happen easily. But the same is said in this bhajan: to reach this highest aim, you need someone who is already there, for only he knows the safe way, and he will also give you these mantras, this energy, this support, so that you will cross these 72,000 rivers. This is the bhajan "Mānavatā Dhīra Dhīra Cāla." Do it slowly, but continue continuously. The next bhajan is "Tera jana māraṇa mit jaya." This always expresses, in slightly different imagery, the same truth about our life. First, it says, "Repeat the name of God." You can pray to God. You can pray in your own words. And when you have a Master Gurudev, then you receive a mantra. This is a prayer. This is the name of God. This we can repeat, and with this energy we are connected to the highest. When we do it consistently, it will fill our entire being with this highest energy and liberate us from ignorance, from this wrong identification with the body and physical form. It will liberate us. This bhajan tells us that when we are children, we have plays; we play. When it is good and I have my toy, then I am happy. When someone else takes it away, I am sad. So it always oscillates between these states. As we grow up, we still have toys; they change. Perhaps it becomes a job, a car, a partner, or whatever. It is still changing, and I want to keep it, to hold it. Then different things arise: passion, and I seek to be nice, beautiful, to maintain my health, to have material wealth. But in time we know, as we grow older, all this changes and does not retain the same quality we had in youth. Later, perhaps some pain will come; not everything functions so well anymore. Yet our wishes, our desires, what we hope to obtain, we still have them. And it is always connected with the world. We think we will be happy and content, and we will get everything from others and from the world. But we know it is always changing; how can it be otherwise? Then the Guru says to us, "Please, do not forget, this is always disappointing, and it will not change. You should understand, you should contemplate this highest, God, because this is the inner Self, and that is what we are searching for. There is completeness, there is no more suffering, there is fulfillment." All these holy saints tell us this. This bhajan is from Swāmī Brahmānand. He was a disciple of Mahāprabhujī in our spiritual lineage. He says, "Who else than God can remove all the difficulties from our destiny?" Only God can. You are always in ānanda. You are always this highest bliss and consciousness. But I am suffering here on earth. Did you forget me? Yet how can the ocean forget its own waves? So it is only my thought. From my side, I think God is never forgetting. And you protect your devotees, because when I am in love with God, I am always connected with Him, with this energy, with this highest. When I am in love with that, then He is in love with me, because there is no distance, nothing between. You are the highest God. You are the highest incarnation. Please come to me. This is what we can understand. It is so great. This divine energy can also manifest in a human form. We have saints on earth who are this divine. And you help everyone. When we pray, you help. Please also help me and fulfill my wishes. And please do not look only at my mistakes, because even when I make mistakes, it is somehow still within you. There is no distance. There is no difference. It is only from my side that a difference exists. So please forgive me when I do something wrong. In your company, you have your Śakti, this female aspect of the divine power. And there is also Gaṇeśa again, the sun. And I adore them all. I adore all aspects. Mahāprabhujī was writing this bhajan to Devpurījī. Mahāprabhujī was an incarnation of God. Devpurījī was also, but Mahāprabhujī was in a discipleship to Devpurījī to show us how it is. And he said, "Devpurījī, you are the highest, and I am your devotee, Kī Jai." I am so happy to have my guru, Devpurījī. And we, all disciples, have this feeling inside. Even if we are not with him, or there is some work going on in the mind, behind all that, we are so happy and lucky to have our guru, Dev. Always, he gives us wisdom. He always speaks about the truth and how we will reach it. Always, he gives us this nectar. And we sit at his lotus feet, at his holy feet, longing for this nectar, for this wisdom. And our soul, our ātmā, our Self is so deeply connected then to the Guru Dev. We are full of this nectar. We are full, and this is wisdom, always. Then, even if we are still connected to the outer world with our problems and all that comes, deep within, in the depths of our inner Self, we have no more fear. We do not need that anymore, because we know what we can attain, where we already are, what is inside us, and that with the practice of our sādhanā, our spiritual work, our mantra, we will reach that. This connection will never break again; it will be eternal. My Guru Dev is like what they call a paras, a stone that converts metal to gold. It does not matter what it contacts; perhaps it is iron, but when it comes into contact with paras, it will become gold. This is our experience also, when we open ourselves up to this Master, and the soul says, "Yes, I am a disciple, I want to be, and I want to have a mantra, and I want to practice." Then, already there is this oneness, and he will convert us into a swan. This symbol of the swan is the Paramahaṁsa, the liberated soul. There is no more ignorance. Without the Guru, for many of my lives, I just lived and passed away, came and passed away. In the end, there was no sense of why I was living or what I had attained. But now, having found this Master, this highest wisdom, I am no longer suffering. I am not only in darkness anymore. I know that behind this is the highest God, and I can reach it when I practice and have the support of my master. This Bhajan Holi, Gurujī was writing; he was writing to Mahāprabhujī. He was in this ānanda; he was in this endless bliss. He was one with that, and for him there was no more change. He was only free because, in his consciousness, he was always one with this highest, even in the body. There was no more death, and he says, "Realize your guru in yourself."