You have to empty your mind completely......

Jesus spoke of: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the light.” It is the ‘I’ of the consciousness, the ‘I’ of the Christ consciousness that leads mankind. Yes, each one of you. This consciousness is in each one of you. It’s waiting to become active. It’s very good that you come for darshan, very good that you sit for meditation. But you should not only do it now, you have to do it always! By receiving the blessing – prana hooti, it’s called – you are receiving and activating the light within you. That’s what I can do for you; the rest is up to you. I can take the food, crush it to puree and put it in your mouth, but I can’t swallow it for you. I will be happy to do it for you, you know? But this part is up to each one of you. Your question will be, “We keep trying, yet nothing happens?” But what I said before, remember that – I said if you try with an expectation, it can never happen. You have to empty your mind completely. The thought will pass by, let it pass – don’t feed it. You are not the mind, you are not the thought; you are more than that.

“Swamiji, is there any technique to open the heart?”.....

....Well there are techniques to open the mind, they are positive thinking and chanting the Divine Names. An open mind leads to an open heart. The heart is an instrument God has created which has a mind of its own. It has its own will. You can’t open it or close it. Sometimes people say you have a closed heart but even if you try to close it, it won’t close. It’s a stubborn chakra! It will do whatever it wants to do. The stubbornness of the heart makes the Love inside you ever present. Just open the heart; you just open the real eyes which God has given you. You will see that it was and is always there. That’s what you are in reality and what you will always be, until you dissolve completely into the light. So realise that. How long do humans stay on earth? Maybe one hundred years maximum? Well not everybody reaches that, some reach 80, some reach 60; but know that death is certain. Nobody can escape it. Even Him, He manifests Himself but He has accepted that. The difference between Him and humans is that He transcends humanity into divinity. That’s what He has talked about. To love each other. He always told people about this mutual Love. All that He has ever talked about is just Love. In Love you have everything. Everything that you are looking for is inside of you, not outside. Outside things come and go. Look, I talked about friends, love in relationships, yet death takes everything away. But consciousness, your higher Self, moves on one life to the next until you attain the Supreme. If you realise the Supreme, actually I won’t say attain the Supreme because it is who you are, you see that the essence of the soul is Him.

Words of Sri Swami Vishwananda........

You are a part of God. You are the child of God. And you can reflect the light of God. It is beyond all conceptions of the mind. In this truth everyone is free, and this is the truth that mankind has always to remember.

The ninth form of the Divine Mother is Siddhidatri Devi......

  The ninth form of Maa is Siddhidatri, which is also an aspect of Mahalakshmi. She is seen sometimes sitting on a lotus or sometimes mounted on a lion. She is four armed. After having performed the worship to the other forms, the devotee then starts the worship to Her. She is One with the forces of sustenance and salvation of Mahavishnu and so She is the One who delivers all forms of success. “Siddhi” means power. For “siddhi” to become “riddhi” (prosperity) one needs “buddhi”, i.e. intelligence.  So Mother Siddhidatri gives also wisdom. Once we have our mind surrendering to the Divine, She blesses us with ultimate success.

Sri Swami Vishwananda talks about the eighth form of Maa called Mahagauri Devi.....

 The Divine Mother's eighth form is known as Mahagauri. Her complexion is totally white. Her garments are also white. White symbolises the purity of the true Self which is without any stain or impurity. She is mounted on an ox and has four arms.  Parvati had turned dark after doing intense penance for obtaining Lord Shiva as her husband. Shiva then bathed Her in the Holy Ganges, She turned fair and became known as Mahagauri.  Due to the Mother’s Grace the devotee crosses the barrier of limitation and attains supernatural salvation. He is relieved from all his pains, fatigue and previous sins. The devotee wins pure virtue and becomes ever free.

Sri Swami Vishwananda talks about the seventh form of the Divine Mother called Kalaratri Devi.....

 Maa´s seventh form is Kalaratri. Her complexion is as dark as the night, symbolizing infinity. Her cascading hair is let loose and she is seen wearing a garland that radiates light as bright as lightning. She is mounted on an ass. She has four arms. Although she has a menacing appearance, her devotees need not fear her. In this form Devi is always ready to give anything you ask. She accepts everything from the devotee, not only the good, but all the bad, negative qualities. She just absorbs them, so that we can be free, free from the little demons that we create in our mind and who are all jumping left and right.

Sri Katyayani Devi is the sixth form of the Divine Mother.....

Goddess Katyayani is the sixth form of Maa and her name stems from being the daughter of sage Katyayan. Her complexion is as bright as gold. She has four arms. The top right hand is positioned in a gesture of providing courage and another hand is positioned in a gesture of rendering a boon. She is mounted on a lion. As a war Goddess She is associated with the fierce form of Shakti which also includes Bhadrakali and Chandi. Sri Katyayani Devi is the destroyer of diseases, sorrow and fear and worshipping Her helps one to free oneself from the sins one may have committed over the cycles of births and rebirths.

Skandamata Devi is the fifth form of Maa.....

 The fifth form of the Divine 'Mother is known as Skandamata. She is the mother of Ganesha and Skanda (more known as Muruga or Kartikeya), She is referred to as ‘Skandamata’. She is fair, has four arms, holds her son Skanda in her lap and is mounted on a lion.Skandamata is the Mother who gives the power to vanquish all negativity. By holding Muruga, She is not only holding Him, She is holding all of us. 

If we sincerely – like a child - ask Her to let us sit in Her lap, She will also hold us and do everything for us.

Something about the fourth form of Maa called Kushmanda Devi.....

Kushmanda Devi is the fourth form of the Divine Mother and appeared smilingly at the moment of the creation of the Universe. The Goddess has eight arms and rides on a lion. Amongst the sacrificial vegetables that are offered in Her worship, pumpkin (Kushmandam’ in Sanskrit) is the one with which Devi Kushmanda is most pleased. Worship of this form of the Devi exterminates sorrow and diseases and augments life, fame and strength. She is appeased with the slightest of devotion and if any one whole-heartedly worships Her, he will certainly gain her favour so to find true happiness and true joy.

Sri Swami Vishwananda talks about the third form of the Divine Mother called Chandraghanta Devi....

 Chandraghanta Devi is the third form of the Divine Mother. Her Name is connected to a bell shaped crescent moon on her forehead. The colour of her body is golden. She has ten arms which brandish different weapons and is mounted on a lion. Chandraghanta Devi establishes justice. It is believed that a devotee who manages to earn Her blessings can set himself free from his sins and hazards that he has committed or may face in his life. The devotee gains the power to sense the supernatural, to see it and even smell the eternal fragrance. He is also able to distinguish the otherwise inaudible celestial sounds.

Sri Swami Vishwananda talks about the second form of the Divine Mother called Brahmacharini Devi.....

 The second form of the Divine Mother is Brahmacharini Devi. She is showing us how important our Sadhana is, as an expression of devotion to the Divine. She is holding a japa mala (chanting and remembrance of God’s name) in Her right hand and the kamandalu water pot (life-giving Shakti) in Her left hand.  Brahmacharini is the Goddess of discipline. She gives the devotees success and willpower to come out victorious in times of utter distress. She helps to make our faith strong and helps those who are sincerely looking for Her. 

Sri Swami Vishwananda talks about the first form of Divine Mother of Navaratri called Shailaputri Devi....

 Shailaputri Devi is the first form of the Divine Mother. ‘Shaila’ is another name for the Himalayas, ‘Putri’ means ‘the daughter’. Shailaputri was born as the daughter of King Himavan, the Lord of the Mountains. She holds a trident in her right hand and a lotus in her left hand. She is mounted on an ox. She is the most powerful and glorified of all the nine forms of Durga. In the form of Shailaputri She is destroying the pride of the Gods, which is none other than our own pride.

In this pretime of Navaratri Swami Vishwananda talks about the Divine Mother

Swami Vishwananda says : "Be like a child.

Sit in the lap of the Mother and let the Mother do everything for you."

We often hear people asking the question “Who is God?”....

 .... I will ask you, now, “Who is God?” Well, it’s true, as long as you have not known Him, you can’t answer. Love is God, but how many Realise this Love? To which religion does God really belong? Is God Christian? Is God Hindu? Is God Muslim? Is God Buddhist? To which religion does He belong? Love… Wherever you go, you will see that there is only one God and He is the Love in each one´s heart, but how to Realise this Love? We are so busy with this material world that we forget about the Divine Love. We try to look for this Love in the outside world. We try to look for this Love in other people. We try to look for this Love by travelling around the world, but we forget that we have to travel not outside, we have not to try to find this Love in other people, but we have to find this Love in our Selves. We have to Realise the closeness to this Divine Love which is here, inside our hearts. Some people will say that it is very difficult to reach this point, but I say that it is very easy. You just need to want it! People try to find an easy way and if they could buy Love, they would do it. But Love can’t be bought. Somebody might come and tell you “Listen, I will make you Realise this Divine Love”, but only the Guru can do that. Only by the grace of the Master can you do that. This Divine Love, which is seated deep inside your heart, is like gold. And when gold is found in nature, it is with all the dust. Both gold and diamonds in nature are full of impurities. To get a beautiful jewel, a beautiful stone from a rough diamond, what do you do? You polish it. The same with gold: to get pure gold, you have to purify it, to remove all the impurities from it. It is the same with man. As long as you are stuck in the mind and don’t purify the mind, this Love will never shine. You will never Realise this Love. Even if you think you know it, because you have read about it or somebody has told you about it or Swami has said it, but as long as you don’t purify your mind, as long as you don´t purify yourself, it will be difficult to Realise this Love. And how is one to purify the mind? The easiest way to purify the mind is to chant, to chant continuously the Name of God. You were chanting the Mahamantra: Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. It is said that just by chanting this mantra one can get liberation, but one has to chant it with faith. Mere chanting alone will not help, but chanting with the heart will help. And how is one to chant with the heart? How is one to train the mind to calm itself? It is by forcing it. When you discipline yourself and say “OK, today I will chant”, then you start by taking your japa mala or rosary and you chant your mantra so you are focusing yourself on it, you are dragging the mind and putting your focus on the mantra. The more you do it, the more you will see that, with time, you will not even need the japa mala. You will not need any rosary, because the mantra will automatically be chanted inside your heart. When you become the mantra, you reach a point of Realisation, you reach a point of elevation, but still it’s not the final one. There is still more to go. And how do you to get there? It’s only when you abandon yourself into the hands of God, when you say “Lord, I surrender to You. I surrender myself - my body, my mind and my soul - completely to You” [that you will get there] Don’t do it superficially, but sincerely. And how do you do it sincerely? Be sincere with yourself and say “Yes, God, I want You. I’m surrendering myself  to You”. When it’s comes sincerely from your heart, it will happen.

Sri Swami Vishwananda tells us today.....

We have been singing Jai Ma as the great feast day of the Divine Mother, the Mother which is seated inside your heart – not the mother who has given you this body, well she is also the mother – but the Mother who has given you this soul, who has given you the spirit, has given you this body to dwell in this world and has given you such a beautiful world to be in. At the same time a mother wants the child. A mother is always ready to care for the children. How can we make this Divine Mother happy? She doesn’t ask too much from us. She doesn’t ask that we change ourselves for Her. The only thing that She asks is that each one, by oneself, decides to change not for Her sake, but for their own sake. I was traveling and I went to a big city, looking at how people were busy on the outside. I asked myself this question “Do they really know that there is something greater than just this life that they are living?” I was asking my Guru about it. We can say “Yes.” Here, we are all thinking we know there is something greater in the life of man even if you, as a human being, have not realised it, yet you have this sense of feeling that yes, there is something greater and you want to achieve, to attain this. While walking, I was thinking how many among these people were really living a human life. How many were really knowing that life is not just what they were living? There is much more than that. They can be really eternally happy. They can really find this great joy, which nothing can take away. How many? I was wondering. Then a friend said something about a philosopher, a Greek philosopher, Diogenes. He went around during the day with his lamp and of course, everybody would laugh at him. They would laugh at him; they would ridicule him. He didn’t bother about anything and one day somebody asked him “Why are you going around in daylight with your torch lit, because it is funny!” His answer was very simple and clear “I’m looking for a human being!” There are many humans, but there are only a few human beings. What is the difference between a human and a human being? An animal can also be counted as a human. It has a body, it breathes, but we call an animal, an animal and a human, a human. The faculty of looking for something greater is only in the human being. But when you go around, as I was singing before in one verse of the song, that illusion, Maya, has caught us. Maya has caught human beings and she is making human beings play to the tune that she wants. This is exactly how it is on the outside, until you start to really search for the truth of your Self. When you start searching for the truth of your Self, then you disengage yourself from that grief of Maya, but as you know very well, it is not an easy task. It’s not something that is very easy to do at all. Everybody would like to, lots of spiritual people would like to, but only a few succeed. Why? Because their determination is weak. If your determination for the Divine is strong, nothing can move you, but if your determination is weak, then you will be weak, because you make yourself weak, like I said before. If you fully believe in yourself, if you fully have trust in yourself, you will fully believe and trust in God. Then of course, the Divine will always help you.

There is a saying.....

...... “Make one step towards God,and he will make a hundred towards you,” it’s true. The moment you are sincere with yourself and you make this one step, you’ll receive it.  The door will be wide open, and you will see the Lord running to you! You know how beautiful it is to experience that? How joyful it is?  Words can’t express it. I can just say “joyful”, I can just say “very happy,” but it is beyond that. It is beyond the word “love” itself! In the mind we can imagine it, how it is to be continuously, constantly in love. It’s marvellous. This Love is unconditional, it’s without expecting anything. It’s just flowing and flowing. Be this instrument, all of you!

And to love God is...

If humans could understand the love that they have inside of them, you would always sing the same way Radha sang the name of Krishna; the same way that Maria Magdalena had love for Jesus, the same way all the saints in the world have love for God. All of you can achieve this love. All of you can become this reality because this is what you ultimatly are. Pure love, pure Divinity.Only the mind stops you from realising it. We often talk about the mind. But God has given a heart to man, too. The heart is not just here to pump the blood in the whole body. It’s also to feel. Very often, when you get hurt, the heart has a lot of pain, doesn’t it? And when you feel happiness and joy, the heart is wide open. And to love God is... I can’t even express it in words actually, because it’s a mixture of everything in it. Sometimes you will fight with God, sometimes you will blame God, and sometimes you will just be completely in love with God. And at the end of all three, it’s just this pure love. And this is the freedom that all of you have. But you have to really express it, to really let it grow. Not with a ‘but’. So many times we say, “We try to open our heart, but there is always something in the way.” Try it, you will see. One day you will surrender completely, saying, “Open my heart. Here I am. I surrender to You – body, mind and soul is Yours!

Sri Swami Vishwananda talks about......

It’s really a grace to be spiritual, and to receive it at such a young age. People don’t realise it. I encourage you to carry on in that way and grow more and more, and strengthen faith in yourself. And grow in it, also for all of you here, not only for the youngsters. You know there is a saying,  ‘Spirituality starts when religion ends’.Real spirituality is in each one of you, in each one of your hearts, whether you believe or not, it’s there. God is sitting permanently within you. But to achieve it, this is each one’s way, each one’s personal way. To discover the God without form, God without name, the eternal – to realise that you, all of you, are part of Him. This is the aim of man.Open up your heart! Love, love unconditionally! Love without limit! Love without expecting anything! Realise this love is ever flowing, the more you give, the more you receive. Just give for the sake of giving. That is what you are here for. Not to receive anything, not to take anything from anybody. Because, what is the difference between you and me? Nothing. But one difference: I realise it, and you don’t realise it. But you can also reach the same level. You need to be continuously in love.

Always remind the mind that it’s God that does everything...

Many people take Ghandi as an example; many great people take him as an example for what he did for the world. But above all, when you go deeper into his life, you see he was the model of bhakti itself. He was the model of devotion. Whatever he was doing, he forgot about himself first. It was about devotion to the people, to his country. It’s not just that he wanted to make his country free, but he showed a way to free the country through non-violence. The basis of nonviolence is Love. That’s the greatest thing. Without Love there is no non-violence, there is no peace. Of course, his life was not only joyful. He had lots of tribulations; there were lots of tests on the way that he had to go through. We see how he was, how he died. Yet, even at the time of death, he forgave. He said “Let him be free. He did it through ignorance, let him be free”. We have to take such a life as an example, but of course, we can’t make for ourselves what Gandhi came here to do! But, in our own way, each one can participate in it. Each one can become a model of devotion and peace. And for that you have to cultivate humility. He had a great simplicity. Of course he had fame, names, everything, so that he could have put himself very high up, but yet, he put himself the lowest of all. Such is the life of the Master. Very often we see masters high up and people say “Oh, they are very high”. We are here to serve. It’s not you who are serving the Master, but the Master who is serving you, all the time. Whether you know it or you don’t know it, it’s the Master that is serving you. The Masters don’t come here for themselves. They come to lift you all up. So taking the example of the life of saints, taking the example of the life of great ones, we learn a lot; we learn how to develop selfless Love, unconditional Love and humility.People will say “Swamiji, you talk about humility, but how do we cultivate it?” It’s so simple, I tell you, really. It’s the simplest thing that you can do. Love is there, in the heart, but humility is in the mind. How will we make this mind, which is so ferocious - this big beast - how will we make this mind humble? We always say that it’s our mind, but we don’t say we are the mind, do we? Or do we say we are the mind? No! The truth is that the mind is something apart from man. Man is the master of the mind. Man is the master of all the negative qualities that emerge from the mind, but illusion is so great that it seems that they are the master. We need to remind the mind continuously who is the master to build up humility. It’s not that I am telling you to flagellate yourself every time you have a thought, no, but flagellate the mind with the Divine Names.Always remind the mind that it’s God that does everything. He’s the cause of everything. Every thought is Him. Remind the mind continuously. Whenever the mind becomes negative, say “Mind, it’s not you, it’s only the Lord himself”. It’s only God. If God didn’t allow you to think, where would you get the power to think? In the Gita, Krishna said, “If the Lord didn’t allow the leaves to move, the leaves would not move”. Even if there was a great wind blowing, the leaves would not move. Such is the power. So if He who governs everything is inside each one of you, he’s seated in each one’s heart equally! So how can we forget about Him? So train the mind to remember that it is not this pride; it is not this big ‘I’ - which is the ego - the ‘me’, ‘myself’, you know. Transcend this pride and say “God, it’s You”, and continuously talk to Him.

We are this love, we are this light....

The biggest treasure of all, a treasure that nobody can steal from you... is love. Love is such a big gift! We feel it with our heart, we know it with our mind, but to realise it, to become one with this love, to spread this love, unconditionally — this is the aim of mankind. The more you spread it, the more you reflect it, the more you will discover yourself. When people say “I want to know God,” I answer “Know thyself.” By knowing your own self, you will know God, because when we want to know God outside, we automatically create a barrier, we create a limited form. We are this love, we are this light. We are not separate from God, we are part of God. To achieve this we must surrender. Surrender the mind which is always jumping around. Surrender the body, which is the temple of this light and love, and reflect this light always.

Words of Sri Swami Vishwananda.....

I’m talking about opening the heart of man, opening your heart to love. Because you can love, you can love beyond what your mind is thinking about love. In the depth of this love you’ll be one with the Divine. Beyond all the duality that the mind creates is only the Self, and that’s what each one is here for. And no matter which path you are following, at the end, each path will reach that point. All paths are right but you have to be disciplined in them. When I say disciplined I don’t mean forcing or pressing. This is spirituality. Something that has to emerge from the heart of man, is like a flower that opens without any force. Let it open, and let it shine with beauty.

Does whatever we do in this life, whether it is in our sadhana or in our daily life depend on this life or our previous lifetime?...

 .... Well it depends on both, actually. The majority of whatever you do in this life depends on what you have done in your past life. Sometimes you have a great plan, but when you have such a plan it doesn’t turn out the way you planned it. How many of you have a plan in life? Has it turned out the same way as you have planned? No, it doesn’t turn out the same way, because in this life your mind functions in a certain way to create what you perceive you need to be happy, but still, there is karma from the past that you have to burn. So, that’s why, very often, when you have a plan, it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted because of these past karmas. When you look at this world, what is permanent in this world? Nothing! With time, everything changes. With time, everything gets destroyed, but, yet, one hangs onto these perishable things, forgetting the eternal. So, as long as one hangs onto perishable things, there will be suffering, because what will give you real joy is hanging onto the Eternal Lord. Only when you are wholly directed towards Him, He will turn wholly towards you. And you can do that through your sadhana. You do japam, chant the name of the Lord, you do your spiritual practices, and you do service. Through service, you realise that you are serving not out of ego, not out of pride, but you’re serving through your heart. Of course, when you start to serve, you know, there’s always the pride in it. You are proud of how much you are doing. You say “Look how much I am doing.” I, the big I is always there, and you are forgetting that it’s only Him who is doing through you. The more you serve the more it comes to a point where it is transcended. Then you start to realise that whatever way you are serving, you are serving only Him, and it’s only Him who is serving. So then you have peace, because if you look for peace in this world, if you look for joy, you will not find it. Everybody is looking for peace. Who doesn’t want to be peaceful? Is there among you somebody who doesn’t want to be peaceful? So, all of you, you are just looking for one thing: to be peaceful. But looking at the world itself: in Sanskrit we call it Jagad. If you translate Jagad, it means ceaseless motion. It’s always on the move, you know. The world, however we look at it, is always on the move. When we take time and calmly we look at ourselves; when we look at human beings, they are constantly on the move. Even sitting here, they are far away, somewhere else, you know. They are sitting here, they are listening, but the mind is somewhere else, doing something else. So, how can there be peace, when one is not in peace within oneself, when one can’t take five minutes to sit down here and bring the body, mind and spirit here, in the same spot? And yet, human beings are looking for peace. So, to have this peace, one has to learn to calm oneself. It’s like everything else. You see, if you want your child to study, what do you do? You make the child sit and then you make the child study, no? First you have to make the child sit down, then study. In the same way, without an effort from you, without disciplining yourself and sitting down and practising your sadhana, it’s difficult to find real peace. With everything else, today you have something, but you don’t know tomorrow if you will have it or not. It’s the same thing with real peace, you know: if you have attained real peace, once you have it, you will have it always. It’s the same thing with Love, real Love I’m talking about, pure Love. Once you have realised it, you will always have it with you. You see, in this world, people like to hang onto their problems and onto their worries. You see, whenever a problem arises, the solution is also there, but mankind is so easily focusing on the problem rather than on the solution. Do you like problems? No. So then, why do you let yourself be drawn towards your worry? Because it doesn’t give you peace, eh? So, the more you hang onto the problems, the more problems you will have; the more you hang onto the worry, the more you will not see the solution. But if you take a little bit of time, sit in your prayer room, and sincerely surrender to the Divine, the problem will get solved. Whenever there is a problem, what do you do? You run to the temple, no? Then you pray “Oh God, I have this problem,” or “I have that problem,” because you know deep inside of you that He’s the only one that can solve your problem, nobody else. You can tell your problem to a hundred people and what will they do? They will say “Oh, poor you, you have a problem.” Very often they say “Poor you” outside, but inside they are saying “Good for you.” So, who is your best friend? Who is the real one looking after you? Who is the one really listening to you? It’s only Him. It’s only the Lord Himself. You see that, as long as there is happiness in life, people give very little importance to their spiritual practice. They say “When I become very old, then I will have time to do that.” But that’s why often there are problems on the path, why there are problems in life, so that continuously we can remember God. It’s like the Pandava’s mother said. After the Mahabharat war finished, Krishna went to His aunty to take her blessing and He asked His aunty “What can I do for you?” She said “One thing You can do is You can give meenough problems that I will never forget You.” This was how much Love she had for the Lord that she asked the Lord “Give me many problems that I can always remember you.” This is how it is, also, in this life. Things happen in life so that we can always remember God But we don’t like to continuously remember God, you know; we like to continuously remember the problem. We like to focus our mind, all our attention, all our energy, on the problem, thinking that we will get the solution. But you will not, because you have a certain limitation. You are limited with your mind. Your mind is limited to only matter. So, like that, if we concentrate on God, no matter what comes in our lives, we will accept it, we will take it in a positive way. Humans are hanging onto the outside and not much onto the inside, because you don’t know about the inside. You know only what is in the outside, what you can see and what you can touch. From these two things, you think you will be happy, but you have one thing, which is not seen, and that is your Atma. You can talk about the Atma, you can say “Yes, we have the spirit inside of us, you know, we have the soul inside of us”, but how many really know about the Atma? In realising the Atma, letting the Atma reveal itself to you, you will have the greatest joy, actually. You will always be happy. Even when problems come, you will be happy, because you will have attained the purpose of life, of lives! You will have attained the purpose no only of one life, but of lives. So, try your best to do your sadhana. Try your best to remember God in whatever you do, even if you don’t consider it as seva, but in whatever action you do in life, try to think of God. If you have five minutes during the day, try to sit down quietly. For these five minutes forget about husband, wife, children, everybody. When you sit in your prayer room, just sit - you and God. Remember Him every day. I will not say all day, because you will not, but at least morning and evening, for one minute in the morning and one minute in the evening, you can remember Him. He has a multitude of forms that He appears in, you know. Each one feels close to a certain form of divinity, though it’s only one.So, try to realise this unity and build up this relationship with the Divine. The more your relationship with the Divine becomes intense, the more He will reveal Himself to you. It’s like when you’re in love. At the beginning you say “Yes, I have a feeling for that person”, but yet, you don’t know that person. How do you know the person? By being close to that person, by being near to that person, you will start to know the person, no? So, the more you become close to that person, the more you know the person, the more the love grows, more and more. So, it’s the same thing with Bhagavan, you know. The more you remember Him, the more you chant His name the more He will reveal Himself to you. So, little by little you will start to feel Him. Little by little you will start to realise Him and that He’s next to you. Sometimes you will see Him in dreams and sometimes you will see Him manifested in front of you. Then, as time goes on, the objects wherein He manifested start to disappear, only He stays. So wherever you go, you will just see Him only. So, the more your Love grows, you will see Him inside of you, you will see Him outside of you and soon you will realise that it’s just Him. We’re just doing a big play. He’s just playing with all of us. He’s acting through all of us. He’s doing what He has to do through each one of us.

God loves you......

During the prayer let your only desire be focused on God, because the only desire of mankind, the only desire of the Spirit, is God. Desire the Ultimate, and you shall have it. Surrender your body, mind and soul. Focus on any Divine aspect firstly, and then you realise your Divinity. Remember that whoever you are, even if your advancement is slow or fast, God loves you. He loves you even more than you can think about love, more than the mind of man can think about. So always trust in this love, always hang on this love, and never let go of Him. He is always with you. Even if you do not feel Him, even if you do not see Him, He is there.

It’s about time to change one’s mind; the way we see things....

If you are all together, no one can do anything to you, but if one is against another, then nothing will work. In the Gospel, Christ showed also the ‘humbleness’ that we all have to have towards each other, the understanding towards each other, the Love towards each other. Love is there, but very often understanding is not there. So, this also the all-knowing Christ showed: that He knew everything that was happening and what would happen in advance, but he had also to fulfil what was written in the Scriptures; what God had talked to the prophets: He had to fulfil it. But there were expectations among the disciples of Jesus of how the Master would be: a lot of them were expecting Jesus to be a great Master, who would come and raise everything down and build up something new. If there is this kind of expectation among the disciples, and when it is not like that, they feel bad. That’s why Judas went and betrayed Christ. They expected “Oh, He will do this and He will do that”, but yet Jesus knew what His work was. He knew His duty. He knew for what reason He had incarnated and He did, according to His job. But yet the disciples didn’t know what their duty was. But yet they thought they knew, but when they realised their mistake, it was too late. Very often - it happens to everybody, actually, it was not only the disciples of Jesus, you know - but whenever you go to a Master, to a Teacher, in your mind you already expect certain things. You already create in your mind “Oh, you know, the Teacher will do this and this and that to me, He will tell me this and this and that to flatter me”. You already create it in your mind, but if in your mind you already have some expectations, then even if the Master would talk to you ten times, you would not hear anything. Easy example: last week, when I was travelling, they called me and somebody asked me something. For half an hour I explained to that person “Please, don’t do this!” But the person would not listen. What can you do? You can’t do anything, no? Pritala was enjoying it. He said: “Well, don’t worry. He will never listen, because look at the way he is talking, he will never listen to anything”. So: “OK - I said - look, I can’t do anything. I can just pray for you”. And the person did what I told the person not to do. And of course, the result was not what the person expected. But this is how it is, you know. People always think that they know better. But, if you know better, then why do you ask? If you don’t know, then you ask, then you can receive it. You can take the advice and accept it and change, but if you can’t, don’t ask! If you are not ready to change, don’t ask. What is the use of asking then? The same was with the disciples, even in 2000 years nothing has changed - the same betrayal, the same procedure. When I read this part of the Bible, the Gospel, and I look at my own life, it’s so similar. That’s why, while reading it, I was laughing about it, you know. Every year, when I read that, I laugh, because it is exactly that, you know. And people will not change, like I said, as long as they don’t want to change really, sincerely. As long as they don’t say to themselves “I really want to change - not to the Master, not to God, not to anyone, but to themselves - I want to change”, only then they will change. Then you will develop this power inside of you, where really you will change. Know one thing: the world is not the same. Twenty years ago and now is different. Two thousand years ago and now is different. And the next few years coming, it will be different. When we look at nature, Mother Nature is reacting in such a way that it’s not pleasing to see. But when we look at humans, the way they are reacting is even worse than unpleasing to see. It’s about time to change one’s mind; the way we see things. It’s about time to look at ourselves and say “What can I change? What am I willing to change?” And I said: “If you really want the Love of God” because many people put the tag, ‘I love God’, but really they don’t. They only want the quality of God. They want only to get and get and get from God, but they don’t really want to receive and manifest the Lord inside, the Divine within themselves. And I tell you: if one doesn’t want to change, Mother Nature will make them change. Sometimes, if they don’t want to change in a certain way, Nature reacts in another way - sometimes painful, but there is a change. So, with this Gospel, let us learn to become humble like Christ. Let us learn sincerely to love one another. Let us learn to be in unity with each another. Let us build one family. Like we say in Sanskrit: Vasudeva Kutumbakam, which means: “the whole world is one whole family”. And the peace can come firstly within you and through you to everybody, only when you are in unity together. When you work together with each another, you will be stronger. But if you work against the others, you will be the weak one.

Transcend this human qualities......

When your mind is positive, then, whatever you do in life, the fruit of your labour will be positive. And it will get better and better all the time, but this is when your mind is focused on the Divine.You have to be happy by chanting, by doing your prayer to the Lord, because He’s always with you. Your parents, your mum and dad, will be with you for some time, but He will always be with you. He was with you from the beginning and He will always be with you until the end, until you realise your Self and until you attain Him. He’s your best friend, He’s the only one that you can really trust, and He’s the only one that gives you solutions for everything. This is not true about human beings, because whoever gives you a solution, any human being that gives you a solution, any friends of yours who give you a solution, they will always have an expectation behind it: they will give this, but you have to do that for them. Do you know about that, no? Yes, because each human does this, you know. It’s a human reaction. So, don’t forget that within this human self you are also divine, you have part of God inside of you. I said part, remember this word, ‘part’. You are not fully God, because you hang so much onto your humanness that the Divine part gets covered. That’s why the karma of the past can affect you. But when you realise your Self, realise that the Lord is within you and you have come to a certain realisation; that your Atma is part of the Paramatma, you will transcend this human quality. It’s the same thing when you do japam. Why is it that you do japam? You do japam to realise the Divine. You do japam so that your mind continuously thinks of and chants the Name of God. So the more you chant the Divine Names, the more His qualities will reflect on you. The qualities of goodness, love, compassion, joy, all these qualities will start reflecting on you, but this will be when you chant sincerely.

You are in His Divine hands and He will never let go of you. Never!

Make the ultimate goal of your life Divine love, and surrender to it. You know what God wants from you? Surrender your mind to Him, continuously. Surrender your mind to the lotus feet of God, to the feet of your guru, to the feet of any Divine master. And free yourself. Free yourself from the mind, free yourself from all the misery that you created. So when you free your mind, you realise the Divine everywhere in every aspect, every small thing. Even the clothes you are wearing are divine. Each atom is divine.If you have divine eyes to look at the world with, you will see that it is just the radiated light of God shining through everything. But as long as you don’t come to that realisation, keep trying. Never lose hope. The moment you lose hope, you lose everything. The moment you say, “No, I can’t do it, I can’t do this”, you will not be able to do it. Challenge your fear! Keep reminding yourself that you are part of God. You are in His Divine hands and He will never let go of you. Never! He will be always near to you, even nearer than the breath, the air you are breathing in.