By seeing economically India has made great strives of progress. The science technology, arising middle class, but although we seeing some factors that sincerely bright my heart, Sureness breakdown in family values, morality, and forgetfulness more and more of the great spiritual moral heritage of the land of India. I was raised in the United States of America but when I was looking for something with deep spiritual substance for wisdom beyond the temporary things that people strive for. Myself and so many others throughout history have come to India to find that. I see the holy places of India. The practical destroyed with no consideration of the great history, the great sanctity of those places in the name of progress. I see divorce rates showing to the sky, abuse of drugs and alcohol. If India forgets it’s spiritual heritage, even by Valmiki, Vyasa, Patanjali, and all the great sages and risis and Avatars. India is doing the greatest injustice to the world. Because India is really a mother land for this planet. I have never seen a country where is really as much religious freedom as in India. It is one of the freest countries for Muslims. If is a place where Jews have found shelter for thousands of years. Where there is Gerastians or Parsis are found shelter. Hindus find shelter. Christians find shelter. Why? Because the heritage of India philosophy and culture is so deep, so scientific and so broad. It really addresses the problems of the world and the deepest level of god and the soul beyond sectarianism. And in the name of progress India looses connection to the blessings of the whole heritage of risis and the sages. The whole world will suffer. So yes, I see wonderful, wonderful progress like made in India but many things are really seriously worry me. Where there is in west the family values were nothing in comparison to what I saw when I came to India but it is hardly like that anymore. QD: We talked about the breadth and width of Indian philosophy. At the same time we also have so much of terminal disharmony and entered in new religion. So why is that so? AM: According to the Veda is one religion. That is Sanatan Dharma. Dharma means that quality which is inherent constitutionally towards the things. The dharma of fire is heat. You cannot separate heat from fire. The innermost need of every living being is to love and to be loved. If someone has everything else but it is not have fulfilling satisfying loving relationships there could be no real fulfillment or inner satisfaction in life because only love touches the heart. Things can touch the body and mind. But only love can touch the heart and every great religion, every great spiritual path in the world tells that the origin of the need to love is the love between the atma, the soul and the paramatma or the god. Krishna tells in Bhagavad-Gita “yadä yadä hi dharmasya glänir bhavati bhärata abhyutthänam adharmasya tadätmänaà såjämy aham” Bhagavad-Gita 4.7 That the Lord descends into this world to give His message in different places and different times in different languages and sometimes in different ways. But the essential message is the same. Throughout history There have been many revolutions of god. In the Old Testament and the New Testament, the holy Koran, the Vedas and the others such scriptures of Sikhs, and the Jains and the Parsis. The essence is what is how important. The essence is how immortality. There is a beautiful verse in Bhagavad-Gita. “vidyä-vinaya-sampanne brähmaëe gavi hastini çuni caiva çva-päke ca paëòitäù sama-darçinaù” Bhagavad-Gita 5.18 The quality of one who is intelligent spiritually. The quality of one who loves god is they see a part of god in every living being. Whether one is black, white, red, yellow, or brown in color. Whether one is man or woman. Whether one is rich or poor, from one cast to another cast. Whether one is Hindu, Muslim, or Christian. Whether one is elephant, cow, dog or a plant. Wherever there is life there is the presence of the soul. The Bhagavad-Gita says, “mamaiväàço jéva-loke jéva-bhütaù sanätanaù” Bhagavad-Gita 15.7 That every living being is part of god. If we awaken our love for god, which is the purpose of every great religion, the symptom of that love is unconditional love for every living being. If you dislike anyone that is the test of one either do not love god. You may hate the disease but you love the diseased person. So the essence of every great religion is to love god and all living beings and to be a instrument of god’s love. And we find universal principles in all the great religions. Saintly people are humble. They conqueror arrogance with humility. They conqueror selfishness with selfless desire to serve, greed with -, enmity with compassion, recklessness with self control. These are universal spiritual principles. Whatever scriptures may be in and whatever particular ritual we may perform to help us to achieve that essence. All rituals, all philosophies – to the degree they help us to realize that essence. But unfortunately in the world today people’s consciousness, they become so superficial. So ecstatically oriented. We are so concerned with how people look. We identify our religion with the external rituals and cultures in full but not understand what is the substance within it. I remember speaking to one very wise old man in 1971 on the banks of the Ganges. I would just like to just end my answer the question with this what he told me. He was a old Hindu man, a devotee of Rama and his best friend was a Muslim. I asked him one day. How is it in a nations where there is so much conflict between the two religions that you can such an intimate loving friendship and see god in each other. His words still vibrating in my heart. Can I tell? Thank You. He said, “If a dog sees her master. If the master is wearing one day a suit and tie, another day a night gown, another day a dhoti and kurta, another day the master stand before her necked the dog always recognize this is my master. If we cannot recognize our master, our god, when He comes in different dresses and different forms and different religions then we are far less than that dog. If we all see purely essence of our all religion we must see that essence in every religion and we will appreciate its god’s will that there is so much very – in the way He is worshiped in different parts of the world. And all those parts are right here in India. It is something very beautiful. It is not something to be afraid of. A saintly person in Sanskrit called “Sarvagrahi”. One who always seeks the essence. QD: Maharaja as you explained looking throughout the philosophy, it may sense. It is logical. But in the personal level, many of the audience here and also I have the same question. So all most all having occupation duties in family life, their jobs, how does one balance this interest and escape formality with so many responsibility between spiritual, business, and family life. Ans of Maharaja. As far as personally by observing how you live your life that. It is an wonderful example. How Hrisikesha Mafatlal and his family balance their lives is extraordinary. My mother and father who are coming from a Jewish back ground, they came in 1989 and live with the Mafatlal family for a couple of weeks and their whole life transformed. Because real spirituality is beyond all sectarian boundaries and seeing how a family can practically balance their occupation, their domestic responsibilities with ultimate purpose of life which is self realization, is really the art of perfect living. I think that we have to establish our priorities. The Vedanta sutra begins “Athäto brahma jijïäsä”. That now you have attained this rare precious human form of life that you have the power to choose. You have the free will, a gift that no species except the human has. This is the time to realize who you really are. The Bhagavad-Gita and all the great scriptures teach us that we are the atma and we are the soul. We are the living force that seeing through the eyes, hearing through the years, tasting through the tongues, smelling through the nose, talking through the pulse, thinking through the brain, and loving through the heart. We are that living force and that living force is the part of god. It has nature is unmotivated, unconditional ecstatic love. That is our purpose. If we understand this carefully that this is really the purpose of life, then we will dance every other aspects our life in such a way that our family, our occupation, our social responsibilities and all other duties we have are genuinely harmonized to bring myself, my family and society toward the treasure of the god that I am longing for. If we just make that priority sincerely then God will help us to balance our lives and find the way. Yes we have a lot of time for our education, our business, we have lot of time for friends and our social life. That is fine. But can we put some special sanctified time aside everyday to cultivate our relationship with god through our prayer, through our chanting of god’s names. Through our devotional works. When we establishes the spiritual foundations in our life then there is no need to go with our every other aspects of life. This is a very beautiful building. Now many people when you come in and if somebody ask how you do like the building. Very nice architecture, very beautiful design, good furniture, good electrical system, how many of you have thought that this building has a fantastic foundation. You did not see the foundation. But factually the foundation holds up the entire building. If you have a strong foundation any storm can come and the building will stand but without that strong foundation the storm, whoever elegant the building may be will collapse. If we have a strong spiritual foundation, if we are finding inner fulfillment in very deeply meaningful aspects of life and our relationship with god with truth. Then however much stress, frustration, anxiety, whatever may happen on environment we stand strong. In the 21st century the world health organization explained “One of the three top diseases, which are causing suffering and deaths of people is depression, mental illness”. The people are under massive stress the way the world is going today. There is so much frustration and the basic reason for that because we do not have a strong spiritual foundation. We do not have internal meaningful life where there is real fulfillment. In our connection with our own lessons. When that is there whatever may happened in the environment, we can have a cool head and be an instrument of peace, love and grace in our life. I thing that’s the most important thing in the world today. It is not difficult. It is just which making priorities and harmonizing and balancing our different aspects of life but not neglecting the most important thing, the needs of the soul. Devotee: Thank You very much Swamiji for answering this question. The audience are also very interested in knowing something about the book, I am sure that they are eager to read the book in google. So should you in your own words talk about the book. Maharaja. Actually I never wanted to write this book. People ask me many times but I really thought it was strange story and writing in myself, it is not a comfortable thing for me. But then one of my dearest friends His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami, he called me to his death bed. He asked me to stay with him until he died. He had cancer and for eight weeks we sat together and discussed very enlivening spiritual subjects. I was thinking that I was going to help him die but actually he was actually helping me to live. It was very mutual exchange. When in the last week of his life, he held my hand and made me promise him on his death bed that I would write this book. So I wrote it. He thought it was not story about me. It was a story about a young boy who is searching for essentially what everyone is searching for in this world, a meaningful and purposeful life. I was born in 1950 and in America when you are a teenager it’s part of your Karma to be rebellious. I hope that it does not happen too much here in India. But it sees to be happening. But there was allowed to be rebellious about. I lived in relatively nice neighborhood, which was the few miles away with the – where American African people were living and in the early 1960s if you are born in the poverty of the – 99% chance you will die in the poverty of those – because of the color of man or woman skin. They have hardly any educational rights, transportation rights, and job opportunities. So I was wondering what is that mean to the land of free. The net of American Indians, who are the original inhabitants of America were practically imprisoned in reservations. Questions were coming in my mind. So I joined Martin Luther King’s Supervise movement, marching for the freedom of the African American people and my white brothers and sisters were throwing bottles and stones at me in hatred. At the same time there was Vietnam war. In those days you have three choices. When a man turns 18, he was forcibly drafted to the army. Either you go and you kill the killer by people you like who you have nothing against, who you feel you should not even be there fighting or you go to the jail. They were burning essence and thousands of young people of my generation were revolting and the part of the revolution they for seek the previous generation’s – through free sex, through rebellious music, through drugs. If you try to find some answer. But I realized that the counter culture had the same hypocrisy and the same inner problems as they were rebelling against but just in different forms. Eventually I deeply felt that the real solution has to be spiritual. We have to find that essence within ourselves if we want to really be instruments of go to the world. So I study my own religion Judaism. But I really felt that what is that I did not want to be separated from others. How the other people see the world? How the other religions see god. So I went on something like sociological spiritual expeditions. Myself and my friend we hitchhike around America. We went to Europe and I ended up in Catholic monasteries, Jwesish Sengarg’s, learning from monks and sitting in sea roads, and going to the museums, trying to understand spiritual substances of art. This little spark of desire for spiritual enlightenment became a burning fire in my heart. Eventually myself and my friend Garry were on the Ireland of Crete which is part of Greece. I climbed a mountain and would meditate and prayed from sunrise to sunset and he did it on the seashore. We lived in a cave. Every night we came back and exchange our realizations. One night as the sun was setting and I was really really praying for direction, all day. I heard a voice. This day I sincerely believe was the voice of god. It was not the voice from the outside, it was the voice from the within. That voice shattered everything I was supposed to do according to the expectations of my society and change my whole life was three words, “Go To India”. I came back to the cave and met Garry my friend. This is a true story. I’ll give you Garry’s phone number. If you like to ask him and he is not Hare Krishna here. He will tell you the story. I went back to the cave. It was dark by then. I said Garry, “Something amusing happened to me”. Garry said, “Something amazing happened to me”. I said, What? He said at sunset. I said, what happened? “I heard a voice”. I asked him, “What is the voice say”? Garry said, “You may not believe me”. I said, “I might”. Garry said, “The voice said, “Go To Israel”. I said, what? Where? He said, “Israel”. I said, “I am also heard a voice and he told me “To Go To India”. There was about 20 minutes of complete silence as I looked out into the stars over the Mediterranean sea and I remember looking into the sky and I whispered to god “I am willing to do it”. I said to Garrry “I am leaving tomorrow with sun rise to India”. Garry was shocked, “How are you going to India? You have no money. You do not know anyone”. He said, “You have not even map”. I said, I just belief that if I keep in the eastern direction, someday the land of my dream I’ll reach. So I left that morning. I hitchhiked through, through Turkey, through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, studying Islam while I was doing it by reading about yogis and risis in the Himalayas. Finally I reached India. Many things happened that really changed my life. That six months journey, I think I aged about forty years. Then in the Himalayas by God’s grace it is really amazing if you just all going to spiritual experience, how you are guided by hand beyond your won like a puppet. I was living with Ananda Mai Maa, Swami Chidananda, Swami Raman, Nindkhoroli baba and Dalailama and mother Teresa and Satyanarayana -, Muktananda Swami, Thantala baba, Kailash baba, and so many risis and sages all over Himalayas, study Buddhism, Bermies Buddhism, Jain Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism. I was living with Shivaits and great saints who were vaisnavas, devotees of Rama. I was on my way from Pasupatinath in Nepal to Ambarnath in Kashmir. Because I heard that if I go on this pilgrimage to Ambarnath then all your spiritual desires will be fulfilled and I had so many spiritual desires. So on those days there was that the saddhus stop me but I was living as a saddhu in the robes of a saddhu from the first week I came to India. The way of traveling I jump into the windows of third class train but yet I yet to get in before the train stop because it was too crowded to get in. So I was in a third class train from Varanasi on my way to Ambarnath and it was really crowded. The monsoon rains were pouring down. We were in field that was flooded and the train stopped for about twenty five hours just as a flooded wheat field and finally it started moving and I was so thirsty. I just wanted to move and breathe. About five o’clock in the morning the train stopped at a station. I had no idea where I was but I was climbing over people toward window to get some water and to walk. The train started chugging and I tried to get back in the train but it was so crowded and I could not get through any door or window. The train was gone and I was standing. I was thing, “Now what”? I have been to see some saddhus were sitting around a little fire on the railway platform and I asked where I am. He said, “This is Mathura. Krishna’s birth place and today is Janmasthami. Krishna’s birthday”. So I decided to stay for three days and then go to Ambarnath. But after three days, when I was about to live I got typhoid fever and I could not stand up and by the time I recovered from typhoid living in Vrindavan, I had found my path. The path of bhakti and after some months I met my guru maharaja and what I found in his teaching was nothing sectarian but the very essence of every great religion that I studied that the essence of the teachings of all the great saints and risis that I met. I found in a compassion in his heart and in the path to striving to love god and be an instrument of compassion in this world. An important part of the book also was my relationship with my parents, my relationship with various people I was meeting. But one of the most important parts of the book for me is in my own very small and humble way, it’s the way of honoring the great heritage and the great people of India for all you have done in my life and I thank you very much.