Happy New Year to all. Happy New Year to the Universe. Happy New Year to your heart. Happy New Year to your mind. Happy New Year to your song. Happy New Year to you, Shyam. This is our message. It is a universal message. It is the message of praym and shaanti, of love and peace. We are all familiar with these words. When there is turmoil, sickness, pain, and suffering, each person knows that he wants to remove it; it does not matter what he wants to get, but he wants to remove it. Suppose he succeeds in removing it — whatever is left is shaanti and praym. Praym and shaanti is the Self.

For all these years up to this time, we have come to know that a human being has senses and a particular sense, the mind. The mind is always awake in the waking state, so it is called dynamic and mobile. The mind remains functioning in the waking state in association with the senses, and the senses remain active because of their desire, wish, and wanting to be united with the objects. The senses feel that the objects will bring joy to them because joy is contained in the objects — that is a human being. So it is due to the mind that a person has desire on the level of the senses. Since the mind and senses have desire, this means they are not fully satisfied, thus they are not in a state of peace, or control. So what is essential for arriving at peace? The mind should be trained, through meditation, to watch that which is its True Nature — where there is no movement, no thought of I and you, no thought of God and world. It is perfect Bliss, Absolute Consciousness Existence.

We should meditate for some time. On New Year's Eve, you feel bright for next year and at the same time slow for the past year. So you begin to meditate, and you are very conscious and aware of all the thoughts. You watch as you transcend one, two, or three seconds, you transcend one or two months, then twelve seconds, or twelve months. When that conscious part of your mind, which remained active for twelve months or twelve seconds, reaches the climax, it is in between the past year and the new year. There is that which is past and there is that which is yet to come, and the space, or sandhya, is in between these two times, or two phases. That space is in between day and night, or night and day. That space is just pure Awareness, the Self. In meditation, we experience the pure Space, where there is no past and where the present has not yet come, but You are there. That is what you are.

If you hear my message, you will understand that we are all human beings, thus we are all human minds. Human beings with the mind and senses are not expected to have shaanti and praym. They will always have turmoil, worry, agitation, thinking, and wanting to have this and that, and they will have no love at heart. They will have some object, possess it, and cling to it; or else get the object to cling to their body, make it the body, possess it, and then say that they love a certain object, person, or a certain gajak [sweet].

This is a practical message. I was expressing, according to you, a very great, profound message, and in the end I said that you love your food. Now, you think that food is not God, because you love it and want it. Anything you want is not shaanti for you, whereas I have already given the message of shaanti and praym, of peace and love — that it is what you are. Know it. At least in this year of 2002, add this to your one mind: know that Self you are, shaanti and praym you are, knowledge and light you are. That is our message, not only for you, one, but for all. Wherever you are throughout the year, you can talk in the light of the Self which permeates the mind, and then the mind is no longer mind — it is shaanti, it is praym, it is peace and it is love. This year, the message will be of peace and love, which I must have said many times in previous years also.

All of you are now enlightened enough to grasp the fact that the body, mind and senses are changing. Change creates great fear for people, because they think that now death is coming: change means death. They try to save themselves from it and wage war against change — that is what every human being is involved in. So next year, people will be trying to save and protect themselves from all kinds of terrorism and terrorists, from idiots and ignorant people. They are trying to avoid all that, and they are waging war to be by themselves.

But the message of the Self is that you must know that you are the Self, and with this knowledge your mind or body will be permeated, and you will be peaceful and healthy. You will remain pure in understanding that all is that which is ultimate Reality — the very Basis, the Source of all the actions, agitation, duties, responsibilities, journeys, and results of journeys, of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. All these are felt by a human being, and only when he sleeps are they dropped. He must be aware by now, especially after hearing me, that he is peaceful. He remains peaceful for twelve hours, especially in deep sleep; and for twelve hours he remains in action, which means in peacelessness. But a man cannot live his whole life in the state of sleep, so it has been arranged for him to live with action, with efficient and profound action — but in his heart of hearts to keep the message of shaanti and praym, of peace and love, which he is. When you eat, you already know that you are shaanti and praym. When you speak, you know that you are shaanti and praym already. When you interact, wherever you walk and talk, you know that you are shaanti and praym. That is the nature of the Self. You know that, and you are always like that. Be tuned in to shaanti and praym, peace and love, and enjoy. Enjoy not only next year, but the whole life long. As long as this body is alive, keep knowing that this is what you are. Thank you very much.

January 1, 2003