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Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Alagpurījī Mahādeva, Devādhī Deva, Deveśvara Mahādeva, Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Haradyā Bhagavān, Śrī Mādhāvanāñjī Mahārāj Bhagavān, Sanātana Dharma Kī, Mātā Jī Kī Jai. All dear ones, it is beautiful to be here again for this satsaṅg. To me, it looks like spring, with the budding of different flowers. And so I see all your faces. Our aim is twofold: first, to serve, and second, to attain Ātmajñāna. Serving is not easy. Swami Sivananda said: Love, serve, meditate, and attain liberation. There are many Sivanandjīs, but I speak of the one who was in Rishikesh. He passed away in the same year that Mahāprabhujī also took mahāsamādhi. I did not see either Sivanandjī, but many times he appears in my meditations or dreams. Our beloved Gurujī, Swāmī Madhavānandjī, often spoke about Śivānandjī and read many of his books. It is said that as long as your ego does not vanish, you cannot attain mokṣa and liberation. The biggest enemy of the sādhaka—the aspirant, the bhaktas, or sādhus—is ego. If they have not renounced those qualities, it is not fruitful to call ourselves a bhakta, a yogī, a swāmī, or an aspirant. In 1975, a disciple of Swami Śivānanda came to our āśram in Vienna, Śikhanedāgāsāī, Mahāprabhujī’s āśram. He was also a swami. He stayed two days with me. We invited people, and I asked him, "I do not need any other satsaṅg, but please tell me about Sivanandajī." He told a story. There are many stories of Śivānandjī. One day, a great learned scholar—a professor, philosopher, and ācārya—came. He knew the names of all the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gītā, Rāmāyaṇa, Yogavāsiṣṭha, and all holy books; he had read the Qur’ān, the Bible, everything. When Sivananda heard about this Ācārya, he went to welcome him, bowed down, and touched his feet. The Ācārya said, "No, no, no, Mahārājjī, Śivānandajī, you are great. Please do not do this." Śivānandajī replied, "I bow down to that knowledge. When that knowledge is in you, you are a very valuable suitcase." They had a satsaṅg, and the Ācārya began to list his degrees: all four Vedas, the Upaniṣads, and so on, and yoga—bhakti yoga, karma yoga, rāja yoga, dhyāna yoga, kuṇḍalinī yoga, etc. In India, when a person talks and puts one leg on the knee, constantly massaging the sole of the foot, it signifies a proud and egoistic person. A wise person knows how foolish such a person is. Sivanandjī asked, "Did you learn all kinds of yoga?" He said, "Yes." Sivanandjī asked, "Did you learn the pain part? It means when a person is lying in the hospital, and you go to take the pot for urine or for the toilet." The Ācārya said, "I do not know what a pen pot is. That yoga I did not learn." Sivanandajī said, "Tomorrow morning. You are tired now; go and rest. Do you want a glass of milk?" He replied, "Yes, I like to drink milk before sleeping." About 80% of Indians drink a glass of milk before sleep. I also used to, but the Europeans changed me, and that is why there are so many things I do not wish to tell. At 3:30 in the morning, Sivanandjī woke him: "Let us go to the Gaṅgā." It was winter, and the Gaṅgā water was about 5 degrees Celsius and deep. Sivanandjī was offering water to Sūrya Nārāyaṇa, chanting. The Ācārya was cold and asked, "How long will we do this, Gurujī?" Sivanandajī said, "Oh, okay, let us go." To do the yoga, Sivanandajī, who was a doctor, would get up in the morning and go to different huts, caves, sādhus, and poor people who were ill to give them medicines. You can ask Sivanandji’s disciples. So Sivanandji went and gave him a pot for the toilet. Sivanandjī used to take out the urine pot. The Ācārya said, "I thought you were a great saint." Sivanandjī replied, "I did not say that. I am a servant. But I am teaching you that yoga, which you still have not learned." The Ācārya said, "That yoga, I do not need." Swamiji said, "Time will come. You will know." Sivanandajī said that ego, hate, jealousy, anger, pride, etc., these qualities will push you down. We have heard the same thing sometimes from Jesus: if someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other also. Yet even when someone says something to us, our anger or our proud ego is so strong that our own heart—not others’—breaks into pieces. Therefore, it is not easy. Our great disciple of Mahāprabhujī, Maṅgīlālji, was in the same situation. But after he came to Mahāprabhujī, he learned. When Holī Gurujī was there, Mahāprabhujī said, "Serve everyone. Clean and put those shoes to one side." And what do we say? "I am a Swāmī. I will do this for people when they come next time." "Swamiji, you gave me sannyās. You must respect my orange dress." "Yes, I respect the orange dress, not your ego." So we have to obey for about 25 or nearly 30 years. A Swami came from Hawaii who had a very large Hindu monastery with about 100-200 monks. They were very disciplined—one could not go anywhere without permission. Of course, there is duality. They do not allow women where the monks are, and they do not allow outsiders where the women are. Maṅgīlālji said: Follow, follow, follow the Gurudev’s words. Our ego—that is a story, a real story. It was a long time ago, during the time of the Turks in India—the Mughals. The Mughals governed, and like all kings, they followed and respected the sādhus and saints—some, not all. Otherwise, India would not be in the situation it is now. One emperor had a secretary, an advisor, who went every day to a guru to learn yoga, meditation, prayers, and to do seva. What knowledge does a saint give you? It is that this māyā, this saṃsāra, is only like bubbles in water. Now they give children toys with soap water, and bubbles come, but for how long? We are those bubbles. How long will we be the best, good, and so on? Finally, we must come to that reality. That master had other disciples. The time came when the advisor, the secretary of that emperor—they called him Bahādur—was going to marry. The emperor said, "My secretary is marrying. It must be the best, most beautiful wedding." He called all the kings and many, many people. The procession was about fifty kilometers long—it was not even the Kumbh Melā. When a great person calls, everyone wants to come. His secretary was sitting on a beautifully decorated elephant. There were many elephants, camels with drums on their backs, horses, and ox chariots. If you marry, marry in that way. Do not just hold hands, go to the park, sit together, and say, "Oh, we will marry now." Such a marriage will also end in such a way. Not only your friends, but even the heavens know when someone is marrying, because humans marry; animal culture is different. This is not a story; it is reality. You can go and ask. The procession began. When the secretary was coming close to his Guruji’s park, he told the mahout, "Stop the elephant. I am going to my Guruji." "You go to your Guruji? You are just like a king of kings now," he was told. "Do not talk so." The elephant sat down. He got out and went to his Gurujī to offer praṇām. At that time, the Gurujī had a big heart—a heart of love, kindness, humbleness, but also like a warrior. In those days, they did not shoot bombs from somewhere, sitting here and pressing a button so the bomb explodes in another country. Heroes were there; they opened their chest and went onto the battlefield. Now it is all like foxes. Gurujī saw his disciple coming with something on his crown—what do they call it? A turban? Mor. Mor bante. Yes? You did not make more? Then you must tell your wife to marry again. He offered praṇām. Gurujī said—I had forgotten the complete point; it will come—"I thought you came to go to Mokṣa, to Brahmaloka. What have you put on your forehead, on your head? A crown? This is what you put on the way to Naraka." I will remember the name after some time. Maybe I am old now; my memory is going. I forgot the name, but now it has come again. His name was Rajab. He was from Turkey. That was the poem, you understand? Gurujī said, "Oh my God, what have you done? You came to go to God, and you are going to Naraka." The disciple said, "Gurudev, your disciple will not go to Naraka. I will go to heaven with you. I will not go." People came asking, "Please come, please come." He said, "No." Then the Badshah came and said, "Ajab, what is this game? Let us go." But when he came, Rajab stretched his legs like Saravītāsana towards the Badshah, which is a great humiliation to a king. The Badshah said, "Since when have you learned to stretch your legs towards me?" He replied, "Since I gave up my slavery. I am not your slave anymore." The king left, the people left. I do not know further—poor girl, if she was crying or not. That chapter finished there, but Rajab’s chapter continued. Who is a disciple? He stayed with Gurujī. But all his life, his Gurujī made him wear a dress as if he were going to marry every day. Other disciples, perhaps like me, were jealous of Gurujī and of Rajab because, while all the sannyāsīs sat together, he was the secretary of the king, and Gurujī gave him nice clothes every day, while they did not even have proper langotīs—you could say nepī. They were angry all the time. Rajab always sat outside; other disciples were around Gurujī. He always sat to one side, letting others be near Gurujī. Everyone said, "I am Gurujī’s best disciple." They thought, "How is Gurujī so innocent that he gives more respect to this disciple because he is the secretary or advisor of the emperor?" One day, Gurujī went to another ashram or village for a bandhārā. Do you know what a bandhārā is? Who does not know a bandhā? Hands up. Do you know what a bandhā is? It is a feast where you are invited to eat. About twenty to thirty disciples went with Gurujī, and behind them walked Rajab. They came to a canalized water channel from a village, a dirty water canalization about half a meter wide. Gurujī stopped there and put his soul in like this, on the face. One disciple came and asked, "What happened, Gurujī? This is so stinky. I cannot cross it." Others said, "Gurujī, just hold it, and I will hold your hand. Let us jump." Others said, "Gurujī, you are a yogī; it does not matter if it smells or not." Everyone was telling Gurujī something, giving knowledge to Gurujī. Then Rajab came. Gurujī said, "But what to do?" Rajab said, "Gurujī, we also pull up our dress because of the dirty water." Then Rajab came and asked, "Gurudev, what is the problem?" Gurujī said, "Rajab, I cannot cross this dirty water channel." He said, "That is all." He lay down on it. Gurujī walked on him and went to the other side. After fifty meters, Gurujī said, "You are all always jealous, and you are jealous of him. You were thinking that your dress would get dirty, but he is wearing a king’s dress. Yet he did not think for one second that his dress would get dirty. His sorrow was that his Gurudev should cross this water." Every disciple was looking down. Nibbāna, Nibbāna. Satgurujī kā bachana Nibānahe re, Nibānahe re, Nibānahe. Yānī Gurujī kā bachana Nibānahe. Satgurujī kā bachana Nibānahe. Re Nibbāṇa He, Re Nibbāṇa He. Piyānī Gurujī Kā Bachana Nibbāṇa He. Tanda Kī Kī Sāf Karā Vo Imadāra Ammā Kāla Calāva Calāva. God bless you. To achieve our goal, it will not be achieved through rockets, airplanes, trains, cars, etc. It is inner, and inner means that which the hint from the Gurudev gives. There are granthas, books. Some books are written clearly in one language. A few words we can change and say in our own way. But to understand the hint within the poetry, that requires Gurujī’s knowledge. Gurujī wrote one bhajan: that the lotus of the heart opens. If you put ointment in your eyes every day—now, who understands? Others do not know. So that the lotus of the heart will open, then. Every day you put ointment, like, in your eyes. Every morning, a man gets up and makes things nice. Every man, so that ointment is that mantra. Śraddhā pānī rām, sabhā duḥkha bhāṁ. Prabhuddhi pānī rām, janam sabhā duḥkha bhāṁ. Sītā rām, haṁ vahī śraddhā pānī rām, janam sabhā duḥkha bhāṁ. Prabhuddhi pānī rām, janam sabhā duḥkha bhāṁ. Irdhaya kamalakīyāṅkhe kula jāve. So, every time we meditate, we should touch our heart, and with that mantra, each and every petal of the heart opens. That is right. But if there is a negative, if there is some sand in your cream, then the whole day you will rub your eye. Gurujī, within no time, would write a bhajan. We can also write something, but it is not that which touches the heart of all. That is it. Do not think one cannot achieve that. One man came to our holy Gurujī, Swāmī Madhavānandjī, and said, "Gurujī, I want to write so many bhajans, but all the good words have been taken. Mīrābāī, Tulsīdāsajī, Sūrdāsajī, etc. So, all butter, butter, they took it." What remained after? It is called milk butter. Milk butter means when we make yogurt and churn it, all the butter comes up, and we take it. What remains, we drink; let us call it buttermilk. So, Gurujī, butter, butter there—Sūrdās, Mīrābāī, all these saints, Tulsīdās, etc.—they ate everything, and we drink sour buttermilk. Gurujī said, "Yes, you are right. But what should I know?" Gurujī said, "If they ate the butter, if they have eaten butter, why not? If they have eaten butter, still the cow is with us. Feed them the feeder of love. Do dinner and milk your cow day and night, and take its butter, no problem." So this is that process—not just to write and write something for myself. For it, that Anāhat Chakra, the Hṛdaya Kamal, is open. Then that Kamal opens to everyone, not just to one side. I will look and look to that side. And when the sun rises, before the sun rises, the heart opens for all. So, how do you make that? In Europe, it is called sauerkraut. In India, we do not know how to make sauerkraut. If we do something and eat it, our stomach will be very painful. So it has its process, and this process, what we are doing, is a sādhanā. The best sādhanā is the words, the satsaṅg of the Gurudev. And the best sādhanā is Gurudev’s words. Sat Guru Sat Saṅghīyārī Oluvave Sat Guru Sat Saṅghīyārī Oluvave... Sat Guru Sat Saṅghīyārī. So the real bhakta is one who longs to meet all our guru brothers and sisters at the Gurudev Satsaṅg. Tomorrow there will be more, but the subject arose through Matajī nearly two decades ago. It was not an easy time: not knowing the language, not knowing the tradition, not knowing how to cook, how to shop, how to count money for Indians. They were all very far from her. They said, "Swamiji, what kind of woman have you brought here?" I said, "Why? She does not speak Hindi." She sent people to buy something, and they did not know what to buy. So she had her technique. She brought one potato and told the person, "Potato, potato,... potato and potato. Money? One rupee. And two and a half potatoes’ worth of money." The person went to buy potatoes. Exactly as he understood, he bought seven potatoes because it was measuring. She was angry. "Twice seven, go back. Too much money." This boy said, "No, money was only rupees. One and a half rupees is for your back." She said, "No, no. Go and give two bottles back." People said she was a stupid lady, but exactly so, she had a hard life. Now they always ask, "Please do not send Matajī away." When I went to Katul last time, they said, "Without Matajī, there is no good atmosphere." One disciple said, "I am so sad. Every morning I go to the Shiva temple, and I see Māṭājī. Now I go to the Shiva temple, and there is no Matajī." So, even if you do not know the language, culture, or traditions, you can do everything slowly, slowly. If you tell them, "No, this is stupid; we do not want this"—for example, Maria Theresia, how she went to India, said nothing, and now you know what she is. But it was not easy for her. Even when people were angry with her, she was very calm. And now you know who she is. Kill your mind. Yes. Do not be angry with others. Do not divide others; you divide it in yourself, in your heart. Gurujī told this story in Bolā Guḍā, and you see in the Līlā Amṛt what Gurujī wrote there. Many sannyāsīs came to Gurujī as disciples. They were jealous of Gurujī. Gurujī was doing nothing. Gurujī always sat separate, far away. Whatever money Gurujī brought as donation, he gave it all to Gurujī, Mahāprabhujī. Mahāprabhujī came and gave his bag there. That is all. Mahāprabhujī checked and said, "Why did you bring all these things? Someone’s clothes are new and this and that." He said, "I have no place here. Now, you take it for your use." Gurujī said, "No, do not give it to me. It was a burden for me. You gave me the burden." "Yes, Gurujī. When I need money, give me there, not here." In Khatu, when Gurujī came, Gurujī told the stories. It was written: whatever came, he gave to Gurujī, Mahāprabhujī. Because what is Gurujī’s is not mine. He gave that. What is my situation? Who gave me? Not you, not he, nor there. It is the Gurujī who gives. And so it is his, not mine. I am only a carrier, carrying things. Gurujī told me that he wrote in his testament after I read it, not before. He writes, "Mahesh, I trust you that this ashram will remain an ashram, not that you rent it or sell it. I trust and have hope in you." You can read my testament. Another person said, "I know that you gave me everything, but maybe sometimes you thought, 'Why does Gurujī take everything?'" But Gurujī said, "I give you a thousand times more than what you give me. It is a burden for me." Gurujī said, "Paramahaṃsa Yogānanda and his Gurujī—when Yogānanda went to Japan and America, there were so many jealous disciples blackmailing his other gurus. That Gurujī, he is in America, and he is enjoying this and that and many things." So his Gurujī wrote a letter: "You are a sannyāsī; you are not for this, you are not for that, and you should come back, etc., etc." It is written in his book. The letter was a little hard. So Paramahaṃsa Yogānanda wrote a letter to his Gurujī: "Gurudev, I will be thine. Devotees will come and devotees will go, but I will be thine, O Gurudev. Even if I am far, far away than the stars, still, my Gurudev, I will be thine. Even if I die, just look into my eyes. My eyes will tell, my Gurudev, I will be dying that is the..." Who understands the Guru? Who understands the Guru Vakya? That one achieves that. There are many, many disciples. What was the name of Gurujī? Viśvakānanda? Yukteśvara? Yes, he had many disciples, very good ones. But he wrote a letter back to... Yogananda Dulara means when the father or mother, the little child, how much they are playing in the lap and the hands like this, "Oh Yogananda, you are that loving Dulara in my heart." You are so... We are trying. Still, I am trying, and I hope that I will not fail. That is it, because Gurujī is not dead. He is everywhere: in front and behind, to the right and the left, above and below, everywhere. Swami Śivānanda said, "Right is home, left is home, above is home, below is Aum, front is Aum, behind is Aum, everywhere is Aum, Aum Aum... Aum." Cannot. Okay, today is nearly two hours. My God! One and a half and one... Thank you. I wish you all the best, all our bhaktas around the world. Bless you. This was the satsaṅg. Thanks to our Māṭājī from Kathu Ashram. She gave me the, what do you call it, the inspiration.