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Everything originates from the cosmic sound. I often explain yoga and creation. Yoga is the balancing principle between space and consciousness, between ākāśa and cetana. When balance occurs, there is harmony. Harmony implies unity. Harmony means there is no opposing force. Balance means there are no disturbances. And unity means there is oneness. So, it is space, consciousness, and the yoga, the uniting power—Māyā, Yoga Åšakti. Consciousness can do nothing. The Chetan, the conscious principle, has no desires. And matter can do nothing; the material is inert. Consciousness has no desires, and matter cannot act. It is capable of being acted upon, but it cannot initiate action. Therefore, between this Brahma and Māyā, between these two—matter and consciousness—exists what is called Icchā Åšakti. That is willpower. Willpower here does not mean the ordinary will we think of. It is as we say, "Thy will be done." Thus, there is the desire of the Icchā-Åšakti. Icchā is another name for desire. If you have icchā to do something, you will do it. If you have no icchā, you will not. For example, if someone asks you, "Would you like to eat something?" you may say, "No, I have no desire to eat." This Icchā Åšakti exists between these three: consciousness, space, and the yoga Åšakti that unites, balances, and harmonizes them. In the entire universe, whatever is happening occurs through the Icchā Åšakti. But all icchā also cannot exist if the other two are not present. You may desire to eat, but if there is nothing to eat, the desire is unfulfilled. This interplay is between what we call Puruá¹£a and Prakṛti, Åšiva and Åšakti. Åšiva means consciousness, and Åšakti means energy. From this icchā, the first resonance that awoke is what we call OM, the sound. That resonance fills the entire universe; every atom is filled with it. And because it is a Åšakti—energy, power—it can be formed and used in different ways. That first sound, from which everything is created, is AUM. That sound is also within our body. It is also the basis of what we call our human language or animal language—our communication system. Animals have greater abilities to communicate, even over long distances, while humans cannot do so without a telephone. Between two beings, it is that resonance, that sound, which unites. When I speak and you hear, this is that energy. This energy requires two things: space to expand or move, and the air element. It is the air element that allows the energy to move faster. Not the wind we see, but the air element is like a very fine film. When our voice touches one corner, it immediately transfers to the other corner. It is like the skin over our body; if you touch even your small toe, the information spreads throughout the whole body. We take in through sound or words, and we give out through words. This same energy, this resonance, flows through different filters. If it passes through a negative filter, it becomes negative energy; if through a positive filter, it becomes positive energy. Thus, through the manipulation of sound, you can create a friend or an enemy. If you say to someone, "I love you," you create harmony. If you tell someone, "I hate you," you create disharmony. This energy that comes from you, this resonance—how will you formulate or manipulate it through your tongue and lips with the help of your vocal cords? When you say "God," you create a different energy, and when you call the "devil," you create a different energy. In ancient times, people used to speak in poetic language, as in mantras. That is how they used to influence the environment, nature, people, and spiritual energies. Ultimately, they declared, "What you speak, that you will realize." Therefore, it is said: madhur bāṇī, sweet words, sweet language. Madhur bāṇī, sweet words, or amá¹›t bāṇī; amá¹›t means the nectar. Your words are like nectar for others. Preyaḥ Å›abda, dear words, words which are very dear. UpadeÅ›a: upadeÅ›a means teaching, preaching. 'Up' means near. When your disciples sit before you as an audience and you speak, that is upadeÅ›a. Upaniá¹£ad comes from upadeÅ›a. There should be no words and language called kÅ«kar-sÅ«kar, like that of pigs and dogs and donkeys. When you talk too much, it is a dog's brain. So madhurbāṇī, amá¹›tbāṇī—that creates within you love, harmony, and understanding. Thus, the name of God is Madhurbāṇī or Amá¹›tbāṇī. With different words, we try to remember God. In one sense, it is the human who creates God, not God who creates the human. If a human did not introduce God... no one would know who He is. But it is God who appeared in human consciousness, in the human mind, in human knowledge, and it is He who gave this knowledge: what God means, what the Self means. God is the one who appears in the human consciousness, in the human mind, in human knowledge, and reveals that knowledge of what God is. Therefore, God is nameless, has no name. If He has a name, then humans give the name. God has no form; He is formless. But if we speak of form, then through human understanding, we say every living being is a form or a representative of God. People understand that every form of existence is a divine form. Every spiritual song, every spiritual chanting, prayer, and remembering God means to surrender ourselves and request God to fulfill our needs. Surrendering to God means to accept your mistakes. Accepting your mistakes means you realize that you made a mistake. Realizing you made a mistake means you are asking for forgiveness. And here, forgiveness means you tell yourself, "I will not repeat this mistake again." This is the best way of self-analysis. It is prayer. Repeat your mantra or sing the name of God, sing bhajans. The mantra contains something positive within it, because according to human experience and knowledge, God is something positive. And those who realized God, who became one with God, whose consciousness merged into the cosmic consciousness—their name for us is also positive. Therefore, repetition of your mantra serves to purify your consciousness, purify your mind, purifying your antaḥkaraṇas from negative thoughts, feelings, and activities. The mantra is the seed of prayer. A mantra is concentrated prayer. Therefore, repeat your mantra whenever you can, with or without a mālā. That will bring you to your aim, your goal, or realization. If you meditate using only your intellect, thinking that in meditation you do not need any mantra—just because a mantra is also a kind of vṛtti and you want nothing—then your meditation is like a body without a soul. Whenever you feel scared, pray. Whenever you do not see a way out, pray. Clear. So, a mantra consists of those words which have the capacity or ability to purify energy and direct it in the direction you wish to go, or toward what you wish to realize. Therefore, during the practice of vāsanās and prāṇāyāmas, you should repeat your mantra. The human mind has great strength, more possibilities to make something happen, to make your wish come true. Because we humans know there is a God, we pray to God to give peace, harmony, balance, and health. If the trees are healthy, we will also be healthy. If the water is clean, good, and healthy, we will also be healthy. If the air is clean—meaning healthy—we will also be healthy. So, to gain good health means to take care of the surrounding environment. If you want to be happy, make the people happy who surround you. If your wife is not happy, be sure you will also not be happy. Or if your husband is not happy, you cannot be happy either. If your husband is not happy, you can be happy just with your cat or dog, that's all. So, to create happiness or peace within you also means to create happiness outside of you. The cause of unhappiness and restlessness is a person's selfishness. What God has created is all for use in our life. So use it, do not abuse it. Be sure that we humans are not the lords or gods of this planet. For God, humans are the same as the other animals on this planet. But humans possess a powerful intellect. It is meant for understanding, expressing, and realizing. Therefore, humans should use their intellect for the well-being of the entire planet. As soon as a human becomes greedy, their intellect becomes like a plastic apple. Kind words, proper behavior, prayers, a positive way of living—that will make a human great. Otherwise, we know we came into this world only for a little time, and we will die. Death is quicker than we think. We do not know who among us will be next. Therefore, madhur vyavahāra, sweet behavior. Practicing your mantra will help you understand yourself and understand others. Thus it is said: "Asato mā sad gamaya"—merciful Lord, lead us from unreality to reality. But do we understand or know what is unreality and what is reality? Reality is something: what is reality for me may not be for you, so we can only trust in the śāstras, the scriptures. Ultimately, God is the reality. Brahman is the final truth or reality, and this world is a changeable reality. So, Mano Mātra Jagata: as you think, as you behave, so will be your world, inside and outside. And draṣṛṛ, jñeṣṛṛ, Å›reṣṭhī—through which desires you look, so will the world appear to you. Your eyes move according to your desires, and you try to see through your eyes what you desire to see. But in our eyes, there should be purity. MahāprabhujÄ« said in a bhajan: "The eyes are so pure, innocent. A small child, when it looks at you, looks so purely, innocently, with no desires. And when we see ice cream, we constantly look at the ice cream." So, draṣṭi versus sṛṣṭi: "How you see, that is how you see the world." And that will create in you again the desires. The reflection will generate more desires. Therefore, yoga in daily life means we try to put our life, 24 hours, in a positive way. It is not only practicing some exercises, and that's all. That is why our summer programs, our seminars, are very important for you. And give the chance to others also.