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In this universe, there are two forces: Āsurī Śakti and Devī Śakti. Śakti means force; Śakti means power. Āsurī Śakti refers to negative forces—all kinds of negative forces. One could say "devil." Western people are accustomed to saying "Satan"—satanic forces, devilish forces, negative, destructive forces, and so on. Devī Śakti is the divine force, the positive force. So, both forces exist: Devī Śakti and Āsurī Śakti. Devī Śakti is the positive force, and Āsurī Śakti is the negative force. But the origin of both is one: God Himself. And now it is interesting: why do the negative forces also have their origin in God, and the positive forces also have their origin in God? It is as we have often spoken about: Utan and Patan—ascent and descent in life, the realization of a goal or destruction in life, where consciousness sinks into low feelings, into low Lokas. When a person is born, they have two paths before them. One path leads to success, development, and realization. The second path is destruction, annihilation, a downfall. The person themselves, the pure one, has pure consciousness; they have a pure life. But now it depends on society. With whom one spends most of their time, so will that person continue to live in this life. If one goes into Kuṣaṅga—bad company—then there is no development to higher stages, but rather a decline. It is the destruction of life; we have received this human life, and unfortunately, one wastes the human life. If one goes to good society, with good friends, then there is development—development to a higher plane. For example, if someone comes to a person who takes drugs, then that person will also bring them to the point where they begin to take drugs. That is one kind of society. Or, if someone comes to a purposeful person who studies, who wants to do something in life—a society that asks how one should serve, work, or practice Yoga, doing positive things—that person will also become a Yogi. So, it is the society, the companion, the partner; in which society one is, such a quality one assumes. And according to these qualities, this consciousness then continues to work. Pure water, if we put it in a dirty pot or vessel, becomes dirty; in a pure one, it remains pure. And so it is with this divine force in the universe. The origin is the cosmic Self, which continues to wander in this universe—one in the positive planes, the other goes to other extremes, into negative planes. And thus one develops a quality. And so the entire universe is full of astral beings. The entire universe is so densely full. For example, we have a wonderful example in this modern world of how we develop our technology day by day. If you consider this room where we are sitting, there are millions upon millions of radiations, or how does one say—like radio waves. All the stations of the entire world you can receive here. And now we have mobile phones, we have television, and much, much more. So, all around the Earth, there is so much energy, or these radio waves—unbelievable. So dense. If one meditates and wants to enter the astral world, it is so dense that one is afraid an accident might happen. It is like cables lying around, like a network, very dense. But the technology is good, and everything passes through. Nothing collides. No accident. Very rare. And so the entire universe is full of many astral beings—not only human but also animal. And they all have their origin in God. And thus the negative forces exist in this universe, and the positive forces also exist. We do not know when a negative or evil force might suddenly attack us or cross our path. And we do not know when the positive force comes. And so accidents can happen. This is what is called Tri Tapas—Yoga, Ādidaivik, Ādibhautik, and Ādhyātmik. Tri Tapas means three types of difficulties. Tapa means heat, fire, but here it is meant negatively. Every kind of problem is a heat for us, a fire. And one can only be freed from these Tri-Tapas through meditation, through prayer, and through Mantra. And so it is written in the Mantra, in the Bhajan: "Tinoi tap pāp mit jāve, avichala sukha pāve brahmānandam." Tinoi tap—these three tapas: Ādhibhautik, Ādhidaivik, and Ādhyātmik. "Tinoi tap pāp mit jāve." And these three tapas exist; so long as they exist in us, they are śuddhen. And when we are free, then the three tapas are also free from us. So, the new stage, with the purification from all these three stages, is cleansed. And so it is: when we are in astral planes, we come together with good forces or negative forces. When we live in this physical, material world, positive or bad forces also come onto our path. And so it is very important that consciousness has the help of the Master. And there one sees how important the seat of a Śataguru is in the astral planes and in these realms. There we precisely need the Master. Not here—perhaps in this world, that is okay. Now and then we see each other and say hello. But where our intellect no longer has any power, where our physical forces end, then all our abilities end. Then only Guru Kripa can accomplish. And, to feel and recognize the Guru Kripa, one must read and hear the Guru Gītā. And so, Devī Śakti and Āsurī Śakti develop thus. The part of the force, the energy that gathers in negative qualities, day by day, becomes Āsurī Śakti. And those who assume the positive forces become Devī Śakti. Regarding this, we have in India two very special periods each year. Special days? Not just one day, but nine days. Nine days, which are approximately in April, and nine days now in this season—October, November, October, because it goes by the lunar calendar. And these nine days are called Navratris. Navratri means nine nights. And these nine nights are dedicated to the divine Mother, Śakti. Every woman can now be happy. The women get nine days, please. The male God gets only one day. Right? That is a great stage of emancipation, a stage of progress. And nine days, nine nights, that is dedicated to the day of the divine Mother, the Shakti, who comes from the cosmic planes and acts. Ha, just like an incarnation, a divine incarnation. And now people will say, why is there always only a male God and male incarnations? No, that is not the only thing. There are also female incarnations. It has its meaning. Why does God incarnate in female form? Or why does He incarnate in male form? Or why does He incarnate in half-human and half-animal forms? It always has its significance and its meaning. For example, Nṛsiṁha Avatāra. Narasiṁha Avatāra: Nar is the human, and Siṁha is the lion. God incarnated as Narasiṁha—Nar and Siṁha—in this world. Why? Do you all know? No? Because of Prahlāda and Hiraṇyakaśipu. We have heard this story countless times. And so it is with this Śakti—Durgā, Kālī, and so on. She has nine different names. Last year, for half a year, we had beautiful discourses on the divine Śakti, namely Śrī Mādhavī Bhāgavatam. And there we always read and heard what She is and how, what She means for us, and how powerful She is. Śrīmad Devī Bhāgavatam is one of the greatest Bhāgavatams. There are so many legends about Her, so many narratives about Her. And so, in the stories, over nine days, each day She assumed a different form to kill a demon. And the last one—each time She killed him, he came back to life. And then it was not the same person; one should not fight with him. The ninth time, they learned that the blood of the demon must not fall on the ground, otherwise he would rise again, how does one say. And then Kālī took a Śāla, and so on—one sees the images of Kālī. I am not a result of Kālī, because for me, Kālī and Durgā and everything is in Mahāprabhujī and Devpurījī and so on. But we have great reverence for the divine force. Will we not only say "divine Mother"? What is too little? A divine mother normally means the mother of an incarnation. But the divine Mother—that is the divine Śakti, the force, the Universal Mother, I would say. And the Universal Mother is the Mother of us also, the Cosmic Mother. Today is the ninth day. It is celebrated. She is highly celebrated, how should we say, highly praised. Sorry. And She is one, and you will be surprised, or, how does one say, you will be amazed: almost 75 to 80 percent of believers believe in the divine Mother, this cosmic Mother. So important is She. Every household has, as a protective patron from the families, a divine Mother—this cosmic Mother, one of them. Every Akhāṛā of Sanyāsīs has a symbol of these Goddesses. Everywhere, everywhere... She is there. And so, She is purity, She is an owner, She is a mother, She is a force, She is as knowledge, She is as peace, She is as contentment, She is prosperity, She is our intellect or Buddhi. And so in this Mantra, for example, it says: "Bodhi Rūpeṇa Saṃsthita Namastasye... Namo Namaḥ." Force is your intellect, force your thoughts, thought-force, force of your faith, force of your contentment. Everything that is your force within you, that is the divine cosmic Mother. Without Her, we cannot even move our eyelids. There would be no more moment then. It is Her force that moves. Consciousness and force. Consciousness and Nature. Prakṛti, Puruṣa and Prakṛti, Śiva and Śakti. Consciousness can only work, only operate, only with force. That is how it is. And when the force is no longer there, then one says: "I feel so miserable, completely powerless. I have no more strength to live." So, "Verborgenen Kräfte im Menschen"—is that a correct title? Jogananda? Exactly. "Hidden Forces in Man," but one says the sleeping forces in man. And we must awaken them. So, on this day, we sing our reverence, or we revere the cosmic Mother in the form of force, in the form of harmony, in the form of contentment, in the form of peace, in the form of our knowledge, in every way—may She possess us. Possess. Through what? Through clear, correct thoughts. Through right actions, through right words. We cannot speak anymore if She were not present. So, She is everywhere. So, you have certainly read in the Līlā Amṛt of Mahāprabhujī also a beautiful story of Mahāmāyā. Maha Maya Shakti—Maha Maya is Maya, and Maha is the greatest. The greatest Māyā, the entire universe. There is also a small Māyā here, but this Māyā is the entire universe, filled with it. So, Devī Śakti. Devī Śakti is force, strong. And therefore Her form, in female form, is revered. That is how it is. So, we sing a bhajan today, a wonderful bhajan written and sung by Holī Gurujī, praising our divine mother, Chandan Devī Jī, Mahāprabhujī’s mother. Okay? Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai.