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Part 1: A Gathering of Hearts: Reflections on Grace, Healing, and the Guru's Presence Śrī Jagannātha Madguru, Śrī Jagatguru, Māmātmā, Sarvabhūtātmā, Tasmai Śrī Gurve Namaḥ. Salutations to the Cosmic Self. Salutations to Śrīla Pūjya Siddhārtha Vītparamparā. My tenderest greetings to our beloved Gurudev, His Holiness, Viśvaguru Mahāmudāleśvara Maheśvarānanda Pūjya Mahārāj. Om Namaḥ Nārāyaṇa to Svāmī Madhāram Pūjya, and Hari Om to all of you who are present here and those watching through the webcast. Good evening to all of you, and good morning, afternoon, and evening to whichever part of the world you are watching from. It is a beautiful, sunny, lovely day, made much more special and beautiful because when beautiful hearts come together, as I often say, people with the same frequency, on the same page, or in the same book coming together, makes the atmosphere much more beautiful. Of course, the ashrams or the places where Gurudev’s lotus feet have blessed and consecrated are divine, and you can obviously feel those energies. But also, when hearts, pure hearts and beautiful people come together, that also elevates the atmosphere greatly. So I’d like to thank each and every one of you for all the generosity, all the beautiful time, and the experiences. And yes, I think we need this more often. I am not sure that I can physically come once a year, but I will try to—not once a year, but twice or thrice a year, as I want to. Once a year for sure. But let’s try to do one thing. Let me try to, let’s have an online satsaṅg, and I will join once a month, okay? And even if I’m not here, Madhuramjī is here organizing many satsaṅgs. Let’s have more satsaṅgs. Satsaṅg means the company where there is truth, where there is a good atmosphere, where one talks about something nice. It doesn’t need to be a talk. You can have satsaṅg at your home also. But here in this beautiful ashram, or in any ashram, let’s all come together at least once a week. Do you? Zoom. Technology. What was before technology? We all had to come, no? So let’s try to gather more often and have beautiful satsaṅgs with more people, community, sometimes at their place, sometimes at his place, sometimes here, anywhere. It should be more. Ashram. The literal meaning of āśram means "come," and āśram means "work." That’s the literal meaning of āśram, karma yoga. We are famous for it. So let’s all gather more often and have beautiful satsaṅgs. You can have it at any place, any home. Good evening, everybody. Nārī Om and Om Namo Nārāyaṇa to our Swāmī Avatār Purī Jī. Well, we had a really beautiful time. But I think mostly our hearts feel rejoiced and really filled with joy, because it’s very rare this time to meet a real human being. Many people carry the form of the human body, but very rare are those whose hearts are filled with the presence of the divine and who are willing to share this with the world. I think if we all would try to live his life for a week or a month, we wouldn’t realize that it’s not as easy as it looks from outside, but to really offer this inner space or to offer the energy for the service of the Gurudev, that’s something very great, so we are of this in the world. So he says here, I don’t know who wrote this bhajan, but he says, "They have been wandering the whole world, but nowhere I could find such a close friend." This is becoming nowadays, um... And in spirituality, I feel very much the need for that friendship, a spiritual friend, someone who—you know how nice it is to sit down with someone and you don’t have to talk about the weather or politics or something, but we talk about God, we talk about love and joy. That is very rare. He says the whole world is crying until we meet with the saint. And from that moment, I think of him day and night. I don’t want to separate from you, because without you, I will not find peace. I’m just like a fish that dies without water, in agony. I respected you and will respect you further. When I heard the name of the Satguru, then I decided to wear the clothes of the fakīr. My beloved Gurudev, please don’t leave me. I want to live in this joy, in this real happiness that we had. We were talking all week about what is really real joy. Is it really an ice cream? It’s good, it’s nice, but is it really somewhere out there? No, we had a lot of, lot of words from Swāmī Avatār Purījī. It’s inside, it’s within. So, after the divine words of my Guru, I have woken up and I have caught the knowledge. At the feet of His, I am met with joy. And I am hugging the lotus feet of Gurudev. I was just, as we were singing bhajans, I was just thinking about the last 21 years. Has it been 21, Devpurījī, since we took mantra? 20 years. And how, I guess I was very young still. That was my early twenties. And how many beautiful experiences I have had with Swamijī. The first time I went, I met him here in Wellington Ashram. And I was so impressed with his lecture. And in the break, he said in perfect German to Umā Purī, "Go bring me a cup of tea." And I was like, "He speaks German?" Because I was born in Germany, I was very impressed with this Indian Swāmī. And then I decided that I would just go on my own accord to Jārdhān. I didn’t tell anyone that I was coming. So I was outside the gates, and the guards out there, they wouldn’t want to let me in. And at that time, I didn’t realize Swāmījī walked past behind me. It was such a blessing because he doesn’t often walk on the outside of the compound, you know? I was like... and then there were times in Fiji where we had a beautiful time visiting the different disciples and just watching him in everyday life. And one time we left the accommodation and he said, "Have you got everything?" I’m like, yep, yep,... have you got everything? Yep, yep... And then we left the phone charger behind, and he stopped on the stairs, and he waited for the bugs and the insects to crawl past before he stepped. And it’s given me so much, a attention to detail and his care for people, always making sure. And so, I mean, I’ve really... I observed the same with you the last few days, how much care you take for each person, and how you inquire and make sure everyone is comfortable and pain-free. Yeah, it’s very beautiful, and how much I’ve learned this is cooking and how... much my ego has been, um, how do you say, molded like a beautiful pottery vase. And then, um, when I was younger, I feel like I was a bit more brave, so I asked him for my name in front of everyone in Jadan, and he mumbled something like... I was like, "Oh, I wonder what this means." It took me another two or three years to ask him about the meaning, and at that point, I had already studied Āyurvedic medicine, and I was like, "I’m sure he’s going to say something like, ’Open up.’" An Ayurvedic hospital or something, so I went with all of these preconceptions, and then he sat on this chair right there here, and he was like, stroking his beard, saying, "I think you should have a family," and I was like, "Oh gosh, that’s so neff," like, so boring. And it was just the biggest teacher, you know, becoming a mom and doing that selfless service, and then bringing my children. And we went on the Australian desert tour, and my youngest son, Gopāl Purī, he was, my oldest was two years old, and it was just so beautiful, so many beautiful memories of sitting by the fire and having chai with Swamijī, and yeah, going to Strolki and just following him around. So beautiful, and how much I feel I have changed and become a different person, and how much I appreciate Swamijī having you here. And for you, I have great respect for your caring, what you’re carrying: the light and the responsibility, and the schedule. And I’m very happy that physically you’re very young, so you can endure, hopefully, the strain of this. This is a blessing. And a burden, I feel it’s our job to digest, yeah. So thank you for blessing us. I was very sick when you first arrived; I had shingles really bad. And this morning I woke up and I’m like, "I’m pain-free." So thank you for the blessings. And the beautiful yajña that was my highlight this week, and that was so beautiful. So yeah, I am blessed to still be here and stay steadfast in my belief, and be unmoved, and just, yeah, continue singing bhajans and kīrtan and have my beautiful guru. Brothers and sisters, here for you know, watching each other mature, and having Matajī here, so beautiful. Thank you, thank you very much. Okay, so I will say something very present. Well, not so present. I had the injury eight months ago. And since then, I was in lots of pain. I have, like, a prolapsed disc, and as a side effect, I had very strong sciatica. I tried everything I could, and nothing was helping me, and I started to be really down. I have to say that sometimes when someone has, like, back pain or problems, it takes a lot of quality of life. And yeah, when we knew Swāmī Avatār is coming, okay, so I have, I had lots of pain when preparing for the arrival of Swāmī Avatār Purī. I felt like it would be really tough and hard for me, yeah, because I didn’t feel well. And even when they came, I was limping. I’m still a little bit kind of like twisted and in lots of pain. And since Swami Avatar... is well in Oakland. When I was, Swami Avatar told me twice to come here down to Wellington, and first I, yeah, I thought that I, I can’t because I’m in ashram. I should take the classes, and there is no one else who will take it, but he... I had the lecture about going with the flow, and when opportunity comes, we should take that opportunity. So I thought, like, yeah, let’s go, you know? As he was as well mentioning, like, to give everything to our master, and it is his responsibility, so I... I thought, "Oh, he told me to go, so it is his responsibility now, whatever happened." So I sent the newsletter that for one week I’m canceling classes, and I’m going down to Wellington. And, you know, of course, I was sitting for me. Like for the longer period of time, it was very hard and painful, so I thought, "How am I going to survive that flight down to Wellington?" It is just like one, yes, it was like one hour, and the next day when I was in so much pain that we... I went with David. We wanted to go to the emergency room, and then we went for after-hours care, yeah, kind of like emergency. Because I was in so much pain, they prescribed me again just more painkillers, and we bought the crutches so I could get around. Can help me with walking, and then the miracle happened. I mean, like, it’s crazy. I think, like, no one will believe me, not students in Oakland, but since I’m here, like, my pain is gone, honestly gone, and I thank you very much to Swāmī Avatār for praying for me, and as well, I know that lots of yoga friends were praying for me and for all the good wishes. But for myself, I really have the feeling that to be in presence of Swāmī Avatār, it healed me, and it’s a miracle, and I know it. For some people, it can... Yes, yes, yeah. And yesterday, I first time went like a long distance, and I was like really impressed. If it didn’t happen to me and myself, and knowing my pain for the last eight months, I wouldn’t believe, but it’s really happened, and here I am. So, thank you very much. Yeah, the opportunity came. If someone would ask us how we experience the Divine or the presence of the Divine, I would say, for me, it’s definitely Swāmījī. And that stillness, sometimes what happens, even if there is a big chaos, there is a... I’m not crying yet. Thank you. Yeah, even if there is chaos, there is that stillness, peacefulness. There is something in the air that makes the air become more dense. At least, I would describe it like that. And I experience it sometimes in the meditation, if I am blessed. Sometimes in the yoga classes, when I am teaching, in that moment I have a feeling suddenly something has changed in the yoga hall. And then I imagined that Swamiji opened his third eye, and he’s thinking of New Zealand, and his energy is channeled here, and people can feel it. And sometimes they said to me that they felt something different, that the class was different. And sometimes we can experience it, or I can experience it in Yoga Nidrā. But why I am talking about that is that on Tuesday, when everything was so peaceful, I said to myself, "Guru Tattva landed in New Zealand with Avatar Purījī." Or, I don’t know whether it’s Guru Tattva; maybe I would call it like that. And in that moment, I took my phone, and I had miscalled from Kamala because Avatar Purījī wanted to talk to me. And for me, it was like just an internal experience that Avatar Purījī is really the carrier of Swāmījī’s light and Swāmījī’s knowledge, and not only of Swāmījī, of course, but of our whole paramparā. So he often jokes and does the jokes, and but sometimes I just can’t joke, because I don’t see him as a 26-year-old young man. With my eyes, I see him like that, of course, but with my heart and soul, it’s completely different. So yeah, I am very pleased, and I feel blessed that we... have we had you? And that you took this upon you, because it’s definitely hard duty and a difficult commitment. And we will try to support you as much as we can with our work, with our love, with our seva to you and to Swāmījī. Yeah, that’s all I would say. So, I wish you a very nice evening, and it’s a blessing to have you here. That’s what I learned from him: one is svadharma, and one is paradharma. Svadharma means dharma for yourself, doing things for ourselves. Going and buying ice cream, that’s for ourselves, unless we are sharing is caring and we share a few scoops here and there. But paradharma is what Gurudev has been living by. It means not doing for himself, but entirely, his whole life was dedicated for us, for all of his disciples, for this beautiful family, why? Because that is his, wouldn’t call it his job, but yes, in one way it is. That’s why he came back. Otherwise, I think up there is much more spacious, and much more fun, and much more relaxing instead of being. He came back down into the mṛti loka, but if he decided to come back down here, then obviously there was a higher purpose and a higher reason for it: to unite this loka. Otherwise, if he wouldn’t be here, none of us would be here, because of him. He grabbed each and every one of us from all different corners. You have Slovak, Slovak, Kiwi, Hungarian, German, Kiwi, British, Slovak, Australian, Kiwi, Indian, Indian, Slovenian, Slovak. So yeah, it’s very interesting. That’s why we can easily call it an international seminar, because it’s not only New Zealand people. We are many, many, many. And Swamijī never saw religion, race, background, what you came from, why you came, no. Ashram doors and the doors of his heart have always been open for each and every one of us, from any background, from any space. We all can come to him, see him as a father, see him as a mother, see him as a guru, see him as a friend, see him as a sister, see him in any form you want to see him as. There is no form. He never let us have that feeling that he came to us or that he dealt with us in a way as we wanted to be dealt with. If you wanted to go to him as a father, he would act like that. If you wanted to go to him as a guru, he acted like that. If you wanted to go as a friend, he acted like that. That’s something which we can learn. I know many, many masters, many marmalishers who, sorry to say, but yeah, sometimes are flying very high in the sky. But Gurudev is one very, very divine soul, who I saw personally also, who has everything but has, or acts like, nothing. Because especially when you have so much, and especially when you become to that level, not only spiritually but in the... worldly world, also ego might arise very easily, and especially like now, when many of you are talking authoritative this and authoritative that and authoritative here and authoritative that, easily ego can spike up. But when we have, I don’t... say controlling, I call it taming, like we tame a horse. We tame these inner enemies, which I call, I have to make inner enemies, which I call, so that when the ego comes up, we know how to tame it and bring it down. So, but they’ve never had that. It was always very kind, that’s why I was always saying that for me he was the most kind, understanding, forgiving person I know. And also, I have experienced this with many people, even if they don’t like something, they leave, Swāmījī. Oh, this is, we don’t... like this, and we don’t like that, and they leave, and after many years they come back. And Swāmījī never had any questions: "Why did you leave? Why did you come back?" Nothing. Arms are always open. "Come here, my dear." That’s it, finish. Why? Because that Tattva, that Guru Tattva is within all of us, and we all are one with that. And the highest bond and the highest relationship which we can have is with the Master, because that is the one which is connecting us. All other relations, parents, brothers, sisters, partners, anything, all these relationships are bound to be. Hopefully, they last very long, but they can be broken. But one relation which is never broken, once you’re in that, then you’re in it. You can drift away with the wind, but the bond doesn’t end; it doesn’t cut off. That is one bond which is everlasting, always there. And that’s why we are all blessed to be his disciples, because we are all here. Even if we are not his disciples, but we are still on the spiritual path, we are still sitting in the same hall, means... something, and there is all, as Gyanānanda was mentioning a few days back, that Swāmījī told him that he and Paramahaṁsa Yogānanda both were like brothers, and they are the same energy. So all these great masters, they all have that same Guru Tattva within them, and they’re all connected, and they’re all here for a higher purpose. And we all are blessed to be a part of this spiritual journey, because that is something that takes us forward in our life. Gurudev always told me, "Mānuṣya janama pāyā, ise kho na dijiye." Which means this human life is very precious. We shouldn’t waste it. Many of us waste it in many other things, but if we were born as this human life, we probably... don’t want to be born again into it, so hopefully, with the grace of Gurudev and these teachers and masters, we hopefully get liberated from this and be free from the cycle of death and birth, but to be a part of this era, to be born in the same time as him. It is a great blessing for us. You could be born 100 years after or 100 years before, but we are born in this time. We had darśana of Guru Deva, darśana of Ādhanāhu. So that means even with one glimpse of a Guru, with one glimpse of darśana of his energy, of him, of his physical body, and many of us are blessed to have darśan of both Gurujī and Swāmījī, and internally all are connected. Inwardly, we can have darśan of many, but in the physical form also, we are graced to have darśan of both gurus, and that’s why I’m saying this is the best time to be born—not before, not later. We are in this time, that is the best time. Whatever happens, happens for a reason, and for a good reason. Why it happens, why things happen, is none of our business. If it happens, it happens. Can you change it? No. So let it go, let it go... I think that was from "Frozen," that’s right, so let things go and surrender. I wouldn’t say surrender means blind faith. For me, surrender, personally, I used to hold on to many things in my life, even still maybe do here and there, but once I decided that for me to... This inner peace and inner happiness, all this that I’m talking about, I talk about because planning and these things never functioned for me. Because as many plans as I made for any trips or anything, there’s always a friend who ditches you at... the last time, and then you end up not going anywhere, so these plannings never really aligned with me. So then I just let things go, and once I let things go, then automatically all the trips and 100 billion more trips started, and after let... go of things and said, "Okay, as you wish." In Sanskrit we say, "Guror ajñā na vicāryā," which means the instructions or the guidance of the guru should not be found in logic, but our human brain will always try to find logic behind things because we always want to understand things, we always want to figure out why. But then, with one wise, there was a book which Prem Nanjay gave me when I was five, four, five, because always, and even now, those who travel with me know I’m always going, "Why, why?" Why, why? So he gave me a book, "A Hundred Whys." So yeah, we will never find the answer to all the whys, but we as humans will always question things. But as us mortal human beings, and those who are ignorant like us, we call them ajñānī jīvas, which is... us, we are not trikāla darśī. Trikāla darśī means three, means three kāla means times, and darśī means a seer, the one who sees. So that’s them, the great mahāpuruṣis, the great saints. They’re the ones who can see past, present, and future. So let them do that job, it’s easier for them to do it. Let us just be in the present, and oh, that’s more than enough. Because if we are trying to wander off in the past, which we can’t change, and we are humans—as humans, we all make mistakes—if we don’t make mistakes, we’re not humans like, but as humans, we tend to find the negative parts in everything. We try to—we are not trying, but even subconsciously or consciously—we are always drawn and pulled towards that negativity more than the positive energies. But if we see the positivity in everyone and in everything around us, then we feel that positive energy from others, and we can let go of the negativity. And with every breath, every inhalation we take, we feel that positivity coming in, prāṇa śakti going in, and with every exhalation we let go of all the negativity, all the toxins which are within us and which we feel from others. Most of the time when we are in a different headspace, it’s not us; we are most of the time projecting it from others, and we are feeling other things from others and grabbing onto it, because we like to grab onto things, especially when it’s something juicy. There is negative talks and positive talks. Part 2: The Gift of Presence and Practice Gossip attracts us because it provides more juice in our life—more to think about and talk about. During my recent travels, I learned to separate from these things and pull myself back from the external, chaotic drama around us. We tend to be pulled towards it because it gives us energy, but not good energy. It draws us in deeper until we become exhausted, a state visible to ourselves and others. Therefore, if things are happening and you are not directly involved—or even if you are—let it go. We will deal with it when it comes to us. If it is with us or around us, take your time to make a decision, because most decisions made immediately are impulsive and irrational. When we make decisions, we often don't think. If you say something to me, the first thought that comes to my head is probably not the right one, yet I might say it. Most of the time, if I had waited—what we now call a buffer period—giving myself time and space to think, relate, and process, the answer would be slightly different. You are no longer in that headspace of anger, sadness, or any other emotion. You have time to think. For an experiment, I noted down my immediate reaction and then observed after the buffer period. It works. That’s why I always say we have something new to learn from others. We do not know everything. We are the best versions of ourselves, I agree, but do we know everything? No. That is our ego saying, "I know everything, and I am the best." Every day we can learn something new from someone. You can learn how to be honest from a child because they do not have that overthinking process; they are straightforward. They are brutally honest. If they don’t like something, they say, "I don’t like it." If they like something, they express it. Learn that from a child. Learn caring nature from females, because they have that. Swāmījī once said if the Śakti comes together, the world will turn from Kalyug back to Satyug. That is the power of the Mātrā Śaktis before us and everyone watching. But for that, all the Śakti must come together. We all have that energy within us. We just need to realize it and go within to understand. Most of the time, it is suppressed deep down because we don’t believe in ourselves and our capabilities. But when we realize we are capable of anything, how? Because we have Varada Hasta. That hand is always there. Even if not in physical form, just look within. After many satsaṅgs, you hear Swāmījī saying, "I am yours and you are mine." That’s all we need. If he said, "You are mine," what else do you need? We are sitting in his heart, and he is sitting in ours. You don’t need to look for a picture or his physical form. Sometimes it’s funny. I would sit with Swāmījī, and people would come—not anymore, but before—asking, "Swāmījī, which color socks should I wear?" We have been learning about Vivekā our whole life. I am always folding my hands, grateful and impressed by how he dealt with the mess of every single one of us. We all come to him, but again, that is expectations. It’s not a transaction, but we make it one. When we go to Indian temples, especially in India, you go to a temple, a church, or a mosque. In temples, it’s like: "Śivjī, here is one liter of milk; pass me in the exam. Then I will give you one kilo of sweets." That’s a transaction. "Hanumanjī, I’ll offer you one liter of sindoor if I get this job." "Swāmījī, if I get this, I will do this for Dho Mushram." Why? It’s not a transaction if you do seva. It is with niṣwartā bhāv—without any swartā, without any expectations in return. If we do things with purity of heart, things will automatically happen for you. But we all have expectations—from ourselves, partners, friends, family, parents. When expectations are not fulfilled, we go into resentment, anger, and feeling bad. If in the first place we don’t have expectations, these emotions will not arise, and it is much more peaceful. I used to deal with expectations. A few years back, I said, "Swāmījī, my problems are yours, my happiness is yours, and my sadness is also yours. You deal with all that." I’m not dealing with it; I simply give it all to him. That’s why we have a Guru—to dump all our mess on him. In one way, yes. You are my father, my mother. If you are my parent, then take care of it. Simple. I will follow my path, the path you showed me. But then my problems are also yours. If my happiness is yours, my sadness is also yours. If my growth is yours, then my downfall is also yours. Everything is in his hands. Once we understand that surrendering, it doesn’t mean we blindly follow or think life will function fine while we sit at home and gold coins drop from the sky. No. Kṛṣṇa said, "Karma karo, phal kī chintā mat karo." If we do our karma, what we are supposed to do, then don’t worry about the fruit; the result will automatically come. But for that, faith, surrender, and devotion are important. It doesn’t need to be too specific. Everyone has faith in their own gurus, higher spirits, and God. But in any form, a guru has to be there. Without a guru, life is incomplete. If you say a guru is not necessary, then who were your parents? They taught you how to walk and talk—they are your gurus, your teachers. Why do we go to school? Can we learn everything by ourselves without a guru? Give a book to a young child who doesn’t know how to read or the ABCs. Can he? No. We send him to school, to teachers, to gurus. So why can’t we accept that we need a guru in our spiritual journey to guide us? They know more than us; that’s why they are where they are. We can feel and see it. It’s not, "You have to do this," or "I am the greatest." No, there are many. Go around, experiment. I’m just saying, have one. Choose one in this Kalyug. It’s hard to find true gurus nowadays. There are many interesting ones, but once you find the true one, stick to him or her. Realize that guru-tattva is within us also. Once he gives us the greatest gift—our mālā, our mantra, our kriyā, or whatever we are initiated in—follow that practice because that is the energy house. Every round of mālā is one phone call with the higher spirit, with God, with whoever you believe in. Why do we have a mālā? We can chant ajapa; it will continuously go on. But our monkey mind, which is restless, jumps from one to another hundred billion thoughts. When we are doing mālā, every bead reminds us, "Oh, I’m doing my mālā." That’s why mālā is a tool. The greatest gift we got was our mantra. If we follow it, everything will go well. If we have faith in him, everything will be good. But we need that faith. We need to understand: you are the doer; I am not the doer. I am just the observer of this life. I realize I had been a little casual in my relationship with Swāmījī recently. You remind me again of Swāmījī, the lineage, and who you are—the absolute joy I have experienced so many times in his presence, when I think of him, when I’ve been around him. That same joy is coming back now. That’s why your name has Aham. Hearing you talk has taken me to another place. Thank you. It’s a reminder of Swāmījī. You bring two things: father and son. Often the son speaks like the father but with his own aspect, his own new expression. I could hear Swāmījī talking through you, and I could hear you bringing other knowledge and ways of expressing. The lovely dynamic of the two of you sitting here reminds me of why I came in the first place many years ago—to be with such a great soul. It is an absolute gift, the greatest thing we could ever experience. We are so lucky to be in the physical presence of a being like Swāmījī, incarnated at this time. How many incarnations have we had? Thousands. How many times do we become incarnated with a Satguru? Hardly any. This is the most important incarnation of my cycle of lifetimes because I’ve come across such a divine being. When I first met Swāmījī, I was a Yogānanda disciple and thought that was enough. But Swāmījī said, "We are brothers, Yogānanda Jī and I." He also said to me privately, "Yogānanda Jī and I are one." That struck me. I didn’t know what "one" meant at that stage, and I thought, "How dare he say that?" But I took it into meditation after leaving him, and it was absolutely true. In meditation, I moved outside my mind space into a deeper aspect of who I am, and it was clear: Swāmījī and Yogānanda Jī are one. I found out what paramahaṁsa was when I first met Swāmījī. For me, a paramahaṁsa is love itself. When I first met him, that was all coming from him. I had never experienced it with anybody before. I was nearly 40. It is qualitatively different. The love from Swāmījī was clearly unconditional. I’d never experienced unconditional love; it just poured from him. There’s a song: "The first time ever I saw your face... the sun shines out of your eyes, and the moon and the stars are your glow." He brought the cosmos. Since being on Swāmījī’s path, he has become a guru, an amazing friend, the best friend, a father—all these aspects. The most special person I’ve ever met, absolutely without a doubt. He’s always there. I love his unconditionality. This is the quality of such a great one. We were talking about oneness: one and all, and all in one. Swāmījī would demonstrate this. We went to many places; he would gather religious leaders, light a candle, plant a tree, do mantra or prayer—whatever their way—to show oneness and togetherness. As I practiced more, I realized the deeper meaning: the one in all means we all come from the same source; that one thing is manifesting in all. The all in one means everything that manifests is the one. So not only do we have the source inside us, as Swāmījī said, everything is that thing. The only person I’ve ever seen live this is Swāmījī. He was Ātmā Itself. That’s why I feel he was Love Itself. He brought oneness back into our everyday lives, to live in oneness all the time, to see similarities rather than differences. However, wherever he went, he saw oneness and brought everybody together, but he was very careful to be absolutely loyal to his own path. Many people think it’s trendy to include many gurus in their life, or to be their own inner guru. We have to be careful. We have a guru in Swāmījī. How wonderful. I happen to have two—that was an accident. I was already with Yogānanda Jī when Swāmījī said, "Come along." The guru finds you. I’ve ended up with two; it’s not easy, and I wouldn’t recommend it. However, to see the embodiment of Guru-ness, Paramahaṁsa-ness in Swāmījī has been such a teaching, revelation, and gift. He would include everybody but always come back to his own path, his own Gurujī, Holy Gurujī, Mahāprabhujī. He always came back to the one thing—his path—not trying to include everybody else’s teachings. That’s a great example for us. We don’t have to become like a cuckoo bird that collects everybody else’s eggs. We already have the perfect recipe for our own involvement and enlightenment. How rare to see such a thing in a living being. I love that about Swāmījī. He showed how to live this divine life and be it, like Amitābha. You were given your life—paramadharma. Swāmījī was a living embodiment. It’s so rare to see people who live their life completely given to their higher self and their path. Such an inspiration. I’ve really appreciated you. You’ve brought my deep relationship with Swāmījī back, reminding me of what it means. I left yesterday thinking I wouldn’t come back, but I couldn’t not come because you remind me of what this has been about for the last 30, 33 years—why I’ve been attracted to the pure, beautiful energy of Swāmījī and love itself. You brought that with you. No other person can do that except the one given that honor. There’s an energy passed from the guru to the next in line. What you do is special. One day you will also. You trigger me into remembrance of my relationship with Swāmījī, and he triggers me into remembrance of who I am. The love starts opening up in me in his presence, and the same is happening now. Thank you. We are so privileged to have such people, that someone will carry on this lineage and bring this energy back to us once more. Although it may be difficult, it’s essential that you come and remind us of our part and whose energy it is. One day people will come just for you, for the energy you bring. But right now, thank you for the reminder. I took him to Raman Bhai—Raman Ranchur, who is not with us now. I took him to his house. He was a secretary of a Gītā class at the Indian institution. I said, "Swāmījī has come from Fiji. I’m single; I can’t cook. Can I bring him to your place?" He said, "No, I’m busy selling cars; my wife is working. I don’t have time." I said, "We’ll just visit for five minutes." We went for five minutes, and guess what? He said, "Can you please keep him here?" Mahesh and Ramila became friends and disciples of Swāmījī. When our Swāmījī came, he introduced Matajī to Ramanubai. Ramanubai said, "I have a guru." Swāmījī said, "No problem, fine." So we both have the same guru. Our Swāmījī, Swami Sukhadev Giri, passed away; he doesn’t have a lineage, but our Swāmījī has a lineage. As Jñāna said, that lineage is very important. We start from Gaṇeśa, Śiva, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya, Rāma, Sītā, Kṛṣṇa, Śaṅkarācāryajī, and our gurus. That lineage is important for traveling the spiritual journey. We are fortunate. When I say to Swāmījī, "I am going to see Swāmījī Sukhdev Gurujī," he says, "I am coming with you." He was spontaneous. He never criticized anyone. He connects to everybody—Uttar Purījī, Nirmala, Mokṣāṇḍa, Ānanda, Paktāṇḍa. Like you said, he is our Swāmījī’s other body, other mind, other knowledge. We thank you for this. Same soul; breath and everything are different, but the soul is the same. The greatest gift I personally got from Gurudev was his mālā, given to me last year. That mālā was given by Holy Gurujī to Swāmījī—the one he wears. I was blessed. I always wished that after Swāmījī, I could have his mālā and Holy Gurujī’s mālā. It’s kept in a very safe place. Despite me being prone to losing things, I was blessed enough to receive it last year. I don’t want to keep it only for myself. Those of you who have your mālās, bring them. I call it recharging. All his tapasyā from his whole life, Gurujī’s blessings, and Swāmījī’s blessings are in that mālā, recharging yours. If you don’t have your mālā, I can still put his mālā on your head or heart. I call it recharging because his energies are going to all of us. This is the same mālā you see in pictures, the one he chanted his mantra with day and night his whole life. That’s why it is very holy and blessed for us.