After the pre-dawn fire ceremony that is held each Sun One, Gurudeva sat on the white tile steps in front of the Crystal Sivalingam and spoke of the Vedas, quoting from the Yajur Veda on the goal of life:
"As threads come out of the spider,
as little sparks come out of
the fire,
so all the senses, all the worlds,
all the Gods, yea,
all beings
issue forth from the Self."
Then he added: "That is our goal on this Earth--to realize the Self as Satchidananda, to realize the Self as Parasivam. There is much you must sacrifice in order to achieve that goal, and it is well worth all that must be sacrificed."