Living holily on Earth

The essential is invisible

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Good morning.

This video is the second part of my trilogy about living a holy life on earth. In the first part, I talked about Samarpan Meditation and how this is part of my life, and how I do this meditation, specifically with all the practical aspects. And in this second part, I want to talk about spiritual life: how my spiritual life looks like practically. And the third part, which will follow this one, is about practical life in this world as a body, as a human being.

So, in this part I want to talk about and share with you about my spiritual life. What does that mean to me? And how does this look like practically?

Well, the interesting part about this is that everything I talk about in this video is something you cannot see from the outside.

You cannot see that I do anything differently than maybe my neighbors, from the outside, with the only exception of the meditation itself. I sit down every morning and meditate, and I think they don't do this. But other than that, from the outside, there is not much difference, if any.

It is being said that you cannot recognize a Master or a Guru from the outside. You cannot recognize a Guru by how he behaves, how he eats, how he talks, how he dresses, how he moves, how he speaks.

You cannot tell by all these external things. The difference is how he is inside, and if you are very sensitive and if you come close to him, then you can feel it in you that there is something different here. But you cannot tell from the outside.

You cannot recognize a Master or a Guru from the outside – by how he behaves, eats, talks, moves, speaks. You cannot tell by all these external things. The difference is how he is inside, and if you are very sensitive and if you come close to him, then you can feel it in you that there is something different here. But you cannot tell from the outside.

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And that's also why many people get confused when they come close to a Master or Guru. As long as they are far away, they can admire this medium of God. But then, when they come close and they experience, "oh, this is just another human being, just like me"... They see: he talks normally, he behaves normally, sometimes stupid, sometimes very stupid; the way he eats is not holy, the way he walks is not holy, and so on.

And then, many people get confused because the real difference is on the inside, and you can only feel it inside of yourself and what happens to you inside when you come close to such a being.

Many people get confused when they come close to a Master or Guru. As long as they are far away, they can admire this medium of God. But when they come close, they see: he talks and behaves normally, stupid, sometimes very stupid; the way he eats and walks is not holy, and so on. They get confused because the real difference is on the inside.

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Same is true with me, on a smaller scale. Maybe when you listen to me in a video, you feel in yourself a quietness, a peace, or something which is helpful for you, but which you normally don't feel in this way. And you can feel it because for this time where you watch, you are close to me, and I am close to you. But if you would meet me in the supermarket or in a restaurant or if you would stand in the kitchen with me and cook, you will think, "oh, it's just a normal guy.

I was mistaken." So, everything I talk about in this video is on the inside. And this is important to know. I tell you about how it is for me, how my spiritual life looks like, on the inside, but I am using words, and these words cannot describe how it is for me – but I don't have any other means, so I am using these words. But you will hear them in a different way: what you will hear and what you will imagine out of this is different than what I experience.

And what you experience in your spiritual life is different again. So, you cannot compare anything I say to what you experience. This is important for you to know. It's not about... What I share in this video is not for you to copy me. I tell you how I experienced my life, and in some mysterious way, this might inspire you to live your spiritual life – but this will look different.

You cannot compare anything I say to what you experience. This is important for you to know. What I share is not for you to copy me. I tell you how I experienced my life, and in some mysterious way, this might inspire you to live your spiritual life – but this will look different.

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You see, every day of your life is different. If you meditate, if you do the Samarpan Meditation, you will know that no meditation is the same. The meditation you had yesterday was different than the meditation today, and the meditation tomorrow morning will be different again. You are different today than you were yesterday.

How you experience yourself and this life and your spiritual life today is unique. It's different than yesterday. So, not even one day of your life is the same. My life cannot be the same like yours. So, don't copy me. Don't think that I give you rules. So quickly we think this.

You are different today than you were yesterday. How you experience yourself and this life and your spiritual life today is unique. It's different than yesterday. So, not even one day of your life is the same. My life cannot be the same like yours. So, don't copy me. Don't think that I give you rules. So quickly we think this.

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I don't give you rules, but the way we listen, the way our brain processes these things is that often, the brain just makes a rule out of it: "now, I have to do it like this, too." But this is not true. I want to inspire you. I want to provoke you. I want to provoke and to force you to live your spiritual life – not a copy of mine.

I don't give you rules, but the way we listen, the way our brain processes these things is that often, the brain just makes a rule out of it: "now, I have to do it like this, too." But this is not true. I want to inspire you. I want to provoke you. I want to provoke and to force you to live your spiritual life – not a copy of mine.

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You know, it's like when you take a walk. It's springtime, flowers are starting to bloom everywhere, and soon you can take a walk, and you will see a meadow with hundreds and thousands of flowers blooming, all of the same kind, the same color, the same flowers, everywhere.

And all these flowers look the same. They have the same color, they grow at the same time, they die at the same time. Their life as flower is the same. They are sprouting, they are blossoming, they are multiplying, and they die – no difference. But then you go closer to the flower, and when you are close enough, then you see: "oh, this flower looks, in fact, different than that flower." All you need to do is get close enough, and then you see the difference. The difference is in the detail. And then, even one flower... Maybe this flower has 12 flower petals, but they are not the same.

When you look close enough, even them, they are different. Every leaf looks the same, but if you get close enough, every single leaf is totally unique. And it's the same with us as human beings and with our spiritual path. The spiritual path for every human being is the same. It's about discovering the inside; discovering your true nature, which is a soul; to find your way to Heaven, to liberation. But how this looks like in your life is unique. How you experience it is unique. How every step on the way you experience is unique.

The spiritual path for every human being is the same. It's about discovering the inside; discovering your true nature, which is a soul; to find your way to Heaven, to liberation. But how this looks like in your life is unique. How you experience it is unique. How every step on the way you experience is unique.

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And with this in mind, please listen like this.

This is very important. Otherwise, you will not be able to listen.

I. Disciplehood

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So, this being said, I want to start with the first point. I want to share with you seven points of my spiritual life. Yesterday, I shared seven points of my meditation, and tomorrow will be seven points of my practical life. And today, seven points of my spiritual life. And the first point is, in fact, the most important one, the most basic one for me: leading a spiritual life, for me, means that I am a disciple. I am a learner. I am a student.

And the longer I meditate, the longer I am on this path, the more I become a disciple, the more open I become to learn, and the more I know: I know nothing – this ability to receive; this ability to realize: I am empty; I don't know anything. And this desire and this ability to be a student, a learner, that is growing.

Leading a spiritual life, for me, means that I am a disciple. I am a learner. I am a student. And the longer I meditate, the longer I am on this path, the more I become a disciple, the more open I become to learn, and the more I know: I know nothing – this ability to receive; this ability to realize: I am empty; I don't know anything.

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Twenty-five years ago... Let me start somewhere else. My spiritual life began... it's hard to tell, because it usually starts slowly. But in my case, it started about thirty-five years ago, and at that time in my life, that was the first time where I began to wonder: "Who am I? What am I doing here?" But I didn't ask these questions in a spiritual way.

I didn't know anything about this. Just very practically, I noticed: everybody around me knows what they are doing. They had their goals in life, their career plans, they seemed to be certain about themselves and about life – but I didn't. And I realized thirty five years ago that there is nothing own in me. I didn't know what I want. I didn't know where my life should lead to.

I just did what other people thought is cool because I didn't have my own opinions and my own preferences.

I didn't know: what does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a human being? How am I? I didn't even know that. And that was the time where I began to take a closer look to discover: "what do I want?"

I always did... That's why I had lovely partnerships: because I didn't have a will of my own. I was just basically with my partner and did what she thought is cool and right, and so we had an easy time. But, of course, this didn't work for very long. At some point, this stops working, and it is not very fulfilling for either side. So, I started discovering: "What am I?

Where does this life want to take me?" And that was when I started to live my own life a tiny bit, back then. And then it progressed slowly, slowly, and about twenty-five years ago, I met my spiritual Master, Soham, and with him, the path to the inside started. With him, I began to discover my inside. I began to learn to be myself, to be the way I am, and to love myself.

And then, seven or now almost eight years ago, I became a disciple of my Guru, of Swamiji. He brought the Samarpan Meditation into my life. And that, what I had learned from my spiritual Master, Soham, before – turning inside, being myself –, that continued on a much deeper, much more profound scale because of Swamiji and because of the meditation.

And this disciplehood, this being a student, this openness: "Okay, I don't know. I want to learn"... This, for me, is the essence of this path, because basically, on the spiritual path, it is about going towards something, looking for something, you do not know.

And because you do not know what you look for, you cannot take even a single step in the right direction. You just don't know it. You have never experienced it. You don't even know in which direction to look. And that's why this path can only begin if somebody from the outside, another human being who is already there, a medium of this, when that one touches you. When such a medium enters your life in some way, then, this starts. That's my experience in my life.

The essence of the spiritual path is about going towards something you do not know. And because you do not know what you look for, you cannot take even a single step in the right direction. And that's why this path can only begin if another human being who is already there touches you. When such a medium enters your life in some way, then, this starts.

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And this is something Swamiji also says. He says: this turning inwards can only start, this can only happen, when a Guru comes into your life; not before.

Now it seems that there are people, there are human beings on this earth who seem to walk this path alone.

Some people are there who experienced all of this in their past life, and they come into this life almost ready. They have been touched by their Guru in their last life, and in this life, it's just about a completion.

And then, you don't see a Guru in their life, but they are just almost a Guru by themselves.

So, in reality, also they have their Guru, but it's just not visible. But all the people I know personally who are with God, the real Masters and real Gurus I know personally, they are all disciples. Soham, now, is more disciple than ever before.

When I met him twenty-five years ago, he was a Master, but his masterhood was "being a disciple": knowing I don't know anything, looking up to his Master, looking up to God, and letting him guide life. And in these twenty-five years, he became more and more and more a disciple. That's the characteristics of a true Master. And the same is true for my Guru.

The real Masters and Gurus I know are disciples. When I met Soham 25 years ago, he was a Master, but his masterhood was "being a disciple": knowing he doesn't know anything, looking up to his Master, to God, and letting him guide life. And in these 25 years, he became more and more a disciple. That's the characteristics of a true Master.

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He has a really special life. He met, I think, a total of 11 Gurus in his many journeys into the Himalayas, and what he received from them, he brings into society. There is nothing of his own. Being a Guru means being empty, being a medium for something else. It doesn't mean to be grand and cool and wise. It means to become totally, absolutely empty.

He is a disciple of his Gurus.

My Guru met a total of 11 Gurus in his many journeys into the Himalayas, and what he received from them, he brings into society. There is nothing of his own. Being a Guru means being empty, being a medium. It doesn't mean to be grand and cool and wise. It means to become totally, absolutely empty. He is a disciple of his Gurus.

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And I know people who live this life and who also live a spiritual life and also talk about their lives but who don't have a Guru or a Master. I don't know how this can work. Maybe there are people who can do this – I cannot judge this –, but for me, it's not possible.

I don't know how this should be possible. Anything I share with you, anything which enriches my life, anything which makes my life more and more wondrous and beautiful and holy during the last many years doesn't come from me. It comes from somewhere else, and the more I am open, the more I am disciple, the more this can come.

And if I would not do this, if I would rely on myself, I would get lost. I would deceive myself – that much I know. My own thoughts, my own mind, my own ego would deceive me, and I wouldn't even know it. But when I am a disciple, when I am surrendered to a Guru and a Master, then it feels like I am on the safe side, and I can become empty and be guided by that which I don't know.

Anything I share with you comes from somewhere else, and the more I am disciple, the more this can come. If I would rely on myself, my ego would deceive me, and I wouldn't even know it. But when I am a disciple, when I am surrendered to a Guru and a Master, I am on the safe side, and I can become empty and be guided by that which I don't know.

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And especially in our Western world – most people who listen to my videos are from the Western part of this world –, this seems to be very strange. We have this desire and we have this belief that it's important and it's good to be able to do this myself. And in many areas of life, this is a good advice.

I am very capable in many areas of life, practically, but in this one area which matters – discovering the inside, discovering my true nature – I am completely, absolutely incompetent. I cannot do anything by myself.

And to know this is such a blessing, and that's why it's such a blessing, so helpful when you are lucky enough to have a Master or Guru in your life. Now I said in the beginning: whatever I share with you in this video is not for you to copy.

Especially in our Western world, we believe that it's important to be able to do this myself. And in many areas of life, this is good advice, but in this one area which matters – discovering the inside, my true nature – I cannot do anything by myself. And that's why it's such a blessing when you are lucky enough to have a Master or Guru in your life.

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If you don't have a Guru, if you don't have a Master, don't worry about it. I don't share this with you so you do this yourself the same way. I just tell you how my life is and what I find helpful – and this is not even being said it the right way. You know, it's not that I chose to have a Master or Guru because I knew that this is helpful. No. It just happened. And because it happened in my life by itself, because of this, it's helpful for me.

Everything which is helpful for you in your life will happen in your life, in just the best way possible. You can trust this. I never looked for a Master. I came to my Master Soham by pure accident. Of course, it was not an accident, I know this, but it was not my doing. I didn't hear: "Okay, it's cool to have a spiritual Master. Let's look for one. Who could that be? Could he be my spiritual Master, or she maybe?" That doesn't work.

If you don't have a Guru, if you don't have a Master, don't worry about it. I don't share this with you so you do this yourself the same way. It's not that I chose to have a Master or Guru. No. It just happened, and because it happened by itself, it's helpful for me. Everything which is helpful for you will happen in your life. You can trust this.

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Twenty-six years ago, I had read a book a book from a lady, and I liked the book, and I thought "oh, she is cool. I want to go and see her." I thought, maybe she's a good teacher, but I never ever met her in my life – not once. It wasn't meant to be. And then, I ended up in the Satsang of my spiritual Master, Soham, totally unplanned – that's how these things happen. Same with my Guru. Swamiji found me – I didn't find him. I didn't look for a Guru; never ever.

If you would have told me eight years ago that I will have a Guru, I would have laughed at you. I would have said, "I don't need this". But the moment he came, I knew, "oh, wow. Yes. I was waiting for this all of my life. I was waiting for this since so many lifetimes that he finds me again in this life." So, these things happen by themselves. You cannot do them. You don't have to do them. You don't even have to worry about them. But for me, being a disciple is the essence of spirituality.

Swamiji found me – I didn't find him. I didn't look for a Guru. But the moment he came, I knew, "I was waiting since so many lifetimes that he finds me again in this life." So, these things happen by themselves. You cannot do them. You don't have to do them. You don't even have to worry about them. But for me, being a disciple is the essence of spirituality.

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II. Surrender

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I want to come to the second point. The second point... What guides me, what drives me, what becomes more and more my inner being, is surrender.

Surrender is the same thing like "being in the moment", "being with what is".

It means... It doesn't mean "surrendering to somebody". It doesn't mean to do what somebody else says. Surrender means: dancing with life as life is, rather than having my own ideas about life, my own wishes, my ideas how life should be or how life will be, and then work towards that. Most people live like this, and it's a very hard life. And sometimes you even succeed, if you want to have a career because you believe having a career will make you happy or make you secure or safe.

What guides me and what drives me is surrender. Surrender is the same as "being in the moment", "being with what is". It doesn't mean to do what somebody else says. Surrender means: dancing with life as life is, rather than having my own ideas about life, my own wishes. Most people live like this, and it's a very hard life.

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It doesn't matter what you run after – once you achieve it, you realize: "This is not it. Now I am married, now I am successful, now I am famous, now I am rich – but I am not safer than before, and I am certainly not happier than before, quite the contrary, and I am exhausted and old."

But living with life means not living by my own ideas, but flowing with the river of life; saying 'yes' to that what happens, and being with this. And most people get confused by what that means. I told you in the beginning of this video: what I am talking about here are invisible things, things on your inside. The spiritual path is an inside path. It has nothing to do with the outside at all.

So, surrender, living in the moment, means being with what is – what is practically outside, but also what's here in your inside. It is nothing against you. Most people who are not familiar with this inside, most people who have never meditated, they don't know this part of the world – this inner part –, and for them, surrender means something external: being the victim of circumstances, following the orders or the wishes or the demands of somebody else, of a Guru or a Master or a boss or a partner or a priest.

It doesn't matter what you run after – once you achieve it, you realize: "This is not it." But living with life means not living by my own ideas, but flowing with the river of life; saying 'yes' to that what happens, and being with this. And most people get confused by what that means.

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But this is all not true.

Surrender, living in the moment, means: being with what is – outside, but also inside. Most people who have never meditated don't know this inner part, and for them, surrender means something external: being the victim of circumstances or following the demands of somebody else, of a Guru or a Master or a boss or a partner or a priest. But this is all not true.

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Surrender means that I let myself be guided by life – by life itself. Life tells me where the path is going.

Surrender means that I let myself be guided by life – by life itself. Life tells me where the path is going.

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And sometimes, this happens by things on the outside, but most of the time, it happens by things on the inside. I want to give you a few examples to make this point clearer, because I know that for some people, this is confusing. Let's say you look for a job, and you have a pretty clear idea what kind of job you are looking for, how much money you want to earn, and what the work should look like.

And you look for this job, and then you even find a job offer, and you apply for the job, and everything looks good – but then you don't get the job, and you are totally surprised and sad. But there is another job which comes to you. You didn't even look for it. A job is offered for you. It's different; a different kind of work. You don't make as much money as you wanted to, but the job is there, and somehow... It's nothing you ever considered, but somehow, you find it interesting and fascinating and you think, "wow, this is interesting that this kind of job finds me".

And then you decide to apply for it since it's there anyway and everything is easy, no problem, and before you know it, you have the job. This is an example of how life guides you. You have certain ideas, and this is not a problem. You just go for it, but then you notice: it doesn't work. Life says 'no'. But life opens another door, a door you can easily walk through. You never considered this door, but everything is easy, so you go. It's like that. I had exactly this happen in my life once. I had a job, a secure job. I was in the army.

Specifically, I was in the Navy, actually, in the German Navy. I was an officer, I had a safe job, I could have done this for the rest of my life, but then came a time where I noticed: "I can't do this anymore." I didn't even know why. I only knew: "I have to get out of here." And my mind went crazy... leaving a secure job, relatively good money, easy job – but I couldn't do it. I needed to be on my own, I needed to walk my own path, but I didn't know what this means. But my inner reality... My head said: "You need to stay here. I want to stay here.

We cannot leave this secure job." But the energy in me said: "No. We go." And it was impossible to leave this job. I had signed up for this job, and I had to do this for many years to come – and yet it worked. In no time, I was out, but then I had nothing. Because I quit this job, I had nothing. I even had to pay money for the education I received in this job, so I not only had no money, I had minus money.

I had nothing. I had nothing to my name. I had no savings, no money, no job.

But I was an engineer. As an officer in the German Navy, I had studied. I had a degree as an engineer. So, I naturally thought, "okay, I'll work as an engineer", s I applied for engineering jobs. I was living in a big city with plenty of jobs everywhere, so I applied, but I noticed: "I cannot do this. I will not be able to do this job. This is not the right way." And nobody wanted to hire me.

It was really strange. So, I didn't know what to do. My insider told me to leave this one job. I applied for the obvious jobs I was qualified for, but nothing worked. And then, one day, I was scanning the newspaper, and I saw a tiny little ad. Not these nice big job advertisements how they usually are for better jobs – the ones I had applied for before, no: a tiny little classified ad where a company looked for a job I never considered.

But when I saw this classified ad, I knew: "I want to apply. I will do this." It was strange. I wasn't qualified for the job. I never considered it before. I applied for the job. They hired me on the spot. They asked me how much I want to make, I told them, they gave it to me, and then started a career. I worked in this job for, I don't know, fifteen years, twenty-years. I had so much fun. It was so fulfilling.

And that was life, pushing me into the right direction. That's what I mean by being in the moment, living with life. It means: living with external circumstances, but also with your inner circumstances, but it has nothing to do what you with what you think or with what you want.

It's very mysterious.

And that was life, pushing me into the right direction. That's what I mean by being in the moment, living with life. It means: living with external circumstances, but also with your inner circumstances, but it has nothing to do what you with what you think or with what you want. It's very mysterious.

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And this "living in the moment", this "living in surrender", this is easy – because you simply live with what is.

Most people cannot imagine living like this. They think this is difficult, this is hard. But what most people do, that's difficult, that's hard: trying to change life all the time; trying to make life be the way I want it. It's much easier to take life the way it is.

But for most normal people, it looks really crazy. There's a funny story from a spiritual Master. He was living in a house with his disciples, and one day, the house caught fire. The house was on fire, so all the disciples took the furniture out, they carried everything out to save the things out of the house. They carried everything out onto the street. The Master took whatever the disciples had carried out and threw them back into the house, into the fire.

And his disciples were totally astonished – what is he doing? But then, it started raining. And once it started raining, the Master took buckets and a hose and helped the rain extinguish the fire. Now, I guess this is a parable. I don't know whether this happened exactly this way in reality, but it's a beautiful parable to highlight what it means to live with life, to live a life of surrender.

Living in the moment, in surrender, is easy – because you simply live with what is. Most people cannot imagine living like this. They think this is difficultor hard. But what most people do is difficult and hard: trying to change life all the time; trying to make life be the way I want it. It's much easier to take life the way it is. But for most people, it looks really crazy.

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It means to flow with life, and then, it's easy.

And you learn this through the meditation. Samarpan Meditation... 'Samarpan' means 'surrender'.

And when you do the meditation, it seems so simple and so easy... You just rest with your attention up here in the crown chakra, and you can only do this when you ignore your thoughts. But ignoring the thoughts is exactly this – surrender. They feel so important. They feel like this is 'you'.

It feels like if I don't take my thoughts seriously, if I don't try to make my life look according to my thoughts and my ideas and my wishes, then who am I? I am nobody. So, when you do this meditation, you practice surrender – this act of ignoring your own thoughts, and to just rest in the silence of your crown chakra.

When you do the meditation, it seems so simple and so easy... You just rest with your attention up here in the crown chakra, and you can only do this when you ignore your thoughts. But ignoring the thoughts is exactly this – surrender. They feel so important. They feel like this is 'you'. It feels like if I don't take my thoughts seriously, then who am I? I am nobody.

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This is surrender.

That's where you practice it. And then, during the day, you can live it.

And that's why my life is so easy – simply because of this. Not because my life circumstances are different than yours. I don't know your life, but my life is probably different than yours. Maybe I have less money than you, less work, less of everything, but my life is easier because I just flow with life. I just let life decide.

My life is so easy not because my life circumstances are different than yours. Maybe I have less money than you, less work, less of everything, but my life is easier because I just flow with life. I just let life decide. It's not my business. I don't have a headache, I don't have stress, because life takes care of everything – because I let life do it. That's the difference.

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It's not my business. I don't have a headache, I don't have stress because life takes care of everything – because I let life do it. That's the difference. Surrender means: "Okay, life, you do it. I am too lazy to change my life every day. I am too lazy to fight for something every day. Life, you do it." That's surrender.

Surrender means: "Okay, life, you do it. I am too lazy to change my life every day. I am too lazy to fight for something every day. Life, you do it." That's surrender.

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III. Being true to myself: being the way I am

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Now, the third point I wanted to share with you about my life is closely connected to this second point. I want to talk to you about how I live with myself – being true to myself; being the way I am. Maybe you heard this before in my videos. When I came to my spiritual Master, he didn't teach me complicated spiritual tools.

He didn't teach me holy-looking things. No. He did one simple thing: he made sure that I meet myself, that I begin to know myself and to accept myself the way I am. This simple thing – that's what he did. He taught me to love myself the way I am – not the way I should be, but the way I am now.

When I came to my spiritual Master, he didn't teach me complicated spiritual tools. He didn't teach me holy-looking things. No. He did one simple thing: he made sure that I meet myself, that I begin to know myself and to accept myself the way I am. He taught me to love myself the way I am – not the way I should be, but the way I am now.

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And it's interesting, because I just talked to you about me being the disciple of a Master and a Guru. I just talked to you about me living a life of surrender. And for people who do not know this out of their own life, for them, they imagine that this means: "I go against myself. I do things other people want me to do, but I want something completely different."

But this is not true, and this is very confusing for many people.

I just talked to you about me being the disciple of a Master and a Guru, about a life of surrender. And for people who do not know this out of their own life, they imagine that this means: "I go against myself. I do things other people want me to do, but I want something completely different." But this is not true, and this is very confusing for many people.

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The one thing my Master taught me is: "Be true to yourself. Be the way you are.

Don't listen to anybody who wants you to be different, don't listen to anybody who wants you to do something you don't want, and don't listen to your own head who wants you to do something or not do something when this is not in accordance to your energy, to how you are." That what it what it means to be the way you are. This is a great challenge – and very easy, because you already are the way you are. It just takes courage.

The one thing my Master taught me is: "Be true to yourself. Be the way you are. Don't listen to anybody who wants you to be different, and don't listen to your own head." This is a great challenge – and very easy, because you already are the way you are. It just takes courage.

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And for most people, this is a total contradiction: living a life of surrender or being a disciple, and – being true to myself. For most people, this sounds like giving up myself, being the victim of somebody, or the slave, the slave of life, the victim of life or of some Master or some mean God. And the confusing part is that, in reality, it's just the opposite.

For most people, this is a total contradiction: living a life of surrender or being a disciple, and – being true to myself. For most people, this sounds like giving up myself, being the victim of somebody, or the slave, the slave of life, the victim of life or of some Master or some mean God. And the confusing part is that, in reality, it's just the opposite.

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I tried to describe to you earlier that surrendering means: surrender to life as it is – and this includes me.

I can only do something when life gives me the energy to do this – and the joy. If I don't want this, if I don't have the power for this, I cannot do it. But this has to do with being in the moment – and this is the confusing part for most people.

You can live according to your ideas, or you can live according to what is – what I feel like right now.

Surrendering means: surrender to life as it is – and this includes me. I can only do something when life gives me the energy to do this – and the joy. If I don't want this, I cannot do it. This has to do with being in the moment – and this is the confusing part. You can live according to your ideas, or you can live according to what is – what I feel like right now.

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I want to give you a very simple example. You know what to eat. You know what is healthy for you. You know everything about nutrition. You know exactly what you should eat, but then it's mealtime, and you crave for something totally different.

You don't want to eat the things you have in your head. You want to eat something completely different. That's being in the moment: it feels wrong, it feels stupid – but that's what you eat.

And then you practice this for a while; then you practice living like this for a few years, and, more and more, you just let yourself eat the way you want to eat. And the more you do this, the finer your senses become for what it means for you in the moment, now – what this really means.

And more and more, you feel what's really good for you in the moment. You still crave for the foods you always loved, which are not good for your body, but then, a new craving starts deeper inside of you.

Out of experience, a new voice starts guiding you. You still feel the old craving. You know in your head, "oh, I should eat this", but then you have the craving for this good tasting stuff which is terrible for your health. And then there is just something new, a knowing out of your being, out of your experience: "No. I know I crave this, and it tastes so lovely, but I just don't want to eat this. It's just too terrible. I don't want to."

And then, a new behavior, a new habit starts growing – out of yourself, out of the moment. You don't have to fight yourself. You don't have to follow... You don't have to make decisions between knowing it better and wanting something else. No. This is a new power which grows in you after you have been true to yourself long enough, and this carries. This is easy. This has power.

And most people never experience this. Most people only know this fight between what I should do and what I want – no matter what it is.

And then, a new behavior, a new habit starts growing – out of yourself, out of the moment. You don't have to fight yourself. This is a new power which grows in you after you have been true to yourself long enough, and this carries. This is easy. This has power. Most people only know this fight between what I should do and what I want.

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But it all starts with being true to yourself – being the way you are.

And when you do this, it's like then you can be close to yourself, and then you can learn, then you can be open to life, to learning, to experiencing. And out of this experiencing how the moment and how you truly are in every given moment, out of this comes all the wisdom and all the growing and all the developing.

So, for me, surrendering to life and being true to myself, being the way I am, that is the same.

But it all starts with being true to yourself – being the way you are. Then you can be close to yourself, open to life, to learning, to experiencing. And out of this experiencing how you truly are in every given moment comes all the wisdom, the growing and developing. For me, surrendering to life and being true to myself, being the way I am, is the same.

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And when you try this... Maybe you think, "oh, this is too easy", but try it out. Be the way you are, and then you will notice what you think about this, and how difficult this really is – because you have all these ideas in your head how you should be and what would be right and what would be better and what is forbidden and what is not allowed, especially as a spiritual person. But you are not like this.

You are the way you are, and as long as you follow your ideas, you cannot surrender to life. As long as you follow your ideas, you cannot learn from a Master or Guru or from life. It requires you to be the way you are, no matter how impossible you think you are. And then, the learning starts; then, the growing starts; then, you can learn from a Guru, from a Master, from life, from everything, from every single moment. And then, you grow and learn very, very quickly.

You think this is easy, but try it out. Be the way you are, and you will notice how difficult this is – because you have all these ideas how you should be, especially as a spiritual person. But you are not like this, and as long as you follow your ideas, you cannot surrender to or learn from life. It requires you to be the way you are, no matter how impossible you think you are.

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And that is why every true Master and true Guru encourages just this.

My Master never wanted me to do anything specific for him. He never told me to do this and this and this because it's the right thing to do. No. He only taught me one thing, only one thing, but he did this over and over and over again: he taught me to be in the moment and to be true to the moment, to my moment, to be true to myself – no matter what this means.

That was what he was encouraging me to, and my Guru did the same thing and does the same thing, every day. He doesn't say "do these holy things and don't do these unholy things. Follow these rules, follow Advaita, follow this, follow that." No, nothing like this. He doesn't say "don't drink, don't have sex, don't smoke, don't be bad". No. He says: "Don't try to be different – but meditate." Now, this is a true Guru:" be the way you are – but meditate."

He taught me to be in the moment and to be true to the moment, to myself – no matter what this means. And my Guru does the same thing. He doesn't say "do these holy things and don't do these unholy things." He doesn't say "don't drink, don't have sex, don't smoke, don't be bad". He says: "Don't try to be different – but meditate."

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Jesus said the same thing. He was asked: "What are the rules in this life? What commandments should we follow?" And he said: "There are two commandments."

"But actually, they are the same", he said. "Love your God, with all of your heart, with every part of your being, and – love your neighbor, as you love yourself." Love yourself; then, you love your neighbor, and then, you love God – then, you are close to yourself, and there, you find God. It all starts with yourself – with loving yourself, with being the way you are, now.

And from there, the magic happens. But it only happens when you, at the same time, love God; when, at the same time, you learn surrender– otherwise, you follow your head. And that's where the hell is you are already living in. But when you meditate – Jesus called this prayer, Jesus called this "loving God" – and at the same time, you are the way you are, then something magic happens.

Jesus was asked: "What commandments should we follow?" He said: "Love God, and – love your neighbor, as you love yourself." Love yourself; then, you love your neighbor, and then, you love God – because then, you are close to yourself, and there, you find God. It all starts with you loving yourself, with being the way you are. From there, the magic happens.

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And a Master and a Guru, they are the only people in this whole world who will support you in this task. Everybody, your colleagues, your family, your partner, they don't want you to be the way you are. They want you to be reasonable, loving, right. They want you to be the way they think you should be. Nobody in the whole world supports you in being the way you are – only a Guru, only a Master.

A Master and a Guru, they are the only people in this world who will support you in this task. Everybody, your colleagues, your family, your partner, they don't want you to be the way you are. They want you to be reasonable, loving, right. They want you to be the way they think you should be. Nobody supports you in being the way you are – only a Guru, only a Master.

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So, basically, these three points I covered so far, they are the same.

Being a disciple, learning, means: being the way I am.

Surrendering to life means: being the way I am.

That's the secret of the spiritual path for me.

Being a disciple, learning, means: being the way I am. Surrendering to life means: being the way I am. That's the secret of the spiritual path for me.

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IV. The path of once own inner experience

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Now I want to come to the fourth point, which is in a way the same thing, but I want to talk about it specifically in its own right because it's so easy to misunderstand these things. Swamiji, the Guru who brings the Samarpan Meditation, he says: "this path is the path of your own inner experience". This is the only thing which counts. It's not that somebody can tell you how to do things.

You need to find the guidance in yourself – but you can't look for it. There is no book laying around you can open. No. It happens by itself. When you start meditating, then, more and more, you will experience in yourself this guidance, the desire for the right things, the knowing what's right and what's wrong for you. This all comes out of yourself. It's your own experience: "Wow. This is really not good for me. I don't like to do this anymore. I just don't want to." It becomes your own. It's not what you have in your head, what you know and what you think. These are things you can read.

You can read a book or you can watch a video, and then you know all the right things. But this doesn't help. It only brings you in conflict because you are one way, and you think you should be in another way – but you are not. But meditation helps you to experience yourself truly the way you are with more and more and more awareness and clarity, and out of this comes your own inner experience – and that changes everything. You become different, but not because you want to change yourself, but because of the own experiences you have. It's like magic. That's why it's so easy.

Meditation helps you to experience yourself truly the way you are, with more and more awareness and clarity, and out of this comes your own inner experience – and that changes everything. You become different, but not because you want to change yourself, but because of the own experiences you have. It's like magic. That's why it's so easy.

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And Swamiji stresses this again and again: it's not about following rules – it's about your own experiences. They make the difference.

And I've always been like this. And this point is so closely connected to the others because you cannot be true to yourself and follow the the good ideas and the rules from somebody else, if they are contrary to what you want to do in accordance with yourself. It just doesn't work. And the blessing in my life was that I was never able to do this. I remember an incident. This was twenty-four years ago... I had been with my Master already one year, and we had a conversation, and he gave me some really good advice.

But I couldn't hear him. I thought: "What he says is stupid. I don't want to do this. I know it better." Of course, he was right, but I didn't know this at this time. My own inner reality was: "He is stupid. He doesn't know what he is talking about in this point." I thought, as far as this specific point is concerned, I know it better. So, I did it my way. I was true to myself – and it was good that I was true to myself. He taught me this.

Because I was true to myself, I could stay with him – I could stay close to myself, and I could stay close to him. And then, ten years later– it took me ten years –, I had my own experiences more and more and more, and then I discovered in myself, I experienced in myself that what he was talking about ten years before. And then, I knew: "wow, he was right after all", but then, it was my own experience, and then, I could do it – not before. And that's good this way.

I would not have served myself if I would have denied my own reality and followed him. I would have done the right thing against myself, and this doesn't lead to anything good. But I stayed true to myself, I was stupid – and this led me to my own learning, because I already did what he told me to do: to be true to myself. And then I learned it myself, and now I know: "ah, this is what he was talking about".

Swamiji talked about something similar just recently. You know, Swamiji stresses that... He says frequently: "What I bring is meditation. All the rest is not the important stuff." That you meditate, this is the important stuff. It's not about following ideas and rules and all these things.

And Swamiji gives a lot of discourses, and he wrote an autobiography, and there is a bimonthly magazine published by him, and it's fantastic to read these things, and it's such a treasure to listen to his discourses because he talks about so many aspects and things about this spiritual life and what he experienced and what's good and what's not so good.

But all these things are not meant for us to be copied. Just by listening, something happens. Just by listening, something is being transferred, but not for us to follow this against ourselves. When I listen to a discourse, I just let his energy in, and then, I forget everything he said. I read something from him, and I read this, and I am being transported in a different state.

And then I am done reading, I do something else. That what changes me, happens by itself. It's not about me reading something and then thinking, "ah, I should do it the same way". No. That's not how I read it, and I am sure this is not the intention with which it was being written. That what happens, happens indirectly, by itself. And one of those many things he was mentioning somewhere was that it's not beneficial energetically if you wear black clothes, and he mentioned it somewhere, and some of his disciples had heard this.

And then these disciples started telling other disciples: "Hey, you shouldn't wear black". And it went so far that in some meditation centers, people were denied access because they were wearing black clothes, and somebody in the center said: "you are not allowed to enter when you wear black clothes". And then Swamiji heard this and said, this is totally wrong.

All these things are not meant for us to be copied. Just by listening, something is being transferred, but not for us to follow this against ourselves. When I listen to a discourse, I just let his energy in, and then, I forget everything he said. That what changes me, happens by itself.

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He said: only what comes out of your own experience matters. He says: you improve your spiritual state so much that you yourself experience that black clothes are not as good as other clothes, and then you will stop wearing black clothes naturally – and that's how it works. Everything else is pure stupidity; and not necessary; and not helpful.

And I like these examples. They highlight this. Everything good happens out of your own inner experience, and you can trust this. And I was always totally stubborn about this, even long before I met Swamiji, because my Master had encouraged me from the very first day to be true to myself. And Swamiji, in his own way, does the same.

And that's what I am doing with you, again and again and again: I encourage you to do it your way; to be true to you; to discover your spiritual path; to discover what it means for you today. Tomorrow, it will have changed again. In a year from now, you will do things again differently. But it happens in your own time in your life. This is very, very important.

Everything good happens out of your own inner experience, and you can trust this. My Master encouraged me to be true to myself, Swamiji does the same, and that's what I am doing: I encourage you to do it your way; to discover what it means for you today. Tomorrow, it will have changed again. In a year, you will do things again differently.

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And people misunderstand all the time. I know this. In my last video, I was taking a lot of time telling you exactly the same thing, but this did not prevent some people from understanding what I was sharing about my life as a kind of a rule, as if everybody should or will experience it exactly the same way I do. This, of course, is not true. You experience your way – that is what I encourage you to in every one of my videos, and especially in this one.

V. Keeping consciousness pure

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Now I want to come to the fifth point. This is a very important point, and I learned this from Swamiji. He says, it's very important to keep your consciousness clean. He talks about the chitta. 'Chitta' is an Indian word. It means: the inner eyes of the soul; your inner consciousness; this in you which perceives and looks inside.

And it works like this, and you know this... You make this experience yourself. For instance, when I read Swamiji's autobiography, I just have to read a few sentences... Like last night before I fell asleep, I read a few sentences. I couldn't read much because then, I got so quiet inside, it turns me so much inside – just reading a few paragraphs –, that I stop reading.

I close the book and put it aside and close my eyes, and I just enjoy resting in myself, and this turns my consciousness even more to the inside. It makes me quiet. It makes my soul stronger. It empties me. It makes me empty and quiet and vast.

But when I take my handy and I scroll around in social media or on YouTube, watch a few short videos, or I read and watch what people post there, my entire attention is thrown out there, and I have the opposite experience. Whenever I read Swamiji, after a few paragraphs it pulls me so much inside that I have to stop reading. I can't go on reading anymore, and I just rest in myself. If I watch anything on social media, it pulls me out, and it's never ending. It doesn't stop.

It carries me further and further and further and ever further away from myself. Maybe you experience this too. Then you notice: half an hour has passed or even an hour has passed, wasted by watching stupid things on social media. And then, later, you notice how these things stick in you. Everything what you saw there, the videos, the messages, the pictures, the voices and their energy, the rage, the fighting, the conflict, the aggression, the fears – all this is in you.

When I read Swamiji, after a few paragraphs it pulls me so much inside that I have to stop reading, and I just rest in myself. If I watch social media, it pulls me out, and it's never ending. It carries me further and further away from myself. Maybe you experience this too, and you notice how these things stick in you. Everything what you saw – all this is in you.

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And that's what he means. When you are with your attention out there, you pollute your inside. You take this energy inside. You watch a movie, and the energy of the story comes into you, whether you want it or not.

And when you read a beneficial thing – for me, for instance, this is Swamiji –, then this energy is being transported inside of me, and this makes me holy and happy and brings me towards me, makes me clean. The one is dirtying me, and the other is cleaning me, cleansing me. The one is weakening my consciousness, and the other is strengthening my consciousness.

When you are with your attention out there, you pollute your inside. You take this energy inside. But when I read Swamiji, this energy is being transported inside of me and makes me holy and happy and clean. The one is dirtying me, the other is cleansing me. The one is weakening consciousness, the other is strengthening consciousness.

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And now it's up to me to decide, what do I want to 'eat' – spiritually? And this is a matter of habit. Where do I look? Where do I spend my time with?

You are working, and then comes a point where you get exhausted and you need a break, and you stop your work for a moment. You sit down on the sofa... Do you close your eyes and rest? And when you become quiet, you notice how this divine energy is streaming into you... Or do you take on the energy of the world by reading the newspaper or switching on the TV or watching a movie or consuming social media?

And after that, you are totally wasted, and you have all kinds of funny thoughts and opinions in you which are not your own, but which you then have in you anyway. That's our choice we have, in every moment.

And this is a matter of habit. When you need a break, do you close your eyes and rest? Then you notice how this divine energy is streaming into you... Or do you take on the energy of the world by reading the newspaper or consuming social media? And after that, you are totally wasted. That's our choice we have, in every moment.

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And this is a task for myself, too. I take very good care of myself in this respect. I don't read the newspaper. I don't watch TV at all. I don't watch movies anymore. I don't read novels anymore. I don't want the energy of these stories, the energy of these pictures and voices in me. I rather consume more beneficial input. But once in a while... You know, I am working for the videos, I have a Facebook presence, so I am on Facebook sometimes when I post.

I have YouTube videos, and I work there for a few hours, and then, naturally, I see all the other videos posted there. And sometimes, I watch some of these short things, and then, I experience again: "Wow. This is really heavy stuff." And the longer I meditate, the more years I am on the spiritual path, the more drastic I feel the impact of these things. I am still not through with it.

Sometimes, I spend a few minutes, but less and less, because it becomes more and more painful. It becomes more and more obvious how unpleasant of an effect it is inside of me. And on the other hand, experiencing my inner silence, and my soul becomes more and more delicious in a totally unspectacular and natural way. So, naturally, these habits become less and less, these bad habits. It's just a matter of time. It's only a matter of meditating every day.

So, this is what is an important part of my everyday spiritual life: I watch my Chitta. I take care of my consciousness – where it rests; where it takes things from. Also, when I talk to people, I don't listen to things which pollute me.

Sometimes you have people, they just dump their stories on you. They just dump their feelings on you. They don't sincerely ask for your input. They just want to throw it out. That's what's happening everywhere, every day. I don't listen to this anymore, because it's terrible for me – then I have to deal with all this rubbish inside of myself.

And this is not good for me, and it's also not good for the other person, because every time somebody speaks out all these things, it's like they just bring it up in themselves again and again. They poison themselves with their own stories, again and again and again.

I can't really tell you I what I do. Everybody has to find their own tricks and ways to deal with these things, but I am pretty good by now in avoiding this without upsetting somebody else. Mostly, the other person doesn't even notice that I don't listen. They don't notice that I changed the subject in some elegant, natural way.

And if you can't help yourself, just tell them: "I have to go to the toilet", and then you have an interruption, and then, when you come back, you can start a new subject, or you just have to leave. Once you experience that this is important and helpful for you – to be very aware of what you take in –, then it's easy to learn ways to take care of this. It comes with the territory. You just get good at it after a while.

And Swamiji has a beautiful picture to illustrate this. He says, spiritual life is like a boat, a boat which is flowing on a lake. It's swimming on a lake, and it can swim on the lake because the water is not inside of the boat. As soon as the water gets into the boat, the boat will sink, so, it's important that there is no water in the boat. And that's how it is for us in life. We are a spiritual being.

We are flowing. We are swimming in this life – and it's important that we are in this life; it's good. But we can only do this when life is not in us, when the world is not in us – then, you can swim and navigate through this world, through this life. But the external life is out there. Inside, you need to be empty and quiet. Then it's easy. Then, naturally, the boat swims on the water.

Only when the water gets into the boat, then it gets very, very difficult. And the more water is in, the more difficult it becomes for the boat to move and to swim. So, you have to get the water out, and don't take any more water in. Let the world be the world, but don't take the world inside. That's what I practice every day. And I am still learning this. This is not something you learn in one day.

Spiritual life is like a boat. It's swimming because the water is not inside of the boat. As soon as the water gets in, it will sink. And that's how it is for us. We are swimming in this life, but we can only do this when the world is not in us. Inside, you need to be empty and quiet. Let the world be the world, but don't take the world inside. That's what I practice every day.

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This you learn in years and years and years of practice.

Another Saint said it in a different way. He said: you are in the world but not part of the world. It's like you walk through the world, you are everywhere, but you are not in it.

That's what I practice. That's what I am learning still.

Another Saint said it in a different way. He said: you are in the world but not part of the world. It's like you walk through the world, you are everywhere, but you are not in it. That's what I practice. That's what I am learning still.

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And there is a connection between your spiritual progress, between how sensitive you become, how much you can turn inwards, how much of your soul and of God you can perceive and be close to, and the presence of this worldly rubbish in you.

If the space inside of you is filled with the energy and all these worldly feelings and aggression, then there is no space for quietness. It's just loud in you. There is another story I want to briefly share. There was a Master, and a man wanted to come to this Master to learn from him, because he had heard that this Master will give him enlightenment and happiness.

And after a long journey, this man came to the door of the house of this Master, and he knocked at the door and opened it and walked inside. And the Master said: "Wait! Go outside. You have to come in here alone!"

And the man turned around, looked around, and said, "Master, I am alone". And the Master yelled at him: "No, no, no. You are not alone. Go outside. Wait outside."

And the man was confused, but he went outside and closed the door and was waiting out there.

And after a while, after a few days or a few weeks, he knocked again, and the same thing happened again. The Master said: "No. You can't come in here like this. You need to come alone. Get out!" And it took a year, and after a year that the man had waited out there, he came in, and the Master allowed him in. And it took him this one year to become quiet inside, to forget the world, to forget all the things he was carrying inside of himself, all the stories, all the pain, all the memories. Then he was empty. Then he was alone.

A man came to this Master, but the Master said: "You have to come alone!" The man said, "I am alone". The Master yelled at him: "No, you are not alone. Wait outside." It took a year until the Master allowed him in. It took him one year to become quiet inside, to forget the world, all the stories, all the pain, all the memories. Then he was empty. Then he was alone.

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VI. Within myself I am alone

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And this story leads me to the sixth point that I want to share with you, that for me, living spiritually means that I am alone. I am not living alone practically. I am living with my partner and her kids, and it's lovely. I love it. It's good for me.

But inside, I am alone. When I meet my partner, when we talk, when we do things together, when we are close together, she's there, I experience her, I feel close to her, but she is not inside of me. There, I am alone.

There is nobody in there – just me.

For me, living spiritually means that I am alone – not practically: I am living with my partner and her kids. But inside, I am alone. When I meet my partner, when we talk, when we do things together, when we are close together, she's there, I experience her, I feel close to her, but she is not inside of me. There, I am alone. There is nobody in there – just me.

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And this is something which is confusing for many people, especially in the spiritual world, because especially there, people look for intimacy and for true connectedness with other human beings, because somehow, they feel it's important to be together, and this is true, by the way. It's important to be connected to other human beings. We are not solitary beings as humans.

But the true connection is not on the outside – but most people have not discovered this yet.

I used to be one of them. I used to be totally focused on people around me, on my partner and my friends, my colleagues, and it was easy for me because I didn't know myself. But I shared with you earlier that this didn't lead to anything good in the long run.

But then, I learned to turn inside. I learned to know myself. I learned to love myself. I learned to be alone with myself. And then, I discovered something which was very surprising for me. I learned: the closer I am to myself, the more alone I am inside, the more I am connected to those around me – through my inside. It is as if we are connected by an invisible connection between our souls, between our insides.

And that means: the closer I am to my own inside – and there, I am alone –, the more intimate I am with everybody else. But you have to discover and experience this yourself before you can believe this.

The closer I am to myself, the more alone I am inside, the more I am connected to those around me – through my inside. It is as if we are connected by an invisible connection between our souls. The closer I am to my own inside – and there, I am alone –, the more intimate I am with everybody else. You have to experience this before you can believe this.

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And then, you understand other people, and then, you love other people – deeply from the inside, through the inside. And this is the way I can be with people. This is the way I am with you right now. This is the way I am with my partner and with the kids: through the inside. Externally, I am very withdrawn, and inside, I am alone. And yet, I feel more intimate and more connected with other human beings than ever before in my life.

Then you understand and love other people – deeply from the inside, through the inside. This is the way I can be with people. This is the way I am with you right now: through the inside. Externally, I am very withdrawn, and inside, I am alone. And yet, I feel more intimate and more connected with other human beings than ever before in my life.

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I can even say that what I experienced as connection and intimacy earlier, in the past, that was not intimacy at all.

So, this is part of my everyday spiritual life: I am alone. But it's not this loneliness you might know. Loneliness is when you abandoned yourself. When you are far away from yourself, then you are truly lonely. And you know this. You can be amongst people, but when you are far from yourself, you feel even more lonely when you are amongst people, because you cannot feel them when you are far from yourself. But the closer you come to yourself, the more intimate you are with yourself, the more connected you feel with everybody else, and then, you can even enjoy them.

I am alone. But it's not loneliness. Loneliness is when you abandoned yourself. You can be amongst people, but when you are far from yourself, you feel even more lonely when you are amongst people. But the closer you come to yourself, the more connected you feel with everybody else, and then, you can even enjoy them.

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So, loneliness has nothing to do with aloneness. In order to be alone, you need to be with yourself, and that is something wonderful.

And when you are close to yourself, then you are not lonely. You can be lonely and very close to somebody else, but when you are close to yourself, loneliness disappears.

So, I am alone, but I am not lonely.

Loneliness has nothing to do with aloneness. In order to be alone, you need to be with yourself, and that is something wonderful. And when you are close to yourself, then you are not lonely. You can be lonely and very close to somebody else, but when you are close to yourself, loneliness disappears. So, I am alone, but I am not lonely.

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VII. Empty and knowing nothing

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And the seventh point is a little bit related to this one, too.

I am not only alone in myself in because there is nobody else inside... there is nothing inside anyway.

There are no other people inside of me anymore, but also nothing else. I don't own anything. I don't gain wisdom. I don't gain knowledge. It's not that I know more than I did know in the past. It's not I become cooler or greater or more knowledgeable – quite the contrary. I know less and less. I just become more and more empty.

But again... I just spoke about being alone and loneliness. This emptiness is not a desert, like a desolate place. This emptiness is an undisturbed space where aliveness has its home.

There are no other people inside of me, but also nothing else. I don't own anything. I don't gain wisdom. I don't gain knowledge. It's not that I know more or become cooler or greater – quite the contrary. I just become more and more empty. But this emptiness is not a desert. This emptiness is an undisturbed space where aliveness has its home.

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That's spiritual life for me: being empty, knowing nothing, having no idea what's right or wrong, having no idea how I should be, having no idea how you should be or what you should do or not do – knowing nothing, just being here, experiencing the moment, being surprised again and again and again.

This is not the emptiness which is created by lack of something. This is just an undisturbed space of aliveness.

That's spiritual life for me: being empty, knowing nothing, having no idea what's right or wrong, how I should be, how you should be – knowing nothing, just being here, experiencing the moment, being surprised again and again. This is not the emptiness which is created by lack of something. This is an undisturbed space of aliveness.

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And that space has nothing to do with time. It has nothing to do with the world. It has nothing to do with this body. It has nothing to do with me. That's the eternity Jesus was talking about, and the Heaven Jesus was living in.

Spiritual life arises by itself

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These were the seven points I wanted to share with you about how it is for me in spiritual life. And it's not that this is a checklist of things I try to do in my life. It's more like: I meditate every day, and everything I mentioned in this video happens by itself, naturally, more and more.

It's just like what I shared with you about how I listen to Swamiji or how I read his scriptures or how I listen to Soham and his read his book. I let it in, I just totally enjoy it, and then, I forget everything again. I don't make a list of things I read and which I should integrate into my life. No.

I just forget everything. All the good and the right things establish themselves in my life somehow, by itself, more and more. And sometimes, I hear things and I think: "Oh, this is a cool idea. I want to do this, too." And then, I just try it out. But then staying in my life, this happens by itself.

So, in a way, the only reason why I share all these things with you today is just to inspire you. But now, you can forget everything again. But then, when you experience certain things in your life, then you will remember, and then, what you heard and already forgot again will help you to be true to yourself and to recognize the wisdom and the good stuff which is happening in your life by itself, out of your own being. That is why I talk to you about this.

At the end, I want to share with you something I read from Ramana Maharshi, and it might very well be that you already know this quote from him.

Ramana Maharshi was a great Indian Saint who was living in the first half of the last century, and he said: "Everything which is supposed to happen will happen, no matter how much you try to prevent it. Everything which is not supposed to happen will not happen, no matter how much you try it to happen anyway."

And it is my experience that this is true, and it is my experience that I can absolutely rely on this. And this is very relaxing.

Ramana Maharshi said: "Everything which is supposed to happen will happen, no matter how much you try to prevent it. Everything which is not supposed to happen will not happen, no matter how much you try it to happen anyway." It is my experience that this is true and that I can absolutely rely on this. And this is very relaxing.

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Sometimes, I don't know: "What's the right thing now?" I am confused: "Is this my mind confusing me, or is this something I really want to do?" It's so easy and so quick to get confused in this funny world. But then I remember: "I don't have to know it. I don't have to make the right decision. I don't have to know what's right and what's wrong. The right thing will happen. I can just relax." And it always is like this – always.

I've been in the most impossible situations. I have tried to do the most impossible things. If it was not supposed to happen, I just couldn't do it. I wanted to, I tried – but it didn't happen. Sometimes, I know something wants to happen, something should happen, but I don't want to, but then it happens anyway. I don't have to be good. I don't have to be smart. I can just be the way I am – and you can too.

Sometimes, I don't know: "What's the right thing now?" I am confused: "Is this my mind, or is this something I really want to do?" It's so easy to get confused. But then I remember: "I don't have to know it. I don't have to make the right decision. I don't have to know what's right and what's wrong. The right thing will happen. I can just relax."

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That's the essence of my spiritual experience of 35 years in this life and of God knows how many lives before. I don't know... So, you can relax. Don't worry – and: meditate.

Support me if it gives you joy

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I am so happy that you are here. This was the second video about my spiritual life, and the last video, the third part of this trilogy, will be about my practical life in the world, as a human, as a man, as a body, and I will make this video in a few days.

And if you don't want to miss a video, I invite you to subscribe to my free newsletter. I send out this newsletter every time a new video is being published so you don't miss anything, and in every newsletter, I also share a few personal things about my life. So, if you are interested, please sign up. It's free. And the same is true for all of my videos and all of my Online Satsangs: they are all free, and I like it this way. I want you to be able to listen to all of this, if you like, and you don't have to feel obliged for anything.

However, I am very, very grateful if people support me in what I am doing here financially. I give everything I have, all my time, all of my strength and energy, into making this possible, and it's such a joy for me. But just for practical reasons, I am very, very happy if more people feel like supporting me in this. And it's easy to do this. On my website, on the Donate page, I collected some information for you how you can support me if you feel like this.

The easiest way is if you start a membership, and then you can support me with a small amount every month. For me, this is the most beneficial. I love it when people do this because then I then I know: "Okay, this carries. I can keep doing this." And you can choose the monthly amount. But if you don't feel like a membership of this kind, there are also other possibilities. I am just grateful for everybody who supports me in this. If you feel like this, you are most welcome.

And I am looking forward to seeing you in the third video of this trilogy as well.

I am so happy that you are here. This is so cool.

I love you.