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Good morning, and many blessings to all the bhaktas, practitioners, devotees, and seekers around the world. This special blessing comes to you from the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria, where we are holding a wonderful retreat called "Power of the Mantra." We are using special mantras to gain more happiness, protection, and positive energy to harmonize body, mind, and soul. This day is very special because you are here, and special because you were born from one special person: your mother. Today we celebrate International Mother's Day. I wish all the best to every mother: good health, long life, and divine blessings. Also, blessings to those who will be a mother sooner or later. Of course, all the credit goes to the father. So first is the father, who has to work today in the kitchen. Let your mother relax, or invite her out. If the husband cannot cook, then invite him to a nice vegetarian restaurant. This day is a Sunday, and I wish you all the best. There is one story about a disciple who wanted to have a mantra from the master. The story is like this: one master came to a small village and stayed there for a few days. Where there is a master, there is a satsaṅg, and where there is a satsaṅg, there is a master. Satsaṅg is known as a boat to cross the ocean of ignorance. Satsaṅg is the door to liberation, and satsaṅg is known as the ocean of bliss. Satsaṅg is also known as an ocean of wisdom, jñāna-sāgara. It is the satsaṅg which inspires us all to come to this spiritual path. All of you are sitting here; you came through the satsaṅg. When you go to practice yoga with your yoga teacher—especially the Yoga in Daily Life teacher—they are not only physical instructors (what we call PTI), but the teachers of Yoga in Daily Life are more spiritual, more developed, and have the knowledge of all the scriptures. Yoga and Daily Life teachers' instructions and their vākyas are like a satsaṅg. That inspired you, and that's why you are here today. If you come to good people, you go to good society. And if you come to some who have other negative activities, you go there. Satsaṅg can also be with your own thinking. When you think negative, you are constantly in negative energy. When you think positive, you are constantly in positive energy. So try to create satsaṅg inside and outside of you. It is the only way to achieve salvation, to come to the Master and to realize the oneness, and that is the satsaṅg. If you go to the temple, if you go to the ashram, if you go to the mosque, if you go to the stupa, it's a place of satsaṅg. There, one speaks about God; there are prayers to the Almighty God, personal and impersonal God. Both are good. Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa, "What is better, to worship a personal God or an impersonal God?" Kṛṣṇa said both are good. Both are the same, but for you, who is connected to these five elements on this planet in physical form, it is easier for you to go through the personal God. But it doesn't matter; the main thing is that one is thinking about God, praying. So either it is a temple, ashram, mosque, church, and so on, it is also a satsaṅg. It is a very good system. For example, in European countries, Christianity decided one day for satsaṅg, and that is Sunday. It's called a day for family and a day for God. It means the whole family should go to satsaṅg. That's beautiful. But what nowadays people do is they find a chance to go skiing, go in the forest, go to different kinds of clubs—there are so many clubs. The real reason why Sunday is a free day was actually given for spiritual activities. Or in Islam, there is Friday. That's very good, very nice. Friday is the day you go and pray namāz in the mosque, or anywhere. It is even said that five times a day you should make your prayer. It's great. It reminds you every few hours to remember God. Don't say these are fanatic people. No, they're not fanatic. They are great. They are spiritual. They are God-aware people. In their prayer, they don't say, "God killed that person," and "God destroyed that country," and "God, we don't like that person." No, they don't say this. They pray for His mercy. They pray for His forgiveness. They pray to be given the right consciousness, right energy. Humans understand five times a day. And what do we do? We drink coffee five times a day, you see. From namaste, we came to the coffee. These people don't care where they are. Even at the airport, even in five-star hotel lobbies, and many I saw even in the aeroplane, in first class, business class, they just move to one side and have their prayer. It doesn't take a long time. Where there's a will, there's a way. I must tell you, due to the beautiful rules and instructions of Islam, nearly around the whole world, all airports have a prayer room. Yes, anyone from any religion can go, sit, and meditate. Prayer constantly reminds you of God at different hours of the day. In Judaism, there is Saturday. Mostly, they just don't do any activities; they stay in one place. That creates discipline; that creates some consciousness. This is to feel the strength, the energy of the mantra, prayer. What is a prayer? Prayer is mantra. The mantra is a seed which grows. The roots are there, and prayers are branches and the leaves, as said in the Bhagavad-gītā. God Kṛṣṇa, in the 15th chapter, describes a beautiful banyan tree. Every tree has roots down and branches up. But the human tree has roots up and branches down. Every branch is the Vedas. Every tiny branch is the Vedas' hymns, and every leaf is a mantra. In the roots of the tree is Brahmā, and the trunk is Viṣṇu. All these expansion branches are Śiva, and every leaf of the tree is Brahman. What a beautiful description. So in Hinduism, they say not only prayer five times a day, not only Saturday or Sunday, but constantly. Whenever you find the time, they said, you have work in your hands, and in your mouth you have the name of God. That's it. So continuously, this is what we call the power of the mantras, the days. And that means the satsaṅg. You become aware of something which is divine, great, and will help you to purify your karmas and show you the good way, the best way. It is the human who has developed within them too much so-called negative energy. This negative energy is exposed in different forms: hate, jealousy, greediness, and what not, many, many others. So it is only the mantra that can help us to overcome. And that mantra, when you repeat, you are constantly in the satsaṅg. Masters, our Gurujī, Mahāprabhujī, Devapurījī, and many other masters, they always talk about satsaṅg. And that satsaṅg you can only get if there is a blessing of God, and you are fortunate. When Hanumānjī went to search for Sītā, he searched all the forests, deserts, mountains, caves, lakes, and coasts everywhere, and they couldn't find her. But then finally they got the message that it was Rāvaṇa who kidnapped Sītā and took her with his aeroplane, the Puṣpaka Vimāna, to Śrī Laṅkā. So here we are again. The technology was highly developed at that time, 10,000 years ago. We know the whole story. So when Hanumānjī wanted to enter into Śrī Laṅkā, the capital, Śrī Laṅkā had, like all the time, they had their belt—the river, not the river, the walls. Like big castles have high walls, big securities. Many people had around the castle two meters of water, deep, and in the waters they had crocodiles. And then, before the crocodiles, they had another ring with a high fence, and there were tigers or lions. So if they could escape from the tigers or the lions, then came the water, and then there were crocodiles there. If they could somehow escape the crocodiles, then they had snakes around, and when they could escape from the snakes... then they had on the top of the walls the guards standing there with the guns. You see how people are afraid and try to create more and more and more, but still one day death will come, and all the hungry crocodiles will remain there. These are crocodiles in our Mūlādhāra, in our Svādhiṣṭhāna, and in our Maṇipūra, and just like this. So there was a big wall castle and one big gate, a very big gate, and on the gate there was a night guard, and her name was Laṅkā. So the name came from Laṅkā. She was standing and guarding. Even Hanumānjī came. She was very tall, very big, you know. It's not like we are now, only till her hip joint. She was a strong lady. Hanumānjī saw this, and then Hanumānjī asked her to open that gate. She said, "No, you cannot enter this. I am the guard," a very strong, mighty lady. So Hanumānjī said, "Okay, but I want to go in." She said, "No chance. You can't go. Not even one ant can enter." So, sealed everything. So Hanumānjī said, "Okay." And Hanumānjī made a very small body, like a small, small mouse with a little tail, and walking. She was guarding like this, you know, looking, and he walked beside her into Laṅkā, and then again he said, "Jai Śrī Rām," and again he expanded, became bigger. So there is a power of the mantra. Anything he did, he said, "Jai Śrī Rām," God Rāma's victory, Lord's victory. We saw through this, some videos that time, they had this archery, and each arrow when they shot it was small arrows. But with some power of the mantra for different things—to create fire, to create thunder, to create rain, to create winds, and so on. This is through the mantra power. And so the students who stayed in gurukul, they had to make anuṣṭhāna, follow the discipline to be perfect in those mantras. And at the end of the gurukul, or school, the master, or the guru, said, "If you will use this power for injustice, then you will lose it forever, and it will not function. But if you use it for justice, then you will lose this power, and that will be the cause of your death. Then your enemy will attack you, and you have no power, no power of mantras." You can see in the Mahābhārata, in the Rāmāyaṇa, many times what happened. Similarly, when you have mantras from your master and you lose your energy or your devotion, and you lose the Guru Vākya, you are powerless. That's why out of thousands and thousands, maybe one comes through, because one is following one hundred thousand percent the principles. Hanumānjī went in, and wherever he'd see in the whole Laṅkā city or town or the village—it was not very big, but still, like this, our inner ring from being all people very everywhere—he would go and see if someone is spiritual, meditating. All this, all are drunken, meat and alcohol, and sleeping like anything. And the man says, "Rāma, Rāma." They lose, they spoil their life, they lost their life. What a pity, what a pity. But he was searching, is there anyone, even not one, who thinks of God? And then one morning, at 3:30, he got up, during Brahma Muhūrta, and he put on a ghee lamp. There was no electricity. And Hanumānjī saw through the window, "Oh, there is some light." So he walked slowly there. And he saw through the window, and there was one person only, that man. He made a pūjā and was doing, "Śrī Rām, Jai Rām, Jai Jai Rām, Śrī Rām." Doing mantra Rām Rām... Oh, Hanumānjī's heart was blossoming, so happy. At least one who believes in God, and that was for him like a full moon among all stars. So near the full moon, do you see some stars at midnight? No. Or among all the stars and moons, the sun. So Hanumānjī was thinking, make sure if he's really doing. And then he was the bhakta. So then Hanumānjī knocked on the door, and Vivekṣaṇa opened the door, the bhakta, and smiled. Hanumānjī smiled very sweetly, nicely. Hanumānjī had a dress of the sadhu, and Vivekṣaṇa said: "Moyā bharosā hai Hanumanta bin Hari kṛpā milī nahīṁ santa. Moyā bharosā hai Hanumanta." O Hanumānjī, I have confidence. "Bharosā bin Hari kṛpā milī nahīṁ santa." Without God's blessing, you cannot meet a saint. Without the divine grace, you cannot meet the saint. So when you have this divine light, when you have good luck, then you will meet your Yoga in Daily Life teacher. Not all, because they are coming then in the gene, and like this. But you see, real Yoga in Daily Life teachers appear in such a dress, beautiful cream. You know, they are all cream, cream... of the yoga, you know, the cream of the yoga, they are all with that. That's why Yoga in Daily Life teachers, students, they have a cream color, not a dream color, cream, cream quality. So it's not easy to meet that kind of teacher who will teach you with very gentleness, very kindness, without making differences, without criticizing, and without saying, "Come to me, don't go to the others; I have something better for you." That was one of the examples which we heard yesterday, from my vault, Bhaktānand Eddy about Yogānand, that Yogānand was such a teacher. So you have to be like that. Don't think immediately, "Ah, this teacher is not good. Ah, she's always asking for something. We have no time. We made our rules. We made..." Our law is not flexible. The holy guru said, "You should be like a branch of the tree. A branch of the tree, when the wind comes from this side, then bows down. When it goes to the other side, then again bows down. So that branch will survive, but the branch that will stand straight, will not go down, then it will be broken." And so the ego will break you. Selfishness. Selfishness is not in the Yoga in Daily Life. That's why there are Yoga in Daily Life. Yeah, that's it. But sometimes even your healthy tooth has a cavity. So some teachers have like this, sensitive, you know. They are still on the way. Perhaps a few lives, it doesn't matter. But at least some lives that you will get better, that one is the greatest one who renounces everything. God Kṛṣṇa said in the 12th chapter to Arjuna, "Those bhaktas who are neither happy when something good happens, nor unhappy, and have no anger toward their enemies—yo bhaktas, such bhaktas are mama priya. I love them. They are dear to me." So give. Who has the tendency to give is the great one. And those who have the tendency to take are not great. So tyāga, tyāga... renounce, renounce, renounce. If you will not give, it will be taken away one day. Then why not to give? "Mera toh kush hai nahī, jo kush hai so terā." Nothing is mine, everything is yours, Lord. "Terā tujh ko arpaṇ karte, kyā lagtā hai merā?" When mine is nothing, everything is yours, and when yours I give it to you, what do I lose? Nothing. But I gain that I am who is giving? Oh Lord, you choose me as a channel of your love, your mercy. That is mantra. So God said, "Try to renounce once, I will give you everything." There's another story, a very nice story, you know? In India, there's one state called Mahārāṣṭra. Mahā... Mahārāṣṭra means great nation. Mahārāṣṭra is a beautiful countryside, very beautiful. This is near Mumbai, Mumbai, Pune, these are all in Mahārāṣṭra. And there was a king, emperor, Sātrapati Śivājī. His name is called Śivājī, and so the airport in Mumbai is Śivājī, Sātrapatī Śivājī airport. Very nice king, very spiritual. And he had his master, his name called Rāmdās, Guru Rāmdās, and Guru Rāmdās is a very great master also. And his master was named, I don't know, but also very great. One day, his master, the master of the Sātrapati Śivājī's Rāmdās—Rāmdās is Samrāṭ Rāmdās. Samrāṭ means capable mighty one—so his Gurujī was giving satsaṅg, and in satsaṅg he said, "Simple living and higher thinking. Renounce everything, lead a very simple life," and this and that, you know. People always have different thinkings at the end of the satsaṅg. One man said, "Swāmījī, can I ask you something?" He said, "Yes, but you are a very close disciple, Rāmdās. He's leading a kingly life, having residence in the palace, and this and that, and everything. Why doesn't he live the simple life?" Rāmdās said, "Okay, I will tell him. You are right. I will tell him." After the satsaṅg, around 11 o'clock in the night, the master went to Rāmdhā's residence, knocked on the door. The guards were there, and so the guard said, "The master is here." Rāmdhājī came. "Master, this time you should have sent a message; I would have come to you. You took the trouble and came alone." He said, "We are always alone, and alone we came and alone we go. What can I do?" "Please come in," he said. "Nothing to do, and not to go in. Just where you are standing, step behind me. Don't go back, follow me." The master went, and the disciple went with him without shoes, just a little soul on. The master went through the forest. That time was a lot of forest, and most of the tigers and lions were in these mountains, in these areas. They went. Master took him to some hills, thorny bushes, rocks, and wild animals, and so on. On and master went far up in the hills, and then there became a beautiful rock hanging like this, and beside the rock was a beautiful water fountain, a beautiful water fountain, and nice sand, a very beautiful, small, but very nice place. Where do the tigers and lions drink the water? Of course not. All humans. Master said to Rāmdājī, "But that's all. The sand is your bed and your mattress, and everything. Here is water, and in the morning you will see some fruits are there to be eaten. We lead a simple life. Hari Om." And the master went away. Now this comfortable life, you know. Now if you ask me, Gurujī, go and sit under the neem tree, you know, I will sit for some hours. But well, the master is the master. The master went away. Rāmdājī was alone and very tired because the master was sporty, was walking quickly, quickly. And the other disciple was like a king's life. He lay down and slept. It was good summer weather, nice and warm. Now he's sleeping. He didn't recognize the Brahma Muhūrta. That was the Nāda Yoga. Very nice. And his disciple, Sātrapati Śivājī, decided early morning to go with his friends for a picnic. They had prepared one day before already to go. So when Sātrapati Śivājī asked, "Let's go for a picnic tomorrow," everybody was waiting, thinking, "I can go, I can go now." So everything was arranged: horses and nice eating things they put on the back of the horse, and the waters and drinking waters, and milk, and tents and whatnot, the spoons and these, and mattress and that and that... and a pillow and blankets and towels. When the king was going, there was a whole palace moving with him. So they went to the forest hills, and Śivājī told some of his guards, the soldiers, "Go and look for some beautiful place where there is a waterfall and sand, where we can sit there." And two men went with the horses, and they climbed up. So it was already 10 o'clock, and that's when Swāmījī is sleeping. They said, "It's our master? It cannot be." They looked carefully. "Yes, it is the master." Slowly, they went back and told the king, "Your Highness, the master is here." "Which master?" "Rāmdājī, now there must be a queue. People come for his darśan. What should he do here, and how should he come? Yesterday evening I was with him." They said, "Yes, your highness, it is he." He came slowly and looked. Oh, yes. He stood there and bent his prayer: Guru Brahma, Guru Viṣṇu. And then he said, "Don't make noise, but make a nice tent, a nice folding bed, put it, mattress, warm water, soap, towel." And the master gets up, he must have his bath and pūjā room and this. And within 45 minutes, half an hour or something, you know, order is order. Guru Vākya is also King Vākya. And suddenly, Master opened his eyes and said, "Śivājī, Chhatrapati Śivājī was standing there." And Master said, "Śiva, you are here." He said, "Yes, Master, but what? You are here. There is hot water for your bath. There is hot milk already ready with the chocolate." There was no chocolate, yes? Badam, almonds, milk, and kesha milk, and this and that. And there was a tent, and blankets, and pillows, and mattresses, and what not, and his Gurujī was waiting somewhere with that man who told him the day before yesterday, or one day, that, "Why don't you tell your disciples to renounce comfort?" No, so the master brought him there and said, "Look, that is Rāmdās. He renounced everything, but this everything doesn't want to renounce him, you see. And so you renounce, but you will get, you will have it. But if you can't renounce and are angry and jealous and so on, then you are a rotten tree. No, this is, and if a foul... is Baum, Balt Vyat, very soon will fall down. So it is in your kiśmat, it is in your destiny, it is your bhāgya that follows you. You will have it always. It doesn't matter where you go." And that's what Holy Gurujī often said. When Mahāprabhujī asked, "You need something?" Mahāprabhujī said, "At present, I have everything, and why should I carry with me? When I need something, you will give me there, please, and that's it." And so it's said in one bhajan. Kubera is the treasurer of heaven, the treasure of the gods. He is a treasurer, and he is in service of Gurudev. But still, Gurudev neglects him and goes for bhikṣā. That's it. That's called mastānā. "Mastana Guru Namaka Heli, Devana Satguru Namaka Mastana Heli." That is a mastana. Mastana is the Urdu word, you know. Mastana means the happy, without any sorrows, without any desires, without anything. Must, or someone who has drunken so much, it doesn't matter what you tell, doesn't care, even lying somewhere in the dirty water or in the bed, doesn't matter. But when that effect is gone, so divine intoxication, divine love. Renounce, renounce, renounce. And so Gurujī said, enter the kingdom of the Lord through the gate of sacrifice. And Gandhījī said, renounce and enjoy. So, a greedy one cannot renounce. Always try to keep, and as much as you try to keep, it will rot. And as much as you give, that will multiply. So, the master came to one village, and the king asked him a question: "What is master? Here, but nothing is there. And what is here and there? And what has nothing is here, and nothing is there. And what is that? Nothing is here, but everything is there." So, the master brought one poor hunter. He said, "Look here, he begs like a beggar. He's hunting, killing animals, poor animals. Here is nothing for him, and there is also nothing. Naraka, all in the naraka." Then he brought the greedy businessman who was counting every day, once, grossing once one cent, and this and went to the temple, only put one cent and one dollar as a donation, or not at all. Said God, "You don't need money, but give me prasad, that's it." Yes, it is. Comes to the ashram temple, I have my right to get a prasad donation? I'm coming every day. Should I give everyday donation? Okay, occasionally I will give some, that's it. God doesn't accept from you, and God doesn't expect from you. And you, you never gave Him, and you will never give Him. He is who gives you, and He will give you. But this is your spiritual bank. As much as you give, donation, that is multiplying in your bank with high interest, very high interest, my God. So that businessman who was very rich, has everything here, but nothing there; his bank account is zero, null. Then he brought another man who had a lot of money here, and he was very generous, donating, helping for humanitarian causes, for any vegetarian, and any veterinarian, or anything. Also, very much money. So God said, "Look, he has here enough, and he's giving so much. This all, his account is there. He will have there also enough." And then he brought one tyāgī sādhu. Tyāgī means have nothing, just one little cloth around the body, like now we would say, "Very poor, yes." When I was this time in Sydney, I saw so many ladies, they have only 30 centimeters only. They are so poor. I ask Uma Devī, "Can we make here a lecture and some kind of fundraising, that these poor ladies can have a little longer cloths?" Or this all goes to the summer seminar, you will see on the beach, you know. They are so poor, they have nothing. A little langoṭā, like a Nāgābābā in the Kumbha Melā. At least Nāgabābā behaves naturally, and this Nāgabābā behaves so poorly, not naturally, unnaturally. So look, he has nothing. He gave up everything, and day and night he is meditating and praying and leading life in God consciousness. After this life, he will have the kingdom of the whole three worlds, and that's it. Tyāga. Tyāga. "Die binā devu nahīṁ deva janam janam karo sevā." Without giving, I will not give you; life after life, serve and serve. So, mantra, the power of the mantra is always in that vākya, guru vākyas, all in the Upaniṣads and everywhere, is power. Prayer, what you have, what you call the dining table prayer, what is that? It is a word of thankfulness, but that is powerful, that is very powerful. You are not ought to eat just, but you should thank for that. You got it. We got it from God, and we should be thankful for that. So they used to have these mantras, and this is their credit in their life. Now, many, many different kinds of devotees, different kinds of feelings, you know, in India. There are many, many temples. So much donation comes that they cannot count; they are always weighing with the weight, weight... of this kind of wealth, with a scale that's it, so many coins and so much money. If they have to count, then you have to have 200 people only for counting. Tirupati Balaji and many, many temples in India, many. Even the Golden Temple in Punjab, and so on, many times these Sikhs go there, and they are so greatly devoted. When he gets his salary from the month and goes to the Gurudwara, he puts everything there, and he comes home. His wife said, "Did you bring today's salary?" He said, "Yes, but I put it on Guru Dvāra." And she said, "You were the luckiest one. You were the luckiest one that you could do." So there are different things, and God gives them more. He does not know how, but something comes. There are many, many channeling systems, you know. Many channeling systems. Many banks have, once they said in Prague, there is a channel system they made down underground, you know, a canal system that's very good. It was from one bank to the other bank money went, and he don't know where it is. That was so nice, anyhow. Mantra, and so, all dear bhaktas around the world, be generous, be open-minded, and help and give.