Ed. Note: The stress and strain of constant talking, counseling, teaching–about 18 hours a day for ever 20 years–finally took its toll, and about 6 months ago an ulcer developed on the Siri Singh Sahib’s vocal chords. The doctors have said it can heal in about 8 weeks if he does not put any strain on his vocal chords. So, in order to avoid the surgery that would be the inevitable necessity unless he rests the vocal chords, the Siri Singh Sahib has been speaking only in a falsetto voice. Even this handicap has not prevented him from meeting his teaching obligations at the Yoga Center and addressing the congregations on Sunday in the Gurdwara. Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh! You have to become habitual to this voice now because I shall not be in a position to speak at least for eight weeks. There’s no treatment for it. Even if they operate it will be eight weeks, anyway. So one or two, go the easy way. You won’t find that flare, but wisdom doesn’t need flare, and I like to speak too, so I have to become habitual to speak through this falsetto. Concern is a process of the human brain. When concern becomes magnified, it becomes worry. Concern is a good thing. We should feel concerned. Like we are concerned today. America is at war. There’s not going to be any other war than this war. Half a million people are on the front. There’s a concern. But when concern magnifies to worry, then it’s starting to be personal. And when worry is joined by fear, its total magnitude becomes a disease. Understand a basic status. Those of you who do not meditate, and those who meditate can understand the difference. But 90% don’t meditate. So what do they know what is the difference? What is the difference between a concern and a fear? When fear becomes an alarming and conscious fear, it develops into phobia. Then it haunts you all the time. Now the question is, which consciousness is that? There is consciousness which is a consciousness of the human. There’s the consciousness of a human which is called ‘alter ego.’ When anything becomes a part of ego, it becomes a haunting thought, and anything which becomes a haunting thought is lethal. Guru explains the facts in the Siri Guru Granth, how man in his life, gets into these pits, these falsifications, these imaginations. Today we are concerned people. You may not like to be concerned. You may like to live a normal life. You get up in the morning, you take your breakfast, you live your normal life. But there’s constant concern. You may not even watch the news. But still there’s a concern on everybody’s face, there is a social concern. There’s an individual concern, there’s a social concern, there’s a local concern, there’s a community concern, there’s a personal concern, there’s an impersonal concern. Concern is ingrained in the human brain. Fortunate are those who have spiritual concern. It is sensitive. Because a spiritual man, his concern eventually will be successful. A non-spiritual man will fall apart. Those who are teaching that there is no need for emotions and feelings, it cannot be. So long as you live, you have concern. I have met many, many saints, and bottom line they all say, “Have I done enough? Have I elevated enough?” They have a concern. God made the world with an interlinked psyche of concern. Question is not to run away from it. Question is to deal with it. Our problem is that we want somebody else to deal with our concerns. But tell me honestly, my concerns are my concerns. How will anybody even know what my concern is? What is the degree of my concern? What is the magnitude of my concern? Today is a very special day. For the first time, the President of the United States personally appealed for prayer. It’s a prayer Sunday. We are spiritual people. We presume our strength is spiritual. We presume our behavior is spiritual. We presume our dialogue is spiritual. We presume our behavior is spiritual. Therefore we’ll pray today and I’d like everybody to participate in a prayer mode. Words are very simple. Words are Ang Sang Wahe Guru. Just project yourself through your voice, through your sound, that “God is with them.” You cannot be sure death won’t happen. You cannot be sure that you will not die – you will die too. They are dying in the line of duty. You also can die here in line of action. A car accident can happen. Other things can happen. Death is inevitable, as life is. So let us for about 31 minutes, consolidatedly start an era where we honestly participate. Not lip service, not just to feel that you may have any idea if you like the war, or you dislike the war, it’s genuine war or it is not genuine war – I’m not going into the politics of it. But the fact is, half a million Americans are right up in front. There’s no doubt about it. And everywhere in America people are praying today. So it is our obligation also to do the prayer in the best way we know how. What is the purpose of prayer? Purpose of prayer is when you feel God is with you. Today you are not going to be selfish, you are not going to feel God with you. You are going to feel that God is six thousand miles away in the body of those who are in the line of duty. It’s an imaginative prayer, a projection, which we all do. I hope you sincerely will participate. Thank you and Sat Nam. I am praying for all humans on both sides of the Gulf. There’s no limit to it. When prayer starts off limited, it doesn’t work. We are going to do unlimited prayer tonight, for 31 minutes, of Ang Sang Wahe Guru. Okay folks. (After meditation): Whether you are near, you are far, Ang Sang Wahe Guru, and peace and our prayers be with you. We have to understand that slowly and gradually it is going to take over. Today it may not be a deep concern, but tomorrow it’ll be a very deep concern. That’s why we should be with God and with our prayers, with our meditation and with our spirituality to understand the coming reality. The entire world is waiting for peace. We finally got out of the cold war, and we thought we had reached a status of peace. All of a sudden, here is world war. It is the beginning of it. Therefore at this time, we need more God, more spirit, more self, more soul, more prayers than we needed before. It’s my prayer that you will all take that attitude and concern and grow, so that your own life may not be devastated. Just understand, nerves can only take that much. The entire universal psyche can affect your nerves. You are no exception to it, and nobody is. Therefore, whether anybody’s far or near, Ang Sang Wahe Guru. It’s the peace and prayer which must go from us. And that’s the way the hope, the life, will continue, and we expect peace will come home soon. The stars have no indication about it. And it is not something which anybody could help. Nobody expected it. However, please remember, in these tough days, be with God.