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In the name of Gurujī, we offer this light. Dīp Nārabhagavānakī jaya. It is important for every yoga teacher to know about our spiritual lineage—about Gurujī, Mahāprabhujī, and Devapurījī. It begins with spiritual parents, which does not mean fanaticism. Spirituality is not about wealth or poverty; such parents are rich in heart. This is the fruit of many lives of tapasyā—austerity, a hard life of discipline, prayer, humility, and kindness toward all creatures. A spiritual person has a heart with the tendency of giving, ready to give everything, even the body, for the sake of God, for love, and for the happiness of others. Their work is to be happy. For many generations, such couples come together across different lives, unknowingly, tested by God for ego, selfishness, and arrogance. It is janam kī tapasyā—many lives of bhakti, tyāg, and vairāgya (devotion, sacrifice, and detachment). In the womb of such a mother, a holy soul finds its place. Therefore, it is said: fortunate is the land where a Satguru Deva incarnates. I bow a million times at His Holy Feet and to the mother who gave Him birth, and to the father and family. In such families, many spiritual souls incarnate. Holy Gurujī’s parents were deeply spiritual, as recounted in Līlā Amṛt—kind, humble, and devoted. Naturally, every parent loves their child and wishes them a happy life, marriage, and grandchildren. Consider the attachment of Krishna’s mother, Rāma’s mother, or Jesus’s mother; the child is nourished from her own body. Parents do not wish for their child to go far away to become a sādhu or monk out of disappointment, laziness, ignorance, selfishness, or ego. Such sudden vairāgya is not pure. One does not become holy by dress, or by residing in a monastery. Many mice live there; are they holy? Such individuals may move freely while they have strength, relying on free food, having lost life’s direction. Their days become difficult because they did not realize the Self or develop spirituality. No one cares for them or gives them medicine. Parents wish for their children to marry, work, earn, and die a conventional life. Rare are those who find the Satguru Deva and that spiritual lineage, which assures spiritual development. Rarer still are those who recognize it, for they often mistake diamonds for glass. You may hold a diamond, say “This is not it,” and throw it away, taking a more shining piece of glass instead. Spiritual birth and spiritual parents are not easily attained. In Viveka Cūḍāmaṇi, Ādi Guru Śaṅkarācāryajī says it is rare to get human life (jīvātmā), rarer to get spiritual parents, and rarer still to get spiritual inspiration and a master. One who meets all this is already self-realized; they need only continue as destiny has led them. That is Satgurudeva’s teaching—not miracles or empty intellectual talk. Holy Gurujī’s parents were humble devotees of Kṛṣṇa. It is no coincidence Gurujī incarnated exactly one week after Kṛṣṇa’s appearance, in the same holy month. Today is the morning of His holy birthplace. The most beautiful times are Brahmamuhūrta and Godhūlī. Godhūlī is when village cows depart for grazing. All cows gather, and because Kṛṣṇa loved and grazed cows—as did Mahāprabhujī and Christ, who led them to salvation—this time is sacred. His name is Gopāla: go (cow) and pāla (protector). The cows are milked and depart around 7:30 AM, walking many kilometers daily, grazing on diverse herbs. This makes them healthy, and their milk becomes herbal milk, with a distinct taste. In India or Jordan, tea with this milk differs from tea in Europe, where milk leaves the tongue white. The ghee from such cows is Ayurvedic ghee, made by boiling milk, cooling it to 40 degrees, making yogurt, churning it after 24 hours, and melting the butter. This ghee is pure and medicinal. The ghee commonly available blocks arteries and lacks taste because those cows hardly walk, are confined, given artificial feed, and injected with cortisone for more milk. Children consuming it appear older prematurely due to these chemicals. Godhūlī is when cows depart, raising dust like fog. Those with allergies are advised to walk in this dust—a treatment, as Kṛṣṇa walked there. In the evening, at Sandhyā time, Godhūlī occurs again as cows return. These times are revered. It is said that in a cow’s body, 100 million goddesses reside; every part holds divinity. Thus, it is not merely a belief but a holiness. The greatest sin is to kill or eat a cow, equivalent to killing and eating one’s mother. We must respect nature, love, and divine creation. Holy Gurujī was born during Godhūlī. He was a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa initially, then realized Kṛṣṇa in Mahāprabhujī, as told in Līlā Amṛt—first meeting Him in a dream, then in person. From childhood, his every breath and heartbeat was for God and Mahāprabhujī. His tapas, sādhanā, and spirituality benefit us. Like a rich father leaving inheritance, Mahāprabhujī and Gurujī left their spiritual power for us. We nourish it, grow, and will leave that multiplied spiritual power behind. Spirituality never dies; it is immortality multiplying through us. Sometimes you cannot develop spiritually because you cannot give up negative qualities: jealousy, anger, greed, hate. Until you renounce these, you achieve nothing and may be reborn in lower forms. If you become a chicken, you may be confined to a small cage, your beak cut, standing over an egg belt, pecked by neighbors. You might ask, “Why are you doing this?” They may reply, “You spoke negatively about others.” You say, “I know, but what to do now?” Now you suffer together. Who knows if you become a pig? There is a story, even a film, Babe, where a pig learns its purpose is to be eaten, becomes sad, and runs away, though the ending is happy. You never know where the soul will travel. You may not believe in another life. Once, a joke tells of twins in the womb. One says they will be born, eat through the mouth, wear clothes, and run. The other calls it nonsense, saying they are nourished through a cord in a warm liquid, with no space to run. He refuses to believe until suddenly they are born into this world. Similarly, you may not believe your negative discussions have already reserved a place for you. You can choose a little: which pig farm or chicken farm—a small cage or a free garden? Your criticism reserves your place. It is not dependent on me or you, but on our actions: what we think, feel, and speak. Mīrābāī wrote to Tulsīdāsjī that in her home, no one believed in God; they spoke against her Master and God. Tulsīdās wrote that one should leave such a place where God is not respected and not even look upon one who speaks against your Master, lest you suffer. In the Guru Gītā, much is left out; my Austrian disciples feared translating it fully for Europeans, so many wake-up calls, these spiritual injections, were lost. Perhaps we will translate it again. It is said that some people like to wear animal skin clothes. In a 1975 lecture on parapsychology, the speaker said if you like the skin of a tiger, you may be born as a tiger; if rabbit skin, as a rabbit. Karma returns. We must prepare ourselves with humbleness and kindness. If someone speaks to you, give them knowledge and rebuild their confidence; do not add fire by saying, “Do what you want, I’m happy for you.” That creates two karmas. Who are you to advise differently unless you are self-realized and can give mokṣa? Otherwise, it is a big mistake. On this day of Holy Gurujī’s incarnation, I bless you all and am happy to be with you. Now we have holy prasāda from Ukraine—halva. Let us sing a famous bhajan of Holy Gurujī.