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There is also the birthday of a great saint. His name was Vedavyāsa, the same Vedavyāsa who dictated the Vedas. Gaṇeśa himself sat and wrote them down because Vedavyāsa’s thoughts were so swift. When the master is speaking, one should not interrupt. Or when anyone is speaking, you should not interject. Do not say in between, "But I have a question." Do not do this. If you have a genuine question, then of course you may ask. You may say, "At that point, or in that sentence, you said this. This is my question." That is acceptable. Vedavyāsa was somewhat worried. This beautiful wisdom, this cosmic science, was being lost because it was transmitted from master to disciple as Śruti and Smṛti. Śruti means what you hear or what you have heard, and Smṛti is memory. You then recount from your memory what you heard. We tend to forget good things, but we remember negative criticisms very well, and we add more masālā (spices) to them. When someone tells you something with extra spices, you find it very tasty. You don't wish to digest it alone; you want to distribute this negative thing you heard from someone else—to which someone has already added more masālās, meaning more ideas. You multiply this. How? You are very expert at that, and so you infect everyone. But a wise one is like a light. When there is darkness and we turn on a light, the darkness disappears. So, it is amaravāṇī—immortal words and truth. Darkness cannot touch the light. It does not matter how much darkness there is; it cannot touch or come near the light. Similarly, the wise one, the spiritual one—it does not matter who tells how many negative things against someone or something—it will not touch you. You will even enlighten the intellect and consciousness of others so that they will forget their criticism and understand. They will say, "Yes, sorry, I understand why it was so. It was my stupidity that I was telling you that." This means that at least the one who is speaking or the one who is listening should have some intelligence. Therefore, Vedavyāsa was worried. He worried that future generations of humans would lack discipline and would lose their memory. When they lose their memory, this beautiful cosmic divine science would be lost. And when he began to dictate the Vedas, who would write? The writer should not ask him questions—"Please, what did you say? Can you repeat that once more?"—they should not ask. He would be speaking like a tape recorder, and the other should continue to write without a single mistake. We now know what is happening to our memory. Since electrotechnics have developed, human memory has been lost. Ever since reading and writing became too easy, human memory began to suffer because whatever is there, we write it down or record it; we even make videos. Fifty years ago, there were no videos, and perhaps a hundred years ago, there was no recording. At that time, their memory was excellent. Even now, village people have better memories than town people. When someone telephones us… this is proof that humans have lost 95% of their memory, and that is a pity. But this great seer, Vedavyāsa, foresaw this. So, while he was thinking, Lord Gaṇeśa appeared. Vedavyāsa said, "I have one condition: I will not stop speaking, and I do not want you to ask me, 'Please, can you repeat that once more?'" Lord Gaṇeśa said, "All right. But I also have my condition." Vedavyāsa asked, "What is it?" Gaṇeśa said, "I do not want you to stop speaking even for one second, because my pen, while I am writing, should not stop." Vedavyāsa agreed. And so it is said that the Vedas were dictated by the great saint Vedavyāsa, who was a seer of the past, present, and future. Thus, Guru Pūrṇimā is the day of his birth. On this day he was born, which is why it is also called Vyāsa Pūrṇimā: Guru Pūrṇimā or Vyāsa Pūrṇimā. The seat where I am sitting, where a spiritual speaker sits—one who gives satsaṅgas or holy book readings—this is called the Gāḍī, or a holy chair, a holy throne, a holy āsana. It is called the Vyāsagāḍī. The Vyāsagāḍī is respected. Whoever sits upon the Vyāsa Gāḍī must be respected by everyone, because it is not that he is speaking; it is that great Vyāsa is talking through you. That is why, when we are speaking, if we think, "Now I will give a good lecture," we cannot give a good lecture. Gurū Dev is speaking through us. Therefore, it is said in one bhajan of Mahāprabhujī: "Esa mera sadguru andar bole, Esa mera sadguru andar bole"—like that, "My Gurū Dev is talking within me," in one of our bhajanas. So, that is Guru Pūrṇimā: the day of wisdom, the day of enlightenment. That is why the moon is Pūrṇa, complete. The half-moon grows day by day to become the full moon. Similarly, our sādhanā should grow day by day until one day it becomes complete. Today is the new year for spiritual experience. So, from last year until today, we offer all the fruits of our sādhanā in prayer to the Gurū Dev and take a new saṅkalpa (sacred resolve). Blessed are they, fortunate ones are they, who can be with the Guru Deva on Guru Pūrṇimā. On this day, they contemplate the Guru Deva, observing fasting, purity, and satsaṅg, because this is a great day.