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Part 1: Satsaṅga on Divine Presence, Guru Tattva, and Surrender Salutations to the Cosmic Self. Salutations to Śrīla Pūjya Siddhārtha Vītparamparā. My tenderest greetings to our beloved Gurudeva, His Holiness, Viśvaguru, Mahāmudāleśvara Maheśvarānanda Pūjya Mahārāja. 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, good afternoon, good 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 beautiful hearts have 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 far more beautiful. Of course, the āśramas and the places where Gurudeva’s lotus feet have blessed and consecrated are already divine, and you can clearly feel those energies. But also, when pure hearts and beautiful people gather, that too lifts the atmosphere immensely. So I would like to thank each and every one of you for all your generosity, all the beautiful time, and the experiences. I think we need this more often. I am not sure I can physically come once a year, but I will try. I do not mean once a year, but twice or thrice a year, as I wish to. Once a year for sure. But let us try one thing: let us have an online satsaṅga, and I will join once a month. And even when I am not here, Madhuramjī is here organizing many satsaṅgas, so let us have more satsaṅgas. Satsaṅga means the company where there is truth, where there is a good atmosphere, where one talks about something meaningful. It does not need to be a formal talk; you can have satsaṅga at your home as well. But here in this beautiful āśrama, or in any āśrama, let us all come together at least once a week. We have Zoom—technology. What did we do before technology? We all had to come in person, no? So let us try to gather more often and have beautiful satsaṅgas with more people, as a community, sometimes at one person’s place, sometimes at another’s, sometimes here—anywhere. It should happen more. Āśrama: the literal meaning of āśrama is “come”, and āśrama means “work.” That is the literal meaning of āśrama—karma yoga. We are famous for it. So let us all gather more often and have beautiful satsaṅgas. You can have them at any place, any home. Good evening, everybody. Nārī Om and Om Namo Nārāyaṇa to our Svāmī Avatār Purī Jī. Well, we have had a really beautiful time, but I think most of all our hearts feel rejoiced and filled with joy, because it is very rare in these times to meet a real human being. Many people carry the form of a 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 tried to live his life for a week or a month, we would realize it is not as easy as it looks from the outside. To truly offer this inner space, or to offer one’s energy for the service of the Gurudeva—that is something very great. So we are blessed to have such a soul in the world. As a bhajan says—I do not know who wrote this bhajan, but it says: “They have been wandering the whole world, but nowhere could I find such a close friend.” This is becoming rare nowadays. And in spirituality, I feel a great need for that friendship, a spiritual friend, someone with whom you can simply sit, and you do not have to talk about the weather or politics or something else, but you talk about God, 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 do not want to be separated from you, because without you, I will not find peace. I am just like a fish that dies without water, in agony. I have 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 Gurudeva, please do not leave me. I want to live in this joy, in this real happiness that we have been discussing all week: what is real joy? Is it really an ice cream? It is good, it is nice, but is it really somewhere out there? No, we have had many words from Svāmī Avatār Purījī: it is inside, it is within. So, after the divine words of my Guru, I have woken up and I have grasped the knowledge. At His feet, I am met with joy, and I am embracing the lotus feet of Gurudeva. As we were singing bhajanas, I was thinking about the last twenty-one years—has it been twenty-one, Devpurījī, since we took mantra? Twenty years. And how, I guess I was still very young, in my early twenties. And how many beautiful experiences I have had with Svāmījī. The first time I met him was here in Wellington Āśrama, and I was so impressed with his lecture. During 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 by this Indian Svāmī. Then I decided that I would simply go on my own accord to Jārdhān. I did not tell anyone I was coming. So I was outside the gates, and the guards would not let me in. At that moment, I did not realize that Svāmījī had walked past behind me. It was such a blessing, because he does not often walk on the outside of the compound. I was so surprised. And then there were times in Fiji when we had beautiful experiences visiting different disciples and simply watching him in everyday life. One time we left the accommodation, and he said, “Have you got everything?” I replied, “Yep, yep.” And then we left the phone charger behind. He stopped on the stairs and waited for the bugs and insects to crawl past before he stepped. It has given me so much attention to detail and a deep care for people, always making sure everyone is comfortable. I have observed the same with you these last few days—how much care you take for each person, how you inquire and make sure everyone is comfortable and free from pain. It is very beautiful, and I have learned so much from this, as well as from cooking. My ego has been, how to say, molded like a beautiful pottery vase. When I was younger, I think I was a bit more brave, so I asked him for my name in front of everyone in Jārdhān. He mumbled something, and I thought, “I wonder what this means.” It took me another two or three years to ask him about the meaning, and by that time I had already studied Āyurvedic medicine. I was sure he would say something like “Open up an Āyurvedic hospital.” So I approached with all these preconceptions. Then he sat right there on this chair, stroked his beard, and said, “I think you should have a family.” I thought, “Oh gosh, that’s so boring.” Yet it became my greatest teacher: becoming a mother and offering that selfless service, and then bringing my children. We went on the Australian desert tour, and my youngest son, Gopāla Purī—my oldest was two years old at the time—and it was just so beautiful. So many lovely memories of sitting by the fire and having chai with Svāmījī, and going to Strolki and just following him around. I feel how much I have changed and become a different person, and how much I appreciate Svāmījī for sending you here. For you, I have great respect for your caring, for what you are carrying: the light and the responsibility, and the schedule. I am very happy that physically you are young, so you can endure, hopefully, the strain of this. This is a blessing. And a burden—I feel it is our job to help digest it. So thank you for blessing us. I was very sick when you first arrived; I had shingles quite badly. This morning I woke up and I was pain-free. So thank you for the blessings. The beautiful yajña was my highlight this week, and that was so lovely. I am blessed to still be here and to remain steadfast in my belief, unmoved, and just continue singing bhajanas and kīrtana and having my beautiful guru. Brothers and sisters, watching each other mature, and having Mātājī here—so beautiful. Thank you, thank you very much. Now I will share something very immediate. Well, not so immediate. Eight months ago I sustained an injury, and since then I have been in a great deal of pain. I have a prolapsed disc, and as a side effect, very strong sciatica. I tried everything I could, and nothing was helping me, and I started to feel really down. I must say that when someone has back pain or such problems, it takes away a lot of the quality of life. When we knew Svāmī Avatār was coming, I was in a lot of pain while preparing for his arrival. I felt it would be really tough and hard for me because I did not feel well, and even when they arrived, I was limping. I am still a little twisted and in a lot of pain. But since Svāmī Avatār arrived... When I was still in Oakland, Svāmī Avatār told me twice to come here down to Wellington. At first I thought I could not, because I am in the āśrama. I should take the classes, and there was no one else to take them. But then I had a lecture about going with the flow, and when an opportunity comes, we should take it. So I thought, “Yes, let’s go.” He also mentioned giving everything to our master, and that it becomes his responsibility. So I thought, “He told me to go, so it is his responsibility now, whatever happens.” I sent a newsletter cancelling classes for one week and went down to Wellington. Of course, sitting for a longer period was very hard and painful for me, so I wondered how I would survive the flight down to Wellington—it is just about one hour. The next day I was in so much pain that David and I wanted to go to the emergency room. We went to an after-hours care, kind of like an emergency. They prescribed more painkillers, and we bought crutches so I could get around. Then the miracle happened. It is almost unbelievable. I think no one will believe me—not my students in Oakland—but since I have been here, my pain is gone, honestly gone. I thank Svāmī Avatār very much for praying for me, and I know that many yoga friends were praying for me and sending good wishes. But personally, I really feel that being in the presence of Svāmī Avatār healed me. It is a miracle, and I know it. For some people, it can be... And yesterday, for the first time I walked a long distance, and I was truly impressed. If this had not happened to me directly, and if I had not known my own pain over the last eight months, I would not have believed it. But it really happened, and here I am. So thank you very much. The opportunity came. If someone were to ask me how I experience the Divine or the presence of the Divine, I would say, for me, it is definitely Svāmījī. There is a stillness. Sometimes, even when there is great chaos, there is that stillness, that peacefulness. There is something in the air that makes the air become more dense—at least, I would describe it that way. I experience it sometimes in meditation, if I am blessed, and sometimes in yoga classes when I am teaching. In that moment, I suddenly feel something has changed in the yoga hall. Then I imagine that Svāmījī opened his third eye and is thinking of New Zealand, and his energy is channeled here, and people can feel it. Sometimes students tell me they felt something different, that the class was different. And sometimes we can experience it in Yoga Nidrā. But the reason I am sharing this is that on Tuesday, when everything was so peaceful, I said to myself, “Guru Tattva landed in New Zealand with Avatār Purījī.” Or, I do not know if it is exactly Guru Tattva, but that is what I would call it. In that moment, I took my phone and saw a missed call from Kamala because Avatār Purījī had wanted to talk to me. For me, it was an inner confirmation that Avatār Purījī is truly the carrier of Svāmījī’s light and Svāmījī’s knowledge—and not only Svāmījī’s, of course, but of our whole paramparā. He often jokes and makes funny remarks, but sometimes I simply cannot joke, because I do not see him as a twenty-six-year-old young man. With my physical eyes, I see him like that, but with my heart and soul, it is completely different. I am very pleased, and I feel blessed that we have you here, and that you took this upon yourself. It is certainly a hard duty and a difficult commitment, and we will try to support you as much as we can with our work, our love, and our seva to you and to Svāmījī. That is all I would say. I wish you a very nice evening, and it is a blessing to have you here. This is what I have learned from him: one is svadharma, and one is paradharma. Svadharma means doing things for ourselves—like going to buy ice cream, which is for ourselves (unless sharing is caring and we share a few scoops). But paradharma is what Gurudeva has been living by. It means not doing for himself; his whole life was entirely dedicated to us, to all his disciples, to this beautiful family. Why? Because that is his—I would not call it his job, but in a way, it is. That is why he came back. Otherwise, I think up there is much more spacious, much more fun, and much more relaxing. 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 deeper reason: to unite this loka. If he were not here, none of us would be here. Because of him, he gathered each and every one of us from all different corners. We have Slovak, Kiwi, Hungarian, German, British, Australian, Indian, Slovenian, and many more. So we can easily call this an international seminar, because it is not only New Zealanders. We are many, many. And Svāmījī never saw religion, race, background—what you came from, why you came—no. Āśrama 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 can all come to him, see him as a father, as a mother, as a guru, as a friend, as a sister—see him in any form you wish. There is no fixed form. He never let us feel that he came to us or dealt with us in a way other than how we needed to be dealt with. If you wanted to approach him as a father, he would act accordingly. As a guru, he acted that way. As a friend, he acted that way. That is something we can learn. I know many, many masters, many so-called masters, who, sorry to say, are sometimes flying very high in the sky. But Gurudeva is one very, very divine soul, whom I have personally seen, who has everything yet acts as if he has nothing. Especially when you have so much and reach such a level, not only spiritually but also in the worldly sphere, ego can arise very easily. Especially nowadays, when many people talk about authority this and authority that, ego can spike up easily. But when we have—I do not say “control,” I call it “taming,” like taming a horse—we tame these inner enemies. When the ego comes up, we know how to tame it and bring it down. But with him, it was never like that. He was always very kind. That is why I have always said that for me he was the most kind, understanding, forgiving person I have known. And I have experienced this with many people: even if they do not like something and they leave Svāmījī, saying, “We don’t like this and we don’t like that,” and after many years they come back, Svāmījī never questioned them: “Why did you leave? Why did you come back?” Nothing. His arms were always open. “Come here, my dear.” That’s it. Why? Because that Tattva, that Guru Tattva, is within all of us, and we are all one with that. And the highest bond, the highest relationship we can have, is with the Master, because that is what connects us. All other relations—parents, brothers, sisters, partners—all these relationships are bound to be temporary. Hopefully they last very long, but they can be broken. But one relation that is never broken, once you are in it, then you are in it. You may drift away with the wind, but the bond does not end; it does not cut off. That is the one bond that is everlasting, always there. That is why we are all blessed to be his śiṣyas, 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, which means something. And as Gyanānanda mentioned a few days ago, Svāmījī told him that he and Paramahaṁsa Yogānanda 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 are all connected, and they are all here for a higher purpose. And we are all blessed to be part of this spiritual journey, because that is something that takes us forward in our life. Gurudeva always told me that this human life is very precious. We should not waste it. Many of us waste it on many other things, but if we were born in this human life, we probably do not want to be born again into it. So hopefully, by the grace of Gurudeva and these teachers and masters, we will be liberated from this and be free from the cycle of death and birth. To be part of this era, to be born in the same time as him, is a great blessing. You could have been born a hundred years after or a hundred years before, but we are born in this time. We had darśana of Guru Deva, darśana of Ādhanāhu. That means even with one glimpse of a guru, one glimpse of his energy, of his physical body—and many of us are blessed to have had darśana of both Gurujī and Svāmījī. Inwardly, we can have darśana of many, but in the physical form also we are graced to have darśana of both gurus. That is why I say 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 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.” Let things go and surrender. I do not say surrender means blind faith. For me, personally, I used to hold on to many things in my life, and I still may do so here and there. But once I decided that for me to find this inner peace and inner happiness, all this planning and such things never functioned for me. No matter how many plans I made for trips or anything, there was always a friend who ditched you at the last moment, and you ended up not going anywhere. So these plannings never really aligned with me. Then I simply let things go, and once I let things go, automatically all the trips, and a hundred billion more trips, started. After I let go of things and said, “Okay, as you wish.” In Sanskrit we say, “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, to figure out why. With one wise—there was a book Prem Nanjay gave me when I was five, four, five, because I was always asking, “Why, why?” So he gave me a book, “A Hundred Whys.” We will never find the answer to all the whys, but as humans we will always question. But we mortal human beings, we who are ignorant, we call ourselves ajñānī jīvas. We are not trikāla darśī. Trikāla darśī means three—tri means three, kāla means times—and darśī means a seer, one who sees. That is what the great mahāpuruṣas, the great saints, are. They are the ones who can see past, present, and future. So let them do that job; it is easier for them. Let us just be in the present, and that is more than enough. If we try to wander off into the past, which we cannot change, and as humans we all make mistakes—if we do not make mistakes, we are not human—but as humans, we tend to find the negative parts in everything. We are not consciously trying, but even subconsciously or consciously, we are always drawn and pulled toward that negativity more than toward 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. With every breath, every inhalation, we feel that positivity coming in, prāṇa śakti entering, and with every exhalation, we let go of all the negativity, all the toxins within us and those we feel from others. Most of the time, when we are in a different headspace, it is not even our own; we are projecting it from others, and we are feeling others’ energies and grabbing onto them, because we like to grab onto things, especially when they are juicy. There are negative talks and positive talks. Part 2: The Gift of Surrender and the Mala’s Blessing Gossip will always flow more toward those who gossip, because it gives us more juice in life—more things to think about and talk about. Now, in the past few weeks of traveling, I learned how to separate these things and pull myself back a little from the external chaotic drama swirling around us. We tend to be pulled toward it because it gives us more energy, but not the good energy. It pulls us deeper and deeper until we become exhausted, and that exhaustion is visible both to ourselves and to others. So if things are happening and you are not directly involved—and even if you are directly involved—let it go. Deal with it when it comes to you. If it is with us or around us, take your time to make a decision, because most of the decisions we make immediately are impulsive, not rational. When we make decisions, we don’t think. You say something to me, and the first thought that comes into my head is probably not the right thought, yet I will say it. And most of the time, if I had waited—what we now call a buffer period—if we give ourselves that time and space to think about things, to relate and process them, then the answer that comes out may be slightly different, because you are no longer in the headspace of anger, sadness, or any other emotion. You have time to think. You will see that the decision changes. As an experiment, I noted down my immediate reaction and then applied the buffer period, and afterward I saw that it does work. So it is good. That is why I always say we always have something new to learn from others. It is not that we know everything, nor that we are the highest. We are the best versions of ourselves, that I agree. But do we know everything? No. That is our ego saying, “I know everything, I am the best,” and so on. Every day we can learn something new from someone. You can learn how to be honest from a child, because a child does not have that thinking process. They are straight off. Why? Because they are brutally honest. If they don’t like something, they will say, “I don’t like it.” If they like something, they will show it. So, how to be honest? Learn from kids. That is why in India we say children are the incarnation form of God—because they are very pure, very innocent, and very truthful. No matter whether the truth is good or bad, they will be honest. Learn that from a child. Caring nature—how to take care—learn from the females, because they have that. Swāmījī once said, if the Śakti is going to come together, then the world moves from Kaliyuga back to Satyayuga. That is the power of these Mātṛ Śaktis who are in front of us, and everyone who is watching. But for that, all the Śakti has to come together. And all of us, we also have that energy within us. We just need to realize it, and we need to go within and understand that. Most of the time, it is suppressed somewhere deep down because we don’t believe in ourselves and we don’t believe that we are capable of doing something. But when we realize that we are capable of doing anything—how are we capable? Because we have Varada Hasta. You see, that hand is there always. And even if not in the physical form, just look within. After many satsaṅgs, you see Swāmījī or you hear Swāmījī saying, “I am yours and you are mine.” That’s it—what we need. If he said, “You are mine,” what else do you need? We are sitting in his heart, and he is sitting in our hearts. That’s all. You don’t need to look for a picture. You don’t need to look for his physical form. Sometimes it is very funny to me. I sit with Swāmījī, and people come—not now anymore, but before—asking, “Swāmījī, which color socks should I wear?” That was a little question that came to him. Viveka—we were learning about Viveka our whole life. And I am always folding my hands and saying I am really grateful, impressed, and surprised by everything that he dealt with, all this mess of every single one of us. We all come to him, but that is, again, expectations. It is not a transaction, but we make it a transaction. When we go to Indian temples—especially in India, I don’t know about here—but you go to a temple, a church, or a mosque, and in temples: “Śivjī, here is one liter of milk, pass me in the exam? Then I will give you also one kilo of sweets.” That’s a transaction. “Hanumānjī, I’ll offer you one liter of sindoor if I get this job.” “Swāmījī, if I get this, I will do this for you.” Why? It is not a transaction if you do seva. It is with niṣvārtha bhāva—we were talking about this yesterday—which means without any svārtha, without any expectations in return. If we do things with the purity of heart, automatically things will happen for you. But we all have expectations. We have expectations from ourselves, from our partners, from our friends, from our family, from our parents. When expectations are not fulfilled, we fall into resentment, anger, and feeling bad. But if from the first place we don’t have expectations, then all these emotions will not arise, and it is much more peaceful. I used to deal with expectations, and then 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 am not dealing with it. Simply give it all to them. Why else? I wouldn’t say that. That’s why we have a Guru—to dump all our mess on him. But in one way, yes. You are my father. You are my mother. If you are my parent, then take care of it. Simple. I will follow my path. I will follow the path which 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, and once we understand that—that surrendering doesn’t mean we are blindly following someone or something, or that we just think, “Okay, our life will function and everything will be fine, and we will sit at home doing absolutely nothing while gold coins drop down from the sky.” No. Kṛṣṇa said, “Karma karo, phala kī cintā mata karo,” which means if we do our karma, if we do what we are supposed to do, then don’t worry about the fruit, the result. That will automatically come. But for that, faith and surrender and devotion are important. It doesn’t need to be too specific. Everyone has faith in their own gurus and their own higher spirits and God, in whatever they want to believe. But in any form, a guru has to be there. Without a guru, life is incomplete. Why? If you say a guru is not necessary, then who were your parents? Your parents taught you how to walk and talk—the first words—and they are your gurus, your teachers. Why do we go to school? We can learn everything by ourselves; we don’t need a guru? Take a book. Give a book to a young child who doesn’t know how to read, who doesn’t know the ABCs. Can he? No. We send him to schools, teachers, gurus. So then, why can’t we accept that we need a guru in our spiritual journey to help us, guide us? They know more than us, obviously. That’s why they are where they are, and we can feel it and we can see it. It’s not, “You have to do this.” It’s not, “I am the greatest.” No, there are many. Go around, experiment. I’m just saying, have one. Choose one in this Kaliyuga. 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, or whoever, but realize that that guru-tattva is within us also. And once he gives us the greatest gift of our mālā, of our mantra, of our kriyā, or whatever you are initiated in, follow that practice, because that is something which is the energy house. Every round of mālā is one phone call with the higher spirit, with God, with whoever you want to believe in. And why do we have a mālā? Now we can chant ajapā—it will just continuously go on—because our monkey mind, which is restless, will jump from one thought to another hundred billion thoughts. But when you are doing mālā, every bead goes, “Oh, okay, I’m doing my mālā. Oh, I’m doing my mālā.” That’s why the mālā is a type of tool, but the greatest gift that we got was our mantra. If we follow it, everything will go. If we have faith in him, everything will be good. But we need that faith. We need to understand that you are the doer; I am not the doer. I am just the observer of this life. And now I will ask, thank you. I realize that, you know, I had been a little casual in my relationship with Swāmījī recently for a while, and here you come along and you remind me again of Swāmījī and the lineage and who you are, and the joy—the absolute joy—that I have experienced so many, many, many times when I’ve been in the presence of Swāmījī, when I think of him, when I’ve been around him. And that same joy is coming back now. That’s why your name has Ānanda. The joy of it, and hearing you talk—oh wow, you have taken me to another place. Thank you so much. And it is so much a reminder of Swāmījī. You bring two things I was noticing: you know, father and son. Often the son speaks like the father, but with his own aspect, with his own new thing that he brings. So I could hear Swāmījī talking through you, so lovely, your father. And I could hear you bringing also some other knowledge and way of expressing, which was also beautiful. So the lovely dynamic of the two sitting here, reminding me of why I had come along in the first place, many years ago, to be with such a great soul. And you’re right, it is an absolute gift. It’s the greatest thing we could ever experience, the greatest gift we could ever have. We are so, so lucky to be in this physical presence with another being such as Swāmījī, actually incarnated at this time, because how many incarnations have we had? Thousands and thousands. And how many times do we actually 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 Swāmījī, such a divine being. And it’s very strange because when I first met Swāmījī, I was a Yogānanda disciple, and I thought, “Well, that’s it.” But this completes enough—that’s enough. And then Swāmījī said, as you said to me—I was reminding myself when I was speaking two days ago—Swāmījī said, “We are brothers, Yogānanda Jī and I.” But actually, he also said to me privately, “Yogānanda Jī and I are one, we are one.” And that really struck me because I didn’t really—one, I didn’t really know what “one” is. At that stage, I didn’t know what “one” was. But also I thought, well, how dare he say that? He’s one with my guru. But actually, I took that straight into meditation when I had left Swāmījī. At the time he said it, it was absolutely true. I had no doubt, because at that point I was just receiving. But then my mind comes in and I analyze it, and I think, “Oh dear, maybe it’s not right,” and so on. And then I take it into meditation, and of course it becomes the same again, because in the meditation I move outside of my mind space into this deeper aspect of who I am. And it was quite clear: Swāmījī and Yogānanda Jī are one. So, when—yeah, exactly, yes. And I found out what Paramahaṁsa was when I first met Swāmījī. I can now describe it in two words: a Paramahaṁsa is love itself. That is the definition for me. Paramahaṁsa is love itself, because when I first met Swāmījī, that was all that was coming from him. I’d never ever experienced it with anybody, you know, at that stage. I was nearly 39 years old, I’d never experienced it. It’s quantitatively different, or rather, let’s say it’s qualitatively different too. We experience love, but actually it’s qualitatively different. The love that was coming from Swāmījī was clearly unconditional. I’d never experienced unconditional love, and it just poured from him. I was thinking yesterday—because I would have loved to have said this, but there were lots of things being said, so it was time to let that conversation be at the end of last night. But there’s a song which says, “The first time ever I saw your face,” and it says, “The sun shines out of your eyes, and the moon and the stars are your glow, the gift you bring.” He brought the cosmos. And I thought, “How wonderful, how amazing,” and I wasn’t able to put that into words at the time. But since I’ve been here on the path of Swāmījī, and he’s become, as you say, a guru and an amazing friend, the best friend you could ever have, and a father—he’s all these aspects to me also—but the most special person I’ve ever met in this lifetime, absolutely without a doubt, and he’s always there. And I really love his unconditionality. This is the quality of such a great one. We were talking last night about oneness. What were we saying? One and all, and all in one. And Swāmījī would talk a lot when he would come about one and all, and all in one, and he would demonstrate it. We would go to many places. It was so wonderful. And in all of these places, wherever we went, Swāmījī would demonstrate this all in one and one in all. He would gather together all of the great, all of the well-known, as many as he could, religious leaders and ask them to come together and say, “Let’s light a candle. Let’s plant a tree. Let’s do some mantra or prayer, whatever is your way. Let’s show our oneness and our togetherness.” And I would see this and that and think, “Oh, yeah, okay, so that’s what it means: one in all and all in one.” But as I practiced more and more and was around Swāmījī, I realized it has this deeper meaning. The one in all is: we all come from the same source. That one thing is manifesting in all. And the all-in-one is that everything that manifests is the one. So not only do we have the source inside of us, as Swāmījī has told us many times, everything is that thing. And so it’s one and all, and all in one. How wonderful and amazing. Now, the only person I’ve ever seen live this is Swāmījī, because not only did he act like it when he brought people together, he was also Ātmā Itself. That’s why I feel he was Love Itself with a capital L. And then, whenever I went with him, he would introduce it—the footsteps of Swāmījī, how beautiful—to bring oneness back into our everyday lives and see what it is to actually live in oneness all of the time, to see actually all the similarities rather than to see the differences. However, there was another thing that I really learned from Swāmījī too. Wherever he went, he would see oneness in everything, and he would bring everybody together. But he was very, very careful to be absolutely loyal to his own path. And I think we can forget that, because so many people in this lifetime think, “Oh, it’s very trendy and very spiritual to actually just include a whole lot of gurus in my life. And now I’m this person. Not only that, I’m also my own inner guru.” And you have to be careful about that. We have to be careful about that idea. We have a guru in Swāmījī. How wonderful. I happen to have two. That’s not—it was an accident. That wasn’t of my making. I was already with Yogānanda Jī when Swāmījī said, “Come along, come with me.” So, I didn’t, in a sense. It’s said that the guru finds you, rather than you find the guru. But anyway, I’ve ended up with two, and it’s not an easy thing. I wouldn’t recommend it necessarily. However, to see the embodiment of Guru-ness, Paramahaṁsa-ness in Swāmījī has been such a teaching for me, such a revelation, such a gift—such a gift. So it’s wonderful that we have Swāmījī, but he would emphasize—you could see wherever he went, he was including everybody, but he always came back to his own path. He always came back to his own Gurujī, Holy Gurujī. He always came back to Mahāprabhujī. He was always doing his mantra or his prayer or whatever. He was always coming back to the one thing, which was his path, and not trying to include everybody else’s teachings in his path. I think that’s also a great example for us. And we can learn that we don’t have to just become like a—what are they called? That bird that collects everybody else’s eggs, the cuckoo? We have already the perfect recipe for our own evolution and own enlightenment. And Swāmījī—how rare it is that we can actually see such a thing in a living being. And I love that about Swāmījī. He can show me how it is to live this divine life and be it, like Amitābha. You were saying you were given your life. Would you call it paramadharma? Yeah. And Swāmījī was a living embodiment of that. It’s so, so rare that one or two, maybe—I don’t know—we see all these people on the internet, but how many really live their life completely given to their own higher self and to their own path. Such an inspiration. Anyway, I’ve really, really appreciated you. You’ve brought this deep relationship I have with Swāmījī back to help remind me of what it means to me. I left yesterday thinking I wouldn’t come back and see you, but I couldn’t go and not come back, because you remind me of what this whole thing has been about for me for the last 30, 33 years—why I’ve been so attracted to the pure, beautiful energy of Swāmījī and love itself. And you just brought that with you. No other person can do that, except the one who’s been given that honour. And there’s an energy that gets passed from the guru to the next in line. So, nobody else will do that. What you do is such a special thing, and so one day you will also. I’ve come because you trigger me—you trigger me into my remembrance of my relationship with Swāmījī, and he triggers me into my remembrance of who I am, because the love stuff starts opening up in me when I come to Swāmījī’s presence. And the same thing is happening again today, and yesterday, and the day before. So, thank you so much, yeah. So we are so privileged. It’s so nice to have such people, and that someone was going to carry on this lineage and bring this energy again back to us once more. So although it may be difficult, it’s such an essential thing that you come and remind us of our part, and whose energy is. Thank you. And one day you’ll be coming here, and people will be coming just for you, or just for the energy you bring. But right now, thank you for the reminder. That’s right, yeah. Anyway, avatar for you, thank you. So much thank you, so much thank you, everybody. I took him to... I just want to give you the experience of what the saints do to you and your mind this way. Thank you. So, what the gurus? So I took him to Raman Bhai, to whom, you know, Raman Ranchur, who is not with us now, he’s gone, and I took him to his house, and he was a secretary of a Gītā class in the Indian institution. And I said, “Swāmījī has come from Fiji. I’m a single man, I can’t cook. Can I bring him to your place?” He said, “No, I’m so busy. I’m selling cars, my wife is working, and I don’t have time.” I said, “Okay, we’ll just come to pay a visit for five minutes.” We went for five minutes, and guess what? He said, “Can you please keep him here?” Mahesh, whom you probably know, and Ramila became friends of Swāmījī. Swāmījī started playing, and they became friends, and they became his disciples. Then, when our Swāmījī came, Mātājī, and introduced to Ramanubhai, and Ramanubhai said, “I have a guru.” And Swāmījī said, “No problem, fine.” So we both have the same guru. But our Swāmījī, Swami Sukadevigaya, passed away; he doesn’t have a lineage, but our Swāmījī has a lineage. And like 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 us to travel through the journey of spirituality. And I think we are fortunate. And when I say to Swāmījī, “I am going to see Swamiji, Sukhdev Gurujī,” he says, “I am coming with you.” He was so spontaneous on every point. He never criticized you as a person, never ever, to any of you, I am sure. And one day we were—and he connects to everybody like Uttar Purījī. He connects us with Nirmala, connects with Mokṣāṇḍa, Ānanda, Paktāṇḍa, connects with everybody, and, like you said, he is our Swami’s other body, other mind, other knowledge, and we thank you for this. Same soul, breath, everything is different; the soul is the same. Yes, thank you. The Vedic meaning of doing this. The greatest gift which we got, or which I personally got from Gurudev, was his mālā, which was given to me last year. That mālā was given by Holy Gurujī to Swāmījī, the one which he is wearing. I was blessed. I always had a wish—I wish that Gurudev gets my life in 100 billion years, but I always wish that after Swāmījī, the only thing I want is his mālā and the mālā of Holy Gurujī. And always, you know, it’s kept in a locker or in a very safe place, and me being a not safe person, losing things all the time, but still, I was blessed enough, and he gave it to me last year. And I don’t want to keep it only for myself, so those of you who have your mālās, when you come—bring your mālā in your hands. I call it the recharging, because I’m just energy—his all tapasyā from his whole life, and Gurujī’s blessings and Swāmījī’s blessings are in that mālā, and then that is recharging your mālās. If you do not have your mālā, and you wish, I can still put his mālā on your head or anywhere on your heart, or wherever you want it, and then that I call the recharging because his energies are going to all of us. So this is the same mālā which you see there and in the pictures, and the one with which he chanted his mantra his whole life, day and night. That’s why it is very holy and blessed for us.