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Dear devotees, friends, brothers, sisters, and spiritual seekers, you may have wondered why our evening program is an hour late today. I hope you were listening to our beautiful bhajans. We had other programs and prayers because the juniors—the younger generation in Yoga and Daily Life—they all have to go. The generation is growing and will grow more. So, for all Yoga and Daily Life students, if they cannot get new students, they are getting new children. This is also a way to bring a divine atmosphere, but you must educate your children well. You must give them a real spiritual education. We have been speaking about meditation for the last year: creative and active meditation. Before noon we spoke about creative meditation, Karma Yoga—to do sevā is also meditation. Do things rightly; we can do things very nicely and beautifully. But things can also be not good. Now the question comes about passive meditation or inner meditation. It is said that in the Western world, they were doing more active meditation. But active meditation kept them on the surface. So the Eastern yogīs, like in India, developed that meditation to go deep within thyself to get Self-realization, as well as to understand and maintain a healthy way of life, a healthy society, and a healthy family. Thus, inner meditation began. In inner meditation, some people try to do it without guidance, which leads them to certain degrees of inner silence, but not to that fruitfulness which meditation should be. Also, some people say that when they repeat their mantra, they cannot go very deep. That’s right. But a meditation without a mantra is like a body without a soul. You may go very deep, but it will not give you that knowledge or realization you are searching for. A mantra will definitely protect you and lead you to your higher consciousness safely. There are some people who try to come out of the body, who would like to experience and do some astral-level, creative, active spiritual work. That is just for the person; they should practice mantra and go through the mantra to the astral level. Otherwise, it can happen that you don’t find the way back. It may be easy to go out of the body, but it will be difficult to come back into the body again. There are some extremist people who would like to make certain experiences, but as a yogī and practitioner, I would say to never do such things. Try to remain in this body, but through your meditation and the help of the mantra, you can go to the higher level of consciousness. This means in the astral world you can get knowledge. There was a question, for example, about meditation on the nirguṇa, which is very good—on the formless. But it is said that Buddha, whom we know as Buddha, was known as Siddhārtha, a prince. Buddha was a Hindu, and Buddha was a vegetarian. Buddha followed the path of Ahiṃsā, the Udāsī Mauna technique. I think more or less it was practiced by Buddha: to be very silent and observe every step—that is, not stepping on any creatures, not harming any creatures. He used to go to get food and divide the food into five parts. One part is for guests, the second for the birds, the third for some animals, and the fourth for small creatures like ants or some fish in ponds or somewhere. And the fifth part was for himself. Buddha used to go every day to get alms or bhikṣā. That’s why the Buddhist monk, known as the Bhikṣuk monk, had to go and get the food. This was a spiritual tradition because our ego is too big. We don’t want to do this, we don’t want to do that. But as long as your ego is not down, you cannot progress. So, to have nothing—bhikṣā means, you can say, like begging. Can you imagine that now you become a monk, and you take your eating pot and go in the Strilky village to ask for some food? This tradition is gone, but still not. People will understand; they will give you. But your ego will not allow you. You say, "My God, I don’t want such a God to realize. I don’t want such a Self-realization. Better, I will work in the field and earn my money and have my own bread and butter." Who says? Your ego. So, Mahāprabhujī said, "Jīvatahī Murdasam Reve Nahī Siddha Nahī Pīr." While living, you are like dead. And in the Bible, it is also said that you have to die to live. You have to die in order to live. That means the ego has to die. Liking and disliking—this is our biggest problem. Liking and disliking. As long as you have liking and disliking, you can forget it. Look, the holy saint friends from Assisi, he also went begging. He was also living from almost. And also in the monastery, the monks have to take their pot and go there for bhikṣā. Mahāprabhujī used to say, Holy Gurujī said often to me and to others, "Mahāprabhujī Karatā Mahāprabhujī Karatā He Kevalam." And he also will take. They call it Mahāprasāda Amṛta. Blessed are they who can receive prasād from the jholī of a bhikṣuk sanyāsī. And that sanyāsī who doesn’t go to any home is targeted. We had one or two European devotees, and they decided to make a bhikṣā and develop spiritually and become sannyāsīs. He lived with the holy Gurujī in Khāṭo, and with his charming way, he made some good friends. Every day they said, "Come to us for bhikṣā," and so every day he used to go directly there and bring the bhikṣā. One day, holy Gurujī was sitting in meditation, and holy Gurujī said, "Aha!" And one of our workers who was building the ashram in Khāṭo said, "He said, Holy Gurujī, yes, Bābājī, Gurujī, what?" He said, "He came back or not?" He said, "Still not." Okay. When that devotee came with the bhikṣā, Holy Gurujī said, "This is not a bhikṣā. A śikārī and bhikārī have no direction." Śikārī means the hunter. A hunter doesn’t go only in one direction; he has to go in many, many different directions. Similarly, a beggar—bhikṣā going is a beggar. We call a bhikṣuk, you call a monk, but still it is a beggar. So śikārī and bhikārī have no direction and target to one place. If you always go to your favorite house, that is not a bhikṣā but is the opposite, and you are trouble for that family. And don’t ask, "I want to have this today." Then it becomes selfish. And Hari Gurujī is writing in one of the stories in the Līlā Amṛta, how he asked for the chapatis made out of millet, the bajara. And then he came, and he had a pain in the stomach. And Mahāprabhujī was sitting there, and Hari Gurujī and Mahāprabhujī said, "Yes, it will take time." So Mahā Holī Gurū said, "What? It will take time until it digests." So Holī Gurū said, "But I have pain in the stomach." That’s what Mahāprabhujī said, that’s what I’m telling you. You have only to say, "I want Bājrī chapātī." But you didn’t think, "Do these people have Bajrī flour at home or not?" and this. When you ask for something, "I want to have this and this," then you become selfish. That becomes what we call food, selfish. And that can cause you troubles. Also, Devpurījī used to go for bhikṣā. Mahāprabhujī used to go for the bhikṣā. Hari Gurujī used to go for bhikṣā. And Devpurījī, he took only one pot with him. And whatever comes—halwa comes, or milk comes, or the yogurt comes, or chapati comes, or the dal comes, or vegetable comes, or the rabri comes—everything is put in one pot. They said, "Yes, Swamiji, but this is halvā." I said, "Yes, I have only one pot here. Whatever you will give, ice cream, this, that, all will go in one pot there. Why not now here?" But say, it is a test. Yes, Devpurījī said this. Test, my dear. Test is not best. Test will spoil you. Liking and disliking the test also. Is tan mein indriyaan das hai. There are ten senses in this body. Yes, ten. Five karmendriyāṇ and five jñānendriyāṇ. Is tan mein indriyaan das hai, koi pure yogī ke vas hai. A great yogī can have control over this. Lekin doh kā nahī̃ itbārā, but two you cannot trust, even if you are the best yogī. Ek upasth, ek svādha indriya, the sexual desire and the tongue taste. This is not easy; you become crazy. So, to overcome all this, first master the taste. And that’s not easy, you know. When one day there is little chili in the food, the master said, "Who was cooking today?" There is not even a little inside, liking and disliking. So lucky are they who can get bhikṣā, prasāda, great, great. Therefore, it is said, "Mahātmā, Kubera bhī hajāra jiske, phira bhī bīkṣā se dina gujārate hain." Kubera is the treasurer of God. Means all the wealth of the God, heaven, and everything is with Kubera. When Kubera is happy with you, immediately you are a billionaire, a billionaire... Billions, what is more than billions? Trillions. Kuber Bihājar, jiske so Kubera is always in the seva of such a bhikṣuk mahātma, great saint. Kubera said, "Can I bring something for you to do?" He doesn’t pay attention to Kubera, but he goes for bhikṣā. Kuber Bihājar jiske phir bih bhikṣā se din gujarte hai, but he lets pass his days through the bhikṣā. Lāprabhāī ho to aisī ho. What a person who doesn’t care about this all. La parvai ho to aisi ho, phatade man vishyon se khatai ho to aisi ho. It spoils like milk is spoiled by lemon. Similarly, all your longing is spoiled by your willpower. That khaṭāī means that vairāgya. Or amar ho jisko khane se mithai ho, to aisi ho. And that sweetness is the best one, which makes us immortal. We are always talking about nectar, but don’t think that nectar is sweet like honey. It’s not sweet like honey, my dear. If you get a little drop, like a drop of the fog, then you are the luckiest of the luckiest. But you will lose your whole appetite for months and days and months. Now, you don’t know how the nectar is. Because only they know who have tasted the nectar. That is the nectar of the immortality of jñāna. So, bhikṣā—lucky are they who can have it. And therefore, also in ashrams we are praying, at least after having food, we say, "Anpūrṇi Sadā Pūrṇi Jñāna Vairāgya Siddhyartham." For the success of my jñāna and vairāgya, for my Self-realization, for the success of my yoga practice, my spiritual practice. Jñāna Vairāgya Siddhārtha, Bhikṣam Dei Chaparavatī, Mātā Chaparavatī Devī, Pitā Devo Maheśvara. So, such great saints, such monks who have no ego, that’s it. And to get food from that bhikṣā is a mahā-prasād. Even a small piece of chapati or rice corn you get in that bhikṣā, this is a great blessing for you. People are waiting to receive that bhikṣā. And so people are working and doing karma yoga and waiting till they will get mahāprasād of the Gurudev. That is a bhikṣā for disciples also. And so, Bhikṣam, the Māteśvarī. Bhikṣam, please give me the bhikṣam. This is that. There is ānanda. Then there is no jealousy, no hate, no anger, no restless energies. Everything is good. What comes in the jholī, in the bag of the bhikṣuk, becomes nectar. So, Buddha. But when the Buddha went to the meditation and then suddenly he lost himself. He lost in nothingness, in śūnyākāśa. Buddha said that he went to the stone consciousness, and he followed his very beginning of existence. All the levels, from the stones and coal to what we call the corals and fish and vegetation, and so on, up to the Buddha. Then he was enlightened. Nothing remained. So he came back and said, "All in nirguṇa." But Siddhartha—Buddha means intellect. Bodhānanda, Bodha means the wisdom, the knowledge, and knowledge has buddhi. So when it is enlightened, then that’s called enlightened intellect or enlightened buddhi, called Bodha. And so they begin to call him Buddha, but in reality he is the Siddhārtha. Now, the teachings of the Buddha went around the whole world, and very few people know who read about Buddha, who was a Siddhartha and was a Hindu. He was a prince, but now they said, "No, we are Buddhist religion." So it is one branch of the Sanātana Dharma, one branch of Hinduism. So, meditation. Therefore, we don’t need that you become that Buddha, sitting under the—under the, what you call this lime tree, no? This is this, Linden Baum, no? There is no banyan tree, so you are sitting under a linden. Unter Linden, Neman finden. That’s it. So, kind of Yadvinden, untadan, lindan. So, meditation. Therefore, safety meditation. Creative, that you can bring that wisdom, the knowledge of the Brahman. Astrology is researched by great saints who meditate. All about different planets and the thousands of sun systems. Chowda Lok, Ikiso Brahmāṇḍa: the 14 different worlds and 2100 different universe-sun systems, till that the consciousness of a yogī can reach and then again come back and bring the message of all what’s happening and how it is there, if you have a mantra. So, as far as you go, the mantra is like a thread which constantly will keep a connection with your physical body, and you will begin to have your cosmic knowledge, the universal knowledge. Anything happens at any time, you can come back to your body within no time. That is a safety. So, till there is called Sabīja Samādhi, Savikalpa Samādhi, Nirvikalpa, Savikalpa. Nirvikalpa is when there is no more any knowledge or nothing finished. Neither you, nor me, nor he, nothing is there. Then, for what are we trying all this? So, as long as you will live and be healthy and bring something in the world, savikalpa, saṅkalpa, and vikalpa. Saṅkalpa means our wish, viṣ, and vikalpa means to dissolve the viṣ. So the thread of your consciousness and your soul here is constantly connected, and then you are able to research everything. And that connecting thread, that protecting thread, which will keep all the negative elements from the space and from the physical planet away, you will be safeguarded, and that’s your mantra. So keep on repeating your mantra and just be there. Suddenly, you will come there. But the vikāra from the body has to be purified. And vikāra is a lot of vikāra. Mostly, vikāra is also in our food. Our diet, what we are eating here, including myself—one day’s food is for one month, my dear. Then you will see a very clean, shining body, where every rib has space between. That’s it. What a great yogī the ribs are reflecting. That’s it. And the skin, you can take it like a cloth, like this, you know. That’s it. So, vikāra, nirvikāra. So, vikāra will be in the body as long as we consume such a kind of food. Doesn’t matter who is who. Now our habit is different. When we have no breakfast, our blood pressure goes down, and with no breakfast, you get up and you are dizzy. And your husband tells, "What happened, darling? Bring me coffee." Then you take the coffee, and then you are saying, "It’s okay, yes, I am okay now." So, vikāra through all these things: what we are drinking, eating, bread, butter, cheese, rice, this and that, and, of course, most worth is meat and eggs and alcohols and this and that, all. And then, vikāra in the mind, that’s more dangerous. In the mind, there’s a lot of vikāra. And this vikāra, you can say pollution. And all is coming out of the human mind. The mental pollution is more dangerous than the physical pollution. And so, vikāra means also the desires. Anger is vikāra. All this vikāra. And vikāra is like this, that every second, every minute, the vikāra comes out of the bodies. And so what they said, purification of the vikāras and mala, you cannot. This body you cannot purify. Yes, you can do it for some seconds, minutes. This body is a bag, a gunny bag of the vikāras. This body is full of all these vikāras, disease, that, that. If you look in your body, you will lose your appetite. Yes? All thanks to the doctors that they are now used to it. And they do it just like, because for a doctor, the body is just like repairing some car, a carousary. But, therefore, thanks to God that He gave a beautiful skin over it, everything covered. So, māl vikṣepa and āvaraṇa. Māl is inside. Māl means, actually, the code. Toilet, what you go, that’s a mala. But mala also means impurity. Mala means many things, but let’s say mala, impurity. Vikṣepa, all kinds of anger, jealousy, here it is, there. And avaraṇa, the thick curtain of ignorance, so I have pain here, I have pain here, but I don’t see, go to doctor, though it is in you. Thanks to God that he nicely covered my liver. God, dear God, thank you very much, that at least we can see and understand. If everything were transparent, you would not look to anybody, and you would say, "Please, quickly dress." That’s it. Vikāra, when in our mind, day by day, vikāra comes, this is something for those who have very terrible karmas. So purification, this body has its nature, and everything has its purpose. Don’t hate your vikāra. Suppose you can’t pass urine. So, very soon you will die. Your kidneys will be poisoned and finished. Suppose you can’t pass the stool. Many, many things. God made everything so automatic. Ventilation, air conditioning, everything, heat, cold, everything. Thank you, God. God has given immunity outside of the skin, under the skin, and everywhere in the body. So meditation. Though we are sitting in this body of the vikāra, we meditate, and from vikāra we go to the nirākāra. So, there are many meditations, techniques. One thing that we are going to do now is called how to spread the happiness around the whole body. During this, feel that your hands get energy, your legs get energy, your organs get energy, your limbs become strong, and you feel happiness. And this meditation, Ānandoham, Ānandoham. But in a different way, first I will sing, and then you will sing after me. Okay? And who can’t sing, don’t sing. So it is so because it’s a meditation, and you feel like waves. Ānandoham, okay. So first I will sing, and then you will sing after me. Always I will sing first, and then you will sing. Sit in meditation, relax. Deep inhale and exhale, like you are floating on the waves of the Jaya habit. The waves of happiness ascending from the lowest chakras manifest in Maṇipūra, come to the vocal cords, and step by step come to the head, the Sahasrāra chakra. And when you say "hum," then this wave of happiness is penetrating or resonating in the heart. The whole go ahead singing.