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According to the elements—physical or subtle, adhibhautik, adhidaivik, adhyātmik—there are three kinds of fire, three tapas. But these three different kinds of fire mentioned here refer to troubles and problems: problems with our body, as illness, physical and mental; and worldly problems, what we call issues with neighbors, colleagues, family, illness, and so on. There are problems with nature: animals, mosquitoes, heat, cold, drought, flood, earthquake. And then there are more astral problems, such as destiny, psychic problems, negative energies, and so forth. This is Tritaṅpa. Whatever we begin, we try to purify, and it functions. There are certain things, whether you believe or you don't believe, but they exist. Believing does not change reality, and not believing also does not change reality. The truth cannot be changed by any religion, by any philosophy, or by any politics. The truth is truth. Evidence will never die. The evidence of the truth is there. So great yogīs, ṛṣis, the hermetists who used to live in huts, their research work was how to protect from these three tapas. That is also protection from the different planets, from the environments, and from societies. Yes, the influence of the planets can interfere in our deeds or in good things. Now, the interference of the planets is not only for humans, but it is for the entire Earth planet. It doesn't matter if it's animals, plants, vegetation, birds, fish, fire, water, air, and so on. We humans are not excluded from all this. We are included. We are a tree, and this tree is a mobile tree. And the tree which we see has a permanent place. How the weather and changing of the seasons influences this vegetation, it also influences our body too. Yesterday I spoke about negative powers and positive, devī śakti and āsurī śaktis. So there are mantras or practices to strengthen or to gain in your favor devī śakti, positive power, or āsurī śaktis, the negative powers. Negative power is realized easily, quickly. When you have a white shirt, it's difficult to clean and keep it nicely so that it is completely white. It takes time to clean, but to make a black spot on it doesn't take long. Those who involve themselves in these negative energies, negative siddhis, powers, they become permanent members of the negative powers. They will be suffering until this planet exists. And positive, devī śakti, they will also become members of them, but finally they will unite in the oneness of the universe. So, mantra or prayers, in the beginning of any of your deeds, we repeat, we chant a mantra. It was also here in Western countries that you are very well know the Celtic religion, the Celtics, which was believing like Vedic Dharma: the sun, the moon, the water, the trees, and ancestors. Today is the beginning, the first day. Yesterday started the days called Śrāddha. And Śraddhā is a prayer for the ancestors. Those ancestors who died and didn't get liberation, still from the ancestors' world, Pitṛloka, if they are their children, or their parents, or family members—if not, then friends—have to go through certain ceremonies and prayers. In Christianity also, now in November, the beginning of November I think, is coming the day of the ancestors. The day where the holy souls, the saints, are remembered. Not prayer, remember them. And for your ancestors, you go to the graveyard, you go to the church or temples and pray. Yes, it is the ancient science. Different religions have changed a little bit in different ways. But reality is the same. If you will not act in that way, to pray for them, then it can happen that all of your ancestors begin to interfere with your success, your deeds. You will have no growth of the families. You start some business, you will not be successful. So many, many things, but that is in rare cases, but it is there. And if you do the ceremony prayers, then that soul is liberated. Liberation means now for the soul which is in the astral world or in Pitṛ Loka, it means now he has access to other lives. Like a blind person is searching for a door to go out, and so access to other life. Doesn't matter which kind of life it will be given, human or animals or the birds or the fish, but now it's free from that blocked traffic. The red light becomes green. So when you make a house and you make an earth-breaking ceremony, it means... The foundation has its constellation. The time, which day you should not do, doesn't matter what it is. And if you do, then none of them will be happy in this apartment, or in this house, or this family house. There will be quarreling between partners. So these things are not only blind belief. They have their meaning; they have a sense. Similarly, for meditation and beginning your yoga sādhanā, there are also certain prayers and mantras which will lead you in the right direction. Now, you know, in modern technology, we have road guidance navigators. You put in your car address, there's a small machine, and off you go. And that will navigate you: turn left, or right, or straight, and like this. Similarly, the mantra "Guru kṛpā" is that navigator, which will lead you safely through this anant, endless universe. It will break through, will remove all the negative energies. If you make some mistakes, you take a different road, then it will say again, "Turn back," or this, but you said, "No, I will go this direction." Then it is your karma. And so many who didn't follow the guru vakya made the decisions, "I will do this." Yes, for sometimes it is good, but finally the result will be painful. So mantra is very important. To reside and to have now prayer or mantra, it doesn't matter which god you believe in, which religion you believe. In every religion, there are beautiful words and prayers. It must not be in Hindi language or Sanskrit; it can be in any, but it should have that energy, that feeling. And so, there is one mantra, a peace mantra, for meditation, for those who want to meditate, who would like to step into spirituality. Every day, begin with that, which we will chant now. Okay? Many of you know, many you don't know, maybe. It's coming from the Upaniṣad: "Asato mā sadgamaya." The Upanishads, Vedas, and all this authentic literature do not speak about religion or a particular God as an incarnation. They speak only about one; there is only one God, the Brahman, omniscient, omnipresent, the universal God. Because at that time there was no personified God like Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, and so on. It was 24 incarnations, and now the 24th should incarnate in Kali Yuga. About Yugas, we will perhaps discuss a little bit in the afternoon or evening satsaṅg. You can have a chart. Tomorrow we will make photocopies. Those who want to have can have it. So, asato mā sadgamaya: lead us from unreality to reality. O merciful Lord, lead us from unreality to reality. That you put now this seed in your heart. You put this seed, or these thoughts, in your brain, in your consciousness. Now, this will constantly work in you. I would like to go to the path of truth, reality. The reality, the truth is that which never changes and which is not a reality that is changing. So the nature on this planet is changeable. The body is changing. The body has three dharmas: to be born, to grow, and to die. The seed sprouts, grows into a tree, and dies. But it gives the seeds further, and so is the continuity of every creature. So, asato mā sadgamaya, anything you do in your life, and you think, "God, let me do correct things," guide my steps, guide my thoughts, guide my actions, guide me, my Lord, towards the reality, the truth. Because tamaso mā jyotir gamaya: lead me, please, from the darkness of ignorance to the light of wisdom. Our knowledge is very, very limited. From the past, in this life, we've forgotten many things. Maybe 10% we remember, or 5%. Even one month, past memory you don't have. Which date is today? Fifth. Now, the 5th of August, what did you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Many of you don't know. We did, but we forgot. So what was on the 5th of September last year, 2008? And so on, slowly, slowly, our memory is dormant, and the future we don't know. What will happen in one second, we don't know. In India, we used to say, "You don't know what will happen in one second, and you are talking about tomorrow." With what certainty are you talking about tomorrow? So the meditation opens our third eye, which means the wisdom to become tri-kāla-darśī. Tri-kāla-darśī. As long as you didn't realize this stage of being as a Trikāla Darśī, you haven't completed your journey yet. Tri means the three, Kāla means the time, and Darśī means the knower, who knows. So past, present, and future, that's called a Trikāl Darśī. If you stand in front of your house, you see the front side. You stay in the corner, you see perhaps both sides, that or maximum, that's all. But if you go with the helicopter a little higher, a few hundred meters higher, then you see the whole house. From which side is who coming? Similarly, the Trikāl Darśī knows everything. What is what happened to me in the past? What's going on now? And what will happen in the future? And if I can avoid? He or she, the Trikāl Darśī, one knows how to avoid, because now you know very clearly you are running with big speed, but you... Are you running towards the wall? But if you see there's a door, then you will run, and you will run through the door. So this is the difference between Trikāla Darśī and us. We will run into the wall, and they will run through the door. So tamaso mā jyotir gamaya. Before you begin to meditate, you should put this thought in your mind. Lord, lead me from darkness to the light. The darkness of ignorance, the light of the knowledge that whatever I do, I should not do out of ignorance. And the third, mṛtyormā amṛtam gamaya. Mṛtyu is death. Amṛtya is immortality. This body is immortal, and ātmā is immortal. The soul is a between; soul is a mixture of ātmā and ātmā. The soul is a bundle of karmas, good or bad. So the aim of meditation is to lead me from mortality to immortality. That I realize this immortal self, and to go on this path, there will be many, many obstacles. External and internal, or inner, obstacles. External obstacles are talking, listening to bad things; it's called kuṣaṅga. There are some people who can make you angry and turn you against your parents. There are some people who can make you angry and very sad toward your children. So for husband and wife, it is very easy to create conflict between them. They can even influence the parents or children. So, what strength do you have that you will not have a conflict within your partnership? This is called negative gossiping. It puts you in darkness, and that means distraction. It's dividing, it doesn't unite. And the satsaṅg, that unites. It gives clarity, awakes within you certainty, and you become brave. You're not scared, no fear, nirbhaya. Then the inner obstacles, the outer obstacles are easy to avoid. But how are you going to avoid the inner? And this is your own thinking. This is your own ignorance, anger, jealousy, hate, feeling of being offended, ego; many, many obstacles we have. It is a jungle, and so you will meditate, and suddenly the inner obstacle will come in front of you like a barrier, and you can't cross. So the mantra, your personal mantras, as well as these prayers, peace mantras, and so on, it opens these barriers. It lets you go through safely, and it guides you. Asato mā sadgamaya, lead us from unreality to reality. Tamaso mā jyotirgamaya, lead us from the darkness to the light. Mṛtyūra mā mṛtam gamaya, lead us from mortality to immortality. That we realize with this consciousness that we are the ātmā and one with the Brahman. Then you have no more birth and death. Only once in this life, somehow you have to give up this body. And we are so much attached to this body, we don't want to die. And that's why, thanks to God, that He didn't give us the knowledge about the future. Suppose we know that tomorrow evening we will all die. Oh, my God. We will go to the doctor. We will go somewhere, here and there, and protection, and this. What will happen? Perhaps we will die before tomorrow evening out of fear. So, thanks to God that He blocked everything so that we can live peacefully. We are surprised. Oh, suddenly I died. And that is just a gentle process, a transaction, like you go to sleep and close your eyes, and you are in the dream world. You are in a different situation, different. Similarly, yeh sansār, yeh jīvan svapna vat hai. Our Gurujī, Holy Gurujī used to say, yeh jīvan aur yeh sansār svapna vat hai. This life, this world is a dream. You will wake up, and this will disappear. A different reality will appear to you. So some have a good dream, some are enjoying, happy, healthy, and some have a very horrible life. Heaven and hell, both are here. Nowhere in this space are some different kind of quarters divided with borders. Like we have divided the borders, this country and that country, and so on. In God's consciousness, in God's creation, there are no borders. And here, borders divided by humans and, of course, the limits within nature. So, Mṛtyor Mām Ṛtam Gamaya, lead me from mortality to immortality. We are tired from all these changes we experience, which we don't want to experience. If I were now 15 or 10 years old, I would just jump from here down. But if I jump now, yes, I can, twice: the first time and the last time. I have a feeling like a ten-year-old boy to jump, though I have the feeling and I know, but I can't. Look, my limitation, so my body becomes my own obstacle, and we are observing day by day. And like this, we had been observing many, many situations in the lives: torturing, killing, going to the astral world, coming back to the mother's body, again born. So much traveling, and the last mantra which you should have, Lord, because I don't know, my knowledge is limited, I don't do anything. I give my life in your hands, in your divine will. Whatever is happening, I accept it. It is you who's doing. I am not the doer. God is doing. He is only the doer. We are only the toy moving. It will be like what he, or the divine, wills according to our destiny. And now the destiny cannot be changed, but a holy saint, a self-realized yogī, has the power to change it. Others cannot. Even Brahma, Viṣṇu and Śiva cannot change destiny. There was one man, a merchant in India, in the village Jalund, in Dhingpur, where Devapurījī stayed. The āśram has Kailāsa. And this businessman, he had no children. And he was consulting many astrologers, many who were telling the future, and Āyurvedic doctors and other doctors to get the medicine and this and that to have a child. Everyone said, "Well, in this life, you don't have the happiness or help of the children. You have no happiness of having children. Don't force yourself." The astrologer also said, the doctors also said, Ayurveda also said, and they were over 50 years already. One day, Devapurījī was passing through this village for asking the alms. The Bikṣā and Devapurījī said, "One chapati, one son. Two chapati, two sons. Three chapati, three sons." And that lady was just making breakfast for her husband and for her, and there was just chapati she was making. And three chapatis were finished. She took these three and went quickly and gave them to Devapurījī before somebody else gave them. How selfish we are. He took the chapatis and said, "Oh, three sons you will have." That's all, and he went away. And these three sons, they are very successful and healthy, living as businessmen. Whenever I go to Jaipur, they are living in Jaipur, and they always come for darśan, and they always tell me stories about what the parents were telling his mother. So, that which is not possible, the Gurudev can make possible. And what's going to happen? He can change because he's Parabrahma. So these are the instructions and guru-vākyas when you want to meditate or to have success. Now, there is a statue, but this statue has no soul, no life. It's only a symbol, a statue. And we are also like a statue, but we have a soul inside. Similarly, meditation without mantra is like a statue. And when you have mantra, that is active, progressive. So not only that, you need something for concentration; just for your concentration, you can repeat some numbers. Sit down and repeat 11, 12, 15. 11, 12, 15. 11, 12, 15. 11, 12, 15.... Now, all the attention will stick to these three numbers: 11, 12, 15. This is not a lottery number, okay? Many will say, "Aha, the Swāmījī said this is maybe a lottery number." No, who knows? 11, 12, 15. 11, 12, 15, that's not so. Oṁ, oṁ... oṁ.... How many times? Seven, no? Om, om,... om. Seven times. So, you must have seven digital numbers to create your concentration. But that has no other power; it's blind, straight. But if you have a mantra which you got from your master, then that will function for you. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. Ultimately, that first resonance in the universe before the creation of all these different stars and planets and many, many suns was first that, was that praṇava, that Oṃ. So finally, is that Om? So, you are Aum. Your Ātmā is Aum, that is resonating in you. There are a lot of functions in the body, thousands. We don't understand how many functions are there. Some you can feel through the instruments from the doctors when they are hearing the sound through the sonography or something. Beautiful sound, the sound of the heart, the blood flowing through the veins, the sound of the gallbladder, sound of this, sound of that, many, many things. So, Nāda Yoga, meditation through Nāda Yoga, there are ten different kinds of sounds which you will hear. And these ten different sounds belong to these ten senses of the body, the Jñānendriyas and Karmendriyas. The first sound which you will hear is like a waterfall or ocean sound waves. And that is our blood circulation. Second, you will hear something beating. And that is your heartbeat, the sound of your pulse. And the third, which you will hear, is the sūkṣma breath, the subtle breath sound. Like this, slowly, slowly, the eleventh sound will appear. And that eleventh sound is the sound of the Self. So, in the meditation of ānanda yoga, you plug your ears, you close your ears like this. And then, listen to the inner sound. So let's try now. First, I must tell you something, because when you close, you don't, you will not understand me. So, you will, with the index fingers, slightly not press from outside, but in, plug it inside your fingers, and close eyes, and listen. What kind of sound you are hearing, okay? Okay. Did you hear any sound? You were under the water? Or fire burning? Wind whistling? Or a passing train? Is there anyone who didn't hear anything? If you didn't hear anything, then you must be a dead body. So everything that we heard is inner kriyās, the function of the body. There's nothing, no miracles. It's natural. But finally, after a certain time, in this Nāḍī Yoga meditation, you come to the higher level, and then you will listen to the sounds, eight different kinds of sounds that belong to the Aṣṭaprakṛti. Navnidhi, Aṣṭasiddhi. So the nine different kinds of wealth, Navanidhi, Aṣṭaprakṛti or Aṣṭasiddhi. Śoḍaśa kalā. So the sixteen kinds of kalā means the change or the quality or a play. This kalā is difficult to translate. Sharmājī, can you tell what is kalā? No. Kalakari means also there is art, artist, art, but this kālā is a different kālā. Abilities are changing. So, the 16 kalās of the moon change. The puruṣottam is one who has the sixteen kalās, which are sixteen different kinds of siddhis. Purāṇa puruṣa who has completed this human life, completeness. And in that comes Kṛṣṇa, for example. And choice kalā, 24 siddhis are there, perfection, supernatural powers, 24 siddhis. And there are rare yogīs, like Alak Purījī and Dev Purījī, who could go through the rock. It means no elements can create obstacles or hindrances. Can walk on the water, under the water. When Devapurījī used to meditate, and if he didn't wish, then it was raining, but about four, five, fifteen meters around him was not raining. A natural umbrella. Cosmic umbrella, we don't know how, and I also tried. It was raining very much, and I also tried that the rain would not fall over me, like Devapurījī, and you can't imagine how heavy I was. It is so easy to imagine and think, but it needs immense discipline and following of that Guru Vākya and principle. Don't fall into this again, the same complications of this life. These desires you cannot fulfill. It is impossible. You can do it lifelong. You are eating lifelong, and now you are very, very old, in the last minutes of your death, but you are still hungry. This hole is so empty. We are putting in and in and in, all disappears. So it doesn't matter which kind of desires you are doing, doing, it disappears again and again. Is there a wish? Is there mind? Is there feeling? Is there memory? There is, but fulfillment is not there. And to come to this fulfillment, you have to learn to say no. To whom? To thyself. We have to come to the point to say, "Enough, finished." We do say, "Enough, finished," but only for a little time. When we eat and mother wants to give more, and you say, "No, mother, thank you, now it's enough." But after two hours, again, the baby is hungry. Crying for it, so what do you want? To come to the everlasting, eternal peace, bliss, and unity, or to be in the chain of the changings? So, mantra in this Nāda Yoga meditation, anything you do, a mantra without meditation is... A body without a soul is a dead body. Now, two different kinds of meditations: one is active meditation, and one is passive meditation. Active meditation is belonging to the art. An artist, the best artist, is that one who will create something which does not exist on this planet. That will bring from some different lokas, and it is when a best artist paints a picture, you can hear like a beautiful music. And music can also be painted; an artist can paint the music. That his or her consciousness becomes one with that sound in one tune. But our tunes or strings are broken. Again, the master tries to tune it, and again it is loose. The sound is boom, no fine sound. Nada. And that nada is active nada in us. So the artist, it can be a musician, it can be a painter, it can be a singer, it can be a writer, it can be an actor, or it can be a gardener, or it can be a sculptor, who makes a beautiful sculpture. Many, many different kinds of talents are coming from within. That is active meditation. You are one with thyself and your inner creation, and you put out how it is. Helping people, animals, plants, it's also an art. Means you need love. Without love, our work is dead work. The man-made world is without love, and the God-made world is with love. So, active meditation. You work in your garden, make help, and clean these and flowers and that. It's like a meditation, like a prayer. You see life. You see in these beautiful, gentle plants the life. You're happy. Yes, that is life. Your life and their life are the same. They can't exist without these elements: air, fire, earth, water, and space. They need the light, they need the water, they need the oxygen, and we need it too. So, in oneness with all, this makes you happy. Go at home and make yourself in oneness with your work, what you are doing, kitchen or anywhere. It's a beautiful thing. Your homework for your husband, for your wife, for your children, just cleaning your flats, cleaning your furniture, keeping things in order, that's beautiful. Don't create mess in the house. There are some people, they come home, they throw the hood, the hat there, they throw the salt there, they take... One sock's there, the other sock's in the bathroom, one sock's in the toilet. And the poor husband comes home, and he collects everything, or the wife comes and creates. I see many times when I suddenly come to a disciple's house, you know. Oh God, they get nearly a heart attack. Please, Swamiji, wait, wait a minute, please. Praśim, Swāmījī, poṣkar, poṣkar. For only two minutes, please. And when suddenly then I see where things are lying, even I see in the yoga seminar in Strilky and in our camps, when I look in the room where people are living, how is their bed? Then I ask, "Where do you sleep?" Oh, everything's lying on the bed. Jackets and this and that. And at night, they said, "I take my blanket and go under the blanket, that's all." And everything is lying on you. So to keep everything in order is a one-way street. So you see the person's nature, how a person is living, how his inside reflects outside. People traveling with so many suitcases, as soon as they come to the hotel, what do they do? They open the wardrobe, they put a coat here, they put this thing there, they put that thing there. So many things suddenly, only for one night and morning, early morning you have to go to the airport, again putting all together. What is that? I do like this, that I take from my suitcase what I need. Rest, I leave it in, so it's inner to keep the tidiness inside. So our mantra, our meditation, active meditation, first we have to go through the active meditation. Inner purification reflects on outer purification, and outer purification reflects inner purification. And when you meditate, everything is lying like this and that. Your meditation cannot be so pure, sattvic energy. There are many people who clean their dishes once a week with the washing machine. Lying five days, six days, all these used plates somewhere in the washing machine, that's not good. Don't use a washing machine for your dishes, you know. How many plates do you need? One plate, two spoons, and one glass, that's all. You take one lemon and clean it out with the lemon water. You don't need the washing powders. Economy. That's home economy. And ever your kitchen is neat and clean, very nice. Whatever is done is done. To clean two spoons, one knife, and one fork, you start the washing machine. So eat, wash your hands. At the same time, we'll be hand-washing and washing the dishes. Hari Om. Relax and enjoy. Somebody will come and say, "Oh, your beautiful, lovely kitchen, very nice. Oh, how it is." And when everything is lying for one week, drying on the plates, with half the spaghetti stuck on it, you need to suck it in. So you see how the person's inner self is. So your meditation will be stuck on certain things. So meditation. Meditation means that you finish all your duties, and then you close your eyes. You are in meditation. Your mantra comes automatically. One saint Kabīr Dās said, "When you have not done something, or you are hungry and you want to meditate still," then your hunger is like a hungry dog, all the time barking, asking you to give something to eat. So, Kabīr Dās said, "Feed this dog first, and then you will be peaceful. You meditate." The dog will also meditate, sleep, and you will also be relaxed. So, the dog means here, indirectly, things which you have not done, which should be done. Now, unfinished things are disturbing in your meditation. That is called vṛttis. You meditate, but you said, "I have to bring my shoes for repairing today. I must go find where I can let my shoes be repaired, or should I throw them away and buy new? Good idea, but which is the cheaper shop?" Like this, so we haven't done the things that are called vṛttis, restless thoughts, parpañj, kleśas. Solve it, this, and then you meditate. Therefore, active meditation supports the passive meditation. If the active meditation is not completed, if you didn't go through it, then inside you cannot be peaceful.