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It is a very valuable subject to know how much we are connected to our ancestors. Nearly every day, we had a question for the grandmothers. We love our grandmothers very much, and our grandfathers too. When you put money in the bank, you don't think of your capital. You are always thinking of your interest: how many percent did you get? Similarly, when grandchildren are there, parents don't think of the children; they think of their grandchildren, because the children are weaned out of the capital. So, our parents and great-parents love us very much. It is true that we all love our ancestors, and they love us. That love is how families are connected, and that is what we call the joint family. Now, there are very few families who are together. People, even if they are married, want a separate apartment. Some are not even married yet and they want to get divorced. I was in India in July for Guru Pūrṇimā, and we had an invitation for a festival. The person who organized the festival was, on that occasion, chosen as the president for the international Jesse Club—like a Rotary Club or Lions Club. "Jesse Club" means the Chamber of Juniors. This club was founded by the American president Kennedy as an education program for juniors. At that time, the hippie culture started and drugs became popular, involving many young people. So they made a club in nearly every town to run educational programs for juniors up to 28 years old. It was a very good program, and I was there because this organizer is a disciple of Holī Gurujī. What I want to tell you is that he was there with his seventh generation. All are alive, and there are seven complete couples. It is not easy to get seven couples: his great-great-grandfather and mother, and so on, down to the grandson of this person. Seven generations were there, and through the relatives, there were also seven couples. They were all together and proud that everyone is together and there is no question of getting divorced. Now in India also, this illness is beginning—an epidemic, I would say, a mental epidemic—that people want to get divorced. But through getting divorced, how many relationships suffer? Grandparents suffer from both sides. Parents suffer from both sides. Brothers and sisters suffer from both sides. Good friends are also sorry; they suffer for it. And children suffer too. So you cause pain to so many people just because you want to get married to a new one. And when you come to the new one, that partner is often more cruel than the other one. You try to come out of one situation which is, for you, like frying in hot oil, but you come to another point which is a burning fire. How do you know that the next partner will be happy and good? The first partner was not chosen by you; it was chosen by your emotion. If it had been chosen by you, you would be very happy. The next one is also not chosen by you, but by your emotion. And here, emotion means ignorance. Whatever we do out of ignorance is not good. So it is a time again to create a good, happy family. In Europe, it is much better than in some other countries. Here in our part of Czechoslovakia and Hungary, people are very, very much connected to their ancestors. In every country, there is a famous saying: "the kitchen of the grandmother" or "the recipes of the grandmother." But where are these recipes now? Because you threw them away, you changed flats several times, you changed partners several times, and you didn't take care of things. Very valuable things are lost. This came to my mind just now because there was again a question for a grandmother, for her soul, who died on the 24th of June, 2005. If you go to America, the Native Americans believe very, very much in their ancestors. Their ancestors guide them. If you go to Australia, the native Australians also very much believe in their ancestors, and they are guided by them. Every family has a particular painting culture, origins painting with many, many dots in different colors, designing animals, trees, and natural things. Also in China, Japan, and India, they very much adore the ancestors. The ancestors observe us. Now, if they are born in another life, that doesn't matter. It is the connection of the Ātmā and that which is observing everything. This individual presence, consciousness, cannot observe. So the ancestors are always there, and the liberation of the ancestors depends on the children. The children have to fulfill many things or pay back to their ancestors the karmic loan. Without a successor, they cannot move from the astral world, from the ancestor world, the Pitṛ Loka. When you get children, then they will move further. If you don't get children, then still they are there. So for your father and mother, you have to make a ceremony, and for you, your children should do it. Otherwise, you will be hanging there like a batman on a waiting list. So, it is your responsibility. We say there are five kinds of ṛṇa. Ṛṇa means the debt; it is a loan. The first is the debt to the mother. The second is to the ancestor, meaning the father. The third is to your school teacher. The fourth is to your religious teacher. And the fifth is to your guru, your spiritual guru, or the ṛṣi. So they are: mātṛ ṛṇa, pitṛ ṛṇa, ācārya ṛṇa, deva ṛṇa, and ṛṣi ṛṇa. And deva ṛṇa means the debt towards the five elements, towards nature, which I told you about. Also, for every house, you have a particular goddess. You have a protector for your house, a protector for your family. This is called a family god, the Kuladevatā, and that is the first one. On every holy occasion, this God or Goddess is first remembered. Prayer is first offered towards them, and then you have the property God, called Kṣetrapāla, the protector of your area. This is not only dogma; it is a reality. Those who do not remember them, either they have left you, or they are angry with you, disappointed. Their anger influences us in different ways: illnesses, disharmony, no satisfaction, no successful family life—many, many things. So Kuladevatā, Kuladevatā—when you make pūjā, yajña in India, they say that when they do pūjā in India... Otherwise, ask your grandmother or great-grandmother. If not this, then Mahāprabhujī will definitely protect you and replace your Kuladevatā. And then you have to make prayer occasionally, especially every evening when doing pūjā. You remember I told you about the sun pūjā? In the morning, before breakfast, before eating, you look to the sun, say the Gāyatrī Mantra five times, and then offer a little water and flowers, and agarbattī, or maybe a lamp. You can do it in your garden, on your balcony, or through your window. Now, what about winter? The winter sun rises very late. So keep in your mind what time the sun rises. That time doesn't matter where you are, or do it earlier. It is a Brahmotsava Pūjā for Sūrya Devatā. It has influence. You will see your life is completely changed. Suddenly, your stars, your constellations are in good balance. When you fly by aeroplane and there is turbulence, and it suddenly goes up and down, everybody who is sitting inside is holding the chair, but holding this chair will not help anything. If it falls, it will fall. And at that time, everyone remembers their God. I also say dīpanirāṇyaṁ śabdha bhañjan, yes. And everybody—some remember Jesus, some remember Allah, some remember Buddha, and someone says, "My good luck!" And when suddenly it is stable again, with no trouble, they say, "Thank you, Mahāprabhujī." Our life is in turbulence; this modern way of life is such a crazy and turbulent one. So we have to fix something, and that is through your Guru Mantra. Besides Satguru Dev, you still have some Kuladevatā, and in your house you must also have Śaktipūjā. Śaktipūjā means Holy Mother. We saw Krishna’s video, and you saw that the Divine Mother appeared. She took the place of Krishna so that Krishna could be brought safely somewhere. Before this episode was finished, the Mahāmāyā didn’t go away. She said she would stay on the earth, and she said, "My first place will be there on the mountains," in the Himalayas where she said. And now in different places, that Mahāmāyā, that Śakti—also when she passed, according to the Śiva Purāṇa—her different parts of her body fell on different places, and there is the Śakti Pīṭha. Śakti Pīṭha means the holy place of the Divine Mother, Divine Śakti. So she is not like a form, but we have to imagine her as a form. That is the mother power. And unless you have this, you will have trouble. So you must stabilize in your house a Śakti Pīṭha. You should have pūjā, and on different occasions also offer good food and prasāda. Then you will see suddenly the turbulence of life is gone. Then the karmic influences which are in our life, and which will still come to us in the future, will be somehow a little lighter, so that you can master them a little bit better, or understand better, or go through them more easily. This is very important, and humans don't understand. We know that these spirits are also in the trees. These trees are listening to what we are talking about. It is a life, and many, many other creatures are incontestable. The souls are surrounding us now. They see us, but we don't see them. These are our ancestors. They observe us, and they protect us. Our duty is to keep them happy and pleased. There was one case of a lady who had a mental problem. Someone told her, "You should make a little temple at home with a śaktipīṭha." They made a prayer at the Śaktipīṭha, and you will not believe, that lady was completely healthy and happy. So, "Mātṛ Devo Bhava"—the mother is God. Yā Devī Sarvabhūteṣu... Namastasyai, Namastasyai. Again and again, I bow down to that mother, that divine mother, that Śakti. So both are there. Then, your yoga sādhanā will also be successful.