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Be faithful to yourself and practice. It is practice that will lead you to what you want. It is our thoughts, our interest, and concentrated work that will lead us to our destination. Therefore, we should know the aim of our being here, the aim of our life. The sense of human life, all the relations we have, is distorted, and we suffer for every relation. That is what humans are suffering from very much today. Humans went too far in abusing nature. Even animals do not do that. So, those humans who are abusing nature are worse than any animal. We know the human is the most developed creature, yet the most unhappy, the most troubled, the most suffering, the most ill, the most restless being is the human. One should be merciful to oneself. So, practice. Your life has passed without the name of God. But at least now, remember God. Too much reading also leads you nowhere; it is only intellectual information. Therefore, practicing is very important. Practice, practice, practice. There is one story. There were two brothers, and both became sādhus. One was on the path of Bhakti Yoga, and one went to Jñāna Yoga. Bhakti Yoga is more devotion and practice. Jñāna Yoga is more intellectual training. One day, the brother who was a Jñāna Yogī came to visit his other brother, the Bhakti Yogī, who lived in a small Śiva temple. When the elder brother, the Jñāna Yogī, arrived, the younger brother was performing pūjā to Śiva. The elder Jñāna Yogī became very angry. After the pūjā, he said to the Bhakti Yogī, "You sang the whole prayer incorrectly. The mantras you are chanting are wrong. Everything you are doing is not good. The grammar is missing." The younger brother said, "Okay, then please teach me." So the elder brother taught him some mantras and how to perform the pūjā properly. They stayed together for two days. The younger brother tried very hard to learn everything by heart. When the elder Jñāna Yogī was leaving, he said, "I am going now, and God knows when we will see each other again. But I tell you, learn something. Study something. Only sitting and meditating and praying will not help you." He went to say goodbye, then stepped into a ferry boat to cross the river and departed. The Bhakti Yogī sat on the riverbank trying to remember the mantras. Meanwhile, the other brother reached the far bank, got out of the boat, and waved to his brother. The younger Bhakti Yogī then forgot a part of a mantra. He remembered his brother saying, "God knows when we will see again," and thought, "Better to ask him now." So the Bhakti Yogī, the younger brother, ran over the water, walking on it quickly. The elder brother watched in astonishment, putting his hand over his mouth. The younger brother came to him and said, "Brother, I forgot one mantra." The elder brother touched the feet of the younger one and said, "Now you don't need any mantras. You don't need any grammar. Now I realize that all I was reading, I was reading only in an intellectual way, and I am not able to do this thing. Which technique did you use that you can walk on the water?" The younger brother said, "What? I walked on the water? I thought it was just ground." The elder brother said, "Let's go back." He held his brother's hand. The younger brother asked, "Are you sure that I will not go under the water?" The elder replied, "As long as you touch my shoulder or my hand, you will not go down. But as soon as you get away, you will go down." In the middle of the river, the Jñāna Yogī brother wanted to make an experiment. This is the intellect; no matter what you tell it, there is always a "but," a "why," a "how." So he took his hand away from his brother's shoulder, and he went down into the water. The Bhakti Yogī helped him as he was drawn by the stream. He took his meditation shawl, held one side, and threw the other side for his brother to catch. As soon as the elder brother touched the shawl, he came above the water again, and both of them walked over the water. The Jñāna Yogī continued talking to the Bhakti Yogī. "How is this? You are doing this, and I can't. You don't know how to pray, you don't know how to chant mantras, you don't know how to sing. You have not studied; you don't know about philosophy. You speak a normal mother-tongue dialect." The Bhakti Yogī said, "You can ask this farmer who didn't study at all; he will give you an answer." So they went to the farmer. The Jñāna Yogī said, "I am this and this person with these titles. I want to solve a problem, if you can tell me. I studied many, many years. I am an academic, and my brother did nothing. He only does some pūjā to Śiva, and that's all, and he does it very wrong. The mantras are wrong. I have been studying for so many years; I am an academic graduate. My brother only sings some mantras and prays to God, but he does it wrong. I can't understand." The farmer said, "Well, you studied so much, but you didn't study farmer philosophy." The Jñāna Yogī asked, "How is that?" The farmer replied, "It's very simple. Explain to me in a very short sentence, in one word. Finished? It doesn't matter how you throw the seed in the earth, it will grow. Whether you put it right side or wrong side, the seed will grow. It needs good soil and a good season." The Jñāna Yogī said, "Explain to me, I don't understand this. What is the connection with the seeds and philosophy and walking over the water?" The farmer said, "My dear, you studied nothing. You study, but you don't practice your study. When you pray with a pure heart, a good heart, whether your mantra is pronounced correctly or incorrectly, the fruits will be there. God is happier with those who do it with a pure heart, not only with a pure intellect. It is like when children begin to speak their first words; the parents are very happy." So practice is very important. While standing, you can think that you have crossed five kilometers, then ten, then twenty. But you are still standing there; you didn't cross, you were only thinking. But if you walk, you will get there. Wise men say, "Do not waste time." Should I take this, or should I take that? Should I practice this, or should I believe that? Please, don't waste your time in this and that. I was teaching yoga for twenty years during the communist regime. You know you had a Mahā Mantra at that time? "Whatever you find in the market, take it." You don't know if it will be there tomorrow. So, whatever you have, take it. That's all. So, don't run here and there. Whatever you have—any master, any god, any saint, whatever you believe is good—practice now. That is very important. Do it faithfully. Every technique is good. Every master is good. Every incarnation is good. Who is not good is ourself. We always say, "Only this, only this." Don't waste time. Don't waste your time. Practice, practice, practice.