Adhyātma, the inner science, its inquiry and its expansion are profoundly essential.

That today you are able to study this inner science and understand the methods of meditation and spiritual practice is no small matter. For thousands of years, immense efforts were made to erase and suppress this knowledge, at a time when its dissemination was already extraordinarily difficult. There were no printing presses, no internet, no digital books available at the click of a button. People devoted their entire lives to preserving the scriptures: safeguarding them, studying and teaching them, painstakingly creating copies, and transmitting them to the next generation.

The fact that this knowledge has reached you today is solely because of such people. And they were able to do this through dāna—through patronage and generosity.

Every scripture and every spiritual practice that has survived and reached us today has done so because of the contributions of great kings and the generous householders of society. They built temples and spiritual universities where sages, ascetics, practitioners, and yogis from across the world would gather to learn, teach, and exchange wisdom. They sponsored the preservation and composition of scriptures, ensuring their protection and continuity.

They established ashrams for these sages and yogis and granted them the annual tax revenues of entire villages for their sustenance, year after year, so that they could live without worrying about their sustenance and continue to expand, refine, and pass on this sacred knowledge.

Today, we no longer have such kings. Now, the responsibility of expanding this knowledge rests in the hands of all of you. To keep it alive, each of you must contribute through dāna.

Every seeker should offer what they can to Dharma, not only to sustain it, but also as an expression of gratitude. Only through such support can Dharma be preserved and allowed to grow, and only then can it protect itself from those who are its enemy; they who possess immense wealth and yet are never questioned about why or how that wealth is used.

If preservation is neglected, Dharma will decline, and history shows that it already has. Thousands of scriptures have been lost. Gurukulas did not survive. Great universities and centers of learning—Śāradā Pīṭha, Nālandā, Vikramaśilā—were destroyed. This happened because the reigns of the kings who once supported them came to an end, and the rule of those hostile to Dharma began, cutting off the very sources of patronage that sustained these institutions.

When support disappeared, so did the structures that carried knowledge forward. Ensuring that this does not happen again is now your responsibility.

Today, inflation is at its peak. Land prices are higher than they have ever been, and to accomplish anything meaningful, substantial resources are inevitably required. Meanwhile, the leaders of the nation invoke Dharma only to serve their own political interests. They have little concern for its true preservation or growth. Offerings and donations received in the name of temples are being exploited, to fill personal coffers and to win elections.

This is something we must all confront together. That is why today, more than ever before, Dharma needs you. Sustain it, keep it alive in you, and help it expand through financial support and every form of cooperation you can offer.

I ask you to stand with me in this effort. Contribute according to your capacity. Needless to say, even a single penny given by you will never be used for my personal comfort or indulgence, it will be dedicated entirely to advancing the Dharma of Lord Shiva.