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Long ago, there was a farmer who owned many cows and buffaloes. Centuries ago, wealth was measured by the cattle a person owned—elephants, cattle, horses—not for eating, but for milk and as property. When arranging a daughter's marriage, people would ask, "How many cows do you have? How many will you give with your daughter? A thousand? Five thousand?" For five daughters, you had to give five thousand cows. But consider the poor man who received five thousand cows and elephants. If someone gives you an elephant, what will you do with it? Keeping an elephant is not easy; one elephant eats a big tree each day. How would you ride it? Where would you keep it? We humans have lost these abilities; we are no longer able to keep such animals. So, there was a farmer in a small village. A master came to that village and gave satsaṅgs for about ten days. The farmer still didn't understand. What is a master? What is a satsaṅg? But he came every day. He liked talking and listening to the master, though he didn't understand anything. The master spoke daily of mantra, guru kṛpā, guru, and God. On the last day, the farmer approached the master and said, "Sir, I don’t understand anything. You talked so nicely. I like listening, but after half a minute, I don’t know what you said. But you taught something: mantra, guru, mantra, guru, mantra. This I remember. Do you think, Master, that I am ready to get the Guru Mantra?" The master said, "Yes," and gave him a mantra. The farmer was disappointed. He said, "Master, I thought the mantra would be something to eat or something big, like chocolate. You only said something, and that’s all. I don’t even remember 'Oṁ Namo Śivāya' or 'Śivāya Namo' or 'Namo Śivāya.'" The master said, "Well, then say only Oṁ." The farmer replied, "I don’t understand anything, but I will say Oṁ. When I go with my cows, I will say to them, 'Oṁ, Oṁ, Oṁ.'" The master asked him, "Anyhow, you got your mantra?" He said, "Well, I didn’t get anything. You didn’t give me anything, not in my pocket." The master said, "But I gave you Oṁ." The farmer replied, "You just said Aum, that’s all. Okay, and Guru Kṛpā. Master, at least you can give me this, so I can always have it with me and show everybody that my Guru gave me this kṛpā." The master said he would give it after some time. Then the master asked him a question: "Tell me, what do you think about me?" The farmer said, "Master, should I be honest?" The master said of course he must be honest. The farmer said, "Yes, Master, I think of you. You look like a bull in my cows. That’s all. Whenever I see you, you are so many kilos and so heavy; you look like a bull." The master said, "Thank you. Repeat your mantra, and sometime I will come back." These people are very innocent but very disciplined. They keep their promises; they are not tricky like humans are now—business people are very tricky. We are too materialistic and always change our opinions. So the farmer began to repeat, "Oṁ, Oṁ, Oṁ." After one year, the master returned. The farmer was very happy to meet him and was the first to come. After a week, when the master was leaving, he asked the farmer, "What do you think about me now?" The farmer asked, "Should I be honest?" The master said, "Yes." The farmer said, "Yes, Master, we are working very hard to earn our bread and butter, and you are earning your bread and butter while talking." The master said, "Big progress. Big, big progress. So, where did I make me? You see, you made me from a bull to a human. Keep on repeating the mantra. I will come again next year." The farmer was very happy that he had made big progress, so he repeated "Aum, aum, aum" even more. Again, in one year, the master came and asked, "What do you think of me again?" The farmer said, "Well, we worldly people are innocent and ignorant, and you are a wise man. You have a lot of wisdom." The master said, "You made a big progress." The farmer asked, "Master, how big? I don’t see. When will you show me this big? You always said big, but where is that?" The master said, "You may keep on practicing." Now, at least the master had become a wise man in his eyes. The farmer thought of his master all the time, repeating the mantra constantly. The master came again after a year. After ten days of satsaṅg, he asked the farmer, "What do you think about me now?" The farmer said, "We are mortal beings in this world, but you are a holy man, immortal." The master said, "You made immense progress." The farmer asked, "How many kilometers, Master?" He said, "Many, many kilometers." The master thought, now from a wise man, he had become a holy man. He told the farmer to keep practicing his mantra. After one more year, the master came again. Before the master could ask him what he thought, the farmer stood before the master with folded hands and said, "Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Devo Maheśvara." The master got his answer. The master said, "Now you have that consciousness." The farmer said, "Dear Master, it was only possible through your kṛpā." The master asked, "Have you got my kṛpā?" He said, "Yes, sir. My life is your kṛpā. Everything is your kṛpā. Not a leaf of the tree can move without your kṛpā, and that’s called God." That consciousness has to be developed. Unless you have this consciousness, you cannot come out of this ignorance, and you will fall again into that darkness. Therefore, Kabīr Dās was saying in a beautiful bhajan: "Māyā mahatāgniham janire." The great cheater is the māyā. She holds the nut of the Triguṇa in her hand. Anytime, she can hand it to you. He speaks the Madhurī Bānī, a very sweet language, and it’s a beautiful, long bhajan. At a holy place, she becomes holy water. In the temple, a statue; a queen for a king; and a disciple for a yogī. This māyā is very tricky and very cheating. So Kabīr Dās said, "The rare are they who can come out of this māyā." You need to develop this God consciousness. We have to stay in this world, work in this world, eat, drink, sleep, move, and do everything as all people do, but our inner destination, our inner imagination, should be different. We are in this physical body, and this body is bound to nature. The dharma of the body is to be born, grow, and die. The condition of the body depends on nourishment, but no matter how well you nourish it, one day you have to leave it. Therefore, time—what we call time—is bounded more, applied more to this planet. And we celebrate time every day with birthdays. What does that mean? Again, one year less in your life. Again, one day less. One hour less. Day by day, every hour and minute, our life is decreasing. It’s getting shorter and shorter. Don’t think that a better time will come and you will do it. Such thinking is only the thinking of a fool, not of the wise. The merciful one has given us the opportunity to be human on this planet, and we do understand what life, birth, and death mean. This chance, once gone, is gone. When you blow off a flame, you can’t catch it anywhere. You sit looking, and the flame has disappeared. Where is that flame? Through which window did it go out? Through which door? How does the flame disappear? In the same way, you will disappear. Even our dear ones sitting near and holding hands cannot help. We came alone, and we will go alone. You have to go alone on your journey. Only destiny can be achieved through your destiny, and destiny is created by our own karma, our own actions. God helps us only if we help ourselves. Therefore, you can only see God if you have God consciousness. You can only see your lover if you have loving consciousness. You can only see your enemy when you have enemy consciousness. You can remember someone only when you have that memory, that consciousness. And so it is with God consciousness.