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A very good evening to everyone. We are gathered in this hall, harmonizing body, mind, and soul for the Anuṣṭhān Summer Retreat. Today was a hard day for some, as the third day often is, due to the discipline of sitting and practice after many months. Our topic is our own well-being. This concept of "wellness" or "well-being" is not modern; it is ancient. Maharishi Patañjali spoke of it clearly in the Yoga Sūtra. The saints knew what humanity would need forever, as long as mortal beings exist on this planet. They all need wellness. Holy Gurujī used to say in his satsaṅg, and Mahāprabhujī's bhajans tell us, that every entity is a light or spark of God. For decades, whenever I speak, I speak of God, spirituality, happiness, peace, harmony, understanding, and love. Yet, it remains hard to understand what God is. What is God? There is a very short, clear answer in one word: "That is God." God is God. No commentary, no explanation. How, then, do you feel God's presence? How do you see God? As an individual, what knowledge do you have of the endless universe? When we begin to think, we say: God is happiness, God is love, God is light, God is truth, God is omniscient and omnipresent, God is in every atom. These are many explanations, but God is God, and that God is manifesting Himself in His creation. The father is in your child, and the grandson is in your son. God is in everyone—not only humans, but all creatures. Why do we long for God-realization? Some people try to realize the devil, engaging in black magic and such. But finally, at life's end, they too would like to realize God. They will join the "God party," for He is our origin. You may not understand, but God is also the inner reality of the devil. The devil exists because of bad qualities, bad nature, bad society, but the real truth inside is the light of God. It is said when Kṛṣṇa was a young boy, his uncle, Kaṁsa—the brother of his mother—was known as a devil. Kaṁsa knew that one of his sister's children would be the cause of his death. He searched and searched. Kaṁsa was mighty, with a strong army. When Kṛṣṇa was small, he said he would go to Mathurā to see his uncle. Others said, "He is a devil; he will kill you. We are hiding you constantly. Why go?" Kṛṣṇa said, "I must go, because day and night he thinks of me. He cannot sleep, he thinks so much. I think no one here thinks so much about me. When someone thinks of me, I must appear and I will liberate that one." So, even if he is a devil, it does not matter through which thoughts he is thinking of me. The reality is he is thinking of me, and I will go and liberate him. In this way, God will appear to you in the way you think and feel Him. But are you sure you wish to see God? "My Lord, I dedicate everything to you. My life belongs to you, God. Please, I live only for you, my Lord. Take me with you to your divine kingdom, to your divine light." You know when you have problems, when you are disappointed, you cry and say, "Only you are my prāṇa dhārā"—the source of my life. "You are my life. Do what you want, Lord. I am yours. Please come." The Lord is merciful. He comes to take your hand. Then you say, "I didn't mean this! No, no, Lord. I have my wife, my children, my job, my money, my house. I didn't mean you would come. Just bless me and go away." That is why God doesn't come. So, are you ready to see God? Will you accept Him as He is? In one bhajan it is said: What will I do with that face of God, which I have never seen? How will it be? And what will I do with it? How you imagine God's face is not how it will be. Even if God comes in a beautiful form you like, you may doubt: "Is this God? God cannot come like this." Again you are in doubt: "God is not that." Humans are never satisfied: "If this, no; that, no." But God is the Father—the source and light of our life, what is living within us. It is that which experiences happiness, unhappiness, love, misery, freedom, and whatnot. Your body does not experience anything. You think your body is enjoying, but when the prāṇa leaves, the body enjoys nothing more. It is then burned, buried, or eaten by other creatures. You do not feel the fire, the heaviness under the earth, or animals biting and tearing. This is not bodily enjoyment; it is something different. So, God is happiness. God is wellness. God is ānanda. Because every creature represents God's reality, every creature is day and night busy trying to be happy. A small ant runs constantly. For what? To be happy. No one wants to feel unhappiness, be it human, animal, or tree. You must look at these trees. Observe them. They are also sitting and listening, and are very thankful. Not only the trees, but many different creatures are here. They look at us; some wait for us to leave so they can find food. They are not happy we are sitting here. Some think, "Please go, but leave something here"—happiness. Happiness is God, and everyone searches for it. That happiness is nowhere else but in your heart, your mind, your way of thinking. Man ke māte hār hai, aur man ke māte jīt. It is your mind that suffers when you lose, and your mind that celebrates when you win. Loss and gain are in the mind. This game of loss and gain is a drama for children: "I got it and he did not," "He got it and I did not." What do you gain? What you lose will not remain here forever. Patañjali worked on this, and before him, many great saints wrote and spoke about this happiness and the way of thinking. It is called vikṣepa and kleśa. Vikṣepa means disturbances. Kleśa means that kind of quarreling, fighting, creating restlessness in your body, mind, emotion, intellect, consciousness—whatever you call your relations. Kleśa. You are a happy family, sitting peacefully. Your child goes outside and throws a stone at a neighbor's child. The neighbor beats your child. Both children cry, both families fight. This is kleśa. Kleśa, or kliṣṭa, refers to the problems in our vṛttis, our ways of thinking, which we create. And of course, the three tapas—Ādhibhautik, Ādhidaivik, and Ādhyātmik—which we have spoken of many times, influence your energy and destiny. These three kinds of "fire" (not only burning fire, but all different kinds of kleśas and disturbances) come from other creatures, from astral beings, like sudden illnesses, mental illnesses, or social problems. These are all kleśas. We do not want them, but they come. Only you can calm this fire through practicing your mantra. Gurujī said in a bhajan: Vichalasukhapāve brahmānandan avichalas nandan śrī-dīpa niranjana sabadukha prabhu-dīpa niranjana sabadukha bhan isi mantra se hove mana manja... Śrī Dīpa Nirañjana Sabhā Dukha Vana Prabhu Dīpa Nirañjana Sabhā Dukha Vana. This mantra purifies your problems, impurities, and sufferings from your mind. The real cause is sin, and the cause of these three tapas is all removed through your mantra. So, kliṣṭa vṛttis: when you think negative, you act negative, inviting kleśas. When you think positive and do good, you invite happiness—wellness and well-being. Well-being means establishing a solid, permanent relation to God. "Wellness" is like the waves on the ocean. God is the ocean, and you are the waves. No ocean, no waves. Waves and God are one. Creation and God are one. Therefore, everyone would like to come to the origin. I have a piece of metal in my hand. I throw it into the sky. Where does it go? It will not go forever; it comes back to my hand. Why? Because this piece of iron is part of the earth, part of this planet. Being very small compared to Earth, it always wants to return to the bigger part, the origin. If it goes millions of kilometers away, it becomes difficult to return because gravity becomes thinner. Similarly, those who think of God and become aware of Him can come quickly to God. Others, though they do not know they are part of the universal one, feel that love—which is happiness, well-being. We are not mighty; only One is almighty. He is the origin, and we would like to come back and become one with Him. Well-being in your heart you can only achieve. You cannot buy it or create it outside, but you can give this wellness, this happiness, to others. However, you can only give inspiration. Like a mother and father can give birth to a child, but they cannot give the child its destiny; the child brings its own. Similarly, you can give inspiration, but not realization. Only one who has realized completely in his or her consciousness may give you a glimpse and show the direction. Ultimately, you must walk in that direction. So: kliṣṭa vṛtti, kleśa, vikṣepa, mala. Vikṣepa and āvaraṇa. Mal is impurity; vikṣepa is disturbances; āvaraṇa is a thick, non-transparent curtain. Remove the mal—physical, mental, intellectual, spiritual impurities. Clean them. Vikṣepa is like waves on water; you cannot see the bottom. The water may be dirty, so you cannot see. Āvaraṇa is like a curtain of ignorance from these three tapas in saṃsāra and impurity: negative thinking, jealousy, hate, complex moods. We spoke in detail yesterday—it depends on you, and on spiritual divine words and truth. Your presence makes even this forest happy. This forest is a lesson and an example for us since birth. This tree stands faithfully. It may have experienced bitter cold, intense heat, rains, or thunderstorms. Only the tree knows. Its example for us is: it does not matter what happened; remain faithfully where you are. That is your success. Uproot the tree, and it will die; the prāṇa will leave. Therefore it is said: "Gurudev, I will be dying always. Devotees may come and devotees may go, but still, my Lord, I will be thy guru. I will be thine always. I may go farther than the stars. Do not think I am gone; I am yours. I did not go away; my feelings are there." It is not a physical relation; it is a relation of devotion. It has no distance. Love grows even in distance, and jealousy creates unhappiness even when you are together. "Even if I die, look into my eyes. Mutely, they will say, 'What will I be? Die, my Lord, always my Guru day.'" And that is it. So, purify your relations with beautiful qualities; then your well-being is there.