Gurudeva answers a question concerning harmony with the Guru. Gurudeva tells us that harmony with the Guru is harmony with our own soul. The Guru is like a barometer. Our own soul and mind gives us warnings. We can carry over good and and also bad into our next life. Gurudeva gives us a motto: "travel lightly." He tells us why we are here, and what we can do in this life in preparation for the next. He tells us how culture comes from worship.

Unedited Transcript:

Today at Kauai Aadheenam. Greetings to each and everyone, who are tuning into Cyberspace Ashram, an Ashram called 'Kauai Aadheenam' on the Garden Island of Kauai, in the Hawaiian island chain. Today is December 24th and it is the fourth day of the Hindu festival at this season of the year called 'Pancha Ganapati'. This means, Ganesha has 5 heads, 10 arms and is standing and blessing each and everyone. There are five days in this festival, it is a home festival. This fourth day, devotees of Lord Ganesha all over the world are bringing fourth joy and happiness in the home, music, art, drama, dance. The children are dancing. The older children have created plays, mothers are singing, friends and relatives gather for satsanga. They bring individual artistic gifts that they made by hand and they enjoy each other's company. Plans are made for the year ahead by the family and relatives to bring more harmony, culture and refinement into the home.

Hinduism is a home religion, as well as a mass festival religion. Culture as we know, comes from worship. We worship the God and Gods and we relate to God, Gods and Guru in a special way. We carry that out from the Temple into the home. The more one goes to a Hindu Temple, the more refined the home becomes. Those who don't go to the Hindu Temple often, or sit home and watch TV, their home is like a hotel. It is chaotic and anger reigns. Culture is forgotten. Shoes are worn inside the house and all those naughty, naughty things that people should not do who call themselves Hindus.

Here we have a question from California. "When someone who has a Guru is out of harmony with his Guru, he then works within himself to correct that situation. Is this all that's necessary to do?"

That is right, because harmony with your Guru is harmony with your own soul. Harmony with your mother and father, who are the first Guru, is harmony with your own soul. That means your values are correct. You are a soul living in a astral body, living in a physical body having various tools, one of which are emotions. Another is an intellect and another is ignorance. This is ignorance of things you should not understand. Sometimes, the things you should not understand get in the way of your understanding.

So, give up all your bad habits and you will be in harmony with your soul and in harmony with your Guru.

The Guru is like a barometer, not like a commander. You balance yourself off against your Guru or a statue in a temple. On some days, "Ganesha looks not too well at me because of what I have been thinking and what I have been doing behind the backs of others, whom I love". On other days, "Ganesha in the temple is smiling at me!'.

Now, how does that stone deity frown and smile? It is your own mind warning you. Your own soul is warning you that you should be a little wiser, live your life a little better because all the good that you do in this life you can carry over into the next life. All the bad that you do in this life you can carry that over too if you want that kind of baggage! So, the motto is, "Travel lightly".

Well, that was a very good question and thank you very much.

We have now a two-day retreat. We will be seeing you after that is over. You can take a retreat too. You can reflect on what you did in the last five or six days and what you are going to do in the next. Improve, improve, improve. That is why we are here on earth -to improve. No other reason. We are not here to make money, we cannot take it with us. We are not here to remain healthy all the time, we can't take that with us either. We are not here to become a professional, or become an engineer, a doctor, or computer expert. That will all go when we die. The improvements that we make in our character - that will last forever. How we subdue the instinctive mind, and how we perfect right thought, right speech, and right actions and get our happiness from putting a smile on other people's faces, that you will take into your next life. You don't want to take the garbage into your next life. Take all the good stuff.

We will be seeing each other again at darshan time, at Cyberspace ashram in just a few days.

Aum Namah Sivaya!