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Part 1: The Witness of the Banyan Tree Oṁ, ma guru Viṣṇu, guru radevo Maheśvarāha, guru ṛṣakṣak param Brahma. Mantra Mūlaṁ Gurur Vākyaṁ, Śeṣa Mūlaṁ Gurur Kṛpā. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānjī Gurudeva Kī Jaya, Devādideva Deveśvara Mahādeva Kī Jaya, Sanātana Dhāraṇa Kī Jaya. Salutation to the cosmic light, our adoration to the holy lineage. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. And also, good evening or good morning, according to the different parts of the world and the times. This blessing is coming to you from our ashram, Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda Āśram, Washington, Alexandria, USA. This ashram is a beautiful ashram, and bhaktas are enjoying their sādhanā, practicing yoga and daily life, and practicing guru bhakti. Today is a very auspicious day, a beautiful day, because today is the day of the Holy Incarnation of our Holy Gurujī, His Holiness, Hindu Dharm Samrāṭ Śrī Svāmī Madhavānandajī, who incarnated on September 11, 1923, in Nepal village, Pali district, Rajasthan, India. Also, today is unfortunately the day which reminds us of the acts of humans against humans—the 9/11, or 11/9, what happened in New York. Well, our deep and humble prayer to the Almighty is to give good thoughts to humans. It is said, "Lord, bless us with the wisdom that we will never act against any creatures, not only humans, but any creature." Sadbuddhi, good thoughts, good intellect. From time to time, holy souls or divine consciousness manifest on our planet, and according to the law of incarnation, there are two kinds of incarnations, Nitya and Nimit. Nimit incarnations, which we call till now, were the 23rd and 24th in the Kali Avatāra, who have to come. The Nimit Avatāra comes time to time when things in different places get very complicated and unacceptable. Nityāvatāra, the holy saint, the great Tulsidāsajī, speaks in the holy book, the Rāmāyaṇa. The saints are holy, which is moving on a mobile, holy place where the saint is staying. There is no difference between Nitya and Nimitta Avatāra. The only difference is that we do not understand. Humans understand too late. When it’s gone, when it has happened, then it’s too late. And then we blame ourselves. Why didn’t I do this? Why didn’t I do that? I think I could have done differently. Why didn’t I take a benefit through my devotion? How stupid I was, that I had doubts I couldn’t understand. We weep, we cry, and we blame ourselves. Therefore, the luckiest are they who realize the Master, or Nimit, Kavtara, during their lifetime. When we see them and feel them, we are very happy. But still, we can’t redeem those minutes of our life or the moments of our life. We take it too easy. You know what it means when someone is with us and when someone is gone? Great deal. Can you imagine if the Holy Guru were with us today? How different would it be? But at that time, we didn’t understand. And now we said, "Oh God, why didn’t I go to see him?" and so on. In Khattu Ashram, where Mahāprabhujī mostly lived, is called Śrī Deveśwar Mahādev Śivbāgh, in the hills of this Khattu village. In the village, there was one room, and Mahāprabhujī was mostly living there because it was easier for the people to come to satsaṅg from the village. Also, there was an ashram. It is still the ashram where Mahāprabhujī’s physical body is, what we call the samādhi place. But mostly Mahāprabhujī used to live here in Śivbāgh. Thanks to our international and Indian bhaktas, we have made the ashram nicely and more comfortably for all devotees who come there, through reconstruction. That was done within one year, very quickly. Holi Gurujī, our beloved Gurudev, was not feeling well. So after one and a half years, he came to Khatu Ashram, this Śivaga, where Mahāprabhujī used to stay, in this beautiful banyan tree. When we came there, Holī Gurujī couldn’t recognize if this was really that place. He was beautiful, very, very nice, and he was very happy. The tears were coming from his eyes. And Gurujī, he gave me so much blessing. He was saying, "Mahesh, I have no words. How can I bless you? This is the place of my prāṇa ādhāra, the source of my prāṇa, the source of my life." And I was sitting near Gurujī, and Gurujī said to me, "Mahesh, these people don’t know who Mahāprabhujī was. Only this banyan tree is the witness. This tree knows what Mahāprabhujī was, and this tree knows how fortunate I was that I was mostly in the service of our Divine Lord." Yes, Gurujī said, "Mahesh, it was not so easy." We were sitting together and speaking. It was written in the Līlā Amṛt, but something that Gurujī really wrote from his heart. The Western-minded people who translate from Hindi to English and then English to different languages, they take many things out. I think we shall again rewrite or make it or put it again in the original, the first feeling of Holī Gurujī, how he wrote the Līlām. Guruji said there was only one small room where one bed could fit, that’s all. And a small side room as a kitchen or something, some blankets, and some sādhus or bhaktas come. Otherwise, all was a desert—sand and no houses, nothing. Only this banyan tree. And my duty, morning 3:30, get up and sit near Mahāprabhujī and sing bhajans. One hour till 4:30. Then arrange, if it is winter, then the fire, you know, that becomes very cold. Arrange a little warm water for Mahāprabhujī and wash his dress for bathing. Guru Mahāprabhujī was sitting, and Gurujī was washing him because there was no bathroom, you know, just sitting in the open air on the stone. And he said, "You can’t imagine how divine it was when I was touching Mahāprabhujī, washing. For I couldn’t feel my body, I was thinking that I am in a different universe." Yes, then Mahāprabhujī took his fresh dress, the new one, and performed the pūjā, the prayer to Mahāprabhujī. And then Mahāprabhujī sent me to bring some wood from the forest for fuel to make a fire. So one hour I was running a far distance to collect the camel’s dung. There were many camels and some wood, and like this. Come back, then go for a bhikṣā. Bring food, alms, because your spiritual sādhanā can only be successful when you put off your ego. Going begging for food, the monks have the training to go and get the bhikṣā. Without getting bhikṣā, your sādhanā cannot be successful. So, about six kilometers, seven kilometers, or eight kilometers, different villages, different houses, not going to the same house every day, I came back and whatever I got, I gave it to Mahāprabhujī. And Mahāprabhujī took it and put it near his bed and told him, "Go and clean the yard under the banyan tree. Take one broom and sweep everything." There, Holī Gurujī said, "Mahesh, my back was hurting so much. Sometimes I thought my back would break into parts. Cleaning about 10,000 square meters of space, grooming with the hand, cleaning. But my inner self was so happy and joyful." Like this, all the times, and when bhaktas come, to welcome them, this, that, sing for them bhajan, and so on, evening also, sitting near Mahāprabhujī and had a massage to his holy lotus feet. And Gurujī said, when I was touching his feet, it was like electricity. Energy was flowing, and I could see that Mahāprabhujī is just like a light, astral body. Again, Gurujī, tears flow. I’m telling you because today is Gurujī’s birthday. He said, "I did not think that in my life a day would come when I would see that Mahāprabhujī is not here physically." And at that time, I couldn’t think what that was for me. Whatever I was thinking and feeling, it was too little for me still. Guru Śiva. And sometimes when Mahāprabhujī went to some other village, then it was a hard time, a very hard time. Like the energy, the prāṇa is gone out of the body. But I had to take care of the ashram. Many different kinds of people come with different thinking, different feelings. But you have to be very calm. You have to always welcome them with the heart. Guest is God. It doesn’t matter if it’s an everyday visitor who comes, and it doesn’t matter how tired you are. Don’t show your tiredness. Don’t demonstrate your anger or your mood. Everything surrender, then you will feel the support. Often, Gurujī said, "I was tired and sitting under the tree, letting people do something, and I saw Mahāprabhujī in that small room." He said, "Go and work." Though Mahāprabhujī was not there, he could see Mahāprabhujī. So this is a lesson for us in our life. We don’t know what it means or what it was. Last year, you had a beautiful visit from Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Svāmī Niranjanānandajī. Unfortunately, he passed away, you know. Can you imagine that personality who just walked in? A mighty voice, strong and very nice, and it was full of love, smiling, no? Okay, Vaktās, how are you doing? It is wonderful, wonderful. His voice was like this. Suddenly, we do not know what the presence of Gurudeva in our life means, or the presence of a holy saint. Whenever I come to our Kathā Āśram and see the banyan tree, I remember Gurujī’s words. He said, full of tears, "Mahesh, my witness is this tree, nobody else here." And so that is a holy tree; for us, that tree is so holy. And then, the next day again, Gurujī said, you know, this Banyan tree is like my Guru brother. Can you imagine, my, these holy eyes of Mahāprabhujī were looking at this tree. How blessed are these trees that the Lord was gazing just on that. Sometimes Mahāprabhujī was sitting under that tree and giving satsaṅg. Many bhajans which he has written are under that tree. And Śrī Dīp Vijñān Gītā, which Mahāprabhujī dictated, is under that beautiful tree. So that is a place where Mahāprabhujī stayed. That’s the place where Gurujī had his sādhanā tapasyā. Not that he is doing āsanas and prāṇāyāma and sitting one hour, and then one hour of āsanas, and one hour of meditation, and then looking to see if someone made tea for me or breakfast. No, no. My sādhanā was work. Any time, midnight, Mahāprabhujī said, "Why is the dog barking? Go and look." And I was so tired. One day, we and Holy Gurujī were sitting in the car, driving through the Czech Republic, that time was Czechoslovakia, and we decided to go to another city, evening already, after the lecture. I said, "Gurujī, well, we go there and then we will relax, we don’t have to go early in the morning." So Gurujī said, "As you like." We were sitting, both we were sitting in the back side of the car, and Gurujī said, "You know, Mahesh, many times I was thinking, will I sleep in my life enough? Sometimes I was so tired and just went to sleep, and Mahāprabhujī said, 'Can you read me that letter?' What was written? Midnight, 2 o’clock. But I didn’t dare to say to him, 'What do you want now? I can read it tomorrow morning.' No." Gurujī said that was a divine play. And that’s why this book Gurujī wrote about Mahāprabhujī is called Līlā Amṛta. The nectar of the divine play and Gurudev’s divine play, very rare bhaktas can understand. People like us will immediately have doubts, anger, no, and this. But when the day comes and we are separated physically, then we will say, "Oh God, we could have done." The holy family, the divine family of holy Gurujī’s in Nepal village, and his parents were really very spiritual and very great. Father was a very, very wise man and the best astrologer in that part of the area. What he said, God said, that’s all, according to his astrological knowledge. And mother was, Gurujī said, she was a statue, an embodiment of mercy, full of compassion, and very simple living, that is. Not that you’re making some ceremonies and this and that, very simple. Be simple, that’s it. Try to be simple. All that you have—money, clothes, job, house, your age, your beauty—that’s nothing. It will go away, like when you hold water in your hands, it drips away. Go to the Sahara and take a handful of sand. You can’t keep that sand in your hand. It will run out, and so is this life. Our young age, our youth, our beauty, our property, our everything will slowly, slowly go out of your hands. And then water is there, again you are nothing. Always the divine soul, such as the spiritual soul, the divine soul. Therefore, Mahāprabhujī’s bhajan, there is also Lalanandjī and Brahmanandjī said, my adoration to that mother and father, the parents who gave birth to such a divine being. In Nilayāmṛt, Gurudev is speaking, our holy Gurūjī is saying very, very nicely, one dedication, which you all know, a prize to our Lord Mahāprabhujī, and which page is the very beginning, because there are so many things inside. Anyhow, praise to the parents of the Lord Mahāprabhujī, and adoration; praise to that holy land, the house where he was born; praise to the brothers and sisters of him. Mahāprabhujī. So everything, guru bhakti, the best bhakti is the guru bhakti. Guru bhakti means already the devotion to God, God bhakti, and that is rare. People have in their heart to understand. Who understood the express way to self-realization? But surrender, ego. Look how much ego you have. So, for example, here in this āśram, I come only very rarely, but with how great devotion you are keeping this āśram very clean, nice, beautiful, holy altar, Gurudevs, and this. You know, it’s not that this āśram is a clean and holy altar, no. It’s not like that, as I say. It is like that house, your inner self. So this altar, this place, this cleanness, this harmony, this peace, this understanding is within you. You reflect the inner peace for the outer peace. The inner love for the outer love. Inner understanding for the outer understanding. Always, I used to say, you should be very, very thankful to the person who reminds you or tells you something about which your action or thought is not so good. There is one story Holy Gurujī used to tell often in his satsaṅg. Well, after the old God Kṛṣṇa, when he came to this time that he was known and everyone realized as divine, as Kṛṣṇa. One day, Krishna’s master, Ṛṣi Sandīpa, in his āśrama, Gurudeva was sitting and thinking, "Krishna is now great. He is universal, he is a lord. But still, I would like to know if Kṛṣṇa has an ego." Gurudev is bigger than any divine incarnation of God. That’s why it is said, "Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Devo Maheśvara." Even Brahmā, Śiva, and Viṣṇu, they all adored and had a Gurudev. Brahma, Viṣṇu, Śiva, they cannot come through without Gurudev’s blessing either. The highest principle in the universe, the highest, is Guru Tattva, if one can understand. But this is Kali Yuga, and many people don’t understand. And that’s why they are suffering. You see how the world looks like now? We see everything, the result. So, Ṛṣi Sandeep decided to go and visit Kṛṣṇa with many disciples. So, they went to Kṛṣṇa’s palace where he was living. When Kṛṣṇa heard that Gurudev is coming, Kṛṣṇa was running barefoot, without shoes. He had no time to put on his shoes, you know. I went and made the praṇām and said, "Gurū Dev, why did you take this trouble to come here? I could have come anytime; just send me the places." Guru Dev, Sandeep, Ṛṣi said, "Kṛṣṇa, I heard that you are a very good cook." Look how Guru Dev is playing. I heard that you can cook very well. So I decided to come to eat. But you have to cook alone. Do not take help from anyone. And all these bhaktas will eat with me. Krishna said, "My Lord, what can be the biggest happiness or a great privilege for me in this life than to serve you, Gurujī? I will do." So Kṛṣṇa was cooking, making delicious food. And they served, and all other bhaktas, the brahmachārīs, the sādhakas of the gurukul, they were sitting and all got food. So all were waiting until Gurudev would eat first. Rishi Sandeep took this food in his mouth and he spit it out again. He said, "Krishna, this is not eatable at all. It tastes little. What did you cook? I heard you are a great cook. Take it away. You are a great cook. We will not eat." Krishna said, "I am sorry, Lord, Gurudev. I will do my best. I will cook again." So again, Krishna went to his kitchen. And he was cooking with great love. He brought the plate and served this. Again, the same thing. He took it in his mouth and spit it out. It’s nothing. There is no taste. It’s something like mud. That Gurujī was telling in Rajasthani language. It was beautiful. Anakoka Radhar. Who can give the order to the Lord? Again, Kṛṣṇa went to cook. He brought again his self-lighting. And Guru Dev took the first bite. Oh, Kṛṣṇa, so tasteful, so delicious. It seems the love of the entire universe, you put it in this; it is very tasteful. Part 2: The Test of Service and the Fragrance of a Saint I did not return to the kitchen. After eight, Ṛṣi Sāndīpani said, "Now I must go back to my hut, the Gurukul, which was far away, outside the village. I am tired, so organize a coach, a horse coach, but horses should not pull. You and Rukmiṇī, your wife, Kṛṣṇa’s wife, Rukmiṇī—you and Rukmiṇī should pull my coach and hurry up because I have no time." He said, "Yes, Gurujī." Now, can you imagine Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī pulling that coach like a horse, and Ṛṣi Sāndīpani sitting inside without shoes? Another order, so beautiful—the gentle foot of Kṛṣṇa, like a lotus, and Rukmiṇī walking on the stones, pulling this, and they came to the āśram. "Gurudev, can you bless us and forgive my mistakes, that I couldn’t cook? I don’t know who told you that I can cook very well." Ṛṣi Sāndīpani said, "Kṛṣṇa, your first meal, which you cooked, second and third—it was so delicious, so delicious. Every meal was, you can’t compare. Like one diamond to another ruby, and this something, you know, sparkling lights. But also, that you pulled my coach, my chariot—I only wanted to know how much ego you have, Kṛṣṇa. There was no mistake; only that was a test for you." Kṛṣṇa said with folded hands, "Gurudev, you can’t imagine how happy I am. At least someone in this universe finds my mistake and dares to tell me that I made a mistake. Please keep on correcting me lifelong, Gurudev. Your blessings should be there." That’s called a sevā. That’s called humbleness. That’s called gurubhakti, and that’s called the wise person. Only a wise one, a great one, can do the sevā. Others cannot do it. Sevā is such a rich food; everyone cannot digest it. I am telling this because of what Hari Gurujī experienced. Today is Hari Gurujī’s birthday. He incarnated on this day, and when Mahāprabhujī left this world, Hari Gurujī said he didn’t want to live anymore. But again, the voice came and said, "No, Mādhavānanda, still I gave you duty; you have to do your duty." And so, constantly, Gurujī’s mālā is in his hand, and he is meditating. A great personality, when he appeared, when he came to any house, it was like a divine flame is coming, light is coming. Madhura Vyavahāra, and very sweet behavior, sweet appearance, sweet smile, and at the same time very strict, very disciplined. Who can do this? That one who has that divine light, whose divine consciousness is awakened. In Jodhpur, Rajasthan, where Holy Gurujī often used to go, is our sister sitting here, Sobhājī. Can Sobhājī receive you? Come. Any time he would come. This is Sobhājī, and her daughter is here, Anurāghī. Gurujī loved them very, very much. One day Gurujī told me, "This morning I had a vision in meditation." I said, "What?" He said, "This was today. I saw in the morning that Sobhā was my mother." Then she came back, Gurujī said. Any bhaktas, Indian or European, who go to Jodhpur, they go to Sobhājī’s house and Rajendrājī, her husband. It doesn’t matter if you are one or ten or fifty; Sobhājī will run into the kitchen and prepare a meal for everyone herself, with her own hands, and very quickly. Many of you have been there, no? In Jodhpur. Who was there? Umāpurī was there, Rāmabandhan, many of these, yes. So I’m very happy that especially today, on Gurujī’s birthday, Sobhājī is also here in our Washington Āśram. You know, we say there is a saying: the flower will die, but its fragrance will remain. This body will go away, but our good work, good thoughts, the love, the memory will remain very fresh. Gurujī, from his childhood, had only one interest: to become one with God, to have that God consciousness. It is only those who are holy incarnations who have these feelings, and their feelings mean to teach us. Many, many places Gurujī went, he saw many different sādhus, but when he saw Mahāprabhujī—because Gurujī was a bhakta of Kṛṣṇa in his childhood—one morning Gurujī said it was Brahma Muhūrta, meditation, half sleep and half meditation, and he dreamed. The voice came, and he saw Kṛṣṇa, and He told the time and day, "I will come to you." It was exactly that which came in Gurujī’s meditation when Gurujī first saw Mahāprabhujī in Jodhpur. There was a satsaṅg in three, four months, Cāturmāsa, and the king of Jodhpur said, "This invitation." When Gurujī saw Mahāprabhujī, immediately Mahāprabhujī was such divine light, Gurujī saw the whole Kṛṣṇa in him and touched the holy feet of Mahāprabhujī. Mahāprabhujī said to him, "Remember what I told you, that today, this time, I will meet you." That was very clear to Holy Gurujī; that is where I belong. Mahāprabhujī’s sevā, Gurujī did nearly 20 years, many years. After some years, Gurujī was traveling, and there were not so many roads and cars and transportation at that time, carrying the Mahāprabhujī’s bhajans book with 20 kilos, 30 kilos, and giving them to those who sing the bhajan or to those who understand this, distributing the books for free. Sometimes, when Gurujī came after a two-month tour to Mahāprabhujī, Mahāprabhujī said, "Welcome, but now immediately you must go there." Not sitting even five minutes with him, go there. And Gurujī said, "For me, to hear this voice that Mahāprabhujī gave me a duty, that was the greatest love for me, the greatest happiness and the blessing, that I could follow the Guru Vākya and do with my whole being." When Mahāprabhujī was sitting somewhere or walking, sometimes holding the hand, walking with Gurujī, or Gurujī was always standing on that side where the wind was blowing from the direction through Mahāprabhujī’s body, and he felt that energy was... from Mahāprabhujī’s body to the Gurujī’s, it was coming. This is a bhakta. Wherever he was, even now, he always turned his face towards Khatu, in meditation. Like a sunflower always turns towards the sun. That’s a bhakta. The look of the bhakta is constantly on Gurudev, because you never know in which minute or second you will see some difference. These eyes are only worthy if we have the divine vision of Gurudev in meditation or without meditation. Gurujī traveled throughout all of India and spread the message of Mahāprabhujī very widely. And then it happened. One day, in the afternoon at 5 o’clock, in my village where I was born, an open jeep came. You know, this old jeep with an open roof, and there was a driver who was—the driving was the Mahārājā of some village—and two persons more, and Gurujī was sitting beside the driver. You can’t imagine, the whole village was running when they heard the Gurujī arrived. After becoming a sanyāsī, Gurujī came to my village for the first time, and that was because my father, my physical father, my blood relative, had passed away. So Gurujī came to bless my mother and express his condolences. I was a very young child, and I saw my holy Gurujī coming. I haven’t told anybody yet. I am telling you today that I won’t write it in my biography, perhaps, if I have time. I am traveling so much that there is no time to write. Gurujī, a mighty figure, light like a flame, is coming, and I say to myself, "Hey, boy, this is what you want. Like that, I would like to be." That went into my heart like lightning, and so, till today, it is very vivid, very alive, very beautiful, very divine in my heart. Love to my Gurudev. And Gurujī with him was also not so easy, like with Mahāprabhujī, was also in some way not so easy, as Gurujī said. But with love, that’s it. Heart but love, you know. You give someone a slap on the cheek, but with love, say, "I love you." That’s right. The most beautiful time, the constellation of my life, was on that day. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the date; otherwise, I would have written it. When I first saw the Gurujī, it was unbelievable. That’s called how a bhakta, how a devotee, how a disciple recognizes his or her Gurudeva—the heart. It unites the heart to heart, and it becomes one. Then you are one. Let it go. Let it come. It creates what we call ābhāmaṇḍalam. It creates the light. It’s like a ball or a balloon, an aura, and you are one in that aura. Each look, each touch, each feeling is indescribable. Such a holy person comes into this world, and then they go. There were millions of such great holy saints throughout the world, but especially in India, because they were more recognized. Many, many great souls, not only male, but also female. In Jodhpur, there was a very great lady, called Ajñeśvarī, Mata Ajñeśvarī, an Avadhūta, very great, a Siddha, you know, and she lived in the forest, and her gods were the wolves or the tigers, so that no one could come near to her. There is an ashram in Jodhpur. Great. Everyone has a great devotion, a great, great devotion to go to that ashram. And when you go, you feel it, like you go to Khatu. The tireless work of Holy Gurujī, what he did for 80 years in his life, unfortunately, he went away with his physical body. But he’s with us, and especially I can tell you he’s more with us today here because of the Śobhājī. Gurujī laughed. Her husband, her father-in-law, his mother-in-law, her father, my parents, her children, and a room was prepared for Gurujī. Anytime he just comes and walks into that room, that’s what it is, Gurujī’s room, and relaxes. So many bhaktas are there, not only that, but whenever you go to Jodhpur, where Gurujī can be, in Rājendrajī’s house, Swāmījī’s house. For everyone eating, they will not say, "Oh God, do you want to eat?" No. Indians will not ask, "Do you want to eat?" Indians will tell you, you should eat. "Do you want to eat?" is a question. It means you will only offer if I say yes. That is not the behavior of a host towards a guest. A host should say, "Please eat." And when one is eating, then you come and say, "Can I give you more?" No. The Indian mentality, they will be very upset, and they will say, "No, thank you." But you said, please take more. And when you give, don’t say, "How much should I give you?" How much should I give you? Never, never say to this Indian, "Just give." So, don’t tell. "Do you want to eat?" Tell me, please, what would you like to eat? What can I make? What kind of vegetables, and this and that? Please take more. And don’t say, "How much should I give you?" This is a mentality, the traditions, and so on. There are many beautiful things, many beautiful moments. From my very young age, like our Mohan, I lived with Holy Gurujī, and sometimes in the night, when I woke up, I could see the Gurujī’s whole blanket was illuminating, full of prāṇa, the light, and I was frightened, oh God, what is happening? Little child. So Gurujī was great, he is a great, he is a very divine, and we are fortunate ones that our divine spiritual light, our holy lineage from Alakhpurījī, Himalaya for thousands of years, thousands and thousands of years, coming now till our ashram in Washington DC, USA, and many bhaktas. So, on this special divine day, the holy day of the incarnation of our beloved Gurudev, I bless you all, and I wish you good health and divine spiritual development, divine consciousness. So be happy if someone tells you you made a mistake. Don’t do like this. Who knows if Mahāprabhujī sent these thoughts to my mind to tell you, "Why have you done this? It’s not good. Don’t do like this." To test your ego, you know, when someone tells you, then you should melt it completely, say, "Oh, sorry, thank you." Thank you that you remind me. Like Kṛṣṇa said to Gurudeva, thank you, Gurudeva, that you made me aware about my mistakes or my weakness. If such feelings are there, then the organization, then the ashrams, then the bhakti, then the seva, then the traditions, all go beautifully, harmoniously, and successfully. Otherwise, well, that’s what I do. If you don’t like it, I’m sorry. It’s not a question of liking and disliking. You know, tirelessly, I’m also traveling, and sometimes people say, "Swāmījī, please stay one week." And I say, "No, stay here for one week." What a dream, you know. And then when I decide to stay one week, the next day I’m thinking, it’s the best of my lifetime. In this one week, I could visit three places and give the prasād of Gurujī’s name, Mahāprabhujī’s love, and blessing in three places. And if I stay one week here, how selfish I am. And that doesn’t let me rest. When Hanumānjī got an arrow in his foot while flying back from the Himalayas, bringing the sañjīvanī herb for Lakṣmaṇa, who was lying unconscious in Sri Lanka. The question is this: if God, Rāma was a God, why couldn’t he help his brother? He could have helped. But he wants to show what a bhakta can do. And when Hanumānjī was taking the mountain and coming back, flying over Ayodhyā, the birthplace of the Lord Rāma, the people thought that the enemy was going to Rāma’s enemy. Because, can you imagine a big hill? It could be, I said, how many aeroplanes like Jumbo, now the biggest aeroplane. Did you see that biggest one? He didn’t say, "I think we must fly all together. We should wait two or three years until it gets used to it." So the brother of Rāma, Bharata, who was in Ayodhyā, shot Hanumānjī with an arrow. And Hanumanjī got it in his foot, and Hanumanjī came down for a rest. While coming down on the ground, he said, "Śrī Rām, Śrī Rām, Jaya Rām, Śrī Rām." And they said, "Oh God, we made a mistake. He is the devotee of the Lord, our Rāma." Bharata came and said, "Brother Hanumān, I am so sorry. Excuse me, please. Have a rest. We shall bring some remedy for you." Hanumanjī said, "Rām kāj kī bin moy kahā viśrām? O dear brother Bharat, without fulfilling the duty to my Lord, how can I rest? The day will come when I will have eternal rest." Everest, you know, there is a bhakta’s place. Everest means Everest, mokṣa, bhaktas. There goes, or like Dhruva, Bhaktadhruva, and so, bringing the divine message of Gurudev for the well-being of the human, protection of all creatures and environment, to bring the love, understanding, respect, and tolerance. This is how, a little bit about Guru Bhakti, how the bhaktas went through. This is, I’m telling you, so reality is very different than what you read in the books. Very rare books write exactly how it was. When you read the autobiography of a yogī, where also Paramahaṃsa Yogānanda describes the life with his master, and this, you know, how was it? How was it? And many others, many, many, also Swāmī Śivānandajī of Ṛṣikeśa, he describes. And how was the life? Very hard. So, in simple terms, hard, but divine, sweet, loving. Develop in your consciousness such a devotion that you will never say no, why, and how. Why, how, and out. This goal should go out forever. It is my great privilege in any way, through any thing, I can make my Gurudeva, my Lord, happy, and I can be useful for him. Otherwise, what is the sense of this life? Therefore, I used to say in mantra initiation to bhaktas, "Lord, make me the instrument of your love and light, that I may serve your holy creation." We have very little time, very little time to serve the Holy Creation. We don’t know when suddenly our breath will stop. Hari Om, and go home, a different home. Will we come again? Will we see again? No one ever knows. Patta Ṭūṭā Dal Se Le Gayī Pavan Uḍāy. The leaf falls down from the tree, and the wind has blown it away to a far distance. This separation will come together again. Destiny took us from one hill to another hill. The tree remained there, and the leaf was blown away. And so is our life; we never know when it will be blown away. Our ego, arrogance, pride, and anger are our biggest obstacles. These are the rocks, such big rocks, sometimes we can’t remove that rock. There are many stories about the negative energy devils, you know. They take someone, close them in the cave, and as a door, they put a big rock, and then they go away. So that you cannot move the rock, and you can’t come out. They don’t need a combination lock and this and that, you know. Such a rock, no one can walk through. But they have such strength, they come and open the door, they move the rock. Easy. That is called mighty power. So the rock of our ego, the rock of our pride, the rock of our doubts, they are such heavy rocks, they do not let us come out, they do not let us emerge. And sometimes you meet some person in your life; I call that a big rock falling on you. You will go down in the water, and you can’t come up. That means Kushaṅga. One person can tell you such stupid things, and that is a rock for you to go down again to the Naraka, not to the divine, having light, the spiritual light. Therefore, Mahāprabhujī said in a beautiful bhajan, "Guru Deva Darśan Dhan Ho."