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A wonderful bhajan by Mahāprabhujī fits very well at the end of the calendar year. As the international year concludes in December, each of us reflects: what have we done and achieved this year? It is like a farmer calculating his harvest at the season's end. If the harvest was not good, he asks why. So too for us: in these twelve months, some have made great effort and some none. Every action is accounted for; every thought eventually returns to the person. Whoever sends a thought from their citta, from their mind—like a wave traveling through the universe—will see it return sooner or later. It becomes realized, meaning it manifests according to its inherent qualities. Perhaps someone thought something negative about another. That thought will not harm the other but will instead return to the thinker. The Bhagavad Gītā, in the chapter on Karma Yoga, speaks of good and bad karmas. Both are chains that bind you. Good karmas also do not let you be free, nor do bad karmas. Of course, good karmas yield good fruit and love, while bad karmas ultimately yield suffering. Karma pradhāna—karma is the main thing. Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna that when a person or saint has realized his goal and become a jīvan mukta—liberated while still living in the body—what of the body's deeds? The body is nature, whether of a saint or an ordinary person. Breathing in and out is also a karma, an icchā. To desire, to wish to get up and walk, is karma. Eating, drinking, sleeping, working, speaking, moving, thinking—this is our body's nature, and it constantly functions. It collects karma again, like a glass table we clean only to find dust after an hour. So it is with the antaḥkaraṇa: manaḥ, buddhi, citta, ahaṅkāra. We purify these four through meditation, mantras, prayer, and good deeds. There are many ways. We may feel we have become like a jīvanmukta, yet we are still alive. This dust, as karma, collects again. For a good person, good karma collects from the good they do, and what is negative is not negative for them. The philosophy of karma says that if you speak negatively about a jīvanmukta or a saint, all their karmas are drawn to you. Conversely, if you think badly of a person with bad karma, their bad karmas come to affect you. For example, you may think of someone you dislike—perhaps out of jealousy or anger because they took your business or opened a rival shop. We are worldly people and always want more. When you see this person, you are inwardly angry. If someone speaks of them, you may outwardly agree but seethe inside. Merely thinking negatively about a person works negatively within you. Speaking ill of another brings that negative quality to you. If you speak well of someone, acknowledging their good qualities, those good qualities come to you. Modern psychology echoes this: negative thinking is like poisoning yourself; negative speech leads you into darkness. Thus, good karmas come, and saints who attain Brahmaloka are gone. Yet by constantly praying, thinking, and meditating on such beings, their good vibrations from the universe come to us. Our goal is to wish to be like them. Therefore, in the New Year, we set a goal. Everyone wishes for a happy, beautiful year, and we resolve to work harder to realize our aim—here, a spiritual goal. But as said yesterday, maintaining attention and being purposeful is very difficult. I gave an example: a newly in-love couple, no matter where they are or work, their thoughts are always together. That is being purposeful, being aware of the subject. When we forget this subject, this theme or goal, a gap appears. In olden days, there were water wells, as in India and many countries. A bucket is drawn up with a rope; if the rope breaks, the bucket falls. You are left with only a broken rope. So it is when you have a gap. There are several kinds of gaps: negative thoughts, laziness, hatred, envy, jealousy, greed, negligence. You neglect your exercises, a gap appears, and all is undone. Your entire being, all you have built, falls back into the hole, undermined, and you have nothing again. We must be goal-oriented. Why does this thought come? We worked hard for eleven months, and now in the twelfth, the final month, as the year passes, we want to say it was successful. Yet at the start of this last month, something happens: we lose the inner feeling. Anger, envy, or laziness comes. Why? Each negative quality has its cause, and the cause is always in saṅga—satsaṅg and kusaṅg. In satsaṅg, good company, even just two friends. In Hindi and Sanskrit, we say dosti. "Do" means two, and "satī" means the true friend. The true self goes on the good path and helps others do the same, without negative words. In Viennese language, one says "Tratscherei"—gossip. Those who gossip satisfy themselves and others, committing a double sin. When you meet a person with kusaṅga—negative thoughts and energy—it is like a person who has just learned to swim jumping into deep water, only for a heavy rock to fall on them, preventing them from surfacing. This heavy rock is the gossip, the negative speaking spirit. Such a person, when moved, goes into darkness, confused. Sometimes on television news, if they don't want to show someone's face, they obscure it. So this negative, dark energy accompanies kusaṅga. Therefore, always pray: "Lord, help me, always give satsaṅg and no kusaṅga. Please protect me from kusaṅga." Kusaṅga can also develop within one's own thoughts. These are like bacteria, an infectious disease. One false thought during meditation appears as a faint, dark image. One beautiful thought suddenly shines like a light inside. The power of thought is so strong. We can achieve and realize everything when we keep our mind positive. So, Mahāprabhujī says in this bhajan: "manasam koyore kusaṅgyo keshang"—Oh my mind, you have lost everything with kusaṅgīs. For example, we work hard for eleven months, and suddenly in the twelfth month, everything is lost. Robbers came and took it all. Holy Gurujī said the "Chor"—the robber—is the one who robs you at your own door. You have good things to bring into your house, but he falls upon you and takes everything from your doorstep. That "Chor" is a Rākṣasa. Whoever masters anger will experience much beauty. Anger is very difficult to overcome. Oh my mind, you have lost everything with kusaṅgīs because you live with them, meet with them, speak and telephone with them. You always think negatively in your own thoughts, and so you have lost everything. Perhaps you must start again. Why did you fall into kusaṅga? "Satgurū śaraṇa bachana ve mukhoi pariyo bhajanme bang"—You have gone away from your Satgurū's words, the Guru Vākya. You have not followed the Guru Vākya. For us, Guru Vākyas are all the holy scriptures: Upaniṣads, Gītā, Bible, Quran, Vedas. These are Guru Vākyas. The words are holy and are your master. When you lose this feeling and trust, you have lost everything. "Satgurū Śaraṇa, Bacchana Vemukhoi"—you have also left the refuge of the Satgurū. Therefore, by not following these two things, you have caused vikṣepa kleśas in your bhajan. Bhajan means meditation, repeating mantras, prayer, singing bhajans and kīrtans, leading a spiritual life. Everything you do spiritually is bhajan, Prabhukar bhajan. "Tere bitti umar hari nāma binā Śumiran karle mere mana Śumiran"—Your life has passed without God's name. So śumiran, repeating God's name, can be done everywhere. Bhajan is not only singing but all our spiritual thoughts, life, work, and actions. Tapasyā, a profession according to yoga—like Āyurveda Vidyā—is not merely to earn money but to help. Every professional training is a Tapasyā, a Sādhanā, and this is bhajan. But as soon as you think more commercially, it becomes a coma; spirituality is finished. Even helping someone with love is a bhajan. In ancient times, a Veda would go to a plant and ask, "Please allow me and give me a part of you to heal a sick person." He had power in the plants, the people, and the words. Now even plants have become powerless—poisoned—and people are powerless anyway. So, God gives everything you need. That is your practice. Oh my mind, you have lost everything with the kusaṅgīs. If we try to be alert, thoughts go round and round, disturbing us. If we try to withdraw, we fall asleep. Rare are those who can remain concentrated. Concentration must accompany us until samādhi. Samādhi is where knowledge, the knower, and the object merge into one, yet you remain aware of your being in samādhi. This state is outside our mind; our mind does not understand it. If someone attains it, we say it is isoprenic—there is no other explanation. Of course, if a person in this state starts to fantasize, then it is Sravam Loka; self-control is the master. So bhajan, vikṣepa, and kleśa—the five kleśas are given in Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra. When kleśa is common, all is weak. You worked for eleven months, and in the twelfth month, all is weak. Jñāna, dhyāna, bhakti, sabkhoi—what has to fail? Jñāna, dhyāna, and bhakti—you have lost all this knowledge. True, correct knowledge is knowing to think nothing negative. Sooner or later, we will all grow old and become immobile; this body will one day depart. Why do we think so much of our body, envy, and jealousy? Before bhajan, it is said this body is a temple of troubles: śarīraṁ mandiraṁ vyādhi. This body is the temple of vyādhi—troubles. So jñāna, right thinking, is lost. Dhyāna, meditation or concentration, is lost. Attention is gone. Why? Dedication is gone; your knowledge is gone because attention is not there. Without attention, accidents happen. And why is attention gone? Because your dedication, your love, is gone; it does not come from the heart. What is the result? Clear: you have lost satsaṅg. There is no interest in satsaṅg anymore. You would rather eat pizza with friends, go to the cinema, or attend a party. Satsaṅg—even for devas, it is difficult. Those who are happy come to satsaṅg. Two persons can have satsaṅg, as I said before. One can do satsaṅg alone or sit with a group. In satsaṅg, one should not make jokes, speak negatively, criticize, or use bad words. Body, mind, and words should be pure when you attend. If we come with impurity, it brings a stench. What is my benefit? When such thoughts begin in you, you have lost everything. Yes, one cannot live today without business. You cannot even breathe or exhale without money; it is needed for everything. But it has its limit. In India, they say you can put a little salt in chapati flour, but you cannot put chapati flour in salt—you cannot eat it because there is too much salt. So too, lobha—greed or craving—has its limits. Otherwise, a greedy person will always suffer. Jñāna, bhakti, sabho koi, chut gai satsaṅg, sat paramparā, sukṛta bhulio—good karmas and good thoughts have been forgotten. Chalrayo kudan—now you go in the other, false direction. Your entire gait is changed. Your ego has risen so high, inflated like a balloon. Suddenly, the ignorant person thinks, "I am the Lord of the Universe." But it is not so. A crow sits on a church tip, and people pray inside. The crow says, "Ah, everyone prays to me," not knowing they pray to someone else. We are like crows; we should become swans, but that takes a long time. Yet nothing is impossible; everything is possible. Nothing is fixed. Now you have lost your dharma—your duty. You have lost your meditation and good thoughts. Tāmas guṇas are within you, and you are totally blended in māyā, in tāmas guṇa. Kapaṭī, nija kulaṅga—you have fallen completely as a betrayer. Śrī Pūjya Bhagavān Dev Puruṣa must be a fakīr, a malang. But Mahāprabhujī says, "I have my Gurudev." Dev Puruṣa must be a fakīrah who has spiritualized everything and stands above all. Śrī Swāmī Dīpa Śaraṇa Satgurū ko, rahe hameśā saṅga—then Mahāprabhujī said, "In the Himalayas, I remain under the protection of my Gurudev." He can protect me under his umbrella, Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān. Thus, in short, this bhajan reminds us we need to wake up again and take care. Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī, Devapurī Samādeva kī, manna sab khoyo re ku saṅghiyān ke saṅga—the mind has lost everything in the company of kusaṅgīs. --- Recording location: Austria, Vienna, Satsang