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Good evening to everybody. Blessings to you all on this beautiful day, the beginning of our program. Today is a very special day: Ekādaśī. Ekādaśī means the eleventh lunar day. On Ekādaśī, most people fast, especially ladies, for the good health and well-being of their husbands, so that the husband will not be angry, and to find a good husband. This is not a negative wish. We all pray—men also pray—"Lord, give me such a partner in my life who will truly be a part of my life for my whole life, in happiness and unhappiness, in illness and good health, someone who can share everything with me at all times." Ekādaśī is a very important day dedicated to Lord Śiva, the eleventh day. This is the day when everyone prays and worships Lord Śiva. They offer coconuts and flowers to Lord Śiva and observe fasting. Some fast so strictly that they do not even take liquids on this day. For Europe, not taking liquid is very easy. But in countries where it is 40 or 50 degrees and dry, to not take liquid for 24 hours—that is called fasting. That is tapasyā. So it is not only that we deny nourishment or something, but it means that we have some willpower. Whenever there is thirst or hunger, you know why you are fasting. This strengthens our saṅkalpa-śakti. The saṅkalpa-śakti gains power, and the antaḥkaraṇa becomes pure. We wish for something, but we have to offer something for that. We have to give something. Therefore, I would not say it is merely a religious thing. It is a spiritual practice; it is sādhanā. There are many things we would like to achieve in our life, but then we have to offer something for this. That is very important. So whatever we begin today on this Ekādaśī will become successful. There are two Ekādaśīs: one when the moon is decreasing and one when the moon is increasing. This week the moon is increasing, and very soon Guru Pūrṇimā is coming. Sādhanā is life. Through sādhanā we can be successful in our life. Nothing will help us—only sādhanā. What is done is done, and what is not done is not done. Therefore, the yogic life means sādhanā, pūjā, pāṭha, prārthanā, japa, upavāsa—and all this belongs to ceremony. Ceremonies have their system, systematically. Let me tell you something to make clear what it means. On Christmas evening, you buy a Christmas tree. Some are against it because of cutting the tree down—that is another subject. But you buy the tree, you go shopping, you bring the tree home, your family is happy the tree is here. You choose a nice place where everyone can look at the tree. Then you fix the tree and decorate it with some lights, some kind of light silver papers, some stars, some sweet candies for children, some nuts. You are decorating, and then you put the presents under the tree. Children go into the room; the baby Jesus will come and bring something, and you put it under the tree. It goes into the children's subconscious mind: "I had a wish, and God will give me something." So God gives through our parents, our friends. You all sit there, you light the candles on the tree or electric lights. Everybody sings some songs, and then they share the presents. And after that, they eat. What is this? This is pūjā. This is ceremony. The pūjā is like this also: cleaning the altar, putting the ghee lamp or the oil lamp, offering flowers, fruits, and good-smelling things. When God decided to create this planet, He called the heavenly architect Viśvakarmā and asked Viśvakarmā to make a plan, to architect a plan. So the heavenly architect is Viśvakarmā, and Viśvakarmā designed this world—everything: where there should be a river, where there should be an ocean, the lakes, the mountains, forests, and grass, and then some animals and humans. Just as you decorate a Christmas tree, deciding where a chocolate should hang, where a star should hang, and so on, Viśvakarmā made the map, the plain design of this world, and he presented it to God. God was happy: a perfect world. That science is also known as Vāstu Śāstra. God said, "I want to have one world, a planet which is called a living planet, where everyone should be happy, where everyone should have a chance to do something, where everyone can work together happily and again come back to me. So I need, I want to have such a beautiful world—a world we can compare to heaven on earth." And so, according to His wish, this world came into being. He also gave some sādhanās, some practices, for those who come to this planet, which should be known as a karmabhūmi. Karmabhūmi means karma (actions) and bhūmi (the field, the land)—the land where you can perform actions. This planet is also known as Mṛtyuloka. Mṛtyuloka means the mortal world, not immortal—mortal. So everyone who came into this world will go again. Even these rivers, mountains, and all that God, according to His wish, has created—one day it will all be gone. This is how it has been planned. And here we are as humans. We also have a wish to do some sādhanā—the right sādhanā, the correct sādhanā. So we are all here to do sādhanā in the āshram without fighting, and to follow what the Hṛdayakamal taught before: the tapasyā, the ascetic life. It is very easy to say, "Lead an ascetic life," but many fail. Many cannot do it. Ascetic life is not for all. There are rare ones who can endure this. To lead an ascetic life, the first thing you have to renounce is ego—not just ego, but any kind of ego: not the ego of your dress, nor the ego of your haircut. It doesn't matter if you have shaved your beard or not. It doesn't matter if you have shaved your head or not. No ego of particular shoes, no ego of polishing the nails, and many things. And also regarding eating, and also if someone tells you something—bad words—it doesn't matter. And if someone tells you good words, it doesn't matter. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said in the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, "māna apamāna"—that those who have balance in both name and fame, if someone speaks badly about you or well about you, it should not matter anything to you; then the first step of the ascetic life is there. On this subject, Mahāprabhujī has written a very beautiful bhajan. That bhajan is called "Devana Satgurū Nām Kāmasthāna Heli Veparāva Upakī Devana Satgurū." Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar