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Guru Devo Maheśvara, Guru Sākṣāt Parabrahma, Tasmai Śrī Gurave Namaḥ, Dhyāna Mūlam Guru Mūrtiḥ, Pūjā Mūlam Guru Pādam, Mantra Mūlam Guru Vākyam, Mokṣa Mūlam Guru Kṛpā. Om Śānti, Śānti, Śānti. Om Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam... Om Namoḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. Śrī Prabhu Dīpa. Om Namoḥ Śrī Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. Om Namoḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. We have had many activities. Many of you were very happy, receiving blessings and understanding. Today is what we call the dark night, the dark moon. Tomorrow will be the new moon, which we call Amāvasyā. Amāvasyā is not a bad day; it is very beautiful, holy, and has great meaning. On Amāvasyā, there are different kinds of sādhanā and prāṇāyāma, often performed to attain something. Many people perform beautiful acts: they offer threads, give water to the Tulasī plant and to people, and also to the banyan tree. But not only this—they feed the ants. Many people in our world do not like ants; they kill them with poison. No one should do this. The ants are thirsty, especially now. They are also hungry. They have a good sense of smell and will try to go where they can find something. If we pour water carelessly, we can kill them. They are tiny creatures; they need just a little touch of water, which is more than enough. This month, and last month, in India—particularly in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and other parts—people, mostly women, engage in specific practices. Women are often more spiritual, concentrating more on God and good deeds. Many women observe fasts. You cannot imagine it now, but still many ladies fast on Monday for Śiva, on Tuesday for Hanumānjī, and on another day for Gaṇeśajī. Who would not worship Gaṇeśa? Then comes Friday, Guruvar. Who is Friday for? First, for Gurujī, very good. Then, which deity is associated with Friday? There is one—Santoshi Mata. What do they abstain from eating? Then comes Sunday. Mostly we Hindus, all followers of Sanātana Dharma, should worship. Christians have slowly spread their practices worldwide. Why not? Hindus accept this because we respect everyone. But Muslims do not take to this; they have their own Friday. So, this is the day when everyone should be fasting, but we must understand what fasting means. First, we should do our sādhanā, our practice, our prārthanā. It need not be hour by hour; you can do it within ten minutes. The important thing is to remember everyone. Then we drink water and prepare food. Fasting does not mean starving; starving is not good. But why fast? On which day? Some people say, "I don't want this," or "I don't want God." Therefore, the guru alerts us: "Do this, do this." You see, Gurujī was day and night engaged in his mantra, and he also observed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and so on. Gurujī was exact because it is not merely about earthly things but about cosmic energy, the cosmic Self. In our homes, what should we do? In big cities, it is not so easy. In villages, people create a beautiful place for ants. Ants have deep holes in very hot, dry ground with no water. For at least three or four months, people place thorny bushes and heavy stones over these spots. Why? They then put chapati flour or seeds there. A piece or two is enough for the ants, who have many babies inside. Why the thorny bushes and stones? It is for protection from snakes, scorpions, and birds. These creatures come for the flour, but if they are not protected, the ants will be eaten. This act shows compassion. There is a saying I forget now. When you give water to a creature, what do you call it? We are feeding the ants, but if birds come and eat them, and we are not protecting them, we incur a sin. That sin means even a rich person may become poor. If we do things clearly, we should; otherwise, we should not do them at all. Many women, on certain days and times, feed the ants and give them water. When ants come into our house, there are two things we can do to protect them. We should place chapati flour or something for them. If they come into the kitchen where there is water and food, we can take a stick or similar object and place it for them. The ants will go along it, and we can put a little water or chapati flour at the other end. This way, we protect our kitchen from ants and protect the ants from being killed or poisoned. This is a sādhanā, a practice. A human being should not think they are above everything and can kill anything. We chant mantras and sing bhajans, but what are we doing for other creatures? Therefore, every day holds significance. No day is a bad day, but we have to act. We should eat, we should work, and so on. This is tapasyā. It does not take a long time. From my childhood, I remember practices in the kitchen. I do not know if Jānkī in my kitchen is doing something; you must tell Jānkī tomorrow. What our mothers, sisters, or fathers do is important. This is for humans to understand what God has given. First, after cooking, cleaning, eating, and cleaning the kitchen, we clean it again in the morning. That is called honoring the Annadevatā. There is a mantra: Annapūrṇe Sadāpūrṇe, Śaṅkara Prāṇa Vallabhe... It continues. Annapūrṇe Sadāpūrṇe—pūrṇa means complete. This is a mantra to recite before entering the kitchen and before offering food. When you come to the kitchen, do not wear shoes. If it is cold, use a carpet, but not shoes. Shoes do not belong in the kitchen. Some people wear high heels and clatter around like a horse. We cannot have that. We can have a nice kitchen even in a high building—no shoes. There are other important customs. The mother will come and invoke Agni Deva. In our kitchen, there should always be fire, though now we cannot keep a constant fire or the whole building may burn. In villages, they still use cow dung or wood. In the evening or morning, after cooking, they take cow dung and place it in the chulhā (hearth), covering it with ash so the fire smolders all day. When the mother returns from work, she revives the fire. I remember when neighbors' fires went out, they would ask, "Can you give me a little fire from your house?" That was spiritual. There were no impurities—no egg, no meat, nothing. Before making chapatis, the mother would take a little flour and offer it to the fire. That is an offering. We perform pūjā with agarbatti or guggul; in the kitchen, a little offering to Agni Deva is sufficient. Then, the first chapati is for the dog. There is a concept of three dogs: Tretā, Dattā, and Dvaitā. Or for Sūrya Nārāyaṇa, or for Nandī. Nandī goes from home to home, and people prepare a chapati for him. He stands there, takes it, and leaves. Or for the cow. So first, for Nandī or the cow, then the dog, then for other beings. When cooking, she serves her husband or a child first. How nicely and cleanly they do it, with prāṇakartā. When I was little in my house, my father once saw a grain of corn. He said, "This grain is like God." Without it, we cannot eat anything. So, they would take it and place it with the other grains, not throw it underfoot. That is purity and clarity. We should not throw food. If we must, give clean, good food to animals or poor people. Do not waste it. People nowadays often do not understand. It is said that when a person eats, they should do prārthanā, eat from their thālī (plate), then put water in it, clean it by drinking that water, and then wash it. It is a sin to leave food remnants in the pot—chapatis, vegetables, anything. If you waste food three times a day, in one year that amounts to thousands of sins. Some people happily say, "Let's go and throw it," but there are times when people have nothing to eat. There were dark years with no rain for one or two years. People took bark from trees, made powder, boiled it with a little salt, and drank it. That was their sustenance. We pray to God: "Please, Lord, we do not want such a situation. God, please take care of us." You know how quickly it can happen? Just recently, for two or three months, all humans were confined to small rooms. They could not go out. They faced disease and scarcity. We in our ashram are big; we do not know the situation fully. But in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, and many cities and countries, people were sitting with no food. Even with money, there were no shops open. That month was very difficult. You do not know how many people are in Rupāwas, in your temple. No one knows what happened. But in the village, Rupawas is a village of the poor. Where did they come from? Where did they go? The villagers do not go. So, how was that day? Therefore, all this is within us. This is sādhanā. One person eats while others do not. We eat, and others are watching—tiny ants and other creatures. Therefore, we should be still. It does not matter what people think. We do not want to kill. It is said that when there is absolutely nothing to eat—like in some far northern lands with only snow, no greenery—then to save human life, they may take fish or an animal. But even now, we have everything. Why do we kill humans or animals now? We cannot. We Hindus follow Viṣṇutān Dharma, and we know. Many others do too. Can you see? Taking an animal, holding it, calling it a friend, and then cutting its neck? There are many villages in India, like my birthplace Rupawas, where no one kills any animal to eat. There are no eggs, no alcohol. If someone brings meat or alcohol hidden inside, and sleeps outside drunk, they may face consequences. That is the way. Therefore, we must elevate humans, and we must see to that. Similarly, in your house, what do you have? You may have a cat, a dog, a bird, an image of Hanumānjī, Gaṇeśjī, Kṛṣṇa, Śiva, Gurudev. We should worship them; otherwise, they are merely there, not honored. Therefore, my dear, in our ashram, when we had a sannyāsī who was a Maṇḍaleśvara from another ācāra, and we have our college and school, if you cannot do it every day, at least do it every Monday, Sunday, Pūrṇimā, or one day. It takes one minute, but that ātmā, that Paramātmā, is present. Our tradition is that we should honor it. Similarly, we made a samādhi nearby. The samādhi is open and empty, but it is where the Rākṣasas may sit. Therefore, we should also put some flowers or something there, at least once—water, light a lamp. Mother Phulpur does Samarpaṇa every day. Whatever happens on that day is offered to God. On Mahārāj Jī’s day, people come and perform pūjā. We have Nandi, Śiva Mandir, Hanumānjī. Our ashram is holy. You are all sitting here in a beautiful aeroplane—a big aeroplane. Our whole ashram, Om Ashram land, is like a very big aeroplane. Not only that, but we are all going to Brahmaloka peacefully; those who are here will be healed. But there are some people in the ashram who are doing... everyone comes and says, "Khau khau..." What does that mean? There was one Mahārāj who had disciples. He was not formally educated, but he was a Mahārājī. All the farmers worshipped him as their guru. One day, a farmer came and said, "Gurujī, in my farm, I cut very high grass, and inside there is some 'khaung, khaung.' If a ghost comes, the ghost will eat it." Gurujī went and saw what it was. There was a broken instrument, like a sitar. Whenever there was a sound... Gurujī said, "Oh, stupid boy, what will you do when I am not here? This is an instrument." Then Gurujī said to him, "Gurujī, Gurujī, someone has come to eat in my field." He said, "Hey, I have eaten that bajrā in my field." He went far away and said, "Eat, eat." Gurujī saw him from far away and said, "Hey, eat. Hey, you fool." This is Tandoora, isn't it? Tandoora is a cow, isn't it? So that is a different thing to say. "Guruji, Guruji, where are you?" His eyes were sparkling. "Where are you?" Gurujī said. "Yes, yes, yes," he said. "Where were you? Today, there is a Sun God who broke a tower. The sun has risen. The sun belongs to God. Take it from here, and I will give you half of it." So, there are many big devotees, right? The feeling of being a big devotee is true. Okay, so this was a different way to speak about something. So, we shall practice, do sādhanā, and observe fasting. Fasting is first good for health. Second, it is good for our concentration and mind. Otherwise, just eating and eating is not good. You know, I had four or five freezers in one kitchen—one freezer here, one there, one on the other side. Thank you, I will finish today. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Har Har Bho. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Hara Hara Gaṅgā. Oṁ Hara Candra Bhagavān Kī. Kṛṣṇa Kāṇaiyālā, Om Śānti.