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Do not think that a life without problems exists. A life without problems would be ninety-eight percent boring and only two percent acceptable. Problems are of two kinds: external and inner. Patañjali warns his disciples to be alert, to accept this reality, and to strive to solve both these external and inner problems. Every day you awaken with different feelings. Every day you retire to sleep with different feelings. Each day you encounter so many things. You experience through smell, sound, voice, and so on. And so many brutish thoughts arise. Suddenly you are disappointed; suddenly you are jealous; suddenly you are angry; suddenly you decide to break everything, to continue no more. How many of you are navigating such wild waters? Yet, Gurudev protects us. The final, highest principle we discussed from Patañjali is the Guru. At the beginning of this Satyaloka, at the creation of this world and this part of the universe, the first guru, our guru, is known as Brahmā. Brahmā has accepted, or has been given, this position of guru. Thus, his words are known as Guru Vākya. Now, whoever has entered into a form—be it Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, or any other—experiences some disappointment, some arguments, some anger every day. Therefore, it is not new that we humans have so many disappointments, arguments, and problems. But everything can be solved; everything can be overcome. What we call prayer, what we call request, everything is realized through sādhanā, through anuṣṭhāna. It does not matter who it was—whether some ṛṣis went into the forest and performed sādhanā according to their iṣṭa devatā. That devatā comes. Oṁ Brahma. Indeed, Brahmā appears, and he has the power to give you blessings. But one thing is reserved: he cannot make you immortal in this body. The ātmā is immortal, but the ātmā does not possess these qualities we call devas, asuras, rākṣasas, and so on. These are inner qualities. Everyone looks like a human being. But the inner feeling is different. The inner education is different. Thinking is different. Different qualities make the person. If one has the quality of a thief, one is a thief. If one has the quality of asuras, then one is an asura. If one has the quality of a saint, then one is a saint. Yet they are all in this world. They have their body, their feelings, their mind, and they meet different situations every day. Thus, Patañjali says that after realizing this, the first guru is mother and father. The second guru is your friends. The third guru is your religious priest. The fourth guru is your school teacher. The fifth guru is your Satguru Dev. And finally, the sixth one is thyself, because that quality, that consciousness, awakens in you. There is a stone called paras. It is very rare. If you touch this stone to any metal, or if any metal touches this stone, it becomes gold. But it is said the paras can convert metal into gold, yet it cannot make another paras. However, Gurudev can make a disciple not only golden or divine; he makes the disciple a Gurudev. Day by day, within you is like a fountain of wisdom, joy, vṛtti. Knowledge awakens. The source of this knowledge is Brahman. You need not declare, "Now I am the guru." If you think you are now a guru, it means you are still not. When the sun rises, the sun does not announce, "Get up, I am already here." But we say, "Oh, sunrise, we must get up." So, who will practice? Who will follow the discipline? Who will purify the ego and anger, hate, jealousy, and offense? Fear cannot become that one. Thus, we have these problems—everyday problems. But everything can be solved through prayers. Prayer means personal consultation with God, with your Iṣṭa Devatā. Prayer means request, again and again, but a request made with very clear thinking, a very clear mind, and very positive feelings. If you request with a trick, you should know that God knows everything. When you request, you ask God, "Please fulfill my wish." Then He will ask you, "What kind of wish do you have?" You say, "Lord, you are God, so you know." He will say, "No. Tell me." Because He knows, but still He would like to hear it through your words, verbally. You telling Him means you will not blame God afterward, for when God fulfills it, you might say, "But I didn’t mean this." That is why God gave you a mouth to speak also, not only to eat. Therefore, prayer is a request. Prayer is a personal consultation. Prayer is a dialogue, and in that dialogue, God will answer you. God will give to you.