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Is it possible that someone who was a saint or a ṛṣi in a previous life is now living an ordinary life? Why would a saint from a past life do something wrong, leading to an ordinary existence now? First, I do not know what you mean by "ordinary." The word "ordinary" is not very good. Are you leading an ordinary life? You are living a very high life. I would not say that if you marry, it is an ordinary life; this is the Gṛhasthāśram order. Gṛhasthāśram means the householder life, which is very high. The whole of human society is based on the Gṛhasthāśram. It has more dharmas to be followed and more responsibilities. But of course, if you come from a very high consciousness—as in your last life you were some kind of saint—and now you lead another life, perhaps there was something you forgot to fulfill or do. That wasn't a mid-life crisis; it was a mid-realization crisis. So, do not blame; everything has karma. God Rāma, whom we adore as God Viṣṇu incarnated, also had a family life. God Kṛṣṇa also had a family life. So do not blame the family life, but find such a partner. Otherwise, it is better not to have a partner. Before you begin something with your partner, for at least three, four, or five years you should only have discussions, share opinions, and see how long that partner can wait for you. After five years, then think about marriage. Then wait five more years, and then make a marriage ceremony. After that, come together; that would be the best. You meet this afternoon, by evening you are already in bed together, by morning you are thinking about marriage, and the day after tomorrow you are thinking of divorce. Hari Om Tat Sat. That cannot be successful. First, you must know the person's nature, habits, interests, background, and intentions. When you come to know a person, it must not be only about physical love or sex. Whoever marries solely for this, 100% sure, will suffer, will be divorced, and will be unhappy. You should marry the heart, the human; you should marry the human quality, and these are very high. It is about high values, and to find out and understand these high values takes time; otherwise, you will suffer. It is like that bhajan of Mahāprabhujī you know very well: "All Gaṇadin, Bhadkiri, Kanyakavari, Nar." Even in spirituality, that is also called a marriage. If you do not find the right master, if your consciousness, your being, is not merged into that consciousness, it means you have to incarnate again; you have to come to the difference again. This śruta we call consists of that attention, that your spirit, that is that version, the young girl, the version. Where you go with your thinking, you are already doing something in thinking; what you did is already done. The physical body is the last one. First comes thought, then feelings develop, and then we act. I think of eating ice cream, then my appetite increases, and then physically I eat. That is it. We mostly make mistakes already in thinking, so the foundation is already wrong. We build a many-storey building on that same foundation. With one little flood, the whole building will collapse. That flood is a little emotion. The biggest problem in humans is the mind, and how many times you change within it, and then the consequences come. Physically you were not there, but mentally you were there. We are already there because it is your mind, your feelings. When we think of going to Holy Mount Kailāś, and now we have feelings to go there, we are already there. This will create such intensive feelings that we will go, and then we will physically be there. There is one story. A master was living in an āshram, like Strilky Āshram. The master had one disciple living with him. The master had one cow; the cow was giving milk, a happy, lucky cow getting many prasāds. Some saint said, "God, even if I become a dog in my next life, let me be the dog of the āshram." Or mostly thieves become mice, you know. So the thieves, even I said that when I die, even if I have to become a mouse, but as a mouse, I can eat the āshram prasāds. One has to realize the values; it is a high value. Āshram, when you say āshram, all boundaries are opened. When you are in the āshram, already you are liberated. How you consider the āshram—lucky are they who can do a seva. The cow was happy, giving nice milk. One day the disciple said to the master, "Master, I want to go to Calcutta." The master said, "What will you do there? It is a big city, crowded, many people, pollution, sound pollution, physical pollution. How nice it is here in the āshram: nice nature, peaceful, many birds, and we have a beautiful cow. Who will look after her? Who will bring the grass? Who will milk her? Who will go shopping, and so on? Why do you want to go to Calcutta? What will you do there? Long way on the train, many people." He said, "Master, stop, please, saying these things; you are so selfish. I need holidays; I am so tired, and I always work, work, work. Please, master, be kind and allow me; I want to go for one month on holiday." The master said, "Well, if you want to go, you are free to go; if you are happy to go, then I am first happy. But wait 10 days, 20 days, till I organize someone who will look after the āshram and the cow, and do the shopping." That night, the master sat in meditation: "Why did he decide to go to Calcutta? And why not to Bombay?" The master meditates, and sees that in Calcutta, particular karma was waiting for him. Karma means different kinds are there: añjali, water, and food. That fools you; we have spoken many times about Añjali. The master meditated further to see from which house or from where, and how much. About 35 kilos of food was waiting for him, and some liters of water, from particular houses. So the master sent one man to Calcutta with different addresses and told him, "Go into these houses and ask them, 'Please give this much food.'" Rice, chapati, flowers, spices, butter, and so on. The man was to bring all this back. So one man sat on the train, did the whole job, and brought the foodstuff; there were nice things, many nuts, ghee, and sugar. The master called his disciple and said, "Before going to Calcutta, I would like you to be a little stronger and relaxed. So this food is for you. Every day, prepare a nice meal for yourself. When you have finished eating all this food, I will also have organized someone, and then you can go." The disciple was very happy. He began to have his food, and every day his desire to go to Calcutta was decreasing. On the last two or three days, when food was left, he was thinking, "I am stupid. Why do I go to Calcutta? I do not know anybody there. I will be tired. Where will I sleep? Whom will I ask something? How nice is it here? Here I have Gau Māta Seva, service to the mother cow, a beautiful āshram, a garden, Guru Seva. No, I do not want to go to Calcutta." On the last day, when he ate all the food, he came to the master and said, "Master, please cancel my holidays." The master says, "Why? Tomorrow you are going; I bought a ticket for you, and I organized someone already who will look after the cow. You must go." The disciple began to cry and scream, shouting, "Why must I always do what you say? Must I go to Calcutta? I do not want to go. Please allow me to stay." So the master said, "Okay, if you are happy to stay, stay." You see the karma; there are some saṃskāras, karmas which pull us. You begin to think like that, you begin to feel like that, and then you do the things like that. So certain things have their validity. Then it develops in a different way, better, more intensive. But we do not understand that kind of love. That is why doubts and confusions come. But it has its validity; a better time has come for you, but you want to fall back again. Therefore, the mind is a problem. We must take care of the mind. Do not do it mentally. When you do it mentally, it will happen physically. And when it happens physically, then do not be unhappy. Therefore, mind, consciousness, and body should be harmonized, very clear. That will make you happy and successful. --- Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Summer seminar