Maha Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth...

... Wealth – when we talk about wealth, what do we think about? The bank, eh? It’s true, when we talk about Maha Lakshmi, we think about the bank and money, but is money everything? No, it’s not. We need it of course, without money we can’t do anything, but She also symbolises spiritual wealth. This wealth is what Christ talks about, saying “The wise ones put their money not in the bank in the world, because somebody can come and take it away, but in the bank, which is up or deep within.” She symbolises this spiritual wealth – that the more we surrender towards our path of knowing ourselves, the more we will be free. We’ll be full of spiritual knowledge. We’ll be full of the Grace of the Divine. Otherwise, we are never free. One day we want this, tomorrow we want that; then another day we want another thing. It’s endless. Can we ever be free from that? No, we never can. Maha Lakshmi helps to fulfill all your wishes, so that you can be ready to fulfill the wish of your soul also. We ask Maha Lakshmi to bestow Her Grace not only on all of us, but on everybody who needs Her help in whatever way. To bestow the wealth of health on people who are sick, to shine forth Her Light, so that our intellect becomes pure, and to help everybody who needs help.

We are not special, you know. When we think of ourselves being closer to the Divine than anyone else – this is wrong. 

Focus your attention on the divine....

People think that when they become spiritual they have to see something; they have to see maybe some light, or some miracles, or anything that the physical eyes can see. But expectation limits the Divine. Do you think God can be limited when you say, “God I love You, I really want to feel You, I really want to know You”? And then you’re questioning about the light when He is the Light of all lights, and the Light that these eyes can’t even look at! Actually, it’s just that the inner eyes can see it. All of you have this light. All of you have these eyes. But open them! Don’t have fear to open them, no matter what you will see – focus your attention on the Divine! Focus your attention on God – on this light and love that you have inside you. And like a child, let yourself be guided. You will feel that – whatever you want to do, if it is not right – you will not go in that way. But for that you have to be sincere to yourself. You have to be sincere to the feeling that you are feeling inside. It’s not that your heart feels something and you say, “Oh no, it’s not that, it’s my own creation... it’s all just illusions of my mind.” Look at Mirabai, one of the devotees of Krishna. Do you know her story? Some of you might know it, and some of you don’t. She was a queen, and her love for Krishna was so great, it was beyond everything. When she got married, she said to her husband, “My love for Krishna is beyond all your love, that you can understand. I see Him in you and in all of you who are around.” Whenever she used to sing Krishna’s name or sing a bhajan, he was present there. Such was her love that the Divine manifested Himself there.  Whenever you call from deep within your heart, whenever you call any aspect of the Divine, the Divine will take that aspect and come to you. Mirabai’s love was so great that at the end of her life they blamed her for so many things – but she was fixed and steady on her Krishna.

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. 

We will find Him when our heart is completely open...

In the Shivapurana, is said that Shakti always resides with Shiva. The upper part is Shiva and the lower part is Shakti, referring to the kundalini together with shesha, the snake. It is the perfect combination of the two aspects which are in each one of us, the male and the female. It’s also the day and the night. This reminds us that we are not just the body. We are the consciousness of God, whom we will find by surrendering completely to Him. We will find Him when our heart is completely open, without any doubt, without any “buts”. So many times, you say, “Okay God, I will make a deal with You! If you give me that, then I will do something.” Or you say, “I love God very much. I surrender to Him wholeheartedly. But, you know, there is a problem…”You don’t want to let go of the world. You don’t want to let go of the material things, because you are insecure about your Self. So, surrender everything and be assured that God is always with you! If He has put you here on earth, He will not let you go just like that! A beggar on the road will always have his food, because God will always provide him with what he needs. For sure he doesn’t need much. We are children of God. Jesus has taught us, “Don’t beg, but ask. Ask our Father. Ask, and you will receive.”But the point is: we do our prayers in quantity by burning lots of candles and lots of lights and saying to God, “Here, this is my prayer to You, God!” But what God really wants is the quality of your prayer. God wants our prayers to come from the heart without any doubt or negativity. Sure you will receive it – whether you think it’s good or bad, He will give it to you. You will receive whatever you want. If it is good you will enjoy it, if it is not good you will also enjoy it – in a not nice way – because you asked for it. So don’t complain about it! So I will ask you, surrender completely to the Lord.

The greatness of a master...

Often, people on this path become very dogmatic. When they have one Guru they say, “This is the only way.” It’s true; one has to be dedicated to the Guru. But to receive the blessing of all the masters, this is the best. People can see with their two eyes. With the physical eyes they see only the outside. But what is behind the Guru is the same light. The Guru will take your hand and bring you to a level where you can stand on your own feet. I don’t mean that you don’t need the Guru. He will always be there, but he will put himself in the background. Then the inner Guru will become more important. This is the greatness of a master. 

Why do people stay always in the cycle of birth and death, even if they know that this is misery and that they have to do everything to attain the Divine?...

Somebody asked me a question today “Why do people stay always in the cycle of birth and death, even if they know that this is misery and that they have to do everything to attain the Divine? Why life after life do we come, but we don’t realise the purpose?” Actually, the answer to that is that people don’t like to change. Even if they know they are doing something wrong, they know that they have to change certain things in life to be really happy, the old habits catch up. They get caught in the old habits. If one doesn’t take the determination to change now, doesn’t take this resolution, it’s very difficult. People would rather say “Later on we will change.” There are always excuses; from childhood they’re learning certain things. They grow up and they think they know everything. They go around thinking that they know best. Then it comes to a point where one realises “What am I doing here? I try everything to be happy, but I’m not happy.” Why is that?  It’s because whenever one says one wants to change, one has to let go of certain qualities. You can’t change and still carry the same qualities with you. It’s like if somebody smokes and says “I want to stop smoking.” I come across a lot of people like this, you know. They say “Swamiji, I’ve tried my best to stop smoking.” It’s very difficult. The old habits catch up again. You see, when you stop smoking, you have to replace it with something. You can’t leave the space.  This is where spirituality comes in. If you want to change life, you have to dedicate yourself. You have to develop faith, because if you don’t have faith, it’s difficult and faith is this yearning. You have to develop not only faith; you have to transcend faith to yearning. You have to yearn for God. As long as there is no yearning for the Divine, there is always emptiness. Into this emptiness, anything from the outside can fall it. That’s why you have to guard yourself always, otherwise the old one, the old you, will be back.