Dhyan Mikael at the One Spirit Festival 2024

[Dhyan Mikael:] Welcome. Nice to have you here.

I am very happy. Can I be understood at the back? I can also try to use the speaker. Well, once the bells have stopped ringing, it should be better.

Yes, welcome. I am here to tell you about my life; about how I experience life now; and I am here to answer questions. If you want to ask questions, if you want to know something about what I am telling you or about me, then you are welcome to ask at any time, even right now. That's always my favorite thing; then I don't have to tell you anything. And you're welcome here in the front. You can stay at the back if you prefer, but there's still room at the front.

I still do everything wrong

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And if you don't have any questions, I'll just start somewhere. It's always a surprise for me too what I then talk about. I'm actually here, and actually I make videos and Satsang because I want to talk about how life can be: how simple; how natural.

Everyone has a dream, a wish that their life should be like that of an animal or a plant: they don't have to worry about anything, they don't have to fear anything, and they thrive, and everything grows. And we struggle and we worry, and for us, it is hard, and we are in pain, and we suffer through life. And I would like to tell you how this can be different, and that it is actually very, very simple. And I'm telling you from my own experience. I don't tell you theories.

I'm telling you in my own simple words how I experience it. I am not an esoteric person, I am not a spiritual person, although I was with my spiritual Master for twenty years. I still don't know how I got there; it just happened that way. In the meantime, I even have a Guru who lives in India. I don't know how that happened either. But I'm actually a completely normal person – I'm an engineer, I'm a programmer – just like everyone else. I've been married several times.

I've tried several times to find happiness out there. I tried again and again to do everything right, really sincerely. I never succeeded. I always did everything wrong. Even today. Yesterday, I was in the wrong room. I just wasn't looking properly. No one was there; everyone else was somewhere else. And then, Alex came and told me to come to the other room. So, I am still doing everything wrong. But the nice thing is that I can be who I am today and do everything wrong... I'm no wiser than I used to be.

No transformation has taken place with Mikael where suddenly he has got everything under control and has everything in place, but I can be the way I have always been, and everything is fine. Everything is simple. Everything is the way you actually know it could be. Yes, that's what I want to tell you about. I tell it differently every time. It's always new. And that's a paradox... And as I said: if you have a question, just ask, otherwise I'll keep on talking. Once I've started... Yes, please. Please.

[Questioner:] "Could we do the Samarpan Meditation together afterwards? Is that what you're planning?"

[Dhyan Mikael:] I'll do that tonight. The thing is: if you want to do the Samarpan Meditation... It's actually quite simple. So, technically speaking, it's the simplest thing you can imagine. But when you start it, it's good to get an introduction from the people who spread this meditation here in Germany. These are the people who are authorized by Swamiji – the Guru who brings this meditation from the Himalayas to us. It's not a big deal, but it's better if you hear it directly from these people and not from me, because I tell everything in my own words.

I always forget half of it and say things the way they shouldn't actually be said – I always hear that afterwards. So, in order to avoid misunderstandings, because of the way I am, it's best to learn it directly from them. As I said, there's not much to learn, but you just go straight to these people, and that also works online. I've got a display at the table in the back with their website address on it; you can just take a photo of it, and you can find out how to do such an introduction.

But tonight is the weekly collective meditation by the Samarpan people, which will be streamed online. And if those who are attending Satsang tonight feel like it, then we can simply meditate together from 6pm. My Satsang starts at 5 pm, and then we just stop a few minutes earlier and sit down in front of the computer at 6 pm. There is a very brief explanation of how to do it, for those who have never done it before. It really is very simple. And then, we meditate together for half an hour. I would be delighted.

But I can't just pass it on by myself, I just have to stick to it, otherwise people will think it's my meditation, but in reality, it has nothing to do with me. I'm just a person who's been doing it for seven years and benefiting from it for seven years, and I like to tell people about it all the time. But I prefer to send people straight to where it comes from, and then we can meditate together.

The great longing for a simple life

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I just said that: life can be so simple, and we all wish that it were that simple.

But the interesting thing is that we don't really want it.

Life can be so simple, and we all wish that it were that simple. But the interesting thing is that we don't really want it.

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What does this mean: a simple life? Letting life carry you – that sounds good. Letting life take care of everything – that sounds good. Isn't that something you'd like to have? But what does that mean? It means that I say: "Okay, life, you do it." That's what Jesus said. Jesus was asked: how should I pray? And Jesus said: "Thy will be done". That's 'letting life do it'. And when someone says that, you think: "Well, wait a minute. I want life to go the way I want it to go. I know what I want. I have my wishes and dreams!" But to just let life do it? To just let go? Then it gets interesting.

Letting life carry you – that sounds good. But what does that mean? It means: "Okay, life, you do it." That's what Jesus said: "Thy will be done". Then you think: "Wait a minute. I want life to go the way I want it to go." But to just let life do it? Then it gets interesting.

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That's the only reason why we have a difficult life: because we can't imagine letting life carry us. We don't trust life. We think: "If I don't make an effort every day, things will go down the drain here. It can't go well". That's how we think. That's what everyone thinks, if you're really, really honest.

That's the only reason why we have a difficult life: because we can't imagine letting life carry us. We don't trust life. We think: "If I don't make an effort every day, things will go down the drain here. It can't go well".

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And this surrender to life is the easiest thing there is, because you don't have to do anything and never have to do anything again. But it goes against everything we believe inside. It's not our fault – this conditioning, this deep belief: I have to do it. 'I' – this 'I'. This 'I' consists of 'I have to', 'I am important', 'everything here depends on me'. And you can't let go of this. Once you start to play with it a little and try it out... it all sounds great. You hear something like that in Satsang or in a great book, and you think: "Yes, I'll do that now."

This surrender to life is the easiest thing there is, because you don't have to do anything and never have to do anything again.

But it goes against everything we believe inside.

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Then you try it out and it's wonderful, but after a short time you realize: I can't get out of this swamp. This 'I' is all you know. We carry it around with us from birth. Jesus said: the sins of the fathers are passed on to the sons. And he spoke of this. Back then, these modern words like 'conditioning' and 'programming' didn't exist. These words that we use today didn't exist back then. He was talking about one generation passing on this belief of how life works to the next generation, without words; without the father saying, "but you have to do this". You can feel it.

This 'I' is all you know. We carry it around with us from birth. Jesus said: the sins of the fathers are passed on to the sons. He was talking about one generation passing on this belief of how life works to the next generation, without words. You can feel it.

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At every moment a product of the environment

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[Questioner:] "I wanted to ask something. So, now that you're saying this and I'm here in this environment, it seems really easy."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Yes, amazing, isn't it? And afterwards you go out and think: "Was I stupid in there? What was I thinking? What did I believe?"

[Questioner:] "Yes. And somehow, when you go home, then suddenly it's like a hamster wheel starts turning. And all of a sudden, it's like you forget everything."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Yes, it is like that. It really is like that. And that's why... It's like that: you think you decide what you think. You think you decide what's important to you. You think you decide what you want and where you want to go. But that's not true. Anyone can observe what you say: the society you are in; the people you surround yourself with, they determine how you think. Most people don't really notice this because it just happens normally without you doing anything. But maybe you've ever wondered why politicians are all so bad and so evil and so inane.

People go out with enthusiasm and with a genuine interest in doing something for the common good. Then they go into politics, then they become important, and then they get into this sphere of power, and ten years later they're just like everyone else. And that's what you're describing: you're now here in my aura: you can't see it; you don't notice it. You only notice that you are suddenly different. You are suddenly different. Suddenly what I'm saying here seems completely plausible to you.

When you tell your wife about it tonight, you'll realize how completely weird you feel: "What am I talking about?"... because you are suddenly in a different energy field. Here in Germany, we have a lot of experience with this phenomenon. When Hitler was in power, when the country changed, so many people, good people, normal people, changed in a way they could not explain afterwards. I once had a very impressive experience, and I already talked about it in Satsangs yesterday, but this question comes up again and again... And I experienced it myself.

I was once married to an American woman, and we went to the movies, and we watched the movie 'Schindler's List'. I don't know if you know it; the movie is about a little story in the Nazi era about what happened to the Jews. The movie is actually relatively moderate; it doesn't really get into the nitty gritty. But for someone who is not familiar with history, the movie is simply completely shocking. And for this American woman I was living with at the time, it was a total shock.

She came out of the movie theater and said to me: "Mikael, I'm so glad you're not like those other Germans". And then I said to her: what you say is not true. I am no different. If I had lived back then, in those days, surrounded by those people the way they were, surrounded by my friends, by my classmates... Who knows what I would have been like? Who knows what I would have become capable of – just like that. I am a very thorough person. I am an engineer. I'm a perfectionist. If I had been put in the right place, who knows what I would have done?

You think you decide what you think, what is important to you, what you want and where things are going. But that's not true. Anyone can observe this: the society you find yourself in; the people you surround yourself with, they determine how you think.

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No one can say that about themselves. And what you say is the great secret of the spiritual path: we can't do it alone. As human beings, although we don't like to hear it, we are completely dependent on the environment we find ourselves in. There is no such thing as 'I' as an independent being, and this is something that everyone can experience for themselves. You are at home in your familiar surroundings, and you feel a certain way. Then you visit your parents and you are a completely different person. You think: "What's wrong with me? How am I talking?

What am I letting them do to me?" You're in a completely different energy. Then you go to other friends. You go on vacation. You are a different person. You feel completely different. You go to another country, you go on vacation to Italy, and you feel completely different. I have often experienced this on my Satsang trips. I've only been doing Satsang myself for a very short time, but for twenty years I traveled around with my spiritual Master Soham. And I felt different in every city we visited.

Every week, we traveled to a different city and Soham would give a week of Satsang there. Sometimes we traveled to Switzerland. When I crossed the border into Switzerland – I experienced this a few times every year – I felt like a different person. The Swiss are different, they tick differently, everything is different there: I was different. And then, after a week or two, I came back to Germany, across the border: again I was like a different person. And if you experience that often enough, then you know: 'I' – whatever I think about myself – doesn't exist.

I am the plaything of my environment. And when you are on the spiritual path, it is very helpful to know that you can't do it alone; that you simply need support from other people who are on the same path and from someone who is a bit further along than I am. I can drink from that. That encourages me. If, on the other hand, I go out into the world and do nothing else, then exactly what you said happens: you forget about it again. And that's normal. You just forget about it again. That's why I like to talk about Samarpan Meditation.

It's one of these tools, very simple, very simple, but... You start first thing every morning... you wake up, maybe go to the toilet for a short while, and the first thing you do before you do anything you think is important; before you eat; before you take a shower: you simply sit down, go inside, meditate for half an hour and start the day with the one thing that is important. And then, that sustains you. Maybe only for a few minutes at first, but with every week, with every month that you meditate for longer, it carries you through the day for longer.

Then you might go to events as strange as this one, and then you realize how something inside you is being nurtured. Everyone carries this truth within them, and this is then touched again and encouraged, and then, something gradually grows. So, what you say is true. You can't do it alone. Swamiji, who brings the meditation, says: you only need two things to attain liberation in this life, while you live, in society, for ordinary people. The first is to meditate regularly, every day. If you start doing this every day, then you have a chance.

This is the great secret of the spiritual path: we cannot do it alone. As human beings, although we don't like to hear it, we are dependent on the environment in which we find ourselves. There is no such thing as 'I' as an independent being, and everyone can experience this for themselves.

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And the second thing is: he calls it 'collectivity'. That's something translated from English that sounds a bit bumpy in German. But what it means is 'community' – that you somehow... It doesn't have to be anything esoteric, but that you meet up with other people once a week, for example, or if it's not possible, maybe once a month, and meditate together. And then you experience yourself what a great support that is. It's not about making friends with these people. Perhaps they are very strange people who you would never really want to have anything to do with.

But if you come together in order to do something together that is important to you, then you get support. The two things: regularly – just meditate alone every morning – and once a week – you can do that online now, it's great, you don't even need to go anywhere else – connect with other people who have the same energy. And then it becomes possible. Then it becomes possible. Otherwise, you get lost in the world again. For me, it was really wonderful.

I don't even know... When I stumbled upon Soham twenty-four years ago... I wasn't on a search; I wasn't a spiritual person. My God, I was just divorced, my life was just going down the drain, I was free, I had nothing to do, and I ended up in this Satsang. And from that day on, I was with him, and not just as his disciple, but I worked for him. I'm a technician, so I took care of everything technical for him. And so, I was able to be in Satsang every day for twenty years. It was as if I had left the normal world, but for me, it went on as normal.

I spent every day tinkering with computers and doing the sound engineering and lugging boxes around. And for me, it was like a hobby. It wasn't spiritual life for me, but I was able to be in Satsang for twenty years, and in that time I just grew, even though I'm as stupid as I am, because I was separated from the normal world. I never went back to the normal world. You don't need that either. You can live a completely normal life. Today I work again as a programmer, as a web designer, but I am no longer in the world. I live a normal life, just like everyone else.

I eat normally, I have a room where I sleep, but I now live somewhere else because I've had long enough for this new foundation to gradually solidify, which is growing inside.

And if you experience that often enough, then you know: 'I' – whatever I think about myself – doesn't exist. I am the plaything of my environment.

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I said at the beginning that life can be so easy, but we don't really want it. And we need support so that we can continue to want this surrender. When I talk about that, you nod your head and think, that's a great thing – the man is right. But if we want to continue to want this, then we can't do it alone. And that alone is already an obstacle for most people. Most people want to do it themselves. You want to do it yourself.

If you're completely honest, you want to do it yourself. And you keep trying until you realize: you can't do it. And there are people who are very lucky. They get into a life situation where they realize: I am powerless. People who become terminally ill, who experience an accident, a tragedy, a natural disaster or a war, who realize: nothing is in my hands. And then, when they are ready, they discover the path of surrender.

They are forced to surrender. That's how it was for me. I'm not here because I am so clever and because I am so wise. Life forced me to surrender, again and again, again and again, until I got it. And at some point, life gives you the chance to taste what really makes life tick. Then. suddenly, everything is quite simple. Then you can move mountains; it's incredible.

We need support for this so that we continue to want this surrender. This you can't do alone. And that alone is already an obstacle for most people. If you're completely honest, you want to do it yourself. And you keep trying until you realize you can't do it.

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Then, everything is possible. Then, miracles happen. People always think that these are miracles that happen, but that's not true. Once you have gone down the path yourself, the true power of life comes through and then, anything is possible. But we just don't want it, and that's the only thing that's difficult about it. I want... one moment. I want to set an example. I have... Oh, you know what, I'll answer you right away. Please... otherwise, I never stop talking anyway.

The homework: making peace with oneself

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[Questioner:] "For me, it keeps changing. So, there's a total, boundless freedom. And then it's somehow... I wouldn't have thought it, I always criticized my father a lot, but somehow, almost even though I don't want it at all, I go into a life that is actually the way I don't want it."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Yes.

[Questioner:] "But then there's this experience again where, for example, I am walking, and everything sort of dissolves. So there just is walking, that's all there is. Very intense."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Yes. It really is like that, and that's the miracle of the times we're living in... We're living in a time where us normal people, like you, like me, are starting to experience that now, even though we're here. We didn't move to some cave in the Himalayas for ten, twenty, thirty years, away from society, to discover this. Just normal people... it's been going on for a few decades now. Ordinary people are experiencing it now, just like you. That's the blessing of these times.

But we haven't done our homework yet. We're getting a taste of this other space that keeps opening up, but we haven't done our homework yet. And what is this homework? I spoke of surrender: not me deciding how life should be, but letting life carry me. That means, telling life: "Okay, you do it, life." That also means: accepting myself as I am. I am a product of this life.

And when you start to meditate, or when you start to feel more, like you do, then you not only perceive this Divine space within you again and again, but you also realize how you are. You realize: I am in a way I don't want to be. I am like my father; or you say: you are like your mother. And that's true. My father was a genius and a tyrant. He gave me so much, and he was so terrible. He was so horrible.

And sometimes, when I'm at home, the kids are bugging me, and suddenly I realize, "Oh, how do I feel? I'm like my father." I'm like my father, I'm also like my mother – completely crazy people – but I'm still here. They gave me something that I can't see because I'm their son. I wouldn't be here without them. It was a huge gift. And of course, they also have many difficult sides, like every person, every Guru. Swamiji says again and again that the Guru is what flows through this medium, but the person you see in front of you is human.

He pees, he has to poop, he has to eat, he has faults, he may have bad breath. The physical existence is as it is, and making friends with it is the first step: saying 'yes' to yourself as you are, now; not this enlightened self that you imagine: "Now I'm going on the spiritual path, and then I'll get really good." No. Here, where you are now; accepting yourself as you are now – and then you become more open to yourself. Then you feel yourself more.

Then you get to know even more about yourself, and you have to make peace with even more. It gets more and more interesting on this path. And once you have started to make peace with yourself, with your own feelings, then you can also slowly start to make friends with life, to say 'yes' to life, and possibly to other people. If you are very far along the path, then, at some point, you can also say 'yes' to your own partner, that they are the way they are, or to your own mother, your own father.

That's the first step: saying 'yes' to yourself as you are, now; not this enlightened self that you imagine: "Now I'm going on the spiritual path and then I'll be really good." No. Here, where you are now: accepting yourself as you are now – and then you become more open to yourself.

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For me, the spiritual path began a long time before I even knew it. I actually hated my father, but that's not true. I was simply afraid of him because he was bigger than me and much stronger. I also had good reason to be afraid of him. And at some point, I noticed something. At some point in my life, I was still relatively young, I don't know, twenty-five or so, and I noticed something.

I realized: I like women. That's nothing surprising for a young man. But I realized: I don't like men. No matter what the woman was like, I liked her. No matter what the man was like: I thought he was stupid; every man, all men. And then I had a really interesting experience; that's when a light went on for me. Then I thought: if I don't like all men, what does that say about myself?

After all, I am a man. And then I thought: there's something wrong. I am a man; I don't like men. And then I discovered that I don't like myself; that I don't know what I'm like at all; that I don't know what 'being a man' means at all. And then, a very long journey began, on which I very gradually learned to get to know myself and make friends with myself as I am.

Then, a light dawned on me: if I don't like all men, what does that say about myself? And then I discovered that I don't like myself, don't know what I'm like at all and don't know what 'being a man' means. And I began to get to know myself and make friends with myself as I am.

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And then I learned to love my father; he was long dead, of course. But I got to know myself, I learned to love myself. If I love myself, then I can also love my father. If I love myself, I can also love my mother, even though she is really strange. And if I can love me, then I can love you, and everyone, everything. And then, I can also say 'yes' to life. That sounds so beautiful, what you hear in the spiritual realm: "surrender; accept; say 'yes'", but when it gets really practical, then it gets interesting. And that's the homework, and that's the path.

If I love myself, then I can also love my father. If I love myself, I can also love my mother, even though she is really strange. And if I can love me, then I can love you, and everyone, everything. And then, I can also say 'yes' to life.

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And when you start to meditate – which basically is the great help on the path – two things happen. It becomes beautiful because you learn this surrender, and you learn it very, very quickly, quite automatically; you don't do anything. When you get to know Samarpan Meditation, that's the only meditation I've come across in this whole life where you do absolutely nothing. You don't imagine anything, you don't visualize anything, you don't think anything. It's totally easy. You are given this surrender.

Meditation gives you the gift of surrender, but unfortunately, this includes surrender to yourself. Then you get to know yourself and your feelings. Then you learn to say 'yes' to yourself. Everything happens automatically, very gradually. That is the path to letting go. That is the practical path to surrendering to life.

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But with this surrender, unfortunately, surrender to yourself also happens, and then you start to get to know yourself – exactly what you said. And then it gets interesting. Then you get to know yourself; you get to know your feelings. Then you learn to say 'yes' to yourself. Everything I've just talked about then happens automatically, very gradually. And that is the practical way to let go. That's the practical way to surrender to life. Learning to say 'yes'. And learning to say 'yes' starts with what's closest to me, and that's this guy here.

And once I've started with this, it slowly goes on and on. And at some point, you say 'yes' to everything. And then, at some point, people come close to you and wonder why they feel so good: because while they're around you, they suddenly say 'yes' without them knowing anything about it. They simply feel carried and at peace. Yes, that's how the spiritual path works, that's how life works. Jesus already said that, and he set an example for us. He said: "Just say 'yes'." That's all he said every day: "Thy will be done." People didn't understand him.

Learning to say 'yes' starts with what's closest to me, and that's this guy here. And once I've started with this, it slowly goes on and on. And at some point, you say 'yes' to everything.

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They didn't know what it meant in practical terms, very practical terms. And they didn't understand it because the time was not yet ripe for it. Today, Swamiji says exactly the same thing – I say the same thing, but only because I learned it from him – but today, people can hear it because the time, the time energy, is different. Now is the time when we can hear it – ordinary people. And that's why it's happening now. I can give Satsang here without being locked up or without ending up in a madhouse. That's something very special. Yes, that's how it works.

Jesus already said this: "Just say 'yes'." That's all he said every day: "Thy will be done." People didn't understand him because the time was not yet ripe. Today, Swamiji says exactly the same thing, but today, we can hear it because the time is different. Now is the time when we can hear it.

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The gift of openness

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And we have a special challenge here in the West with this whole story. For a few decades... It's different in Asia. I don't think there are more people in Asia, or in India for example, who have achieved liberation; who have really recognized themselves. But there is a culture that has been passing on how to do this for centuries, for millennia, and the culture is still alive there.

Individuals don't have it any easier because they don't want to do all that homework I've just told you about. They all have their Guru, they all have their statue that they always run to, but nothing really happens because they just don't do it. But the culture is such that surrender is something normal; having someone to look up to because you know: "he is where I am not", that is normal there. Here in the West, we have completely lost that.

We used to have that too, when Christian culture worked a little differently, but when someone surrenders today, you say: "What's he doing? What's this? Did he go nuts?" This is completely alien to us, and therefore strange. Having someone to look up to is extremely strange for western, modern people. I have been traveling for twenty years with my spiritual Master, and that is the one thing that made it so easy for me... I don't know why I have that. I was born this way. I brought it with me. I can't take credit for it.

I never had a problem accepting him as my Master and I didn't even know what hit me. I met him for the first time, and from that day onwards, he was my Master. That means: I knew he knew better. I just knew it. And the fact that this was possible for me, as a modern, enlightened, reasonably intelligent person, was a real gift. And that's why I was able to learn everything from him for twenty years. I soaked up everything he had to give because I knew that he knew more than I did.

A lot of people have come and said, "Well, it's all great, but I want a Master at eye level; I want a friend; I don't want someone up there." But of course, that doesn't work. If you have someone at eye level, that is, at your level, then you can't learn anything from them. They are where you are. You feel great, you feel good because you don't have anyone to challenge you, but you don't learn anything. But when you're able to realize: "Wow. He is somewhere else. That's where I want to go!" and then you reach up... "Pull me up!"

If you can do that, then you are open. Then you are open. Just like at school. If you love a teacher at school... You do everything they say. You do the homework, you behave sensibly, you love him, and that makes you open, and you can learn from him. As a schoolchild, I always thought that I had no talent for languages. I had an incredibly easy time with science subjects at school, and today I know that there, I had teachers that I loved. I was able to open up to them. I liked them, and that's why I was open, and I soaked up everything they said.

And that's why I only got straight A's. And in the language subjects I had other teachers, that was quite interesting: completely different teachers, with whom I only had problems. I was afraid of them; they hated me – that was my feeling; I don't know if that is true, but that's how I experienced it – and I was closed off. And I couldn't learn this language; I couldn't – because I was closed off. Maybe the teachers were good teachers, but I was closed off. I don't know why.

And every school year, I alternated between an F in English and an E in French, or an F in French and an E in English. I always just about got through to the next level. If I'd had two Fs, I would have repeated a level. That's how incompetent I was with languages. And then, school was over, the and a short time later I fell in love with an Italian girl, and within a few months, I was fluent in Italian. I had no problem with languages at all. I was very open, and I learned like a sponge soaks up water. I spoke Italian fluently, and everyone was amazed.

A few years later, I was with a Turkish girl, and so I learned Turkish. I was in the computer business, where I still am today. I learned English. Then I was with my spiritual Master, who is American. I had no problem at all... I translated for him, did everything, and today I know that language is my great talent – more than programming, more than math. I loved math, I loved chemistry, I loved physics. But language, that's the gift of my life. That's why I can sit here and talk, even though I don't really know what I am talking about.

But it seems that way because I can somehow get across what I have to say. How it's possible, I don't know. But as a child in school, I didn't know anything about it – because I was closed off. And if you can be open to someone, then you can learn everything from them that they have to give; and if you're closed, then you won't learn anything. It's as simple as that. And we in the West, in the culture we grew up in, are not open to people who are bigger than us.

Many people say: "I want a Master at eye level; a friend; I don't want someone up there." But that doesn't work. Then you can't learn anything from him. But if you're able to recognize: "Wow. He's somewhere else. That's where I want to go!" And then you reach up... "Pull me up!" If you can do that, then you are open.

Link to quote in video at 36m06s

We are very suspicious. We have no trust. We have experienced many things in our culture that give us reason to believe that it is not a good thing to trust someone else, especially not someone who might be up there: bad politicians, bad leaders, bad teachers, bad pastors, bad Gurus. And we have gotten out of the habit. We have gotten out of the habit of being open. And now the old knowledge about real life is coming back to us.

That's why there is a festival like this here: everybody talks about karma and enlightenment and all these things. But what is necessary for that... The knowledge is not important. The openness, that's what we need; the trust. And at some point, you'll meet someone you trust, and then you can learn from them. That's how it was for me. I met my spiritual Master twenty-four years ago. I didn't know him. I had never seen him before. I sat in his first Satsang. He came in and I trusted him – completely; even today.

Swamiji came to me. I did not know him. He came to me, not in person, but simply by someone telling me about him, and I suddenly trusted in a way, I was open in a way that I have never experienced before in my life. And that's why I soaked up everything that came to me from there. And I keep telling you about it, just to tell you that if it happens to you, it's a good thing. I can't do it. I can't say: "Surrender!" I can't say: "Fall in love with a Guru." I can't say: "Be open to a teacher." You can't do that.

But I can at least talk about how it happened to me. I can tell about how life really works, and then it will happen in your life – it will happen – and then you know: "Ah, that's what he was talking about." You then feel your own openness, your own trust towards the medium, which then just hits your life, and then you know: "Okay, I feel totally crazy, that's really weird, I can't tell anyone, they'd all think I'm crazy, but I know: "That's how life works. That's how it works."

Yes. I would like to encourage people to do that. Everyone has to go their own way. No one can copy the path of another. And I just want to keep reminding you that you have to trust yourself when you feel your way and not what others think. Because the others, they all think something else.

The Guru – the most normal person in the world

Link to topic in video at 44m09s

And you can't tell many people that you're sitting here. You can only tell selected people about it; probably not your neighbor. She'll probably never talk to you again because she thinks, "What kind of person is that?" But what you said earlier... We are alone out there with this simple, simple truth of life. But at some point, you'll meet someone, it'll click, and you'll learn everything you need from them. And the rest will take care of itself.

And because it's so unfashionable; because it's so unimaginable in our western world, that's why I like to talk about it so much, because I'm so normal... I look reasonably normal. I talk reasonably normally, and that's why some people can listen to me who might not be able to listen to a Guru – yet. My spiritual Master Soham is the most normal person in the world. He is also completely unesoteric; he is totally unspiritual. I mean... now, he is a spiritual giant, but when you meet him... he is so normal, he is so simple.

When I met him, it was quite funny... I told you: I sat in my first Satsang with him; that was in Munich. The room was full of people. Those people were all very spiritual, I could see that; all more or less holy and dressed a bit differently than normal people; and also, the way they acted, I thought: what is this? And I wasn't like that... I was just pretty normal. And then, he came in, I didn't know him, and he walked past me, and I thought: "What is this guy doing here? He must be lost." That's what it felt like. He was so normal – and he still is – so normal, so natural.

He was just the way he is: a completely normal person. Then he sat down in that chair at the front. I thought: that must be Soham. I was confused because he looked so normal. Then he started talking, and my life changed that evening. He didn't say anything special. He didn't do anything sacred. He didn't say anything revolutionary. He was just being the way he was. You can't see the secret of a true Master or a true Guru from the outside. You can't hear it either. It's not what he says. It's not the incredible things he promises.

But sometimes, you're in the presence of another person and you feel in a way that's just remarkable, and then you know who you're dealing with. You feel that in there. That's when you recognize the true Master, the true Guru. Yes, and because I am just so normal, that's why... I came to him, and because he was so normal, I was able to trust him. Yes, all those people who talk so spiritually... I was never able to listen to that Maybe some of them are even right, maybe some of them even know what they're talking about, but it was never right for me.

But I could listen to him. And so, he accompanied me for twenty years, and then, when Swamiji came – this is a real Guru – I could see him. Then I could trust him. If I had met Swamiji twenty years ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to recognize him. I would have thought: "What kind of person is he? That's not my cup of tea", because he's just so different from everything that seemed normal to me. I don't think I would have been open – that openness I was talking about earlier, and which is the only thing we really need.

But Soham softened me up over twenty years; made me open to myself and to everything else. And then, when Swamiji came, I could... It's not that I could – it just happened: I was open. We like to think: "If Jesus were alive today, I would also be one of his disciples." It all sounds so plausible when you hear what Jesus said. That sounds good. But when a real Jesus comes, a living Jesus in front of us, then he is an endless challenge. What you mentioned earlier: as soon as you start to look into it a little, then it gets interesting.

Soham softened me up over twenty years; made me open to myself and to everything else. And then, when Swamiji came, I could... It's not that I could – it just happened: I was open.

Link to quote in video at 48m34s

Then you get to know the beam in your own eye that Jesus always talked about. Being open to the true Guru, the living Jesus, the one who is now on earth, is a gift. That is the greatest blessing that can happen to you. Because people are normally closed – and they can't change that. I can't say: I want to be open. It's like when you fall in love: you fall in love with a woman or a man, and you're totally open. You are totally open. And you may know this: you fall in love, and the other person is just beautiful. They're just perfect.

Everything that this other person says are pearls – because we are open. In this state of being in love – being in love is a kind of psychosis, but also an openness – only it's an openness without having done the homework. We are simply not capable of seeing clearly. But we are open, and therefore, we can love and appreciate the other. Everything about each other is beautiful.

And then, three months later, six months later or two years later, this openness diminishes because we experience the human side of the other person more and more and, to the extent that our openness diminishes, the beauty of the other person disappears. He only talks nonsense. He suddenly has bad breath. He already had it before, but we didn't notice it, because we were open. And you can't make this openness – it's a gift. It's simply grace when that happens. Yes, I always forget to let you talk.

We think: "If Jesus were alive today, I would also be one of his disciples." But when a living Jesus comes, he is an infinite challenge. Being open to the living Jesus who is now on earth is the greatest blessing that can happen to you.

Link to quote in video at 49m00s

How does surrender work?

Link to topic in video at 51m27s

[Questioner:] "Mikael, could you elaborate more on the homework? It always sounds so simple: 'just say yes'. And when I'm in situations where I'm triggered in some way, I remember that too, but how does surrender work?"

[Dhyan Mikael:] The homework is very simple: you have to do it – this 'saying yes'. And I said at the beginning: life gives you the opportunity to do this every day. Every day, something doesn't go the way you imagined it would. You're standing in the kitchen; you want to fill a glass with water, and you drop the glass.

You usually get angry, annoyed with yourself, and then: "I'm like this, okay; I'm like this. I'm scatterbrained, I'm forgetful." You know... these many opportunities to say 'yes' all day long that's the homework. And saying 'yes' to myself that I can't say 'yes'. Saying 'yes' to myself, that I have a problem with the fact that I am not as spiritual as I think I should be. Saying 'yes' starts very, very close.

The homework is to do it. I tell you about the meditation. Maybe you'll take part in such an introduction. You experience how beautiful it is. But then... meditating every day is easy – you just have to do it. But what great things could you do during this half hour? So many urgent things. You never have time. You're far too slow. You have so many things you still have to do. And now sitting down and do nothing for half an hour?

That's it. Meditate, and for the rest of the day meditate too, namely: say 'yes'. That's all. Practicing just this.

[Questioner:] "Do you know this, when this idea comes: 'yes, I want to say yes', but my body is just rebelling, and then it gets stuck here. And then the tension stays; my head thinks 'say yes', but it's not really a real yes."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Yes. And then, being where you are. Then, you sit there: "Ah yes. Here I am again. I want to say 'yes', but I can't. But the truth is: I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to. I want to say 'yes' but I don't want to." Okay. Can I say 'yes' to that? To this conflict? To this stupid 'I' who stands in her own way? Can I love myself the way I am? Or you meditate, and everything is great. And suddenly there comes a day when you realize: "I haven't meditated for two weeks! I forgot."

Can I love myself like that? If you can love yourself like that, then you can also start meditating again. If you can then say 'yes' to yourself, you can continue practicing saying 'yes' to yourself. If you then say: "No, I think I'm stupid", then you will never meditate again, because it's all about saying 'yes'. And that's exactly what you say. I keep saying: in purely practical, purely technical terms, the thing is totally simple.

Yes – there's nothing easier than saying 'yes' – no one has to teach you – except that there this little obstacle that we have inside of us. It's called 'ego': all that is important; all that which wants to prevent me from saying 'yes'. That is ancient. It is ancient. And that's exactly that point where a Jesus comes in. You read that in the Bible, and this ancient language is so beautifully figurative. You can literally feel how it happened back then.

There it is about those people who tick just like you just described – who walk through life like that; who are only afraid; who are completely incapable of saying 'yes' to anything, even though they heard it all their lives in the synagogue back then. Those people who are like us, they came to Jesus. And just because they were near him, it happened to them that they could say 'yes' – because they were near him. Suddenly they say 'yes'. What you said earlier: "now I'm sitting here in this Satsang, and that's why it seems totally easy to me."

The easiest thing in the world.

What is supposed to be difficult about it? The easiest thing in the world – because you are close to someone who says 'yes' again and again, even to his 'no' he always says 'yes' again. And then it becomes possible for us, and then the plant begins to grow. At the beginning, it is almost impossible for us to do it alone. And then, such a Jesus stumbles into our lives, or rather, we stumble into the proximity of such a Jesus, a living Son of God; one who lives there, in this surrender. And suddenly, we experience this ourselves. And then, you know how it works.

And then, it is easier for you to remember. And the longer you are on the path, the easier it becomes. And at some point, you no longer need the living Jesus; you are one yourself. Swamiji says again and again: "My only task is to make your own soul your Guru." That means: he helps you to become like him. And then, you live like that. Then, it's for you... You know, Jesus was the most normal person in the world. We have a very hard time because the church has exalted him so much. The only Son of God – that's not true, of course. Jesus never said that.

He never said: I am the only Son of God. He was misunderstood. He said: "Only through me will you come to the Lord." And that's exactly what you're saying. He says: it's so simple, but you can't do it alone. It's just jinxed. It's just like we're tied in knots. It's so simple. But then you get close to a living Jesus, and it just becomes easy. And that's why Jesus said... this very phenomenon that we've been talking about here all along. Jesus said: "Only through me will you come to the Lord." But not because he was unique.

I am convinced that Jesus also had his Guru. But if he had told them about it, they would have nailed him to the cross immediately. And we have misunderstood him. The church has turned him into something completely unique and aloof, as if there had never been anyone like him, and there will never be anyone like him again. But Jesus spoke differently, and every Guru speaks differently. He says: I am only here to make you, to make your soul, your Guru; to make you a Jesus, so that you too can be God's son and daughter. We are; we just don't know how to get there.

In the beginning, it is almost impossible to do it alone. And then, a Jesus stumbles into our lives, and suddenly, we experience it ourselves. And the longer you are on the path, the easier it gets. And at some point, you no longer need the living Jesus; you are one yourself.

Link to quote in video at 57m18s

[Questioner:] "Yes, but that's not quite right, because there are hermits who come into their power on their own."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Yes, that's true. There are people who have... It's not the first time we've been here in this life. I'm not the type of person who can see past lives, but there are people who do, and when I hear them speak, I know it's true. And when they come into this life, they really have it easy. They can do it. Swamiji also managed it somehow. But these people have to go far away from society, that's why they have become hermits. We talked about it at the beginning in Satsang, you weren't there yet: about how infectious this energy of society is – the normal thinking in society.

And these people, who already had this knowledge much more strongly within them from birth, then went away to be able to live it. They couldn't do it in society. But the miracle of today is that the time has now come, which has been predicted for thousands of years... Now it's possible for normal people. Now we can talk about such things, even though we live in society. We no longer need to go into a cave. Now the time has come for this to be brought into society, and this will change society and the world, very slowly and gradually.

The Guru's disciples are stupid.

Link to topic in video at 1h01m37s

[Questioner:] "I wanted to say something else about what you said earlier; about surrender."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Yes, please.

[Questioner:] "And I think you said it right, that a lot of Western people are skeptical, but sometimes it turns into the exact opposite. Well, I used to do a lot of Zen meditation, and I saw that a lot of people are also very submissive, like slaves. So, my intuition told me that this is not the right way."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Yes. That's also the reason why we have such problems with it in the West.

The disciples of a Guru are stupid. That's why I always say that I'm stupid. We try to learn from the Guru, but we don't really know what he is talking about. And it was the same with Jesus. They didn't understand him. They didn't understand what he was talking about. They argued about who would be allowed to sit at his right hand when they dined together in Heaven. They thought about such nonsense. They had no idea what he was talking about.

But he had no others, so he just took them. Jesus said 'yes'. Jesus took everyone as they were, including his disciples, including Judas. Jesus knew exactly what was in store for him. He knew his way. He knew what was coming. He knew what Judas would do. Judas did not know. Jesus knew, and he said: "Do what you have to do." Judas didn't know what he was talking about, but he knew.

And Jesus' message was misunderstood, because the people around him didn't understand him, and that's how the Christian church came into being. Not because anyone is evil in the Christian church... They just didn't understand him, and out of that came a culture of imitation; a culture of doing something without having any kind of connection with it. You become obedient; you do something that doesn't come out of myself; and of course, that only leads to bad things.

And that's why we've started to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We now know that it's bad to listen to someone else – that's what we believe. Of course, that's not true. It's bad to listen to someone who is not trustworthy. Only you know who you can trust. You feel it. You can feel it quite accurately if you're very, very honest, yes. A lot of people talk about things that sound incredibly great. You feel exactly that it's not true – but you want to believe it.

You see an ad on the Internet, some product that normally costs eight hundred Euros is being sold here for twelve Euros because something has to be cleared incredibly quickly, and it's being sold to the hundred first buyers. You know that's not true, but you go along with it anyway because you'd love to have it for twelve Euros. That's the way it is. And that's how it is in life as well. You have people in front of you, you feel exactly... and you do it anyway – because you want something.

They didn't understand him, and a culture of imitation arose from that. One becomes obedient; one does something that doesn't come out of oneself; and that only leads to bad things. And that's why we've thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

Link to quote in video at 1h03m42s

You are promised something, and you want it. But you knew better. A true Guru, a true Master, does one thing and one thing only: he encourages you, or her if it's a woman, to do one thing over and over again: "Be true to yourself. Learn to feel your soul." That's the only thing I do in all my videos. I keep telling people what I did even when my Master said something completely different. I have done things even though Swamiji said something else, because I couldn't help it.

I didn't feel any resonance in me for some things and then I didn't do them. And by being true to myself, I was able to hear my Master. It's a paradox – but you have to be true to yourself to be able to listen to a Jesus. You can't trust someone even though you don't feel trust. If you do, you go astray, but it's your own fault. It has nothing to do with the charlatan.

The world is full of charlatans, everywhere: vacuum cleaner salesmen, internet ads, in the spiritual realm... it has nothing to do with spirituality. The world is just like that. But we have a compass built into us. Everyone has one. You can feel it – if you want to listen to yourself. And there's always the other side that says: "Yes, but what if it's true? That would be cool, just twelve Euros for one of these things." But you know.

It's a paradox – but you have to be true to yourself to be able to listen to a Jesus. You can't trust someone even though you don't feel trust. If you do, you go astray, but it's your own fault. It has nothing to do with the charlatan. The world is full of charlatans.

Link to quote in video at 1h06m30s

And there are people, who are really convincing and who say really great things – things that are even true. But you don't like the guy – then don't listen to him. And then you listen to someone else, a totally unimpressive guy, a beggar perhaps, someone who doesn't look like Jesus or something. And he doesn't talk so great and so convincingly, but everything in you opens up. Everything in you opens up. That's where you go. That's where you go.

And if he does Zen, then you do Zen with him. But if he were teaching gardening, you would garden with him, you know? It doesn't matter what he says. You're there because of him, not because of what he says. That's how it works. Listen to yourself – only to yourself. This I tell people again and again in my videos: "Don't listen to me. Try out what I say – if you want to." You listen, and then you realize: "Ah, that sounds great, there's something about it; I have to find out.

I want to try that." Then you do it. And if you think: "No, that's nonsense", then don't do it. Listen to yourself, not to me. I don't know what's good for you. I'm telling you about how I learned to know what's good for me, so you can do that for yourself. Your life is different, your path is different. For me, Swamiji is the greatest gift walking the earth right now. For you, there is probably, or not, another gift that will do the right thing in your life. You must live your own life.

Listen to yourself, not to me. I don't know what's good for you. I'm telling you about how I learned to know what's good for me so you can do that for yourself. Your life is different, your path is different. You have to live your own life.

Link to quote in video at 1h08m46s

[Questioner:] "I realize: my mind makes such a concept out of it all the time, out of this surrender. So it's like: yes, then I won't get any more outbursts of anger; then I'm just floating on cloud nine, and somehow I keep falling for this concept, somehow: 'then you have to be like this and like that, and then I play it like this, or I try to play it like this, as my mind makes it up through this concept and so on. And I feel I'm completely on the wrong track, but I keep falling for it."

[Dhyan Mikael:] This is how what I said earlier about the Christian church came about. The disciples of Jesus had no personal experience of what Jesus was talking about, so they imitated. You can't see what it's really about and so you can't imitate it. What can you see? He walks very consciously. He loves all people.

And then that's what you do: you love everyone, and that's totally sick. It has nothing to do with love. It's something copied, put on. It comes from the mind. It's an effort to do something that can really only happen by itself. And it happens because of this imitating. And that doesn't lead to anything good. It doesn't work.

[Questioner:] "Yes, I'm playing a role now, just like when I play a role in business. At work, I play the role of an employee."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Yes, people used to come to Soham, to this unique spiritual teacher, and they wanted enlightenment. And what did he tell them? "Well, feel your feelings. You feel unenlightened, you feel stupid, okay. Can you say 'yes' to that? Can you feel that? Can you be close to yourself as you are?" They all wanted something different, and he kept leading them back to their own hell, back to their own desert, back to their own normality. And that's something you can't understand.

That's why I said earlier in response to your question about how it works in practice: you have to do it, again and again. And then you realize. That's how I it is for me with the meditation. Sometimes I sit there in the morning and meditate, and then something new happens in meditation – it all happens by itself – and I think: "Wow..." Sometimes, it is as if another new door opens, and then you experience something in a new way. You couldn't do it, it just happens, sometimes, once in a while, not often.

And the next time I meditate, I think: "I want to go there again. I'll do that again now." But then, of course, I immediately realize: "Wait a minute"... As soon as I do that, I realize I'm not up here, I'm one floor below, here (in the mind). And that feels completely different; it's a completely different story. And then: "Oh yes, okay. Letting go of this, also. Sometimes, people have come to Soham and talked about their enlightenment experience; great story; everyone in the room thought these stories were really great.

And what does Soham say? "Yeah, okay, forget it. Start again now. In this moment, be as you are now. Forget about enlightenment." Enlightenment is unimportant, enlightenment is just an experience. All people want enlightenment... Enlightenment is a first realization. It's great when it happens to you, but it's not important. It actually only makes it more difficult, because then you have it in your head, and you always want to have it that way. But then you forget about: "Okay, so how am I now?

How unenlightened am I right now? How stupid am I right now? Ah, that stupid; okay. Yes, I know that. Okay, yes, all right, good, I know it. I say 'yes' to that. Also today." That's the only way. You just have to try it again and again, and you always end up back at what you said. It happens to you again and again. And always start again from the beginning. Keep going back to the beginning. You may have heard that before; it's also such a great spiritual saying, but that's how it is: always start again, now.

Meditate every morning, as if it were my first time. Every time you meet your lover as if you had never seen her before; your husband... "wow, what kind of man is he? What's he like today?" Usually, he comes out of the bedroom, and you think you know exactly who's coming. But you don't. And that's so difficult. And practicing it every day.... every day.

About the introduction to Samarpan Meditation

Link to topic in video at 1h14m41s

[Questioner:] "You mentioned at the beginning that you can't do the meditation introduction yourself, but that it happens online, and that it will also take place tonight. Do we have access to it outside of this session here?"

[Dhyan Mikael:] It is like this... So, tonight, what's happening tonight is not an introduction, but it's an opportunity for you to join in because people (hosting the meditation) are describing very briefly how it works. It is, as said, practically speaking, not a big deal. But this introduction you can do online, for example it is being streamed every Monday evening. They do an online session every Monday evening, anyone can join in, and of course it doesn't cost anything. I think it starts at half past six or a quarter to seven.

And there is an Online Introduction, where you can simply join in; then a few news from the sangha are read out, and then, I think at eight o'clock, we meditate together; you can also meditate together online. And you can take part in the introduction directly. You don't have to wait for some recording. And I have... As I said, I have a QR code in the back on one of these three displays, which you can scan, or take a photo of the URL. That's the page where you can find the dates and how to access them online on Monday evenings. You can find out there.

And tonight, if I can manage it technically... I'll test the later... If it works technically here in the house, then I'll stream the meditation at 6pm, and then you can simply join in the meditation. And as I said, this introduction that you're supposed to do is a completely harmless thing, you don't buy a vacuum cleaner or anything. It's completely harmless and normal. It's interesting. I went through it seven years ago and it's just a nice event, and then you know what this meditation is all about. And then you can just do it. Do you have any other questions?

Should I really live out everything?

Link to topic in video at 1h16m44s

[Questioner:] "You said in one of your videos, or several times: the most important thing you learned from Soham, or one of the most important things, was that he told you that you have to think about yourself; that you have to do those things that you... So, you shouldn't think about others, about your wife, that she's doing well, but you should think about yourself. Does that mean that I really do live out all my quirks and everything that I don't really appreciate about myself? I know that it doesn't actually do the other person any good."

[Dhyan Mikael:] Well, this is a topic where there are also thorough misunderstandings, which is why I always like to talk about it. Christians in particular have a particularly difficult time with this. In Christianity, charity is upheld because we have seen how Jesus lived. But we don't know where the charity that flowed from Jesus came from.

And that's what Soham taught me. I thought he is crazy. One day he said to me... It was like this: one day I told him how nice I thought it was with me and my girlfriend. I just loved her and I looked after her and made sure that she was doing well and that I wasn't doing anything wrong and that I was just a good partner for her.

And I thought that was great, I was really proud of it. And then he says to me: "Mikael, don't do that. Just look after yourself. Just look after yourself. Just see how you're doing." I thought he was crazy. I thought it couldn't be true. And I was convinced: this is wrong. I knew it wasn't true. So, that's how I felt.

And I ignored it. That's what I said. I was true to myself, and that's why I am still with him. If I had listened to him back then, even though I didn't believe it, I would have walked away from him sooner or later. You can't do that... You can't be with someone where you are not true to yourself.

That's the end of any partnership, and that's the end of any spiritual relationship. But I was true to myself, and that's why I continued to learn from him – those things I could believe. And then, I learned from him more and more to love myself; more and more to take care of myself. I didn't do that with my girlfriend, I was always the good partner, but in the rest of my life, I learned that more and more.

And at some point... the relationship had long since ended... At some point, without me realizing it, without me deciding to do it, I started behaving like that with women as well. But I didn't know about it, because it had become so normal for me. And then I had an experience once... I was with a woman.

If I had listened to him back then, even though I didn't believe it, I would have walked away from him sooner or later. You can't do that... You can't be with someone where you are not true to yourself. That's the end of any partnership, and that's the end of any spiritual relationship.

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We had sex, we cuddled, we had a good time together, but I only paid attention to myself. My attention was only on myself. I always felt: what do I like now? What is right for me now? What is no longer right for me? How do I feel right now? And I experienced a dance, a harmony, a mutual understanding... I experienced how whenever I... There was a situation where I realized: "Oh, now I've had enough, now I want to pause for once."

It was really great, we could have gone on like that forever, but I realized: "No, now I feel like something else." So, I paused. And then she said to me: "Wow, that's so cool. I was just thinking about how I can tell you that I need a change, and then you do it." And I then experienced it again and again, over and over again. And then, I realized: the true connection to the other person is through me. When I have learned to be with myself, to feel myself, to perceive myself, then I am connected to others through that.

This is the practical experience that we are one. Being one up here (in the head) is terrible. But when you learn to be close to yourself, closer and closer, then you suddenly experience that you are in perfect harmony and resonance with other people. You know what's right for you, and that's exactly what's right for her, even though you hadn't given any thought to what's right for her. And then I knew: "That's what he meant back then, ten years ago, when I couldn't believe him. That's what he was talking about!"

But I had to learn it myself. That's why I tell everyone: always be true to yourself. You know, if I say something today and you think it's crazy, don't listen to it. In ten years' time, you might be doing exactly what I was talking about, but then you'll have discovered it in your own way. We discover life by being true to ourselves. And there is, of course, a misunderstanding about what you just asked: that doesn't mean that I live out all my madness. The only thing I'm talking about is perceiving what is inside of me.

And then, I realized: the true connection to the other person is through me. When I have learned to be with myself, to feel myself, to perceive myself, then I am connected to others through that. This is the practical experience that we are one.

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That doesn't mean that I have to do it. When I start to perceive myself, then I perceive all kinds of things within me. I perceive all these absurd desires and cravings that one has. You know exactly that chocolate is not good for you, but you eat that bar anyway. It's all inside me. But if I do things with as much awareness as I can, the things I do, even if I know they're kind of crazy, then something changes. Then you learn in a natural way. And the mind thinks: "Yes, if I do that, then I'm just doing nonsense.

Then I'm only doing things that are bad for others." We can't intellectually imagine what it means to be conscious. We don't know what we really will perceive once our attention is with us. We only know what we think up here, but that has nothing to do with perception. When you start to perceive yourself, a kind of divine autopilot starts to steer you. It takes good care of you. Then you may have these cravings that you have always had and that you have lived out and with which you have only caused mischief.

And then of course you perceive them. But you suddenly also notice completely different things. You feel much more than before, and then it all sorts itself out. You have to experience it. You have to dare to take the risk once, to do everything wrong, and then you realize: that didn't happen. Other things happen. But you have to do it once. You have to take the risk once. And that's why I keep encouraging you to do it.

We discover life by being true to ourselves.

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Spirituality is something completely normal

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I can't believe you're even listening. That's so nice; it's really great. I've experienced this with Soham again and again. I said: he is such a normal guy. And the normal people came to him. The normal people came to him, the very simple, normal people. The accountant with his briefcase always came in the evening in Munich, and I was always so touched because the normal people came, those who live this very normal life. Spirituality is something normal.

It has nothing to do with chanting Om and with some kind of detached, new habits. Spirituality is something completely normal. Soham told us about this, and I will tell you about it now. Swamiji is also so normal. Most people have difficulties with him because everyone around him is Indian, and he is simply embedded in this Indian culture, and they do things the Indian way. And when you see that as a Westerner, it sometimes makes your toenails curl. You say: I don't want to be part of that.

But he keeps saying: The only thing I bring to the table is meditation. All the rest comes from others. And of course he joins in, because he lives in that culture. Jesus took part in Jewish things because he lived in that culture. He was not a Jew. He was the Son of God. He found his own way. And for that, they nailed him to the cross. But all these outward appearances are not important. Yes, the spiritual path is the most natural, the most normal thing in the world. And you can hardly recognize the really spiritual people.

Spirituality is something normal. It has nothing to do with chanting Om and with some kind of detached, new habits. Spirituality is something completely normal.

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Do you have another question? I always forget the time, that's why I have my mobile phone with me. Yes, we still have one minute left, so if you have another question, we'll use that minute for this Satsang.

Otherwise, as I said, tonight is the Satsang where I'm trying to stream this meditation. I assume that will work. And otherwise, I'll have two more Satsangs tomorrow. And if you want: I have my newsletter list back there, you can sign up; I send out a newsletter every one or two weeks... if you don't get it yet, you can sign up for it.

I'm delighted that you're here. Thank you very much for coming. Thank you very much.