Hari om. So now we are in 2011, and we have these predictions of all these difficult times and disasters. I don't know if you went home and calculated what you are going to do about avoiding these kinds of difficulties. What steps are you going to take so that you are not a victim of these circumstances? It is all for you to decide what you want to do, and if you have our 2011 diary you'll see that 2011 is very very busy with prayer, prayer, prayer. And it's all for you, so make a point of being part of these poojas that we set at different intervals for each of you so that you are not affected much by changes in the environment with regards to disasters, chaos, accidents and other factors that you might find yourself in these times of difficulty.
Bangalore in India has the highest suicide rate in the world. Bangalore, where spirituality is first, where people are taught how to pray. And when you go to Bangalore you'll find the reason for that is there's no more spirituality. The whole of Bangalore is surrounded by western culture, tradition and other factors. You go into Bangalore, and even our Johannesburg city is nothing when it comes to their modernising. In the process we forgot how to pray and now, when we have these difficult times, we don't know who God is, and we don't know who to turn to, so we turn to ourselves. And when we turn to ourselves, suicide is the only factor because you cannot handle the stress that is happening. And in the last seven months Bangalore had the highest rate of suicide in fourteen days in the history of mankind.
This is attributed to the fact that the IT world is not going to Bangalore, that America is not importing IT specialists from Bangalore any more. Many residents of Bangalore have changed their lifestyle to that of IT specialists with two cars, modern homes and modern clothes and now, with no employment, they don't know what to do and how to turn to God. Why I use Bangalore is because it is in India and here service is offered at the ashram so that in times of difficulty and stress you don't get involved in executing yourself.
So this is the time, 2011, that you should be praying, praying and praying. Even if you know one line of anything that has God's name in it, it is worth more than all the money you have in the bank - just one line. Money in the bank cannot save you, but His name can save you. It's as simple as that. No matter what you want to call him, it doesn't really matter. Hindus have become masters in naming anything God. They will take a stone and call it Shiva, a brick and call it Maheshwara. They can take anything and call it God, and after time they revere that piece of stone as God itself and therefore this is a time for you to find that stone within yourself. Take that stone and revere it as God. And only then will you be able to come out of the disaster that is ahead of us.
Many of you seated here have your own problems. Some are strange, some unique, and many of your problems are with regard to this modern society called civilisation, materialisation and modernisation. Civilization only destroys man. Like intelligence, it only destroys man. We don't need that intelligence. We need the knowledge, to know. Intelligence is not to know. Knowledge is to know. Once you attain that state then you'll be safe in this time. And it's for you to make that change.
So today we had a special prayer for Desika because Desika will leave us to go to Cape Town to do her Masters. For the prayer we had today, I meditated so that Desika does not get mixed up with the wrong kind of people in this modern society and lose everything that she has developed up to now. That is why we did this prayer today. So that Desika can be protected by Agastiar, Shivabalayogi, Murugesu Swami and all the saints. And many of you think I don't care. I do care. That is for all of you seated here. If there is something to be done to protect you, I will do it and you will be protected.
Many of us, we make this modernisation, this so-called civilisation, everything to live by. It's not like that at all. It's all about God and God only; a beam of light from here to there with no end. It's about that; and you find that God. Find Him and hang onto Him for dear life. And you will be saved. All of you will be safe. If you came to Stanger yesterday you would've enjoyed the energy and Spirit of God. Those who came to Stanger yesterday will not stop talking about it for a long time. And God was present yesterday. Not just any God, but Muruga was present, together with Babaji who gave us the storm and the wind, the drizzle the rain, everything in one day. And when we started we could feel that presence of God.
So, when you have these opportunities, make the best of them. Don't say 'I can't find the time'. Find it. God has all the time for you. You don't have any time for you, therefore you miss out. Find the time. Find the stone within you and give it every bit of reverence you can. You will be one with God.
Hari om.
