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Good evening. Blessings to all of you from Mahāprabhujī. Today we are very fortunate to be with Mahāprabhujī here in this hall. Due to the warm weather, we were always in the garden, but today we have the blessing to be here. This hall, which holds an immense amount of spiritual energy, has hosted daily prayers, meditations, yoga practices, and satsaṅgs for nearly the last two decades. Therefore, this is known as a tapasyā hall—a place of austerity. So when one enters this room or hall, if you have practiced prāṇāyāma, as we spoke this afternoon, or if you have good energy, you will feel or receive a very divine vibration. We are the blessed ones, the fortunate ones, the lucky ones, to be here. This evening in the hall, I welcome all of you, and also our dear friends, brothers, sisters, and spiritual seekers around the world. You are also fortunate ones to have darśana of Gurudeva Mahāprabhujī. A question is coming. Often, never mind. What to do with fear? But before you ask, what is the cause of fear? Gurujī—our Satgurujī, Śrī Svāmī Madhavānandajī of Rājasthān, Nīpal, Jārdīn Khāṭū, Jaipur, Khilās Balāgūḍā—told a story. There was a small village of farmers. Farmers also have a lot of land. Some have 100 hectares, some 200, 500, or 20 hectares. One farmer had about 200 hectares of land, and on his property was a small, beautiful house. In that small village, half of Střílká, he had a big house where he could accommodate 50 to 60 people. There was a family festival, so he invited many guests and close family members. All were accommodated in the house; every room, every mattress was occupied. Around 8 o’clock in the evening, his son-in-law arrived. They did not know where to put him. The newly married boy was a little shy to be with his parents-in-law. The culture in India and Eastern culture is different from here. Yesterday, Svāmī Gajānandajī told us about the difference in culture, and to digest that difference is difficult. They thought this person should have a comfortable, nice room, so they decided to accommodate him in a farmhouse about 300 or 400 meters away. In the evening, they had a nice dinner, sang bhajans, and had satsaṅg. Now it was nearly 10:30 or 11:00, time to go to sleep. His brother-in-law guided him to that farmhouse and told him he would be sleeping there. The newly married son-in-law wanted to play the great hero—strong, not showing any weakness or fear. But he had heard from someone once that the village people were gossiping. He heard only once that in the farmer's farmhouse lived a ghost. That’s enough. That’s called blackmailing. When someone tells you good things and satsaṅg, you don’t remember them after some time. But such things penetrate through and through; every nāḍī resonates. He had heard it sometime before. As soon as they told him he would be sleeping there, his hair stood on end. But he didn’t dare to say, "I am afraid." So he said, "Hanumanjī, as you wish." Hanumanjī is a great protector and a bhakta of God Rāma. Where you pronounce the name of Hanumanjī, the ghost runs away. How? Like when someone has diarrhea and runs to find the toilet, so when they see Hanumanjī, all this negative energy goes away. The great Tulsidās, who wrote the Holy Rāmāyaṇa, also wrote the Hanumān Cālīsā. Every day you should read this Hanumān Cālīsā. Cālīsā means forty; there are forty ślokas. It takes five minutes, or ten if you chant it nicely. It’s beautiful. In the Hanumān Cālīsā it is described that where you repeat the name of Hanumānjī, all ghosts and witches and negative energy disappear. So he said, "Hanumanjī, as you like." His brother-in-law accompanied him to a nice sleeping room, about 20 square meters, with a very nice ceramic chimney. It was summer; there was no fire inside, and on the chimney were some blankets and mats. He came into the room and saw his nice bed. His brother-in-law explained, "Here’s the water, this, that, everything," and said, "Good night." He replied, "Good night." At that time, there was no electricity in the farmhouse. Where is the electricity now? Unnecessarily, we have it everywhere with so many bulbs. Before going to sleep, he closed the windows and doors nicely. There was an oil lamp, so he blew it out. He tried to sleep, but that blackmailing he heard five years ago was now manifesting in his mind. He repeated that thought like a mantra: "Ghost is here, my God, ghost will come. Today is the last day of my life." He didn’t dare to go back. This fear became stronger and stronger. He covered his body with a blanket to sleep, but every half minute he opened the blanket to look for a ghost. At 12:30 at night, the moon came out. From the upper part of the window, moonlight fell on the ceramic chimney—a nice white chimney. He had forgotten about the chimney under the blankets. As soon as he saw the chimney in the moonlight, he began to scream, "Ghost, ghost, ghost! Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me." He manifested a ghost because he screamed very loudly. The farmhouse was 300-400 meters away, not very far, so people heard. About 50-60 people ran to the house, but no one dared to enter the room. He was crying, "Please help me, ghost, ghost!" People said, "Then open the door." It was double-locked. The young man was paralyzed; he couldn’t get up. He said only one sentence: "He’s sitting on my chest." People outside said, "My God, it will be horrible if the ghost kills our son-in-law." It doesn’t matter who is who. There were some bodybuilders, strong boys, outside. They decided what to do, saying, "Hanumanjī, Hanumanjī..." They broke the window to enter the room. In a minute, as they broke the window, that young man threw away the blanket, ran to the door, opened it, and ran away. The others didn’t wait one second; they all ran out behind him. Now, all 50 people plus the one were paralyzed. They said to the house owner, "How could you do such a thing? You knew there was a ghost in this house." He said, "Well, I totally forgot. What to do?" They said, "We shall call some priest, a paṇḍit." We call paṇḍit, you call priest. The paṇḍit came and said some prayers, but the ghost didn’t go away. Everyone saw the ghost in the corner: a big white dress, its head somewhere in the roof, with a long dress. Then someone said, "Bring holy water." They brought holy water, made in the name of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, the Holy Father, the Spirit, and the Ghost. They made svāhā. The ghost didn’t move. Then they took a big loṭā (pot) and threw the water, svāhā. They threw half a bucket of water. Now, all the blankets and things on top became wet and were dripping water. That’s it. A terrible ghost, even making urine there. This ghost must be Nugra. You know what Nugra is? One who has no guru? Even ghosts have a guru. The guru of the Asuras is Śukrācārya. Everyone was so unhappy. Then they brought someone who could see spirits to clarify the future. That person came—an energy healer. The healer said, "Oh, I recognize him. In our neighbor’s village, there was a very big lime tree, and he was living there. I went there and beat him away. Then he hid himself on the bank of the river. I went there and beat him so much he ran. Then he went into a buffalo, so I performed a ceremony, and the buffalo went and the ghost went out. Then he went into someone, so I recited the Gāyatrī Mantra and he disappeared. I have been searching for him for the last 15 years. I told him, 'I will kill you. I will not let you be in peace unless you leave my people in peace.'" He was saying mantras, hocus pocus, filling his pūjā and throwing water. The ghost was not moving at all. He said, "Now I see an angel coming." This angel tells me, "Don’t touch this ghost, because he has a strong supporter." Ah, angel, go away. I have the strong support of Hanumānjī. He tried many, many things. He prayed to Allah, to Jesus, to many different gods—Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, Buddha, all. The ghost remained motionless. Of course, it was him. It was already three o’clock in the morning. People didn’t dare to go away because they said, "If we turn our backs, he will get us." At 3:15, one man came from the village, like Gajānanda. He said, "People, what are you doing? You disturb everyone’s sleep in the village. What are you doing here? Sit. Come and see your grandfather standing there in the corner." Gajānanjī said, "Who?" He said, "Ghost." Gajānanjī said, "There is no ghost, my friend. Your mind is your ghost. Your fear is your ghost." They said, "Don’t teach us anymore here. Give your lecture in the village. If you think there is no ghost, then go in." Gajananjī said, "Of course, I will go in." He took a torchlight, went in, and said, "Look, this is the chimney." Oh God, the farmer said, "How stupid I am, I didn’t even recognize that there is a chimney." The brother-in-law also said, "Oh God, I know this is my chimney in the corner." And the man who was inside said, "It is stupid. I took a blanket from there to sleep. How I was manipulated! No ghost." All the village people said, "Oh my God, let’s go home." From where did the ghost come? How much trouble it gave. And now, where did the ghost disappear? There are no more troubles. The ghost came out of ignorance. It gave you troubles of your own imagination, fear. And a master like Gajānanda came and gave you the knowledge of the truth, and the fear disappeared. There is no ghost. So this is our own imagination. Similarly, when you think you have fear about your existence, about losing your job or anything, this means you do not trust in God. "Who gave the pig will give the food." Kili ko kan, hathi ko man. A small ant gets a small corn of food; an elephant gets 100 kilos per day. Who is feeding? Not you, O human. It is God who takes care of all. So why are you afraid? Do you trust in God? Do you trust in yourself? If yes, then there is no fear. But that ghost you are carrying with you from that blackmailing—global crisis, global crisis, economic crisis—where did the money go? It didn’t disappear in the sky, nor in the earth. Everything is there, but what a big manipulation, like a ghost. The whole world is suffering, paralyzed. Trust thyself. Trust in your ability. From your hand, anyone can take, but from your brain, what you know, no one can take. Therefore, confidence. Therefore, Holy Gurujī says in his bhajan: Tehri Satguru rakhe laaj—the Satguru Dev will protect you. Chinta mat karna—don’t worry. Nirbhay raho nishank—be fearless, without doubt. Kabhi mat darna—never be afraid or scared anytime. Nirbhay raho... It was written by Gurujī. In the very beginning, before he met Svāmī Bodhānanjī Mahārāj, a disciple of Mahāprabhujī, Gurujī writes about him that Bodhānanjī told him, "There is no ghost, there is no spirit. It’s only your fear." Gurujī said that he made an experiment: he went at night from one village to another for satsaṅg, and he never saw a ghost. So, a ghost is our imagination and fear, or some crazy people you meet in darkness somewhere. But you know, sometimes you really see someone standing. You go at night through beautiful snow on a nice meadow. It’s a summer night, and the moon is shining. In the meadow, a nice meadow, there is some plant grown big, about one or one and a half meters, with nice branches. With a light wind, it’s moving, with big leaves, and the moon is reflecting. Oh God, you think someone is there looking at you. This is all imagination—no ghost, so no fear. Yes, you should be afraid of doing negative karma. That is a ghost. But doing good things, there is no ghost, so no fear. We trust in God, and nothing will happen. So if you have a problem of nerves—"I’m scared, you are depressed, you don’t go out of the house"—many, many things. That is psychological fear. So your fear is your problem. Or something happened in the past, but not now, so that is gone. Why are you afraid now? The same thing is taught by Ādiguru Śaṅkarācārya in a very nice book teaching about a snake. You walk on the road in the evening light, and about 25-30 meters away, a rope is lying. Suddenly you say, "Oh, snake!" Then you look exactly: it is a rope. From where did the snake come? How much fear was created? Now, where did the snake disappear? And where did the fear disappear? So it is our manifestation. Instead of manifesting such fearful things, you can manifest something beautiful. That’s it. So you have to become free from fear, and you will be happy.