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Love is not merely the physical love between a male and a female. You can love your furniture. You love your kitchen. You love your car, even. You love flowers. That love is an indescribable power, and it extends towards all creatures as well. That is the truth. Therefore, maintain your relations. Cultivate your relations, and not only with human friends, but with animal friends also. So, how many friends do you have? Count on your fingers. If you try to count, you had a friend, then you broke with them. You became enemies. Now you have created some misunderstanding with them. Can you truly count all your friends? A friend is one who would die for you. That is a friend. Otherwise, it is not. I am sorry, it is not my problem, it is your problem. Why have you done this and that? When you have a good friendship, then you are two bodies but one soul. We call it dostī in our Sanskrit and Hindi language. Dostī: "do" means two, and satī means truth. Both walk on the path of truth, of reality. One is going on the good way and takes the other one also to the good way. That is called dostī. Satī comes from satya. Do means two: dostī. And that is a friendship. When you have good friendship with your dog, the dog will never, never disappoint you, or your horse, or your cow, or your cat. Always, even animals, they give their life for you. Now, what are you doing for your human friend? "It's not my coffee. It's not my problem. It's not my duty." These are small things. You have spoiled your divine life. So, echo Homba Hoshi Ami. Multiply yourself with all. Make a Śaṅkarpa today, as the new year is coming. With this mind, with this brain, I will never think negatively. I will not complain, and with this tongue, I will not criticize. Even if someone is guilty, with this tongue, I will help that one. Even if someone is guilty, I will not criticize, but I will help him. Mahatma Gandhījī said we will fight for freedom but without weapons. We will not take any weapon in our hands because we do not hate the person. We hate the action, not the person. So, my dear, this is a life instruction for you. Maybe someone will not like it, because there are some who feel things very directly now, as they have these qualities. But I do not talk for one person, nor for you only. I talk for all who will listen to these lectures. This is the life instruction to be successful, so understand and forgive. Jesus also said, "Father, forgive them." If he could forgive such things, can you not forgive little, little things which are not directly connected to you, or maybe a little bit connected to you, but you are not able to forgive? So what kind of Jesus are you? Or what kind of Jesus disciple are you? Not even the dust of his feet. That is the truth. Therefore, lead your practical life accordingly. Only looking at his pictures and crying and reading the Bible does not make you a Christian. Christians are those who lead life according to the Bible. There is no religion called Hinduism, because Hinduism means the way of life. There is no religion called Christianity. The way of life is Christianity. That is it. And these are the instructions which I am telling you. Therefore, relations. How many friends do you have? And how many friends did you have twenty years ago? If you are 20 years old, of course—there are some who are only 18 years old—how many friends did you have ten years ago? And how many do you have now? Are they friends? Can you count on them? Are you in oneness with them? Can you take their duty upon you? Can you tell your friend, "You are very tired, you sleep, I will take night duty for you"? Can you tell your friend, "Please sit down and relax, I will cook for you"? Though I am very tired, I will clean your windows. You relax, please. Can you do all this? No. One day, maybe, or in the very beginning when you fell in love with someone, just in the first weeks or first months, then it is finished. That is it. So, how many friends have you? "Ekohaṁ bahu śyāmī." We can understand this now in this way: "I am one, and I will multiply now into millions and millions. They will be my friends." Why are we here today? Because we are friends. You are my best friend. Believe me, I will be ready to give you my life, if it is needed. And that is friendship. I count on you. And I know that you are my best friends, and I know that I am yours. And nothing is more beautiful than this. This makes us happy. That is why we look forward to coming and seeing each other from time to time. Though we take a long journey, what brings us together? That love; it is like a magnet. And that pulls us together. And if this is lost through some kushanga and negative thinking, then, though you have time, you will not come, because you were not able to cultivate it; it is too gentle. So this love which you have is like a candle flame. And now you have to go through the storm. Now, how carefully can you protect your flame? Exactly like a tiny candle flame you must protect in a big storm. It is also about cultivating and protecting our friendship in this stormy worldly life. One said in a nice poem: "Sabe sahajak sabalke kohun nirbal sahaj pavan jagavat āg ko dīphai det bujaj." "Sabe sahajak sabalke," everybody is helping the strong one. No one is helping the weak one. The big wind will make the fire stronger. It will support the fire. When the fire is strong, the wind will blow it even more. Deeper, it will blow, and the small flame will blow off. The same wind and a little spark of the fire will support it to become a great fire, because that has a strength in it. And the weak little flame will be blown off. So, our relation and love for some of you is still too weak. It can blow up so quickly, so you have to protect your flame and walk very carefully. Or, fill a plate full of water and walk from this house to the other house without dripping one drop. If you drop it, that means you are still not capable. And that is the life from this house to that house. So we need our relations, understandings. Our anger, our jealousy—though we are right—that will harm us. You are right, but you cannot compare yourself with others. You are healthy of heart; you can jog up to the top of the hill. But a heart-ill person can hardly even walk. Do not compare that person with you, but understand that person. That is it. That is very important. So many, many enemies are created, many misunderstandings are created, and many good things too. So this is what I wanted to tell you: that gone is gone. Then you can say, "Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that." Then it is too late.