I would like to thank all of you for coming and kindly giving us your time today. The subject I was asked to speak is on, ‘Life after death-fact or fiction’. You are mostly all college students. So I believe this is a most essential topic for you to seriously ponder upon and consider-Because it is a subject which very specifically and directly involves you, everyone that is near and dear to you, and everyone else.
The problems of life
Death is the mysterious, inevitable conclusion of what we know to be life. And the subject matter of death has always been a great mystery. Why?-because man takes great pride in philosophy, in technology, in science, in social progress, in economics to solve the carious problems that face him day after day. And you will find that most of the classes or courses that are being offered in your colleges today, are courses which teach you, how when you come out of school you can help solve the problems of the society. I believe many of you are studying law. Now who will hire a lawyer unless he is having a problem? Have you ever heard of anyone yet? It is a service which is meant to help solve a difficult problem within the society. Perhaps some of you are studying medicine. Who goes to a doctor unless he has a problem? We are trained to solve problems of life. Practically all of the sciences, whether it is physics, biology, or whether it is psychology, psychiatry, you have been trained to learn the science of how to solve problems of individuals, and solve problems of the world. If you study economics there is a simple principle of economics that is the basic of the whole technical learning. And that is: in this world every living being has unlimited desires to enjoy unlimited resources. But there is only a limited amount of resources. So therefore individually, collectively, nationally we find so many problems. We see that the world is perhaps facing a third world war. India and Pakistan are always about to have war, the war in the Gulf, big wars in Africa, there are wars in South America. It is all due to the problem of economics. So you see through our intelligence, through our efforts in this world we are very anxious to make a solution to problems; even business. People grow food to solve the problem of hunger. You go down the street to buy toothpaste to solve the problem of cavities; clothes- to solve the problem of either being a misfit or to solve the problem of cold or heat. Throughout our lives we are endeavouring to solve the problems that face us. But there is one problem that is one hundred percent guaranteed to face each and every one of us. And with all science and technology we have no solution to the problem. And that is the problem of death. Sure as death. We all must meet that fate today, or tomorrow. So what is death? What is life?
Wisdom of the ancient teachers-going beyond death:
The greatest thinkers throughout history have pondered upon this matter. In the Christian world, Jesus Christ taught that the greatest goal of life is to go beyond death to gain eternal life. What is the use if you gain the whole world but you lose your eternal life? Mohammed explained that until you can learn to face death in this life, you cannot know the true glory of eternity. And Krsna explains in the Gita,
janma-måtyu-jarä-vyädhi-
duùkha-doñänudarçanam
that a wise man is a person who understands the solution to the problem of birth, old-age, disease and death. And Lord Buddha, of course he taught that the conclusion, the goal of the 8 fold Buddhist dharma is to attain that state of consciousness beyond this cycle of birth and death. Shankaracharya taught the same. So somebody was recently telling me that, “I do not believe that there is anything beyond death and I do not believe that there is a God.” So I explained that you have a right to your belief. That is your birthright as a human being. But consider this, these great personalities such as Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Nimbarkacharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu-every great sage and sadhu of India; great souls such as Jesus Christ, Saint Francis of Assisi, Mohammed and all his followers, Buddha and all his followers- they all shared a particular quality that was consistent amongst one another. They were all perfectly in peace with themselves. They were all sacrificing their very lives for the upliftment of others. They were merciful, compassionate. Not only that, but they all spoke of a God and they all spoke of a soul which was beyond birth and death. So the question is- are such great persons from all cultures, throughout the world, are they in illusion? Or are they liars? Have they all come to cheat us? They were all ascetics. They were not receiving anything in return for their services; for their sacrifice to the upliftment of humanity. How were they coming to cheat us? They were simply giving, giving, giving. And we are speaking of not of one or two but of thousands of sadhus and saints throughout the world, throughout history. They all taught the same thing. How is it possible? Thousands of years gaps, thousands of miles gaps between their appearances and they all taught the same thing in essence. Were they all inherently cheaters, trying to misguide us? Or were they all in illusion? Were they all under some spell of believing something that cannot exist? And if they were under a spell of illusion, how is it possible that they all displayed the same characteristics which are the most virtuous, glorious characteristics which have ever been manifested by human beings throughout history! So at least we should open our minds and open our hearts to accept the possibility that what they are saying has some validity and truth; because after all, the word education which you are all taking very seriously, giving the most youthful energetic years of your life simply to be educated, at least we should know what the word education means.
Fallacious modern education:
Education comes from the Latin word ‘educare’ which explains that process by which we bring out that which is inherently within us. That is the real meaning of education. Education doesn’t simply mean to white-wash our brains with external knowledge. It means to bring out the inherent knowledge that is within us. But the modern educational systems unfortunately have forgotten this most essential part of learning. Of course the scientific approach, as far as people believe is that “I will only accept something if there is tangible proof. I will believe it if you can show me. You are talking about life after death, but no one has ever been there and come back to tell about it. Can you show me a soul? Can you prove to me that there is something beyond death? If you cannot show me God, if you cannot put him before me to see, to touch, to smell, to taste, experience directly with my senses; then how do you expect me to believe it and remain scientific.”
Faith -an integral part in life:
This is a great fallacy, because factually most everything in your life that you believe to be true, you have no means to ever experience directly through sense perception. And yet you accept it. Who is your mother? How do you know this lady is your mother? It is based on faith. None of you witnessed the act of procreation. You simply accept on basis of imperceivable faith-blind faith. This is my mother, this is my father, this is my grandfather, and this is my great grandfather. Gandhi was the father of India. How do you know?-faith. Can you see him, can you meet him? I can tell you about God being your supreme father and you say, “prove him, show him to me.” And then you tell him about Gandhi, the father of India. I say, “prove him, show him to me”. You cannot show me Gandhi, more than I can show you God with your senses. How do you know Mahatma Gandhi existed?-through books and through persons who knew him. That is the only way. You have to have faith in those books and you have to have faith in those persons that knew him. Otherwise you will never believe he existed. And everyone in this room believes unanimously hearing vocally that he existed. But there are books; there are thousands of times more books explaining the nature, the histories of God’s advents in this world than there is about Mr. Gandhi. And there are saints and sages from all traditions throughout history who explain that they have met him, they have experienced him. What is the difference? Faith is a part of our life which is the basis of practically everything we believe to be true. And this is faith of what we have never and we never will perceive with our senses. The geography! Do you accept that New York is this? How many have been to New York? You have faith in books and faith in people who have been there. No experience-but you can go to New York; But only if you have the enough faith that you are willing to make the effort to go there.
‘Who am I?’
So similarly we can perceive, we can experience; not with these senses but we can experience from within our heart, directly through realization, the experience of a soul within us that is the very essence of our very existence, that is beyond birth and beyond death. But we must approach it scientifically. The Bhagavad Gita is a book, a literature which very, very systematically explains the nature of consciousness. What is the difference between a living body and a dead body?-not material chemicals. The difference is that one is conscious and one is unconscious. That consciousness is ‘You’. We are not these bodies. This is the basic principle of every transcendental philosophy; although we are living our lives day after day after day as if we are this body. That is great illusion. But who am I? You may know history, you may know mathematics, computer technology, all sorts of athletics; but do you know who is it that knows these things? Who am I? – This is the basic principle of knowledge. And this is the principle of knowledge that is practically, thoroughly neglected throughout the world. You see at one time you were a tiny little child then you grew to a boy, now you are a youth, soon you will be old. The body is always changing. But the person that is witnessing the changes of the body always remains the same. That ‘I’ which is consistent throughout our life: you say when I was 5 years old I did this, when I was 10 years old I did this, when I was 20 years old I did this, when I am 70 years old I hope to do like this. Who is that ‘I’? Every 7 years all the cells of the body are changing. The body is constantly changing. And the mind is changing far faster than the body. When you were a little child, playing and doing all athletics and sports, you were not thinking in any way the way you are thinking now. The problems you were facing then have nothing to do with the problems you are facing now. So physically, mentally you are constantly changing. So the Bhagavad Gita explains that we are changing our bodies, we are reincarnating at every moment. Our body is made of cells; those cells are dying and becoming new again, dying and becoming new again. Reincarnation is not something that is a matter of what happens after the death of this body, reincarnation is something that is constantly taking place moment after moment after moment. The soul is accepting new physical conditions, new mental conditions. And at the time of death, the Gita explains, it is a continuation of the same process. At the time of death the soul accepts another body. What type of body? This is a great mystery. People are very afraid of death because they do not know what is beyond.
Fear of the unknown
In 1492 Christopher Columbus, he was very anxious to find a short cut to India; because believe it or not in those days India was the wealthiest country in the world. And everyone in Europe understood that whoever has the fastest access to India will be the wealthiest country and the most prosperous, strongest economic country in Europe. That is why constantly boats were going all the way around Africa and through the Suez, the Mediterranean trying to get the fastest most direct way to India. In fact later on, when the British, they conquered practically the whole world, it is said that the sun never set in the British Empire because there was always somewhere that the sun was present because in all four corners of the world the British had ruled. But India was called the ‘Crown jewel of the British Empire’. It was their most noble and precious of all achievements-that they had conquered India, because India was the place of the greatest natural resources, jewels, silks, spices and wealth. And the Moguls also, how much time and energy sending millions of soldiers to conquer India. It is said that most of the wealth of India is now in the British museums. India was plundered and plundered until what you have today-So much poverty, so much need. But back in 1492 India was still a very wealthy place. So Christopher Columbus decided that “everyone is going through Africa and through all these various to try to get to India. But I say the world is round and I am going to go the other way. Instead of going east I am going to take my boat across the ocean, west ward and I will run into India that way because the world is round”. And people were horrified. They said, “You are insane, you are crazy. The world is flat”. Western science up until that time unanimously agreed that the world was flat. And if you go beyond a certain point in the ocean you fall off the world. And there were various speculations. Some said that you would just fall endlessly, eternally through sky. And some believed that there were dragons and fire that you would fall into and be burned to death. And some believed after you fell off the world you would go into hell where devil was standing with his pitchfork ready to stab you and burn you. There were all different theories and speculations of what happened after you fell off the world. But everyone agreed that if you keep going you are going to fall off because it is flat. This is only 500 years ago. This is science! Science is constantly changing their theories with newer and newer discoveries. Of course in the Vedas, in the Srimad Bhagvatam which is over 5000 years old, one of the scientific books of the Indian spiritual heritage; it is explained very, very succinctly that the world is global, it is round. The science of the Vedas doesn’t change, but it is never proven incorrect either. That is the difference between science born of man’s own speculation and experience and science which is descending from an absolute realm. So try to understand that this was a great, great fear, falling off the world. Why was it such a great fear?-because nobody knew. Nobody knew for sure whether it did end, the world; nobody knew what was there. So everybody was telling Christopher Columbus, “Don’t do it, you are crazy!” But by his navigations he was convinced that it was round and he was willing to take the chance.
Facing the fear of Death
Why was there so much of fear? Why nobody dared to go westward before? – Out of fear; out of fear of the unknown. Death is like that. Death is unknown. It is a mystery and therefore people are horribly afraid of death-afraid for their own death, afraid for their love one’s death. So many children, when they love their pet dog, when they love their pet fish or they love their mother or father or sister or brother; they pray at night, “please God do not let my loved one’s die. Please do not let them die.” And when one of them do die it is very sad. It increases our own fear of death. And it increases the fear of others dying. This fear of death is one the most integral part of every person’s life. And he can try to forget it but forgetting it you can only do for so long. You can hide yourself from the reality of your ultimate destiny, but eventually you have to face it. You cannot forget it for long, it is all around you. It is in all the newspapers; it is in your family. You are getting older, it’s creeping up. To face a problem and try to understand and solve that problem is the true glory of a human being. To close your eyes and run from the problem or ignore the problem is ignorance.And most people, even the most highly educated PhD’s when it comes to the most important problem of life which is death, they close their eyes. They don’t want to think about it, they don’t want to hear about it-because they do not know. Why? – Because they believe that life or death is simply whatever I want to be, whatever I feel my opinion should be.
The Laws of Nature
But there is a science. It is a science of self-realization; which has been taught throughout the ages in every culture of the world, which gives one an understanding and a means of experiencing and realizing what is life, what is death and what is beyond. The Srimad Bhagvatam, Bhagavad Gita- they deal with the subject very, very thoroughly. It is explained that there are Laws of Nature. For every action there is an equal, corresponding reaction. For those who have studied a little science, you know that this is an irreversible law. It is a law that is integral within every aspect of this creation-that is called ‘The Law of Physics’- For every action there is an equal, corresponding reaction. Or as we say in English-what goes around comes around. Or Isaac Newton, Galileo, they so-called discovered the laws of Gravity. What does Law of Gravity mean?-what goes up must come down. Simple; but they made so many sophisticated equations to explain what goes up must come down. It is a Law. Anything that goes up must come down. There is no question of exceptions. Find an exception. Anything that you throw up will come down. This is the Law of nature. But there are also subtle laws of nature which have the same basic theme that for every action there is a reaction. If you commit a violent activity to another, you cannot escape the reaction that that violence must come back to you. Exactly when, exactly how that you may not be able to understand the detail but it will. An equal corresponding suffering must come back to you. (Inaudible).. good for another. If you give in charity, that charity must come back to you. Irreversible law; whether you believe or not believe, these are the laws of nature. There are laws of the state. If I rob a bank and I say, “well I don’t believe that there is anything wrong with robbing this bank because I need the money”; explain that to a judge. Ignorance of the law is no excuse to breaking the law. If I put my hand in fire, I am going to be burnt whether I believe it is going to burn or not. The laws of nature are never subjected to what you believe; the laws of nature act regardless. So similarly what our actions are in this life and what our desires are in this life will create an atmosphere in which at the time of death, the soul will be transported to a place, to a particular type of body. It is said in the Vedas, there are 8 million, 4 hundred thousand species of life. And each species of life has a particular type of enjoying and suffering. And in this human species of life we see so many various conditions of enjoyment and suffering that we can be born into. That condition of the type of form we take is exactly according to whatever we have done within this life. These are the laws of nature.
The human life-not meant for eating, sleeping, mating and defending:
Now a human being as every species of life has special facilities that are unique. The human form of life is not designed for enjoying physical sensations, because the animals can do much better. And that is a fact. But unfortunately, human society due to ignorance, they are simply dedicating themselves to enjoying physical pleasures which is available for the dogs and the hogs. Some people, they believe the greatest enjoyment of life is sex, specially in the western world. People are mad after sex. In India, the population obviously means you are not very indifferent to sex. So there is a pleasure, there is no doubt. But is a human being simply meant to enjoy this pleasure? We are not very good at it. Just like, when I was a little boy my parents once brought me to this movie and it was a movie with this James Bond, you’ve heard of him? And in the movie the man had sex with about 14 women in a course of 2 hours. The movie is 2 hours, and all beautiful women. Everyone in America wanted to be just like him. He was the idol, he was the hero. “Just see how he moves his eyes, how he smokes his cigarette, how he is attracting so many women”. They were thinking anyone who could be so attractive to women must be great. So people were wearing Double-o-7 belts, Double-o-7 T-shirts; everything was advertised according to him, because after all everyone wants to enjoy sex. But who is he? What is his potency? A pigeon can have sex 60 times in one day. How many times can you have sex in one day? 2-3 times and you are totally exhausted. Pigeons are still flying around after 60 times. Not only that, they don’t have to worry about making money, taking her out to dinner, finding this place, that place. They don’t have to worry about unwanted children. They just do it and do it and do it and there are no anxieties, there are no difficulties, they simply enjoy and they get the same pleasure out of it as a human being. So if your standard of enjoyment is sex, you are far inferior to a pigeon or a monkey or an insect.
What about eating? There is a saying ‘you should eat to live, not live to eat’ but people live to eat; they love to eat. It is their greatest pleasure in life to eat nice food as much as they can. But how much can you eat? Human being, your stomach is only this big and your desire is this big. You get the nicest food, you have been longing for this food and then you eat so much and then you are frustrated because you can’t eat any more, but you try anyway and you get sick. This is the dilemma. But an elephant can eat one hundred kilos a day. What that means is that for 24 hours a day that elephant could just eat, eat, eat and never get indigestion. Just satisfy that taste propensity all day long. So your standards of pleasures of eating…Why do you want to be a human being? Better to be an elephant.
What about defending? People are very proud to be very strong and powerful. It is like, “I can beat you up”. In America, boxing is the most money-making of all athletic sports. If you are a good boxer you could make several millions of dollars within a span of one hour. These heavy-weight boxers do; sometimes 10 million dollars for a fight even if they lose. Why? Because people are very proud to see, “hah, this man is so tough, he is so strong, he can beat others.” But whether you are Mike Tyson or Mohammed Ali, put this man in the ring with a cobra, or with a tiger, or with a panther; you think he will last one round? Within 10 seconds he will be torn to pieces. Human beings are not meant for defending. The animals are far superior. And some people love to swim; but can you swim like a fish? Some people love to fly; but can you fly like a bird?
The gift of the human birth: we can question our existence:
Human life has one special facility that no other specie has. The human being has the power to discriminate; the power to question this existence. This is the one mystic power that the human being has. Who am I? Who is God? Where am I coming from? What is death? What is beyond death? The fish, the vegetables, the animals, they cannot ask these questions. They are simply day after day serving the needs and seeking out pleasures for their bodies. But we can question our existence. And through the process of questioning our existence we can do something that no other species of life can do. We can transcend the problem of birth and death. We could realize the eternal soul that is full of knowledge and full of bliss that is within our own hearts. That is the gift that is given to every human being.
Effect of neglecting our intelligence:
And if this gift is neglected and ignored, it is the Law of Nature-that if something is neglected it is taken away. Just like if I break my arm and the doctor puts my arm in a cast; if I don’t move my arm for 8 weeks or 12 weeks, when they take the cast off, what happens? It takes days and days and days till I can even begin to move my arm again-because you have not used the power of motion that you have been given, it is taken away. This is the law of nature. If you don’t use what you have, it is taken away. If we do not use our human intelligence and our power to discriminate, to understand what is beyond simply the pleasures and the means of the body, but to understand who am I, what is the true pleasure and fulfilment of all my heart’s desires, what is God, what is my relationship, what is death and beyond?-If we do not utilize our God given intelligence for this purpose it will be taken away. And that is why there are so many species of life for those spirit souls who did not utilize for this purpose their given body where they can factually be happier. Human life- how many human beings are really happy?
Results of animalistic misuse of human intelligence
Human intelligence, which is meant for this purpose, when it is directed towards the animal instincts only; it creates a total mess out of the world. The air pollution, the water pollution, the wars taking place, the prejudice and hate and bigotry throughout the world, the putting of nuclear waste in the ground and I don’t know what is going to happen to the earth, the horrible, horrible diseases like cancer and AIDS which are born out of misuse of our own bodies, the breaking down of the ultraviolet layers-the ozone covering and protecting us from the sun-there’s many, many problems in this world. Are they caused by the birds and the bees or the frogs and the grasshoppers? They are all caused by the human beings; because human beings are trying to use a conscious power of discrimination which is so powerful; the power to understand the eternal self. When we use that great power and direct it toward the instincts of the animals, we cause a complete mess. We become endlessly greedy and envious and proud and lusty. And see the power of what is happening to the whole planet. And how many people are suffering.
The ultimate goal of life-inquiring about God
Therefore it is very, very important for us to apply our good intelligence for the ultimate goal of life. The ultimate goal of life is to understand, who am I? If there is a God, which is certainly possible, after all does everything come from something or does everything come from nothing? Within your common experience have you ever seen that something comes from nothing? What do you think? This table comes from a tree. This cloth comes from the ground, from plants. This body comes from a mother and a father. Everything we have ever witnessed within our life proves that something comes from something. So science means to be consistent. Now if everything comes from something, ultimately does everything come from something? Or does everything come from nothing? If everything comes from nothing- which is scientifically ludicrous; because whatever we have must come from either an object or a mixture of objects which have all the data which is in the final product. That is physics. How can something with quality come from nothing with no quality? There is no rationale; there is no scientific understanding to this. If something could come from nothing then there is no God. But if everything comes from something that something is God. What are the qualities of that something, what is the nature of that something? – That is a great science to understand. But first we have to accept that is certainly very possible there must be an absolute truth from which everything is emanating; or the cause of all causes. The Vedanta Sutra says, ‘janmädy asya yato’- the absolute truth is Him from whom everything emanates. So human life is meant to question-Is there God? If there is a God, what is my relationship to God? If we do not utilize our life for this purpose, then according to our Karma or according to the Laws of Action and Reaction we must take another birth in the womb of various species of life.
Analogy- Fish trying to be happy out of water:
But if we realize through direct experience, that following a spiritual process the true nature of the soul. (Inaudible)…… God then it is explained,
mäm upetya punar janma
duùkhälayam açäçvatam
näpnuvanti mahätmänaù
saàsiddhià paramäà gatäù
This means that those who realize the eternal self they no longer take birth in the world where everything is temporary; where there is the suffering of birth, old age, disease and death; but they attain the supreme, natural spiritual condition which is meant for everyone. If we are spiritual by nature, to identify with this body and try to find pleasure in this body is like a fish trying to find pleasure out of the water. You can give a sentiment of pleasure, a concept of pleasure to a fish out of water. You can give him nice food and (chomp, chomp, chew) he will think, “Ah! Tastes very nice” But he is still miserable because he is not in the water. If you give him a nice female fish he will say, “Ah! Very, very good” But how long will that last? You can give him a good reputation and show him that he is on the front page of the newspapers, and then he will say, “Aha! Just see, I am great. Everyone loves me.” You can give him a beautiful house. But as long as he is lying in the sand he cannot be satisfied because it is not his nature.
The subtle, conscious force- the soul:
There is material nature and spiritual nature. This body is material nature. This mind and intelligence is subtle material nature. Krsna explains in the Gita,
bhümir äpo ‘nalo väyuù
khaà mano buddhir eva ca
ahaìkära itéyaà me
bhinnä prakåtir añöadhä
Earth, water, fire, air, ether- these are the basic, basic material elements; gross. But there are 3 subtle material elements-The mind, subtler than the mind is the intelligence, and subtler than the intelligence is ahankara or false ego. But then he goes on to explain,
apareyam itas tv anyäà
prakåtià viddhi me paräm
jéva-bhütäà mahä-bäho
yayedaà dhäryate jagat
That subtler than even the subtlest element of this world- the false ego is the conscious force that animates and gives life to this mind and body. Just like if you have a radio, the radio has all the components to give sound. But without an electric current, none of the functions of a radio can operate. A computer is very, very sophisticated. A computer has its own brain and its own ways of expressing what is in the brain. But without an electric current, that computer can do nothing. An automobile has so many functions but not a single function can operate without a driver. So this body is like that. Your eyes cannot see, your ears cannot hear, your tongue cannot taste in and of itself. There is somebody seeing through the eyes, hearing through the ears and tasting through the tongue, loving through the heart and thinking through the brain. Who is that? That is you. You are the conscious force, the witness, the atma or the soul within this body.
Invoking true bliss from within:
And in this human form of life we have the power to realize and understand how this soul is eternal, full of knowledge and full of joy. All the joy and the pleasure that we are seeking through the senses and the objects, never really satisfies us because it is all temporary and limited. Every living being from the insignificant insect to the greatest, greatest king, everyone is looking for unending joy. Why? Why do we all have that in common?-because it is our nature. The nature of the fish is to enjoy the water and it can never enjoy outside of the water. The nature of our very essence of life, our consciousness is to enjoy the eternal, spiritual pleasures within our own hearts. But we have forgotten. Not only forgotten, but we have abandoned what is within us; groping, searching, scraping to find that same pleasure outside through the pleasure of the senses and the objects. But it never works; for those who seek the pleasure of the senses and their objects, they must continue the repetition of birth and death-Birth and death in the various species of life in the pursuit of pleasure. But when we look to our soul for the answer, when we go within, first through philosophical, logical understanding of what may be there and then doing some research in this regard, and then following a particular process where experience and realization takes place; then yes, we can experience the taste, the pleasure, the bliss that we have always been anxious for. It is right at home. We are going everywhere except right home within our hearts. And when we find it there then we can share that glorious state of true security and pleasure with all of our loved ones and with all of humanity. That is the greatest goal of life. And that is what is available for each and every one of us.
Performing one’s duty in a consciousness of love:
And it does not mean that we require to give up our present pursuits and responsibilities in regards to our family or occupation. It means that we should perform our duties in this world, in this divine state of consciousness. This is what Bhagavad Gita teaches, whatever your way of life may be, whether it is a businessman or a lawyer or a doctor, or whatever it is a house-wife or a student, whatever you have a wife and children or parents; it is not that you necessarily must give up your responsibilities in this world because there is a need for all these various professions for human society to function. But the greatest need is that the people who are engaging in these activities are doing it with an understanding of truth; because truth awakens love, compassion, mercy and selfless service to all others. And that is the greatest need in this world. There is not enough love, compassion, truth in this world. If that was there everything else would be provided. All shortages are due to greed and envy. That is correct if you examine the situation of our planet today. So therefore to perform your duty in the state of divine consciousness, the consciousness of love which is within you-that is a great gift that is available in your life. So please we are not concerned with converting a person from one religion to another, we are not concerned with recruiting members; we are simply concerned with enlightening persons to truly take advantage of the opportunity at hand to realize the universal principle of truth and love that is within your own heart. Thank you very much. Is there any questions?
