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As I mentioned at the beginning of this evening, it is advisable first to pray to Gaṇeśa, to this divine form which is protecting us, taking away problems or disturbances, giving us wisdom, and protecting us. And so the first bhajan will be "Sumero Ghana Nāma Gurudeva." Always, in the tradition of Indian philosophy or the yogīs, we bow down to our teacher, to the one higher than we are. That means we accept the other as a teacher. He has more knowledge, he has wisdom, and I would like to have this too, so that this wisdom can enter into me, that I can understand, that I can work with it, that I can use it. I have to be humble, and I will bow down to your holy feet so that I can receive your protection, your wisdom, and your shelter. Please make my work successful and grant me a good start. You are the protector of the whole universe. So we are not merely speaking about our neighbor or our father or mother in the physical body, but we are going to the energy of the whole universe, so high. Please, with your protective energy, with your wisdom, with all that you are, be in every cell of me. Help me, protect me. And we also say in the beginning, in this sentence, that our Gurudev, our teacher, our spiritual master, he is this form of Gaṇeśa. He is giving us protection, he is giving us wisdom and knowledge, and we are bowing down to him. And this is also the experience of the saints. They too bow down to their masters. And we can also do Sumeru Gaṇanāmī. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Kṛpā Kriyā Jayā. The next bhajan we will chant has the title "Mānavatā Dhīra Dhīra Cāla." This means we are searching. Now we have the information, we are disciples, we have a master, and he tells us about the universe, how it is connected, and what we can reach—this highest. And how the whole world is functioning, we receive this information. And now the master says to us, "Yes, you have this information, and now you should practice so that you, in yourself, will realize this." That is what the master comes for: to tell the human being about this aim—to become one with the Self. And then he says, "Do it slowly, go slowly, step by step. Practice what you receive. Practice the system systematically, and do it slowly, so that you will cross inside. You will cross inside all the obstacles, all the rivers which are our nervous system, or our thoughts, our feelings—all that is connected in us as our personality. This we have to cross. This we have to purify. This we have to clear. Because then, when we do this, the consciousness will become more and more clear in us. And then we are that. We will become that." On this path, it is not easy, because we have the outer world and we are connected to it. In the outer world, many informations are coming, and this temptation arises: "This is all I would like to have, or I would like to experience." And all these senses we can satisfy with this or that thing. Yes, and we still have to take care that it does not catch us, that it does not hold us and pull us down into the outer world. This can happen easily. But the same is said in this bhajan: to reach this highest aim, you need somebody who is already there, because only he knows the safe way, and also he will give you these mantras, this energy, this support, so that you will cross these 72,000 rivers. This is the bhajan "Mānavatā Dhīra Dhīra Cāla." Do it slowly, but go on continuously. The next bhajan is "Tera Janama Marana Mita Jaya." And this, always in slightly different images, says the same about our life. First, it says, "Repeat the name of God." You can pray to God. You can pray with your own words. And when you have a master, Gurudev, then you receive a mantra. This is a prayer. This is the name of God. This we can repeat, and with this energy we are connected to the highest. And then, when we do it always, it will fill our whole being with this highest energy. And then it will liberate us from this ignorance, from this wrong identification with this body and this physical form. It will liberate us. And then in this bhajan it is told: when we are children, we have plays, we play. And when it is good and I have my toy, then I am happy. And when somebody else takes it away, I am sad. And so, always between these two. And when we are growing up, we still have toys. They change, yes? Maybe it becomes a job, a car, a partner, or whatever. And still it is changing, and I want to keep it, I want to hold it. And then different things come: passion, and then I am looking to be nice, to be beautiful, to keep my health, to have material wealth. But in time we know, and when we are getting older, all this is changing and not holding the same quality as we had it in youth. Then later, maybe some pain will come; not everything is functioning so well anymore. But our wishes, our desires, that which we hope to get, we still have. And it is always connected with the world. We think that we will be happy and content, and that we will get everything from others and from the world. But we know that is always changing; how can it be, then? And then the Guru says to us, "Please, do not forget, this is always disappointing, and it will not change. You should understand, you should think on this highest, on God, because this is the inner Self, and that is what we are searching for. There is completeness, there is no suffering anymore, there is fulfillment." And all these holy saints are telling us this. And this bhajan is from Svāmī Brahmānand. He was a disciple of Mahāprabhujī in our spiritual lineage. And he says, "Who else than God can take all the difficulties out of our destiny?" Only God can. "You are always in ānanda. You are always this highest bliss and consciousness. But I am suffering here on the earth. Did you forget me?" But how can the ocean forget its own waves? So it is only my thought. From my side, I think God is never forgetting. And you are protecting your devotees, because when I am in love with God, I am always connected with Him, with this energy, with this highest. When I am in love with that, then He is in love with me, because there is no distance, nothing between. You are the highest God. You are the highest incarnation. Please come to me. And also, that is what we can understand. It is so great. This divine energy can also manifest in a human form. We have saints on the earth who are this divine. And you are helping all. When we are praying, you are helping. And please also help me and also fulfill my wishes. And please do not look only to my mistakes, because even when I am making mistakes, it is somehow still in you. There is no distance, no difference. It is only from my side that there is a difference. So please forgive me when I am doing something wrong. And in your company, you have your poverty, this female aspect of the divine poverty. And there is also again Gaṇeśa, the sun. And I adore them all. I adore all aspects. And Mahāprabhujī was writing this bhajan to Devpurījī. And Mahāprabhujī was an incarnation of God. And Devpurījī also, but Mahāprabhujī was in a discipleship to Devpurījī to show us how it is. And he said, "Devpurījī, you are the highest, and I am your devotee, kī jai. I am so happy to have my guru, Devpurījī." And we, all disciples, have this feeling inside. Even if we are not with him, or there is some work going on in the mind, behind all that, we are so happy and lucky to have our guru, Dev. And always, he is giving us wisdom. He is always speaking about the truth and how we will reach it. Always, he is giving us this nectar. And we are sitting at his lotus feet, at his holy feet, and longing for this nectar, for this wisdom. And our soul, our ātmā, our self, is so much connected then to the Guru Dev. We are full of this nectar. We are full, and this is wisdom, always. And then, even if we are still connected to the outer world and with our problems and all that is coming, in the depths of our inner self, we have no more fear. We do not need that anymore, because we know about this, what we can reach, and where we are already, and what is inside of us, and with the practice of our sādhanā, our spiritual work, our mantra, we will reach that. And this connection will never break again; it will be always. And my Guru Dev, he is what they call a paras, a stone which converts metal to gold. It does not matter what comes into contact; maybe it is iron, but when it comes into contact with paras, it will become gold. And this is ours also. When we are opening ourselves up to this master, and the soul says, "Yes, yes, I am a disciple, I want to be, and I want to have a mantra, and I want to practice," then already there is this oneness, and he will convert us into a swan. And this symbol of the swan is the Paramahaṁsa, the liberated soul. There is no more ignorance. Without the Guru, for many of my lives, I just lived and passed away, came and passed away. And in the end, there was no sense of why I was living or what I had reached. But now, when I found this master, this highest wisdom, I am no longer suffering. I am not only in darkness anymore. I know that behind this is the highest God, and I can reach it when I practice and I have the support of my master. And this bhajan, Holī Gurujī was writing to Mahāprabhujī, and he said, finally he was in this ānanda; he was in this endless bliss. He was one with that, and for him there was no more changing, no more. He was only free because, in his consciousness, he was always one with this highest, even in the body. There was no more death, and he says, "Realize your guru in yourself."