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Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Akī. Salutation to the Cosmic Light, Lord of our hearts, Omniscient and Omnipresent. In his divine presence, a very good evening to all dear Bhaktas, brothers, and sisters. It is nice to be here again in London. Nearly one year has passed. I am happy that you are all trying your best to lead a spiritual life. Spirituality is beyond all religious dogmas. Spirituality means purity—crystal clear, transparent, divine consciousness. It is the heart in which the name of God dwells. The entire universe is concentrated in the human heart, and the human heart is the heart which is given by God for his own residence in the form of compassion, love, kindness, and protection for all creation. Each and every entity represents the light of God. God has created all of them. And humanity's first dharma is the obligation to protect and treat them with love. There are 8.4 million different creatures created by one creator. And these 8.4 million different forms of life make one cycle, which is called rebirth and death. It is a long story how this individual consciousness has separated from cosmic consciousness. It is a very long story. This individual soul is manifested in the individual consciousness through the individual qualities. The soul is individual, but the self is universal, and that self is known as Ātmā. The soul is not the self. There is a difference between the self and the soul. The self has its own existence according to karma. Karma is the philosophy of action and reaction. In the entire universe, where there is action, there is reaction. Every action will bring some kind of reaction, which means we get back our deeds. Good action will have a good reaction, and negative actions will have negative reactions. Our life on this planet is perhaps an action to go through our destiny. Destiny is our own product. No one is responsible for your destiny. Mother and father can give you birth, but they cannot give you your destiny. Whatever is happening to you, how your life is, this is according to your destiny, and that is a reaction of your past deeds or karmas. Karma is the action which is in your hands. Suppose you have a stone in your hand. If you want to throw it away, you can throw it away. Or if you want to keep it, you have the decision to keep it. But when the stone is gone from your hands, you cannot run behind to catch it. The stone will go and hit that target, and then the reaction will come back. So karma is in our hands. Our actions should be full of compassion. Our actions should be full of love. Our actions should be full of understanding. Our actions should be in the name of God's consciousness. Each action we do creates a layer, a film, around the individual soul. Like an onion, which has one layer after another. Similarly, this Jīvātmā, this living being, is covered by five different bodies: Annamaya Kośa, Prāṇamaya Kośa, Manomaya Kośa, Vijñānamaya Kośa, and Ānandamaya Kośa. The body of nourishment, the body of prāṇa (energy body), the mental body, the intellectual body, and the causal body. The soul lives within these five bodies. The body of nourishment means the physical body. The physical body, which is created, will be destroyed. Anything on this planet that you see, which is created, will be destroyed sooner or later. Someone has built a house, and after some time this house will be destroyed or removed, demolished, and a new house will be built. So it does not matter if it is a house, forest, mountains, or living beings. Brahma Satya Jagat Mithyā, the Vedānta tells us. Brahman is the truth, and the world is unreality, non-truth. It means what is formed will be dissolved. In reality, the body is also not unreality. The body is created out of the five elements. And when this body dies, every element will merge into its origin. But jagat mithyā means what is formed will be dissolved. However, the layer of karma will remain. Through so many, many lives, we have many different kinds of layers. And this is our own phenomenon in which we are existing. Our soul, which is very closely connected with our inner real self, is experiencing all this now—the physical world—as long as one is living in this body. After going away from this physical body, in the same way, one experiences the astral life, like in a dream. If you dream tonight that you are in Belfast, you see the Belfast streets, the beautiful city, but your physical body is here. Afterward, when you wake up, you will say that you were dreaming about Belfast. Who was there? You. You were in Belfast, but you could not do anything. This is different. In the dream, you cannot do any actions, any karmas. If you could do something in the dream, then tonight, when you dream from Belfast, write something, some message on someone's door, and in the morning telephone them: "Did you find a letter? I put there some message." They will say, "No." It means even if you wrote some notes that "I was here, you were not at home," it was not there. It was in astral form. So you will experience pain and pleasure, happiness and unhappiness in this world as well as in the astral world. In this endless universe, this Jīvātmā is fluttering on the waves of time throughout the entire universe, sometimes through the lights, darkness, pain, the pain of death, and pleasure, happiness, and freedom. After this, all the self-realized souls, the self-realized persons, made one aim: the solution. How to come out of this torturing of the self, which means the jīvātmā? It means to be free from it, to again become one without second, with the universal One. And so, when you realize this universal consciousness, then your individual consciousness will not be there anymore, because you become universal, one. As long as water is in your bottle or glass, it is separated. But when you pour this water into the ocean, it becomes one. You cannot take the same water out again. Through these experiences, what we call the yogīs, they were researching how to become free. In the yoga path, we call that tapasyā, austerity. And now, in modern language, we call it research, hard work, disciplined work, trying many things. Finally, you become an inventor. And now we see in our modern technology that there are different kinds of inventors. And so the ṛṣis were inventing that there is a cosmic self and the individual self. What was the cause to separate this, and now how to make them one again? It is duality which divides us, and it is love which unites us. The space and the space is like a cosmic mother, and this cosmic consciousness is the embryo. Uniting both of them is the Śakti, energy or power. Protecting, balancing, harmonizing, uniting—that process or that unity is known as yoga. Love unites, ignorance divides. And so love means positive actions. Love means no action should become destructive. Love means purity, crystal clear. And so that cosmic energy is also dwelling in the human body, as well as in other bodies. The difference between other creatures and humans is this: humans have intellect, that kind of intellect which can be trained and developed through education. Education develops our intellect. Many different kinds of education exist. First education begins with parents, and therefore it is said, "Mātṛ devo bhava"—the first god for you is the mother. "Pitṛ devo bhava"—the second is the father. Without them, you would not be here. So Brahma, the creator for us, is our parents. And the first master, or first guru, is the mother; the second is the father; the third is your friends; the fourth is your school teachers, up to the professor; the fifth is your religious priest; the sixth is your spiritual master, teacher, guru; and the seventh is yourself. For example, there are two candles. One candle is burning; it is already lit, giving light. The other candle, standing beside, is still not lighted. It does not mean that the candle which is not lighted cannot give light. It has the ability to give equal light. And therefore, the candle which is not lit brings its wick to the other candle's flame and, touching the flame, unites in that fire. Then, that candle is already lit. Similarly, those spiritual masters, what we call the guru, are the enlightened ones. Enlightened means not this physical light which we see. That is the light of wisdom, the light of Brahman. Brahman means the universal God, a formless one. It has no form, and it also has no name. You may call it only God, you may call it only love, you may call it only truth, you may call it the light, you may call it the consciousness. So, this individual one needs an education. Animals also have consciousness and intellect too, but they cannot improve their intellect as humans can. This summer, something happened which I want to tell you. It is a little story, very little, but... In reality, it is from the ashram during the Jordan monsoon time, and there were so many ants coming, many, many ants. Now, what do we do when ants come? We do not kill them. It would be a sin to kill the ants. Ants have their rights to be there. Ants think it is my house, and you think it is your house, but this poor creature, they do not have that much power to fight against you. Anyhow, I come to this story. We had a prasāda. Many of you know, many may not know what prasāda is. Let us say here, there were dates open, and now ants would like to come and eat. Mahāprabhujī said, "Everyone goes there where eating is. You also go there where eating is." So the person who was taking care of the prasāda took one big plate made out of steel and filled it half with water, and took another little smaller plate, put it in the water, and put the prasāda inside so the ants would not cross through the water. Well, the poor ants... I do not know how many rounds they were making and making, and finally what happened: one ant went into the water, half its body holding with its back legs the edge of the plate. The second climbed on and held this, and about six ants... They made a bridge, and others went over to get the prasāda. Now the question is this: definitely, these or those ants also have intellect. So it is not only that humans have this, but their intellect is very limited. And human intellect also is very limited, but it has the ability to learn something. No doubt humans are wiser, cleverer, or more intellectual than they were some thousands of years ago. But humans have now become very materialistic. They lost something. We need human education. And this human education is given by the mother and father. Ethic and moral education you get mostly or only with your parents, your best friends, and your masters. Now, this education has changed. And this is what we call more materialistic-oriented people. People are working day and night, very hard, to come to the list of the richest people in the world. But very few are working spiritually, day and night, to come to the list of the most spiritual people of the world. Now, there are two ways in front of us. One is uplifting, utthāna, and one is going down, distraction, called patana. Uthāna and patana both have their roots under one point. Both paths begin from one spot, and that is called society or companion, meaning with whom you are spending most of your time. If you are constantly with someone who is abusing drugs, sooner or later you will also do it. If you are with someone who is abusing alcohol, sooner or later, you will also begin to do it. So, with whom you spend your time, like that, education will come, habits will come, and sometimes bad habits are very hard to get rid of. Our holy Gurujī, my master, said it is easy to become free from the enemy, but it is not easy to become free from bad habits. And bad habits come from bad society. And now, because the human became very individual, and since now you have the laptops, computers, you just disappear into your room, and you are one with the computer. You have no relations now anymore, and that made us humans more and more individual and lost the love for the families and for humanity. And that is what we see. A human does not take time to kill a human, which is not good. Humans should not kill humans, and humans should not kill animals. God protected, and God created humans as protectors, not as destroyers. And so those great saints, or the ṛṣis, the wise ones, they brought the techniques. They brought very beautiful words, which they call, in a philosophical way, spiritual injections. If humans would not have spiritual injections, then be sure humans are more dangerous than wild tigers. What are spiritual injections? There is God, there is karma, there is destiny, there is love, meaning prayer, there is forgiveness, there is kindness, there is meditation, there is the name of God, there is the relation of mother and father, and children. This is all a kind of education, and this education makes us a good human. Through this, we begin to think, "What is the purpose of life?" So, there are five questions, or to become aware of five things. If you can do this practice every day, it will make you a very wise and happy person in the world. The first question you should ask yourself, or become aware of, and this is not very difficult, is just one thought. Confucius said it is better to light a candle than to stand in the darkness. When the way is hard, when you cannot see the way and there is darkness, it is better to light a candle than stand in the darkness. And so these thoughts, five questions to thyself, are like lighting a candle in darkness first. Thought: "I am a human." From time to time during the day, just become aware that I am a human. And when you will become aware that you are a human, then many, many actions which are not human actions, it will protect you. You will not do that as a human. "Can I do this?" My inner self will say, "No, no, sir, you are a human." It is a big protection, self-protection. Then, after some time, ask the second question: what does it mean to be a human? We know that we are human, definitely. We know what it means to be a human, but very often we forget it. So, what does it mean to be a human? Compare life with other creatures: the birds, the fish, other animals. They are poor, they are meek, they are disabled. A human is free, capable, has abilities, and has the decision. So, what does it mean to be a human? Thanks to God that He gave us the human body. The third question which you should ask is, what makes me human? Not only two legs and two hands and two eyes, no. Many other creatures have this too. What makes us human? And these are the qualities. Quality unites, quality decides. Now, in business language, they say to maintain the quality, and there is no compromise in quality. If you try to compromise in quality, then your product fails. So what makes me? Which quality? Human qualities, again. Human qualities: love, understanding, kindness, and so on. The fourth question: how to cultivate, how to awaken these beautiful qualities? Through quality, one is God. Through quality, one is a saint. Through qualities, one is human. Through quality, one is the terrorist, what nowadays you know this word very well, no? And through the qualities, one is rākṣasa, the devil. So, spiritual qualities, divine qualities. And the fifth question, which you should ask from time to time: what is the mission of my life? Eating, sleeping, enjoying, or creating children? Animals are also active. Animals are also expert. Oh man, if you are doing only this, then where is the difference between you and animals? What is your life mission? Not that you become the richest one or not, that you do this and that, but the main aim of human life is to be a protector and get self-realization or God-realization, to become free from this bondage of karma or so-called rebirth and death, or good or bad things, sin or purity, soul. Great Śaṅkarācārya said, "Know thyself is the answer to all your sufferings and questions. From where do I come?" Do you know where you have been in past life? No, we do not know. If we will know, then we will be very unhappy, because the past life was so miserable, and finally we are in this other life, and we are happy. We have forgotten that. And where am I going? From where do I come, and where am I going? We know only after this program we will go home, eat, and sleep. But that means, where will you go after this life? Here, you may book your aeroplane ticket. You book your hotel, you book your car, everything, but do you know where you are going after this body? Did you book a hotel there? Did you book something, a reservation, something? And with which money will you pay there? This money will not go with you. Even this body will not go with you. So your payment will be your spiritual work, your prayers, your mantra practice. That is your treasure. Once you repeat your mantra, it means you put one pound in your bank account. Two times repeating, two pounds; three times, three pounds; one whole mala: 108 pounds. You put it in your spiritual bank. So we are spiritual greedy people. Some are materialistic greedy, and we are spiritual, but spiritual greediness is healthier. And what am I doing? Am I doing the same thing for which Mother Nature, or God, or whatever you call your destiny, or anything? Why am I born here? For what purpose? And that is our dharma, our duty. And we know many, many humans where... many, many centuries came and went away, and we are also on the list. We do not know who will be the first from us; only destiny knows. And thanks to God that we do not know. If you know that tomorrow you will die, the whole night you will not sleep. That is it. Why? Maybe we are not afraid of death, but of the process, the pain. How painful? How much do we have to suffer the pain till the soul will go out of this body? And we are afraid of that process, and how we will come again. How will be the nine-month process in the mother's body, or in other mothers' bodies? And how will be the birth? And how will be our childhood? I am talking not only about human children, babies, but other creatures. And after this... All it is said, practice spiritual sādhanā, spiritual practice that will liberate you. These are not empty words. These are the words of truth, which were spoken by many great incarnations on this globe. And we are only repeating what they said. So that divine energy, Śakti, which is dwelling in our body, you may call the Kuṇḍalinī śakti, and this is involved also in our chakras, energy chakras. There are many, many chakras in the body everywhere, but there are main eight chakras: Mūlādhāra, Svādhiṣṭhāna, Maṇipūra, Anāhata, Viśuddhi, Ājñā, Bindu, and Sahasrāra. So we spoke last time about Svādhiṣṭhāna, and this time we shall speak something about Maṇipūra. And Maṇipūra is the central point of the universe. The Maṇipūra is a central point of your phenomenon; Maṇipūra is where your existence begins to develop. And that is why it is said, "money means the jewels." It is the center of the jewels, and about this we will continue tomorrow. Today is enough. You have to remember till tomorrow everything again. Do not lose it in a dream. Five questions: I am human. Ask yourself, "What does it mean to be human? What makes me human? How to develop or awaken the human qualities? And what is my life mission?" There is God, there is God consciousness, and there is individual consciousness. Karma means to do something, so your destiny is the result of your deeds. It can be changed. It can get help. But you have to follow. Suppose you have some illness and you go to a doctor. And the doctor will give you some remedy, and you are free from illness. So, from these karmic illnesses, you have to come to the Gurudev, and you have to be that candle which has a longing to give light. But before that, you have to come to touch in that heat, the fire of the sādhanā. And you are a human; you should have control over your senses. All kinds of joy which you would like to enjoy have less joy than the sorrow of that joy. What you think you will enjoy, that joy is less. Then, when you lose this, you will have a lot of sorrows. The sorrows will be more. Painful to fall in love is very nice, easy, but when the other one will say, "I do not want, I go away," that will become very painful. You have to go to many psychiatrists and psychologists for therapy. And so it is the human who can master and understand.