Living holily on Earth

Truth is rediscovered again and again

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Good morning.

I am happy that you are here.

This is the third and last video of my trilogy about my daily life right now. The first part was about how I meditate, and I spoke at length about the Samarpan Meditation. In the second part, I talked about my spiritual life – what that means in my daily life. And now, in this third part, I want to speak about how it is for me in my practical life as a human being here on earth.

And I went through quite some experiences since I started this trilogy. You know... Originally, I had planned that I would record the three videos in a matter of a few days. I was pretty clear about what I wanted to talk about. For each video, I had written down the seven major points for each area of my life I wanted to talk about. But then it all came differently. Even before I started the first video, the first video already got delayed a few days because life wasn't ready with me yet.

It was almost like life put me on hold because it's like, "Wait a moment. You are not ready yet. We still have to adjust a few things inside of you before you start talking about such things." And then, after I made the first video... I don't know how much time passed. A few weeks had to pass before I could make the second video, and I was totally astonished about this. I had to process what I had talked about in the first part, and I got changed before I started the second part.

And the seven points I had originally written down for the second part completely changed during this waiting time. Every day, I was ready to make the video, but every day, I felt: "No. I can't do this today." And then, when I did the video finally, I talked about seven completely different points, and I was so astonished. And the same happened with this third part. I thought I would record this three weeks ago, but I couldn't. And now I know why. Something changed in me, and now, the seven points are different.

And yesterday morning when I meditated, I had an extraordinary experience – extraordinary for me –, and this showed me how I can speak about my practical life as a human being in this video. And I want to briefly tell you what I experienced. I usually am very reluctant about speaking in detail about my inner experiences, simply because these experiences are totally different for you and for me. We cannot compare them. And even for me, they are different. You know... What I experienced yesterday, I will never experience again, even if I wanted to.

Every meditation is totally different for me. There is nothing which can be repeated. So, when I have a nice meditation, afterwards, I forget about it. I do not try to remember. And when I sit down the next morning, I start meditating as if I never meditated before. I completely forgot all the previous experiences, because I am interested in: how is it today?

How is it today when I meditate and go to the crown chakra? How do I experience it now? Because I already changed. And this is why I am reluctant, because I know that when I speak about these things, you will compare to your experiences, and this is not necessary and not helpful. But I talk about it anyway. So, I meditated yesterday morning, and during this meditation, I had an experience of the source of all being.

I was resting in my crown chakra, and at some point, it was like, "Ah, everything comes from there" – from this point I was resting at. Everything comes from there, and not only everything I need, so to speak, but everything: I come from there, this world comes from there, this moment comes from there. This beingness here all comes from there, and it will all return to there.

And it was like a union with life itself, with God, with this stream of Godliness which fuels this life.

I was resting in my crown chakra, and at some point, it was like, everything comes from there, and not only everything I need, but everything: I come from there, this world, this moment. This beingness here all comes from there, and it will all return to there. It was like a union with life itself, with God, with this stream of Godliness which fuels this life.

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And I knew all this before. I had other kinds of experiences like this before many times, so, I knew this. I knew that it is a fact that I am not this body, that this world is not what it appears to be.

But this knowing, I consciously forget again and again. Only when I experience it again, it is of some value. And yesterday morning, when I experienced this, it gave me the right perspective to talk about my practical, worldly life.

That's why I can sit here in front of the camera this morning.

Yes... It put everything into perspective.

You know...

The foundation: seven points (I - VII)

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Usually, we use this life, and we use this body, to fulfill our desires and our wishes because we hope that through the experiences we have as a human being in this body, we will find satisfaction, we will become happy. We chase after pleasure. We chase after beautiful experiences. We abuse our bodies in the hunt for pleasure, and we abuse our life.

And the tragic thing is that we never find what we are looking for in this life and in this body, simply because it is not there. How could it be? Everything you experience here, including this body, is temporary. When this body dies, all of this will be gone. But nevertheless, we do this all the time.

But once you find and experience the true source of beingness, when you return to Heaven – these are just words, they sound very spiritual and very holy, but when you experience it, it's very simple and very practical – then you know: "Ah, okay. Yes. From there, I come. That's what I am." And with this experience, this body and the world become unimportant, because you don't need anything out of that anymore, and then, you live your practical life, your bodily life, in a different way.

Once you experience the true source of beingness, when you return to Heaven – this sounds very spiritual and holy, but when you experience it, it's very simple and practical – then you know: "From there, I come; that's what I am", and this body and the world become unimportant, and you live your practical life, your bodily life, in a different way.

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And how you live your physical bodily life, then, that's what I want to share with you now in this video. But it's different than it used to be for me years ago, before I started the meditation. I am also a normal person like everybody else, just like you.

There was a time where I was smoking and drinking wine and abusing this body as much as I could. I am lucky that this body is still so healthy and in such a good shape.

But then came the time where I started to turn inwards and to find happiness inside. And then came the time when Swamiji, this Indian Guru who brings the Samarpan Meditation, found me and came into my life, and with this, I began to find Heaven inside of me. I found satisfaction inside of me, completely independent of this body and this practical worldly life.

And since then, my life changed.

The things which are happening in my life, how they happen and why they happen, that changed completely, because now, I am not using this life anymore. It's more like now I support this life and this body. I already have what I need. I am satisfied. I found God. I know where I am. I know where I live... I wonder whether I make myself understood in any way... And as I did with the other two videos, I will talk about seven points. I want to share with you seven points about my practical life as a human being as it is now, as a meditator, as somebody who lives spiritually inside.

Heaven and Earth at the same time

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The first thing is that I am not using this body anymore. I am not abusing this body anymore in order to find happiness and fulfillment and contentment.

And, you know, it's like... I want to start in a different way. Before you know Heaven, before you know your Soul, you only know the world. You only know the body.

And when you live like this, there are two possibilities. Either you are frustrated because you live a life and you look for happiness, but you don't find anything. Everything you try doesn't work. You are feeling scared and at the mercy of this unpredictable, sometimes scary life. And whenever you find happiness, it vanishes in no time again. Or, if you don't experience this, maybe you some find some kind of happiness, but you get the feeling that I am living in a dead-end street, and this is quite true.

And this is the experience I used to have. I came to my spiritual Master, Soham, twenty-five years ago, and right from the beginning, he taught me to be with myself. I learned to love myself. I learned to be happy with myself and with everything else. I learned to live in the moment. I learned to not expect anything, and I was happier than I was ever before.

And still, there was a point where I got the feeling: "This is not it. This is not it. I am in a dead-end street. Something is missing." It was not that I was looking for something, and yet I knew I go in the wrong direction. I was still living in this world, in this body. I didn't know anything else.

And then, Swamiji found me, and Samarpan Meditation found me. And then, in a very short amount of time, I understood what was happening with me. Then it was like a door opened and I met my soul. I discovered the door to Heaven, which is this simple spot of your body, the crown chakra. That's what you discover when you do the Samarpan Meditation for a while.

So, when you don't know anything about this, you live your earthly life, and no matter how well you do it, how deep you go, you will come to the point: "Wait. This can't be it." But escaping from this... You know: this can't be it. This is just a frustrating or disappointing experience– if you look close enough. But escaping from this doesn't work either.

It doesn't help to deny this life, this physical life, knowing that this is not it, because then, all you do is: you live in fantasy; you live in the mind. You live in some fabricated spiritual world. That doesn't work. But then, at some point, we as human beings are being touched by somebody who knows about Heaven. In my case, this was Swamiji. And then, you discover Heaven, sooner or later; it takes a while.

It doesn't help to deny this physical life, knowing that this is not it, because then you live in the mind, in some fabricated spiritual world. That doesn't work. But then, at some point, we as human beings are being touched by somebody who knows about Heaven. In my case, this was Swamiji. And then, you discover Heaven, sooner or later; it takes a while.

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And the interesting thing now is: once you know Heaven while you are alive in a body, then you live your physical life differently. And then it's like you live two lives at the same time. With one foot, you are in Heaven, and with one foot, you are on earth.

And it's good this way. If you don't have the earth, you get lost. Then you are just in the mind. The body, this earth, helps us to get grounded in Heaven while we are on earth, because it takes time, a long time. Then, you live two lives. You are in Heaven, you live in Heaven, and more and more, you make your home there, and at the same time, you live on earth as a human being – at the same time, in the same moment; there is no contradiction.

Once you know Heaven while you are alive in a body, it's like you live two lives at the same time. With one foot, you are in Heaven, and with one foot, you are on earth. And it's good this way. The body, this earth, helps us to get grounded in Heaven while we are on earth, because it takes time, a long time.

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And when you do this, when you live these two lives in parallel, then, life in the body, the life as a human being, is completely different than it used to be before. And Jesus was talking about exactly this. He was often saying: "I am the son of God, and I am the Son of Man". He puts it so beautifully in one sentence. There is no contradiction – quite the opposite. It's like they belong together, while we are in a body.

Another saint expressed it in a different way. I think it was Osho. He said: "Zorba, the Buddha".

Zoba was a man who really lived life. He had both feet on the ground. He enjoyed every part of life – and he was a Buddha, both at the same time.

And when you become a Buddha, when you become a Christ, then your life as man, as a human, is completely changed.

I. Supporting the body

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So, now, I want to start with these seven points over again... And the first thing which changed for me is that I don't need this body anymore to find a fulfillment I cannot find through the body. Now I don't have to bother this body anymore with questionable pleasures, with food which tastes good but is unhealthy. I don't have to drink alcohol anymore to become relaxed. I don't have to drink coffee anymore to get energy. I can give this body what it really needs because I am totally grateful to this body that it allows me to live a heavenly life while I am here.

And I can just support this body, all the time – because I am content. I am in Heaven. And then, everything which was so difficult in this practical life with the body, as a body, becomes easy. And that's a profound change for me in my life that now, it's like I became the servant of this body. I just take care of this body as well as I can, because I am not identified with it anymore. I don't have the feeling: I am this body. I don't take all these bodily things serious anymore.

And the experiences this body goes through, how the body feels, sad or happy or desperate or depressed or ecstatic – I don't care.

And whether this body is sick or healthy, it doesn't matter. I like it better when the body is healthy, and the body likes it better, but it's not an existential question anymore.

And then, everything connected with this body and its treatment becomes so much easier. So, this is the first major difference I am experiencing now since the last few years: I just take care of this body as well as I can. Before, I wanted something from this body. I wanted this body to be in a certain way so I am happy.

I take care of this body as well as I can, because I am not identified with it anymore. I don't have the feeling: I am this body. Whether this body is sick or healthy, it doesn't matter. I like it better when the body is healthy, but it's not an existential question anymore. And then, everything connected with this body and its treatment becomes so much easier.

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I wanted this body to give me experiences which make me happy. It doesn't work. But now I am happy, now I am fulfilled – not through the body, but through my connection to my soul, to God. And now, I can love this body no matter how he is right now; it doesn't matter. I am just grateful and happy.

Before, I wanted this body to be in a certain way so I am happy. I wanted this body to give me experiences which make me happy. It doesn't work. But now I am happy, fulfilled – not through the body, but through my connection to my soul, to God. Now I can love this body no matter how he is right now; I am just grateful and happy.

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II. Working, serving, sharing

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And the same is true – and this is the second point I want to address – for the entire life.

Before you know Heaven, you live your life as if your life is responsible to give you everything you want. You want a career which makes you rich and safe and secure and respectable. You want money to be safe and secure and happy, and so on and so on. You expect something out of life. You use life. You abuse life.

But the one thing which is giving you all of this, this satisfaction, this happiness, this security, that, we neglect: the inner, the connection to the Soul, the connection to God. And when we live like this, our life becomes increasingly difficult. We abuse our body, and the body gets sicker and sicker and sicker, and we don't even know why. We don't know anything about our abuse we do, and our life becomes increasingly difficult because we don't take care of life. We want to use life.

Before you know Heaven, you live as if life is responsible to give you everything you want. You abuse life. But the one thing which is giving you satisfaction, happiness, that, we neglect: the inner, the connection to the Soul. We don't know anything about our abuse, and life becomes increasingly difficult because we don't take care of life. We want to use life.

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But once you find God, once you live inside, once you find true contentment, then you don't need to abuse your body anymore, and you don't need to abuse your life anymore. I don't want anything out of life anymore. Now I can give to life. I can just listen to life and do what life wants, and I am totally free to do this because I am already satisfied. I have no expectations towards life. Now I can listen to life. I can dance with life. I can follow life, wherever it wants me to go, do whatever life wants me to do, and this is easy.

But once you live inside and find true contentment, you don't need to abuse your body and life anymore. I don't want anything out of life anymore. Now I can give to life. Now I can listen to life. I can dance with life. I can follow life, wherever it wants me to go, do whatever life wants me to do, and this is easy.

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Ordinary life is very difficult because we try to design life the way we want it to be. We have our ideas how life should be, so I get everything out of life I want. But once you don't need this anymore, then you can be the servant of life, and then you just do what's up, and then it's easy. I work more than I've ever worked in my whole life. Since I started these videos, I am so busy.

Now I do shorts and the Morning Moments, and I will start with retreats in May. And life gets so full, but I have no stress, I have no tension because it's not my work. I just follow life and do what life tells me to do every day. I don't need anything out of it. I am happy. My happiness doesn't come from this life. My happiness comes from somewhere else: from eternity.

Ordinary life is very difficult because we try to design life the way we want it to be. We have our ideas how life should be, so I get everything out of life I want. But once you don't need this anymore, then you can be the servant of life, and then you just do what's up, and then it's easy.

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And then, life get gets so easy.

And then you just work, but the happiness comes from somewhere else. Then you rest when the body needs to rest. You do the work which is up. Life is easy, and you become even more happy.

It's a totally different life.

It all starts with this satisfaction you find when you turn inwards, when you meditate, and when you meet God in your life – inside.

And it's not illusion. It's not an idea. It's so easy to imagine stuff. I don't do this. This you meet practically, grounded, so to speak, when you meditate and not want anything, not look for anything. This is not something you do on a weekend. This is a life task, but it's worth it.

It all starts with this satisfaction you find when you turn inwards, when you meditate, and when you meet God in your life – inside. And it's not illusion. This you meet practically, grounded, when you meditate and not want anything, not look for anything. This is not something you do on a weekend. This is a life task, but it's worth it.

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III. Being true to oneself

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The third point I would like to share with you about my practical life is that I am true to myself. Now this might sound like a contradiction to you. I just talked about being the servant of this body, being the servant of life, being your servant – but I am true to myself. And all this is only possible because I am stubbornly true to myself.

And "true to myself" doesn't mean being true to things I have in my head. This is where many people get confused. It's not that I want certain things, I dream about certain things, and then I try to fulfill this. Then I would be true to my mind, but I ignore my mind. I ignore the thoughts and the wishes and the dreams.

Being true to myself means for me: being true to the moment; noticing: what do I have energy for?

What gives me joy – right now? Where do I feel attracted to – right now? That's where I go. That's what I follow. So, being true to myself means: being true to what I am being given right now, inside of myself. And then it's very simple. It doesn't mean that I only do things which are fun for me, but when I have energy for it, it's fun to be true to this energy.

This is possible because I am stubbornly true to myself. This doesn't mean being true to things I have in my head. This is where many get confused. I ignore the thoughts, wishes and dreams. Being true to myself means: being true to the moment; noticing: what do I have energy for? Where do I feel attracted to – right now? That's where I go. That's what I follow.

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Sometimes, I do hard work. Sometimes, I do things which I think, "oh, do I have to do this?" But I have to do it because being true to this energy, that's the joy. Then you also do hard work or difficult things because you are true to what you feel right now – truly, not up there (in the mind). It's something existential, something much simpler than thoughts and ideas and wishes.

So, being true to myself means: being true to what I am being given right now, inside of myself. And then it's very simple. It doesn't mean that I only do things which are fun for me, but when I have energy for it, it's fun to be true to this energy. It's something existential, something much simpler than thoughts and ideas and wishes.

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I don't have a vision. I don't have a goal.

I don't have a dream.

In every moment, I just follow the energy. That's what I mean with being true to myself.

For me, it's the same thing like being true to life, being faithful to God.

I don't have a vision. I don't have a goal. I don't have a dream. In every moment, I just follow the energy. That's what I mean with being true to myself. For me, it's the same thing like being true to life, being faithful to God.

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IV. Willing to be wrong

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But, and this brings me to the fourth point, I can only be true to myself, I can only follow the moment, if I am willing to be wrong – simply because what I feel in the moment often is not what I think is right. Sometimes I want to do something, I feel like doing something, and then my thoughts say: "but shouldn't you be doing something else? This is not right. This is not spiritual. People expect something else from you!"

But I have to be true to myself. And if I want to do this "being true to myself", I need to be willing to feel wrong – in my own eyes, and being wrong in the eyes of others, potentially. If I am willing for this, then I am free; then I can do what life wants me to do in any given moment. If I worry about what I think about myself, if I worry about what other people think about myself, then I am in a prison.

If I want to be true to myself, I need to be willing to feel wrong – in my own eyes, and being wrong in the eyes of others, potentially. If I am willing for this, then I am free; then I can do what life wants me to do in any given moment. If I worry about what I think about myself, if I worry about what other people think about myself, then I am in a prison.

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So, this is very important for me: this constant willingness to be wrong. I learned this early on from my Master, Soham, and since then, I am free. But, of course, the thoughts don't stop. I just ignore them. Often, it's very simple things. I just shared with you how much time it took me to do the second and now the third part of this trilogy.

I thought I would do this in a matter of a few days. And then, when it takes so long until I do the next video, my mind starts with all kinds of things: "People expect another video. People will not watch you anymore if you don't produce lots of videos all the time", and so on – totally crazy stuff, as if I am a factory with a certain expected output.

But that's how the mind is – totally stupid. And then, to be true to God, to be true to life, and follow that, that takes courage – the courage to be wrong; the courage that everybody thinks I am doing it wrong. But when I am willing for this, then I am on the ground. I am on the earth, I am real, and only good comes out of this.

That's what I encourage you to; to do this: be true to yourself and be willing to be wrong. It feels terrible sometimes, it feels totally wrong sometimes, but in the long run, it makes life a miracle.

To be true to God, to life, and follow that, takes courage – the courage to be wrong; the courage that everybody thinks I am doing it wrong. But when I am willing for this, then I am on the ground. I am on the earth, I am real, and only good comes out of this. It feels terrible sometimes, it feels totally wrong sometimes, but in the long run, it makes life a miracle.

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So, the third and the fourth point are intertwined. You cannot be true to yourself if you are not willing to feel wrong and to be wrong. Of course, you are not wrong – but it feels like this. And for this, you need to be willing. And it's so funny, you know... We have so many ideas about what it means to live a good life, to live a holy life, to live a spiritual life. The Bible is full of this stuff. Every religion has all kinds of ideas and pictures and rules. But then, when you live your life, it looks totally different.

And that's why there are these beautiful stories... Jesus told them – I love these stories; I just have to repeat them here at this at this point – because Jesus knew this. He knew that when you start your path to God, when you start to become true to yourself, it looks totally different than what you think and what everybody else thinks. You will be the black sheep. You will be the prodigal son, the lost son. You will think you are wrong. Everybody else will think you are wrong. Only the Father, God, Life, knows better.

We have many ideas about a good, holy, spiritual life. But your life, it looks different. That's why Jesus told these stories, because he knew: when you start your path to God, it looks different than what you and everybody else thinks. You will be the black sheep, the lost son. You and everybody else will think you are wrong. Only the Father, God, Life, knows better.

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You know, your path to your soul confronts you with all the things you have in your head and all the things everybody else has in their heads. That's why it feels wrong sometimes. So, if you are willing to be wrong, if you are willing to be the black sheep, if you are willing to be the lost son or the lost daughter, then you are free.

I am very grateful to my Master that he taught me this willingness very, very early on. That's why I am where I am today. I owe it all to him.

Your path to your soul confronts you with all the things you and everybody else have in their heads. That's why it feels wrong. If you are willing to be wrong, the black sheep, the lost son or daughter, then you are free. I am very grateful to my Master that he taught me this willingness very, very early on. That's why I am where I am today. I owe it all to him.

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So, I want to take a look at my notes, so I don't forget any of these points. Yes...

V. Unreasonable

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The fifth point is also somewhat connected to what I just talked about.

The fifth point for me is being unreasonable. I am unreasonable.

Reason is up here, in your thoughts. There is the reasoning. And often, this is fine. There is nothing wrong with learning how to do things right. But when it comes to God, when it comes to going inwards and meeting your soul, being reasonable doesn't help you because you have no idea about your soul. You have no idea about God. That apparatus here, your reasoning device, cannot help you with this. So, sometimes, you need to be willing to be unreasonable.

Sometimes, you will have energy for something, and you think: "This is crazy. I can't do this. This is not spiritual at all. This doesn't lead me to Heaven." But the energy is clear. And when you then are able to be unreasonable, that's a great help.

When it comes to God, to going inwards and meeting your soul, being reasonable doesn't help because you have no idea about your soul, about God. Sometimes, you have energy for something, and you think: "This is not spiritual at all. This doesn't lead me to Heaven." But the energy is clear. And then to be unreasonable, that's a great help.

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In a way, being unreasonable is almost the same like being willing to be wrong, but it tastes a little bit different. Be unreasonable whenever there is the need for it.

Be unreasonable whenever there is the need for it.

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And, you know, when you don't experience this yourself in your life, when you only imagine it, when you think about it or when you discuss it with other people, then it's easy to believe that if you live a life where you are unreasonable, where you follow your energy and not what you think is right, then, life will be a chaos. The only thing you can imagine is that then, your life will just fall apart. This is not my experience.

When you don't experience this yourself but only imagine it or discuss it with other people, it's easy to believe that if you live a life where you are unreasonable, where you follow your energy and not what you think is right, then, life will be a chaos. The only thing you can imagine is that then, your life will just fall apart. This is not my experience.

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I tried to live a good life, a reasonable life. I tried to do everything right for most of my life.

But only twenty-five years ago, when I met my Master, only when I began to be wrong, only when I began to be completely unreasonable, my life started to come together. That's when a fundament of realness started growing in my life. because then, for the first time, I was the way I really am, as stupid and as funny as I was. But I was the way I was. I made the experiences out of this being real – and then, true growth happens. And only good stuff comes out of this. But you cannot imagine it. Only when you dare yourself, then you find out.

I tried to live a good life, a reasonable life. I tried to do everything right. Only when I began to be unreasonable, my life started to come together. A fundament of realness started growing in my life, because for the first time, I was the way I really am, as stupid and as funny as I was. Only good comes out of this, but only when you dare yourself, you find out.

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But you have to have this courage. Well, that's not quite true... I was never a courageous person. Once life calls you in this direction, you have no choice. You think: "Oh my God. I am so stupid. What am I doing?" But you have no choice. You don't need courage. God doesn't give you any choice. You are just being pulled. That's why we have a chance to discover Heaven. Out of our own accord, out of our own wanting, out of our own reasoning, we would never choose the path to Heaven. It just looks way too stupid, way too unreasonable, way too dangerous.

You must have this courage. Well, that's not quite true... Once life calls you, you have no choice. You think: "What am I doing?" But you have no choice. You don't need courage. God doesn't give you any choice. You are just being pulled. That's why we have a chance to discover Heaven. Out of our own wanting, we would never choose the path to Heaven.

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So, be unreasonable when there is the need for it. Yes...

VI. No rules

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And the sixth point is also somehow in the same direction. I live without rules.

It's not that I learned certain things in my life, I know they're good for me, and that's why I stick to them. It's easy to do this, but I don't do this. I don't have any rules.

That means, often, I do things because I know they're good for me, and I do them sometimes for years, but then comes a day where I want to do the opposite.

And I think: "Wait a moment. I know, this is good for me. I shouldn't do that." But when I feel this energy – that's what I said in the third point – I am true to myself. No rules. I don't have a list of things I learned. I don't have a list of things I know to be true, and those I follow. No.

I know that coffee is terrible for me. I know this by now. This body loves coffee and hates coffee because it's terrible. I don't drink coffee anymore. But if I have lust to drink coffee tomorrow, I will do this. And out of this develops an even deeper realness, an even deeper wisdom.

I have no rules. I have no practical rules as far as life and health is concerned. I don't have any spiritual rules.

There is one rule I have: I meditate every morning no matter how I feel, no matter what I want. Anything else, I do whatever I want. And even this rule, I don't have, because even if I am tired, even if I am totally not wanting, there is something in me which is stronger, and that's my soul – and my soul wants me to meditate. It's just not a question. It's not a matter of rules.

I have no practical or spiritual rules. There is only one rule I have: I meditate every morning no matter how I feel. And even this rule, I don't have, because even if I am totally not wanting, there is something in me which is stronger, and that's my soul – and my soul wants me to meditate. It's just not a question. It's not a matter of rules.

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It's so easy to think that there are rules involved, especially when it comes to God, especially when it comes to the spiritual path. You live your life, and then, you start to become a spiritual person, and then you think, "but that means, now I have to do this and that". But this is not true. This is only the idea of our mind. A Guru wants you to meet your soul – and then, you know what's right by yourself. You don't need any rules.

You see, the thing with rules is this. If you are not close to yourself, if you are not connected to yourself, if you don't listen to your soul because you don't know what your soul is, you don't have any connection to your soul, to God, then you need rules, otherwise, your life will be a mess. But rules don't really work. They don't solve the problem. The moment you stop forcing yourself to adhere to rules, you will do stupid things again. The moment you are not strong enough to discipline yourself, you will do all the stupid things again.

But when you come close to yourself, when you come close to your soul, when you become more and more sensitive on this spiritual path, then you know, out of yourself, what's right and what's wrong for you. And then, you don't have to be strong. You will always do the right thing, and that's easy. That's why "no rules" is the path of the spiritual being.

Rules don't really work. They don't solve the problem. The moment you stop forcing yourself to adhere to rules, you will do stupid things again. But when you come close to yourself, when you come close to your soul, you don't have to be strong. You will always do the right thing, and that's easy.

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As long as you are not on that path, rules are necessary. But then you have to leave the rules behind, and you have to have the courage to make your own experiences and let your soul take over. That's why I live without rules, and this is the turbo for life. Then, you really learn very, very fast.

That's why "no rules" is the path of the spiritual being. As long as you are not on that path, rules are necessary. But then you have to leave the rules behind, and you have to have the courage to make your own experiences and let your soul take over.

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Yes... I think this was the sixth point.

VII. Always a beginner

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And now, I come to the seventh point, and this is really important for me.

My seventh point for practical life as a human being is that I always am a beginner. No matter what I do, no matter how often I already did it in my life, be it meditation, be it work, be it love, it doesn't matter: I am always willing to learn it again, to find out again, to forget everything I know and to look how it is now for me – always a beginner.

I always am a beginner. No matter what I do, no matter how often I already did it in my life, be it meditation, be it work, be it love, it doesn't matter: I am always willing to learn it again, to find out again, to forget everything I know and to look how it is now for me – always a beginner.

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And this is so important. You know, it's very easy... You start on the spiritual path. You have your first lovely experiences. Your life changes. You become more healthy than before. But then, very quickly, you develop a new set of ideas, a spiritual set of ideas about what's good and what's bad. And then, you live in a prison again. You don't have the old stupid rules of your old life. Now you have new rules which look better. They look holier and more spiritual, but they are rules, nevertheless. It's a prison, nevertheless. But to start at the beginning every time, that's the magic.

You start on the spiritual path, your life changes, but very quickly, you develop a new, spiritual set of ideas about what's good and what's bad. Then, you live in a prison again. You have new rules, they look holier and more spiritual, but they are rules, nevertheless. It's a prison, nevertheless. But to start at the beginning every time, that's the magic.

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That's why I told you: when I sit down for meditation, I don't remember the last meditation. I don't remember: "how did I do this the last time that it got so beautiful?" No. I want to find out: "Okay, if I am not careful at all, if I just start new, with the way I am right now – how will it be?" That's what I want to know.

It's like I am learning meditation anew every morning, and this I do with everything: with how I eat, with how I sleep, with how I walk, with how I do sports, with how I work – everything. Whenever I get a doubt, "oh, wait a moment, maybe I want to try something else", I find out, as if I am a beginner.

When I sit down for meditation, I don't remember the last meditation. No. I want to find out: "If I just start new, how will it be?" It's like I am learning meditation anew every morning, and this I do with everything: with how I eat, with how I sleep, with how I walk, with how I do sports, with how I work – everything, as if I am a beginner.

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And the beautiful thing about being a beginner is that you are allowed to be as stupid as you are. You know, when you are an experienced person, everybody thinks you should not make a mistake, and you think you shouldn't make a mistake and you should do everything right. But when you know that you are a beginner, then you have the freedom of the beginner. Nobody expects you to be good. You don't expect yourself to be good.

The beautiful thing about being a beginner is that you are allowed to be as stupid as you are. When you are an experienced person, everybody and yourself thinks you should do everything right. But when you are a beginner, you have the freedom of the beginner. Nobody expects you to be good. You don't expect yourself to be good.

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This is true in sports. There was a time in my life when I was living in America, in The United States, and there, it's normal for people to golf. So, I picked up golfing, and I was never a sports person. I was never into sports. I had no connection to my body. And as such a person, I picked up golf. It was so difficult for me. But in golf, people know this.

When you pick up the club for the very first time and you hit the first few balls the first few days, it's totally simple. It's totally easy. And you may know this from other areas of sport as well, or even from work. In the beginning, it's easy, because you don't have a mindset about it. You don't know anything about it. You are just totally curious and open. You are a beginner. You feel all these things for the first time.

You don't think anything because you don't know anything about it – and then it's easy and light and fun. But in no time, you start developing knowledge, you start developing expectations towards yourself, and instantly, it gets difficult – because then, you are not in the moment anymore. You don't feel anymore – you think, and then, it's difficult. But when you go back to being a beginner every day, it's easy.

In the beginning, it's easy, because you don't know anything. You are just curious and open and a beginner. But in no time, you develop knowledge and expectations towards yourself, and it gets difficult – because you are not in the moment anymore. You don't feel anymore – you think. But when you go back to being a beginner every day, it's easy.

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And, you know, when you meditate, when you are on the spiritual path, you change. You might not know this because the change happens subtly and slowly, but you change all the time. What was right for you and what was fitting you two months ago might not be fitting you today. What was a great thing for you a year ago might be a prison for you today.

That's why for me, it's really helpful when I am a beginner every day, unreasonable, no rules, stupid and wild.

When you meditate, you change – subtly and slowly, but you change all the time. What was right and fitting you two months ago might not be fitting you today. What was a great thing for you a year ago might be a prison for you today. That's why for me, it's really helpful when I am a beginner every day, unreasonable, no rules, stupid and wild.

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My practical life: seven points (A - G)

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Yes, these were the seven points I wanted to tell you about my practical life as a human being. These were not concrete things I am practically doing, but this is what guides me in my practical life, in my life as and with the body, in work, in love, with eating, with sleeping, everywhere. And then this develops and changes naturally, by itself, all the time – and then, it's easy.

But now at the end, I want to share with you also the seven points I had written down before all this got changed, and these are very specific and concrete points... now I will tell you what I eat and what I do. But I wanted to put this now at the end of the video, because these are things which are not important, and these are things which are highly individual. So, I don't want you to copy them. Maybe they inspire you – that's why I share. And they're not the same for me tomorrow. These things change.

I tell you about things which I do since a long time, things which I learned to be really good for myself, but still, they change sometimes. So, what I want to encourage you to by my sharing is to discover all these things for yourself, and to see what you have energy for and how it is for you. You are different than I am. Your body is totally different than my body. Even me and my partner... we live the same lifestyle, in this house... Many things we do the same, but many things we do totally different, because her body is different than my body.

Her psyche is different than my psyche. Sometimes I tell her, "hey, I do this; this is so great for me", and she says, "if I would do this, it would be terrible for me". It is like this. So, this as an encouragement for you to be true to yourself and not just copy what I am sharing here. Now I want to tell you a few things about my just very, very practical bodily life.

A) Going to bed early

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The first point is: I go to bed very early. I try to go to bed as early as possible, usually, when I manage, between nine and nine thirty in the evening. And the reason is simple... and you can experiment with this. Every hour of sleep you have before midnight is a very special kind of sleep. In the olden days, they called this "beauty sleep", and this has a reason. It has to do with the internal cycles of the body, which are connected to the sun cycle.

During the time before midnight, when you sleep during those hours before midnight, the body is able to do certain processes, which it will not do later. It has to do with the liver and with cleansing, and the liver will not be able to do these things when you are awake during these hours. And that's why you can sleep the same amount of hours later, and you wake up after the same amount of hours of sleep, but you feel wasted.

But when you go to bed earlier and you have two or three hours of sleep before midnight, after the same amount of sleep, the same number of hours, you feel young and fresh and full of energy. And I tested this many times. I went back and forth and back and forth, and it is such an amazing difference, and I just love this. It really makes you beautiful and young when you go to bed early. And as an added benefit, then I wake up very early in the morning, and this is so beautiful.

The morning hours, at four or five in the morning, they are so quiet. The energy is so productive. It's so easy to meditate. It's just fantastic. So, that's point one for me. Now we talk about the real, very simple, concrete things... I go to bed as early as I can before midnight. I don't watch TV. I don't watch movies. All these things are terrible for me. We eat very early, at 6:30, late at seven, and then, at 9 or nine thirty, everybody is in bed. And this is really, really good. Maybe you want to try this out yourself.

B) Helping the body to cleanse itself

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And the second point... The second point is concerning the way I deal with this body. I wrote down: "cleansing rather than polluting".

I mentioned something like this before when I talked about this basic change in life. Before you live in Heaven, you want the pleasure to come out of the body to you. But once you are in Heaven, you don't need this anymore, and then, you don't have to abuse this poor body anymore, but you can help the body, and that's fun.

So, now I stopped polluting the body with things it doesn't like, like alcohol or meat or coffee or sweets or other stuff, but I did develop habits which do the opposite. They cleanse the body, and the body loves this, because when you cleanse the body, it stays healthy, it stays energetic, and it stays happy.

I will give you a few examples how I do this. Like, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing – after I went to the toilet – is: I meditate for half an hour. And then, I go to the bathroom, and I spent about half an hour in the bathroom every morning. And right now, I started a habit again, which I used to have. I stopped for a while, now I picked it up again. I take a cold shower. I step under the shower, I just turn on the ice-cold water, and I stand under the ice cold water for one or two minutes, and this is just great.

Sometimes, we have in the garden a big ton of water, and sometimes I jump in there, especially in the winter when it's ice-cold. This is great. And the body... I mean, this is a shock for the body, but it's so healthy and so cleansing, and it makes you so happy – when you dare to do this. So, this is the first thing. And then, I take a brush, and I brush my entire body, the skull and the skin of the entire body. From bottom to top, I brush all the skin.

And, you know... The skin of your body is the biggest cleansing organ the body has, and when you brush the skin all over your body, it activates the skin. It helps the skin to cleanse, and it helps the skin to stay healthy. And I do this every morning. It's great. And then, the next thing I do is, I cleanse my tongue, and I cleanse the mouth with fresh water. The tongue is also a cleansing instrument of the body. That's why you sometimes have stuff on your tongue.

That's why you sometimes have a bad taste in the mouth in the morning. This is natural. The body uses this part of the body to get rid of things, and that's why it's so beneficial when you cleanse your tongue in the morning. And then I just take a big glass of water in the mouth, and I cleanse the mouth with this fresh water, and I spit it out. My body loves this. And then, after I after I shave, then I brush my teeth, of course, and then I cleanse my nose. Maybe you heard this from Asia.

You take cold water, salt water – it needs to be salt water, otherwise, it's terrible –, and you let the water run through one nose nostril, and it goes up there, and it comes out the other nostril of your nose. And then, you do it the other way, and this cleanses the mucus, the skin in the nose, and this is also a cleansing organ of the body. And by doing all these things, you help the body cleanse, and the body loves this. I do this every morning. What else do I do? I forget these things because they are so normal for me.

Yes... And after I am done in the bathroom, I go down to the kitchen, and the first thing I do is I drink a big glass of fresh water. I put a little bit of lemon juice in there, a little bit of honey, some ginger, freshly grated ginger, and I drink this, and this activates the intestines, and this is just great. And then, for the rest of the morning, I usually drink fresh water, sometimes some tea, but not black tea – no tea with caffeine, but herbal tea –, because it helps to clean the body, and the body is just light and easy then.

C) What I drink: water instead of stimulants

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I don't drink coffee in the morning. This would be the opposite.

You know, things like coffee, or tea with caffeine, they dehydrate the body, because caffeine is a poison for the body. It's a poison to the nervous system. That's why you feel so alive after you drink a cup of coffee: when you drink a cup of coffee or an energy drink or black tea, your body instantly turns into emergency mode. It mobilizes its reserves to deal with the poison. That's why you have to pee after you drink coffee, because the body uses a lot of water to wash out the poison.

And I don't want to do this. I want to hydrate my body, and I don't want to dehydrate. But, you know, I am not holier than the pope. I love coffee. I am a coffee addict, actually. I talked about this in some of my videos at length. So, that I don't drink coffee right now comes out of me being true to myself. Whenever I want to drink coffee, I do it, but I do it consciously. I meditate every morning. I became sensitive. So, when I drink a coffee these days, I experience its effects full blown, and I experience what I am doing to my body, and then, it stops naturally, after a while.

I don't do this because I know it's good. I don't do this because I am holy or something like this. No. It comes out of the pure experience, again and again and again. And if you experience this often enough – when you meditate at the same time, when you become more conscious –, then, these bad habits vanish sooner or later by themselves. So, I don't drink coffee in the morning. I drink water in the morning. And when I am tired, and that is... I think, this is the fourth point I've wrote down.

I don't know. I get confused.... When I feel tired, I rest. I don't drink coffee. I don't smoke a cigarette. I rest.

When you drink coffee or alcohol, it gives you the feeling of energy, but this is an illusion. I just explained to you what happens when you drink caffeine.

What you experience is an emergency reaction of the body. The body mobilizes its emergency reserves, so you lose energy, actually. It feels energetic, but what you feel is not the energy brought to you by the coffee or by the energy drink. The coffee and the energy drink don't contain energy. They force your body to spend energy on the stupid task of getting rid of the poison. So, in reality, you lose even more energy, but you don't feel it, because the body is in emergency mode for a short time.

But after some time, this emergency mode stops, and then, you are even more exhausted than before. And then what most people do is: they drink even more coffee or another energy drink, and you do this for a few years, and your body is completely exhausted and breaks down. That's the lie of energy drinks. So, I just give the body the rest it needs. And when you when you don't drink coffee, when you don't use stimuli like alcohol or coffee or drugs, then you can feel how your body really feels. Then, you can feel the exhaustion.

You work and you have fun, but suddenly, you notice you get grumpy and sad – and then you know: "Ah, I need to stop. I need to rest." And then... You can try this: then, sit down in a chair, in a comfortable chair, or lay down on the ground, this is fantastic, close your eyes for ten minutes, and don't think. And then you open your eyes again, and you are like a new person. You don't even need ten minutes. Two minutes are enough. This is a great alternative to poisoning your body. But as I said: don't do this in the attempt to do it right.

My advice is: if you love coffee, if you love these harmful substances, enjoy them anytime you want – but meditate at the same time – I mean, not while you are drinking, but meditate every day, and then, live every day the way you are, and you will experience it more and more consciously. You will become more and more sensitive. And then, these things, they change by themselves. You don't have to worry about them. I don't share this with you to make you change your life. I just tell you how I live right now, and for me, it changes all the time.

When you drink coffee, it gives you the feeling of energy, but this is an illusion. What you experience is the body mobilizing its emergency reserves, so you lose energy, actually. Coffee and energy drinks don't contain energy. They force your body to spend energy on the stupid task of getting rid of the poison. That's the lie of energy drinks.

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D) What I eat – and what I don't eat

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Now I want to talk a little bit about what I eat.

And the two things I want to mention is: I don't eat meat. I stopped eating meat about ten years ago. But, again, I didn't do this because of some spiritual rule. I didn't do this because I love animals. I didn't do this because I read that this is healthy or the right thing to do. There was a time where I loved meat. I ate meat every day.

At that time, I was with my spiritual Master already since fifteen years or so. I became more and more conscious. I became more and more in touch with myself, and I began to notice how my body is actually doing. And I noticed that I am getting sick. I noticed: the older I get, the more sick my body gets. And just by feeling this, just by experiencing this, I got inspired. And that was when I first started learning about how I cleanse my body. And when I did this, eating meat stopped by itself, overnight. It wasn't a decision. It wasn't a moral decision or an ethical decision.

It wasn't a spiritual decision. It stopped out of me experiencing how I am, how my body is doing. And then, one day, it just stopped. And since then, I don't eat meat anymore – because I don't want to. And the other thing I would like to share with you is: I don't eat bread. This might sound astonishing to you, because most people love bread, and most people think that there is good bread which is very healthy, whole-wheat bread and stuff like that. But my experience is different. And with bread, for me, it is like with coffee. This body loves coffee, and coffee is terrible for this body.

And this body loves the taste of bread. There were times in my life where I was baking my own bread, and I just loved it. But bread made out of normal grains is just terrible for me. But I most of my life, I didn't know about this. Only recently, only since I meditate, I became so sensitive that I noticed that there is a basic difference in my well-being and in my health between when I am eating bread and when I am not eating bread over a longer period of time. But I was never able to stop eating bread. For me, it's almost like eating these grains, eating these breads, is like an addiction.

And only recently, only during the last few years, when I became satisfied from the inside – that what I was sharing with you about earlier –, only since I became really content and happy inside of myself did the lust for eating bread vanish.

And, you know, when I share something like this with you, it doesn't mean that it will stay like this forever. It's like with coffee. I shared that so many times, I started drinking coffee again, and then, a year later, I stopped again. And it went like this for many years, and now it basically stopped completely. So, I don't know whether there will be a time where I will start eating bread again, but I am sure: I will stop again at some point.

No rules.

Now, I developed a diet without bread, and it's great. I love it. You know, the key... Sometimes in in your life, you discover that certain things you are doing are not good for you food wise, but the key then is to find out: what can I eat instead? That's the question. If you drop bread, it doesn't do any good to eat more of the vegetables you eat anyway, because your body has enough of that.

For me, the key was that I learned more and more that there are other things this body really likes, but I didn't know anything about it. Basically, the human body is made to eat the fruits of plants and of trees. Vegetables are only a small part of what is good for us. We can eat other things which we forgot.

Saint John's bread, Carob bread, for instance, that's the fruit of a tree, and we can eat this as much as we want. This is good for our digestive system, it gives us strength, and it tastes great. And there are other foods like that which come from a group of food which are beneficial for us as humans, but they are not commonly available. You have to discover this. And then, once you know, "ah, this is good, this is tasty", then it's no problem to eat this kind of stuff.

In the description of this video on my website, I will share a few of the books which inspired me and where I find these alternative possibilities. I don't want to go too much into detail what I am eating, because I want you to discover what you like. I want you to discover what you don't like, what your body doesn't like. Everybody is different. Everybody has to do this kind of discovery for him- or herself.

But I am happy to share a few of the inspirational sources which helped me discover these things. But be warned... When you read one of the books I recommend on my website, please know that I don't do everything these books say. Maybe these books recommend a hundred things, but I only do 10 of them– but they are really great for me. You have to find and pick what you like. You have to experiment yourself. This is very important. Often, I found one of these great books, and I thought they are great.

I thought, everything is great in there, but then I found out: sometimes, I don't like certain things. Some of the things I did for many years, and I loved them, but then, I changed, and now I don't do them anymore. This is normal. Life is not static. So, I am happy to share these sources of inspiration with you, but find out for yourself. And find out for yourself not only once, but again and again and again. So, I want to come to the next point.

E) Daily sport without seriousness

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The fifth point is: I actually do sports. Maybe for you, this is not nothing special, but for me, it is. This body never did sports in its entire life. Only when I was, I don't know, 38 or so, when I live was living in The United States, I picked up golf, and it was terribly difficult for me, because this body was totally non-sportive.

I never enjoyed sports. But now, since I... I can only say it like this: since I don't need this body anymore to make me happy, since I found my own happiness, independent of this body, independent of this world, since I know my soul, now I can give the body what it needs – and my body loves to be moved.

This body gets older and older. Now I am 62, but now it gets healthier and healthier, and it gets more flexible than it has ever been, now, at this age, and this is just such a joy. In the first video of this trilogy, I shared with you that now, since I meditate, I learned to sit cross-legged. Never in my life, other than when I was a young child, was I able to sit cross-legged. It was just not possible. But now, it's easy and comfortable for me. And most of the time when I do a video, like, here, I sit cross legged.

You don't see this, but sometimes, you see me moving, like, now, and now I changed the leg position. Now I sit crown legged again, before for a few minutes, I sat normally. I am sitting on a little table here, not on a chair, because this little table allows me to see sit cross legged whenever I want. And for me, that this is possible for this body is a miracle, and so comfortable. So, now, I have a set of exercises I do every day. I have one set of hip opening exercises where I learn the splits.

I have another set of hip opening exercises where I learned the split in the other way, and then I do yoga. And these three sets of exercises, I do alternating throughout three days, one set every one day. It only takes a few minutes. Yoga takes for me fifteen minutes also, and the other exercise is not even ten. Then I do a few exercises for my lower body, for the strength in the legs. I learn to sit down in the Asian squat with the feet on the ground, and it's so comfortable, and now I actually learn to sit like this, and it's so good for the body.

It's so relaxing. And for me, it's a miracle that this is becoming possible for this old body. It's just a matter of time and a little bit of practice. And the last thing I do is: every day, I do something for my circulation. I also have three sets of exercises which I alternate throughout three days. One day, I go on my bike, and we have a very steep, long hill right in front of the house into the woods, so, I bike up this hill all the way up to the top, and then I take a nice bike ride through the woods and then down the hill again.

It's beautiful, I am in the woods., am in nature, and I am training this body, and the body receives this training so well. He is so happy. And then, another day, I take the same long crown through the woods, but I walk. This is a one and a half hour walk. And the third day, I go running – not very long, this body is not very fit right now, but every time I go running, I notice: "Ah, it gets easier, every time I do it". Yes, and who knows? Maybe in one or two years, I can run the entire round through the woods. I don't know. I don't have a goal, but who knows?

This body is crazy. So, this is what I do now in terms of sports for this body, and that I like this and that the body craves for it, is new to me. And this became so easy for me since I meditate, because then, I am not so identified with this body and with how the body used to be, and then it's like you get a new body: anything, suddenly, is possible. It's not that I have any ambition. I don't want this body to be strong or beautiful. I just try to give the body what the body likes in order to be balanced and healthy, and this is just joy.

F) Intermittent fasting

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So... The sixth point I would like to share with you about my very concrete practical life in the body is "intermittent fasting". This is a very important-sounding word for something very natural. It just means that you don't eat all day long, but you give the body a break. It means that you eat all the food you eat during the day in a time of eight hours, and then, for the remaining sixteen hours of the day, you don't eat – that's all.

And for me, practically, this means: we eat dinner at 6:30 or seven in the evening, and then I don't eat anything until about 11 the next morning. All I have in the morning is water, maybe some tea without caffeine. And then, around 11, I take my first meal. And by living like this, my body has 16 hours – is that true? Yes, something like that. I think this is true – 16 hours of rest. I only eat between 11 in the morning and 7 at night, and this is very good for my energy.

It's doesn't mean that I eat less. This is not a design to lose weight. It helps the body to get in balance again and to cleanse. If you need to gain weight – like my body... I am I am notoriously underweight. When you have a body like mine, it will help the body to gain weight and to become stronger. If you are overweight, it will help the body to come into the balance and lose weight. But it's not a type of diet to lose weight. It's just a natural way of helping the body to come back into balance.

This is very helpful for me. I do this since many, many years, and I think this is a habit which will stay. It's just lovely. And then, the morning hours are the best hours of my day. Meditation is great early in the morning, and then I start working very early, and then I have these morning hours where the body is fresh, it's recovered, and it's not busy digesting food. Maybe you know that digesting food takes most of the nervous energy of the body, so if you have breakfast in the morning, your brain is busy.

So, not eating before eleven is great for my work. I really love this. But as I said, it doesn't mean that you give the body less (to eat) than it had before. I need to give this body enough food, and I do so, but not in the morning.

G) Recognizing illness as a blessing

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So, this was point six, and now I come to point seven. And this is a real blessing, the seventh point. I would really like to share this with you. And I learned this also in one of those books I mention in the description of this video on my website. The book is from Andreas Moritz, it's called "Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation", and what he shares in this book... He shares a lot of crazy stuff in there, and some of the things I don't like.

But many things I tried out and I like to this day, and one of the things is what he shares about illnesses of the body. He describes a completely different view on illnesses than we usually have. Usually, you think illness is a problem. You think, "oh, the body is ill. That's not good. Let's make it healthy again", and you throw in some kind of medication. You give it painkillers, so you don't feel pain anymore. You take medicine, so the fever goes down.

Basically, you help the body to get rid of the symptoms. He says: this is not good. He says: the body knows what it's doing. He describes illness as a mechanism of the body to come back into balance. The symptoms the body develops are a help to come back into a balanced, healthy state. And since I discovered this, my relationship with my body changed completely. Now, when the body gets ill, I do two things. The first thing is: I know, "ah, the body wants to be ill.

I don't know why, but I know it's good". So, I help the body to be ill. I don't suppress the symptoms, but I give the body time. I go to bed and rest, so the body has time to be ill. I give the body space to do its work rather than suppressing symptoms, fighting symptoms, and being upset about them. I know: the body is doing its work. The body knows what it's doing, and I allow this. And this changed everything for me.

My body now rarely gets ill, but when it gets ill, it recovers so quickly. Sometimes I have a flu, especially in the autumn. The kids bring all kinds of infections home from school, and then I pick up the infection. Sometimes the body falls ill, I get a high fever, I get symptoms, I have a headache, I am totally weak, but I allow it. I give it space, and in a matter of a day, sometimes one and a half days, it's gone again. The body knows what it's doing when we allow it, and this is amazing.

And the second thing which happens out of this is that I listen to the body. I know: "Ah, interesting. The body has the need to be ill. Maybe I did something which was not too smart." And then I helped the body to not have to be ill again. But, basically, my attitude towards illness completely changed.

And the funny thing is: my body feels healthier than ever. It frequently gets ill – sometimes it gets a cold or a flu or whatnot – and in no time, it's over, and afterwards, I feel the effects. I feel so... Maybe you know this. When you really allow the body to live through an illness, afterwards, you feel so clean, so light, almost like a newborn. But you only experience this when you allow the illness to happen and to give it a little bit of time and space.

And I do this.

This life is a preparation

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These were the seven specific points about what I do practically with this body in this practical life. Maybe some of these things resonate with you, and then you can try them out. If not, don't worry about them. They are not important. The important thing is that you meditate, and this is your tool to discover all of this by yourself. You don't have to do anything. It all comes to you. It all comes to me without me doing anything.

And as I just said: now... You know, for me, it's like this entire life is a preparation. It's a help. It prepares you to discover God, in you, while you are alive. That's what this body is for. This body is not for giving you worldly pleasures. If you have them, this is not a problem. You just enjoy them. But this is not why you are here. This body is here to allow you... It gives you the time and the means to discover God inside.

This entire life is a preparation. It's a help. It prepares you to discover God, in you, while you are alive. That's what this body is for. This body is not for giving you worldly pleasures. If you have them, this is not a problem. You just enjoy them. But this is not why you are here. This body gives you the time and the means to discover God inside.

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And I was just talking about illness and how my view on illness changed. Now I know that illness is a help. It helps the body to regain balance, inner balance, and to become healthy again – and it prepares you for death. It reminds you: this body, one day, will be gone. And this entire life is your opportunity to prepare for this: to discover – while you are alive – that what you are and where you are when this body is taken away from you.

When you discover this while you are alive, then, death is a gift; then death is a liberation. It is nothing you have to be scared of. If you live a life without Heaven, if you live in that way I described in the beginning of this video, if you only know the body, every illness is a tragedy because it reminds you of your dependence on the body and of the fragility of this body, and the thought of death is terrifying for you because with this, the body ends, and you end.

But if you live in Heaven and in the body at the same time, when you discovered your soul, then it's like you already live with one foot there where death takes you. You are already there. Then, it's not a problem. You are not scared. You are prepared. You are already there. You already arrived.

Illness is a help. It helps the body to regain inner balance – and it prepares you for death. This entire life is your opportunity to discover – while you are alive – that what you are and where you are when this body is taken away from you. When you discover this while you are alive, then, death is a gift, a liberation. It is nothing you have to be scared of.

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Then, death is the beginning, not the end.

If you only know the body, every illness is a tragedy and death is terrifying for you. But if you live in Heaven and in the body at the same time, when you discovered your soul, then it's like you already live with one foot there where death takes you. You are already there. You are prepared. You already arrived. Then, death is the beginning, not the end.

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What actually happens in a retreat

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So much about my life. I hope you enjoyed these three videos, and I invite you to my free newsletter. Every one or two weeks, whenever I publish a new video, I send out a newsletter to the subscribers, so you don't miss a video. And I also do what I call the "Morning Moments for your Soul".

Every morning, I send out a very short email with just a little quote of some video, along with the link to a very short video, one minute, with a quote, just as a reminder for you, as an inspiration for your day. If you like this, I invite you to subscribe to this. You can do this on my website; it's all free, of course. And now, totally new, in May, there will be my first International Retreat, and I look totally forward to this.

It will take place in Upper Austria, not very far from Salzburg, South of Munich. Maybe you know this area a little bit. It's easily accessible by plane if you come from abroad, and I am totally looking forward to this opportunity to be in retreat in Satsang together with you and other people. You know, there is one thing I want to mention at the end. What I do here in these videos and what I do in retreat, it's not that I give you something which you need. You don't need anything from me.

I just remind you of what you already have. I just share with you about my life so you can see how easy it is, how possible it is, how natural it is.

So, it's nothing I give you. It's nothing exclusive. No – I just share with you how I live, and if you let yourself be inspired, you can you discover the same. That's what Jesus did. That's what Swamiji, my Guru, does all the time. And that's true also for a retreat. It's not that you come to a retreat because there, you will get something from me which you need. This is not the reason why you want to come to a retreat, because you would be disappointed. No.

You come to a retreat when you notice you want to come there. If your soul tells you: "I want to go there. This sounds like fun. I want to be there. Bring me there!" When you feel this, then you come. And then, a retreat is an opportunity for you to use this atmosphere, this energy field which is created when I am with you and all these other lovely people, a field, a space where you and your soul create a friendship, a relationship. The magic that happens is between you and your soul. Your soul will give you everything. I can't give you anything. It all comes from your soul.

You don‘t come to a retreat to get something from me which you need. No. You come when your soul tells you: "Bring me there!" Then, a retreat is an opportunity, a space, where you and your soul create a friendship, a relationship. The magic happens between you and your soul. I can't give you anything. It all comes from your soul.

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Swamiji says this again and again. He says to his disciples, to me: "I am not here to make you dependent on me. I am here to make your soul your Guru." He says, a Guru is like a walking stick. When you have an injury, you need a walking stick for a short amount of time, and once you can walk yourself, you throw away the stick. That's a Guru – a Guru is a walking stick for this short time you need to meet your soul. Once you know your soul, your soul becomes your own Guru – and you are independent.

I am happy that you are here.

Thank you for being here.

I love you.