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Patañjali, the author of the Yogadarśana and the Yoga Śāstras, was a great yogī who realized all that he taught. He led a pure yogic life, residing in a small, beautiful grass hut. Many disciples would come to him, asking for techniques and practicing them. We require genuine techniques; without these, our sādhanā practices cannot be successful. It is said the master should be a Brahmaniṣṭha Śrotriya. Brahma-niṣṭha means one who knows Brahman practically, possessing experiential knowledge of it. Śrotriya means one who can articulate those experiences, inspiring us, giving the right direction, and pointing out our mistakes and the necessary corrections. When you approach a master, you should come as a sincere seeker. A sincere seeker comes to the master not merely to assess the master's greatness. One should not compare anyone with anyone in these matters, especially in spirituality. The master is the master. One may have a long beard, another none; one may be young, another old. Knowledge and wisdom are not confined to appearance; wisdom is free. A holy man or a holy place is not limited to any culture, tradition, religion, or country. If it is holy, it is for the whole world. If there is wisdom, that wisdom is limitless. It is for all, not only for particular people. Anyone who comes there bathes in the ocean of wisdom and drinks the nectar of mercy. One should then lead life accordingly. It is crucial to come to the master, listen to the wisdom, and follow the master. There are two kinds of people: the Gurumukhī and the Manmukhī. Gurumukhī means those who follow the Guruvākyā, the words of the master—the words of all holy scriptures, all holy men, and especially the words of one's own master. Gurumukhī sadā sukhī: the Gurumukhī is always happy. Then there are the Manmukhī. Manmukhī are those who do what they want. They are always changing—their mood, attitude, opinions, thoughts, path, masters—or they are indecisive. Manmukhī means they are drawn by their mind; the mind is not under their control, but they are under the control of the mind. For them, the mind is like the wind, and they are like a flag, so the flag is drawn by the wind. Thus, Manmukhī sadā duḥkhī: the Manmukhīs are always unhappy, always facing trouble. Gurumukhī sadā sukhī: one whose nature is Gurumukhī is ever happy. Therefore, one comes as an aspirant, a seeker, to gain knowledge and wisdom, not to go somewhere to compare. When one begins to compare, that marks the beginning of confusion in that person's mind. When a wife begins to compare her husband with other men, or a man compares his wife with other women—in any way—confusion begins. Disharmony and misunderstanding arise. But when you are completely satisfied, you will not compare because you possess what is best; there is nothing more. Hence, one should be Gurumukhī. It is said your sādhanā and spirituality will not be accepted or fruitful until you are not Gurumukhī. This means you are initiated; you have a master. You receive a mantra from that master, and then you can go to any master anywhere as a Jijñāsu—an aspirant with a longing for wisdom. To develop spirituality, to cultivate that knowledge, to become free from karmas, to develop bhakti and viveka, one can go anywhere to satsaṅgs. In that master's satsaṅg, a true master does not compare one person with another, nor claim, "I am best, we are best, and others are not good." Unfortunately, this happens nowadays; it has become commercial. "We are good. Oh, where are you going always? That is your master? You know what we have heard about him or her? Oh, he doesn't know anything. The best way is this, what I am teaching. Our way is the best." That is wrong. It means, unfortunately, that is not a true master yet. There is missing knowledge. They have not realized reality; they have not realized God. This is also what causes fighting in religion: "only our God," "only this religion." That divides humanity and creates troubles. Such people are known as troublemakers in many ways. If you cannot solve troubles, at least you should not create them through your mood, behavior, thinking, and other such means. You should not go to such a place, for that is not a satsaṅg. That is a conference of certain organizations, a meeting, something limited. But the wise one, the saint—the satsaṅg of a saint is beautiful. Anyone who came to Mahāprabhujī, He never told them, "If you are not my disciple, you should not come." He asked them, though He knew, "Who is your Gurū, or are you Gurū Mukhī?" When one said yes, He said, "Very good." Sometimes He asked, "Who is the master?" and they told the name. "Smart people visit, good, very good." He never said, "Oh, that is not a good one." Respect. Samadṛṣṭi. A saint has samadṛṣṭi—equal vision. Regarding this, the great saint Sūrya Dāsī said in his bhajan: "Prabhujī mere avaguṇa chitna dharo, samadṛṣṭi hai nām tiryo, chahe to par karo. Prabhujī mere avaguṇa chitna dharo." (O Lord, please do not notice my bad qualities, my bad karmas. Lord, please do not look upon these, my bad karmas. Do not notice them in your consciousness, in your citta. My Lord, my bad qualities, do not notice in your citta, do not let them enter your citta. Merciful Lord, samadṛṣṭi he nām tiryo. Your name, or you are known as the one with equal vision. Your love, your mercy, your kindness is equal.) It does not matter who is from which country, religion, tradition, culture, or color—whether human or animal, all creatures. Samadṛṣṭi. Equal vision. To see with samadṛṣṭi means to see that in everyone is the light of the same God. Life is life. In the light, there is no difference. The difference is in the filter. If you have a green filter, a yellow filter, a black filter, or other colors, the light will project accordingly afterward. So, with which kind of thinking, with which kind of selfishness you wish to see the world or someone, you will see it like that. But in God-consciousness, there is equality. That is called samadṛṣṭi. Those who have samadṛṣṭi possess the ability to forgive. They have the capacity to become a saint. They carry the seeds of such saṃskāras, such karmas or destiny. They will become saintly, holy. Holiness is not conferred by initiations, specific clothing, or diplomas. No. Holiness is your inner quality—Samadṛṣṭi. That is why I told you yesterday: do this one kriyā. Do not think negatively and do not speak negatively. Thinking and speaking negatively only happen when there is no samadṛṣṭi. Sūrdās said, "Lord, I may make mistakes, I do make mistakes, and that is why they are my avaguṇa, my bad qualities, our human weakness." But he has samadṛṣṭi. So, one who has samadṛṣṭi is like God, and therefore it makes no difference which master you belong to or which master you have. There is no grouping. Our aim is only one: help all, serve all, be kind to all, and achieve self-realization and God-realization. Those who have such a feeling in the heart, such aspirants, they search for or go to the Master's satsaṅg. And that is satsaṅg—not a place where one begins to criticize and blame. We should have the ability to forgive. Like those aspirants who used to come to Patañjali asking him for sādhanā: many times when I come to India, many people come, even many sādhus come, and they say, "Swāmījī, my master has left this world, but I still need guidance. Can you give me guidance? What should I do?" Of course, I give them guidance. I guide them to remain very faithful to their master, though he is not here physically. He is here. And it is he who brought you to me now. You should continue your sādhanā with the mantra your master gave. And you can practice these additional techniques. It is not, "Okay, your master has died. Come and accept a mantra from me and become my disciple." That would be like when a husband dies, the wife searches for another man, or a man for another wife, because that is only a worldly relation. With the master, it is not a worldly relation. It is an eternal, divine, spiritual connection. This is stated very clearly by Mahāprabhujī in one of His bhajans: "Ghanādin bhaṅkire me kanyā kavarī nar." You know this bhajan. Thus, aspirants used to come to Patañjali. Every morning, Patañjali would give them darśan at ten o'clock, before his own sādhanā at the appointed time. There was a beautiful tree—a large banyan—a nice river flowing, a beautiful lake, a nice bamboo hut, and he would sit under the big tree. Some disciples would come and talk to him.