Path without Rules

Good morning.

The important and, more important, the unimportant

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This morning, I would like to talk about a subject which is very, very close to my heart. I want to talk about the reasons why some people feel like they cannot continue with the Samarpan Meditation.

I hear this again and again from people that they say: "I love this meditation. I really want to meditate. But...", and then they talk about all the things they don't like. They say: "I love the meditation, but then I have to do this and that and that, and I don't want to do all these other things." They have the impression that the meditation comes with a package; that it means: when you want to do the Samarpan Meditation, you have to also do other things; that you have to do other things that you don't want to do.

And this is not true. But it's very easy for us humans to get this impression. And I want to talk about, in this video, how this happens, and why it is like this for us. I want to tell you how it is in reality, and I want to tell you what you can do to not fall into this trap, so you can happily do what you want – the meditation – and forget all the rest.

Swamiji, this is the Indian Guru who brings this amazing meditation from the Himalayas into society, he says: this meditation is unique because of two properties: it's free – it's free of charge; you don't have to pay anything; the meditation is free, and everything around the meditation is free – and: there are no rules. You can just meditate. You don't have to change your lifestyle. You don't have to become a vegetarian.

You don't have to change your daily routine. You don't have to become a member of a religion. You don't have to have a Guru. You don't have to have a Guru in order to meditate the Samarpan Meditation. This meditation is independent of all these things. For myself, I call it the Meditation of Freedom. Swamiji says: don't change yourself; just keep on living the way you live – and add the meditation; don't try to change, but meditate.

This meditation is free – and: there are no rules. You can just meditate. You don't have to change your lifestyle, become a vegetarian or change your daily routine, become a member of a religion or have a Guru. This meditation is independent of all these things. I call it the Meditation of Freedom.

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And when you hear Swamiji talk about the meditation, when you listen to him himself or when you read his books, there you can feel this freedom. There you can feel this utter simplicity.

Swamiji says: don't change yourself; just keep on living the way you live – and add the meditation; don't try to change, but meditate.

And when you hear Swamiji talk about the meditation, when you listen to him himself or when you read his books, there you can feel this freedom. There you can feel this utter simplicity.

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It's the most natural thing in the world to meditate the Samarpan Meditation. It's so easy. And there's nothing attached to it. No obligations. No rules.

But how is it then that there are some people who feel the opposite, who don't feel this ease and this freedom but who feel obliged to be a certain way or to do certain things they don't want to do. Why does this happen? How is this possible?

Well...

The conflict within you

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It happens very easily... You start the meditation. You love it. After a short time, you notice how it changes your life, and you don't even know how it's possible. But then, you begin to see other people who meditate.

Maybe you join a meditation group, or you meet with some people, or you participate in online meditations, and there you see what people say and write about the meditation.

You see how they do it, and immediately, you compare yourself to them, and you think: "Oh, I should be doing it the same way like they do it." You see them, and some people not only meditate, but they do certain ceremonies, certain rituals. This meditation comes from India, but it's not Indian. It is free of religion. It's just a meditation, nothing else. But then, you see people who do certain Hindu rituals around the meditation, for instance, the Yagya, the fire ceremony.

I know people who love the ceremony. They love it. And then, they can do it. It's fun. I'm not interested in it at all. I'm not interested in any rituals, so I don't do it. But then, you see other people, how they not only do the meditation, but certain things around on it. And then you think: "Oh, I should do that too." And then you feel: "But I don't want to. I just want to meditate. I don't want to do a fire ceremony. I don't want to do all this Hindu stuff."

And then you feel: "Well, I guess I can't meditate." But that's not true. Swamiji says: "The only thing I bring is the meditation. Nothing else." He says: all the rest around it has nothing to do with the meditation. He says: "I just bring the meditation. All the other stuff is something else." And it's only natural, you know... This meditation comes from India into the world, so it's only natural that all these Indian people who do the meditation, they do what Swamiji says: "Don't change.

Just add this meditation to your life." And they are Hindus, so they do all their Hindu stuff. They do all these ceremonies and rituals and chanting and God knows what, and they meditate. And then, these people then talk about meditation, and when you see them, how they do it, then you see all these cultural things, all these religious things they are doing. And then, it's very easy to think: "Oh, that's how you do it. That's how I need to do it." And it's not true.

The meditation is independent of all of this.

This meditation comes from India into the world, so it's only natural that all these Indian people who do the meditation, they do what Swamiji says: "Don't change. Just add this meditation to your life." And they are Hindus, so they do all their Hindu stuff. They do all these ceremonies and rituals and chanting and God knows what, and they meditate. And then, these people then talk about meditation, and when you see them, how they do it, then you see all these cultural things, all these religious things they are doing. And then, it's very easy to think: "Oh, that's how you do it. That's how I need to do it." And it's not true. The meditation is independent of all of this.

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And for me, I'm not interested in any of this religious and cultural stuff; not at all. I just love to meditate, and that's what I do. And that's what you can do too. It's the Meditation of Freedom. Yeah. And Swamiji himself, he says it: just meditate. The rest is not important.

I'm not interested in any of this religious and cultural stuff; not at all. I just love to meditate, and that's what I do. And that's what you can do too. It's the Meditation of Freedom.

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And then you see how other people do the meditation. Some people tell you how beautiful it is to do it early in the morning. Some people get up at 3:30, and they meditate at 3:30 in the morning. And I have this experience too. When I get up early, and when I have a very early meditation, it's just lovely. It's the best time to meditate. But it doesn't mean that you have to do it like this.

It's so quick that we get the feeling: "Oh, that's the proper way to do it." And then you say: "But I can't get up that early. It's not possible for me. I need my sleep. I get up at 6:30, and then I can meditate. But if I have to do it in the morning so early, I can't do it, and then I'd rather don't do it."

That's how the head then kicks in. But this is not true. Swamiji says: just meditate. If you can do it early in the morning, fine. If not, do it any time. Do it in the afternoon. Do it in the evening. The main thing, he says, is that you meditate. Nothing else is important.

It's so quick that we feel: "That's the proper way to do it." And then you say: "But I can't get up that early; then I'd rather don't do it." That's how the head kicks in. But this is not true. Swamiji says: just meditate. If you can do it early in the morning, fine. If not, do it any time. The main thing is that you meditate. Nothing else is important.

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And then you see how people... Like, you hear me talking, and then I tell you about this Guru, Swamiji, and how good it is for me that I have this Guru in my life. And then you think: "Well, I don't want a Guru. I don't feel any attraction to Swamiji. But if it is like this, I can't do this meditation." But this is not true.

I feel totally blessed that I have this Guru in my life, but it has nothing to do with the meditation. You can meditate without a Guru. When you start the meditation, maybe a Guru comes into your life, but don't worry about it. This then happens by itself, and you will want it if it's right for you. If not, forget it. Sometimes you see how people prostrate before they meditate. I do this. I just had my first on-site Satsangs.

I was at a spiritual festival, I was invited, and there, I did 6 Satsangs. And people came who didn't know me, who didn't know the Samarpan Meditation, and I told them about it. So, I come into the room, and all the people are sitting there. I had put up Swamiji's energy picture. This is what you see here behind me. I just love this picture. I feel supported by it. And so, I have this picture there in the room, and before I sit down and start speaking, I prostrate before this picture.

I just love this act of surrender. It helps me to become empty and happy, and it's just good for me. And then, other people see this, and they think like: "Wow. What is this? This is really strange. If I have to do this, I won't meditate." I just do it because I like it. It it's not necessary. It's not mandatory. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. And for me, it wasn't like this always. In the beginning, I felt the same.

I was doing the Samarpan Meditation, and I saw that some people prostrated, and I felt: "Oh, this is strange. I don't want to do this." But at some point, a few years later, I just learned to surrender inside more and more and more. It's so delicious. It's so helpful. And then, at some point, I just enjoyed doing this outwardly by prostrating too. It's an immense help for me, but I only do it now because I like it.

We cannot hear the freedom

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So, this is the Meditation of Freedom. There are no rules. And whatever you see from other people, what they are doing, they do it because they feel like it, but you don't have to do it.

I just said that when you hear Swamiji himself speak about the meditation, there you can feel this. There you can feel that it really is like this: complete freedom, totally easy, no obligation. It just feels fun and free. But then you hear other people talk about it. Maybe you hear the people in your meditation group talk about it, or when you do the introduction to the Samarpan Meditation, which is recommended that you do it when you start, then you hear people there explain it to you, how it works and what's helpful and what's supportive.

And then you hear these people, and immediately, you get the feeling: I have to do this. I have to do that. You don't have this feeling of ease and of freedom. Suddenly, you have the feeling of "I have to follow all these rules, and I have to do all these things. I don't want. I just want to meditate."

This is the Meditation of Freedom. There are no rules. And whatever you see from other people, they do it because they feel like it, but you don't have to do it. When you hear Swamiji speak about the meditation, there you can feel this: complete freedom, totally easy, no obligation. It just feels fun and free.

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And this is natural. It's like this... There are several things at play here, and I want to talk about it, so you recognize what it actually is, what makes it difficult for you. It's like this that from childhood on, we learned as children to do what other people tell us. It's very rare that parents support the child in finding out what the child wants in any given moment. Usually, what the child hears is: "Do this. Do that. Don't do this. Don't do that." And the child learns to follow the rules.

And whenever the child hears somebody talk, the child checks: "Okay, what does this adult want me to do? What's the task here?" There is no freedom. There is obligation involved. And if the child does what it's told to do, then it's a good child, and it gets rewarded. And if the child doesn't do what it's told to do but follows its own energy and instincts, then the child gets into trouble, and the child learns that it's not liked and not loved when it does this.

And so, we learn, as little children, to not do what we know is right for us, but we learn to do what other people say. And this special way of 'hearing', that is what we carry into our adult life. And then, you hear other people talk about the meditation, how they do it, or you participate in an online introduction or in any introduction about the meditation, and you hear what these people tell you about the meditation. They tell it in a totally loving way; no rules. But you can't hear this.

The way you hear what is being said is: "I have to. All these rules, all these things I don't want to do." But it has nothing to do with what those people actually say. It's the way we hear. It's our programming. We can't hear how it is really being said. We hear how we learned to interpret that what is being told. Nobody is free of this.

So, this is one of these things which makes it so easy for us to feel that there are things involved which I must do if I want to meditate, but it's not true. And it even happens with the Guru or the Master himself. Even if you hear Swamiji speak, or even when you read his autobiography or other books he wrote, you will not hear what he says. You will not read the words how he wrote them, but you will hear them the way you learned to hear. And when you, as a child, learned to follow the rules, then you will hear rules everywhere. You will see rules everywhere. It's just the way we are.

And it even happens with the Guru or the Master himself. You will not hear what he says. When you, as a child, learned to follow the rules, then you will hear rules everywhere. You will see rules everywhere. It's just the way we are.

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The second thing which makes it difficult is that not only do you not really hear what people actually say. Those people who speak about the meditation, they have their own misunderstandings. I just said: you can't really hear what Swamiji actually says. You can't really hear what Jesus actually said. We interpret it. And those people you listen to, they have also the same misunderstandings. I experienced this firsthand when I was in the crew, in the team of my spiritual Master Soham.

24 years ago, I joined him. And then, for 20 years, I was part of his travel team. We traveled from city to city where he gave Satsang, and we were a small group of people. In the beginning, we were 7 or 8 people and later a little bit less, and we took care of all the practical things. We prepared the room, and we did the traveling, and we took care of the people coming there so everything is nice and fine for them.

So, we were a small group of people directly around Soham, and there, I could experience how those people, my teammates who were so close to the Master, who heard him speak every day, how they misunderstood him all the time. And then, with this misunderstanding, they talk about Satsang and talk about the Master to other people, not knowing that they are speaking nonsense. They don't mean bad. It's just natural. It's just normal for us humans to misunderstand, and to pass on our own misunderstandings.

And I'm sure I did the same things. I could see the misunderstandings of my teammates. I couldn't see my own misunderstandings, but I saw their theirs, but I'm sure I had the same misunderstandings myself. So, we cannot hear what actually is being said, and what people say is also full of misunderstanding. So, then we get the impression that there are all these rules, all these things one should or must do, and it's all not true.

The truth is: there is one thing and one thing only, just the meditation. If you want to meditate, if you like this meditation, just do it, and forget all the rest. All the rest is not important. That's what I hear Swamiji say again and again and again.

And these things I'm talking about here are so normal. It's not that there's something wrong with you because this happens to you. No. It happens to everybody. You can also see it around Jesus. There was this amazing Master, this amazing Guru, Jesus, and his disciples had no clue what he was talking about. And those disciples later established the Christian church, full of misunderstandings. It's just the way it is. Nobody means bad. It's not that somebody has a bad intent.

It just is like this. Swamiji says: the Guru talks on his level, way up here, and the disciple hears on his level, way down there. And there is no communication possible. Between the Guru and the disciple, there is no communication possible, because the disciple cannot hear what the Guru says. The disciple can only hear what he is ready to hear, what fits into his brain. And this lightness and simplicity and the freedom of the Guru is just unimaginable for the disciple.

Between the Guru and the disciple, communication is not possible, because the disciple cannot hear what the Guru says. The disciple can only hear what he is ready to hear, what fits into his brain. And this lightness and simplicity and freedom of the Guru is unimaginable for the disciple. It doesn't fit into his brain.

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It doesn't fit into his brain. And then, the Christian church became a church with so many rules and so many rituals and stuff, and it's all not important. The only thing Jesus ever talked about was: meditate. He used the word 'prayer': "Thy will be done", he always said – that's your prayer. That's meditation. Eeverything else was later added on by other people based on their misunderstandings, and it's the same today.

The Christian church has so many rules and rituals, and it's all not important. The only thing Jesus ever talked about was: meditate. He used the word 'prayer': "Thy will be done". That's meditation. Eeverything else was later added by other people based on their misunderstandings, and it's the same today.

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You don't want to meditate.

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But, you know, we live in amazing times. You live at a time where this living Jesus – I am talking about Swamiji now –, this living Jesus, Swamiji, who brings this meditation, he is still alive. You can ask him. You can ask him: "Hey, is this really true? Do I have to do it this and that way, and do I have to do these rituals? I just want to meditate", and then, he will tell you the truth. I experienced it myself. I was at one of his discourses, I think it was last autumn in Germany.

And after his discourses, he always has question answer sessions where people can ask him directly, and he answers. So, one lady asks: "I know I am supposed to meditate early in the morning, but I just can't do it and it's a problem for me. I try it again and again, but it doesn't work. And then, I think I just can't meditate. So, when should I meditate? What time should I meditate? What's the right thing here?" And then he says: "You only have this question because you don't want to meditate."

Isn't this amazing? He says: there are no rules. If you want to meditate early in the morning, this is great. It's the best time to meditate. But if you can do this, if you don't want to, then meditate any time. The important thing, he says, is that you meditate. How? When? That's secondary. And he says: we create all these conflicts in ourselves because, in reality, we don't want to meditate. There is something in us which wants to prevent us from meditating.

And then, we hear not the simplicity, not the freedom, not the ease, but we hear complication, we hear rules, we hear all these things which makes it difficult and impossible for us to meditate, and that's the ego. When you meditate this meditation, your ego will die. This identity, this 'I' sense, will vanish, and it doesn't allow this to happen. It works against it. It sabotages this process, this ego. And then, the Guru says: just meditate. Don't change. Don't change your life.

We create all these conflicts in ourselves because we don't want to meditate. Something in us wants to prevent us from meditating. And then, we hear not the simplicity, freedom and ease, but we hear complication, rules and all these things which makes it difficult and impossible for us to meditate.

And that's the ego.

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Don't change yourself. Just meditate. It's totally simple. And what you hear is something very difficult, and you feel conflicts everywhere, and you think, I can't meditate. Like this, I can't meditate. And that's your ego which fools you. It tricks you so you don't want to meditate anymore. It's just a trick of the ego. That's all. And Swamiji said to this lady: just meditate any time you want. This question you have is only because there is something in you which doesn't want you to meditate.

The Guru says: just meditate. Don't change. Don't change your life. Don't change yourself. It's totally simple. And what you hear is something very difficult, and you feel conflicts everywhere, and you think: like this I can't meditate. And that's your ego which fools you. It tricks you so you don't want to meditate anymore. That's all.

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So, in reality, there is no problem at all.

Three ways out of the ego trap

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So, there are these three difficulties. You cannot hear what the Guru really says. You can't trust your own hearing. And what other people tell you is also full of misunderstanding, because they have the same problem like you. They also misunderstand. They also interpret easily that there are actually obligations and things which are important, which you should do and have to do.

They have the same feeling like you, and then you pick this up from them as well. You have your own misunderstandings, and on top of that, you add the misunderstandings of those people you experience around you who do the meditation or who speak about the meditation.

And then, there is your ego, which tries to trick you into not meditating.

And all these things together, and you get the feeling: this is really difficult. But it doesn't have to be like this. Swamiji says: it's free, and there are no rules. But the ego doesn't like this freedom. The ego doesn't like this ease, because that's the end of the ego. So, what can you do to not fall into this trap? That's what I want to speak about now, at the second part of this video. What can you do practically? You would like to meditate.

You like the meditation itself, but all the other things, you don't like. You don't like to force yourself to meditate at a certain time. You don't like to force yourself to do rituals you don't like. You don't like to force yourself to have a Guru when you don't want one. What can you do to not fall into this trap of all these rules you perceive? And that's what I want to tell you now. I want to give you three things you can do to make this totally easy.

The first one is: be true to yourself. And what I mean with this is: follow your joy. There is a built-in compass in all of us, and that is your joy; that's what you have energy for; that's how God, that's how life speaks to you. That's how life directs you to those things which are good for you. Something is easy and fun for you... Whenever there is something you have fun with, it's effortless. It's easy. It happens almost by itself.

And even if it's difficult in some way, you just have fun with it, and you have the energy for it. So, follow your joy. Follow your energy. Do that what you feel energy for. Do that what you feel joy with. That's the compass. You notice: "Oh, I love this meditation." Then, do it. And maybe you have also fun with other things. Maybe you love the fire ceremony – then, do it. But if not: don't do it.

Maybe you love to get up early in the morning to meditate– then, do it. But maybe this is a burden for you; maybe you hate it: then, don't. It's that simple.

Do that what you feel energy for. Do that what you feel joy with. That's the compass. You love this meditation, then do it. Maybe you love the fire ceremony – then, do it. But if not: don't do it. Maybe you love to get up early in the morning to meditate– then, do it. But maybe this is a burden for you: then, don't. It's that simple.

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It is not possible to meditate. it's not possible to be on the spiritual path and to not be true to yourself. It doesn't work. I don't know how this is supposed to work. You can only walk that path which is your path. Everything else you will stop doing, sooner or later. If you do something which is not in accordance with your own joy and your own energy, you will stop, sooner or later.

But if you just follow your own joy and your own energy, and if you don't do anything you don't have joy with, then you are so close to yourself, and then, by your own experiences, you will discover, step by step, all those things which are good for you, and then, they are fun for you.

And that's why this is so helpful to just be true to your own joy – true to yourself.

If you do something which is not in accordance with your own joy and energy, you will stop, sooner or later. But if you just follow your own joy and your own energy, then you are so close to yourself, and then, by your own experiences, you discover all those things which are good for you, and then, they are fun for you.

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When the right thing is the wrong thing

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It's like this. You can do something which is the right thing, but if you do this right thing against yourself, it's not helpful; it's bad. You do the right thing against yourself, and it becomes wrong. And that's why this is not a good idea. If you force yourself to do something against yourself, it will bring you away from yourself, and then, you cannot feel what's right and what's good for you.

And you will abandon the meditation or anything else which is good for you. You can't sustain it. It's not possible. But if you give yourself the freedom to only do what's fun, to only do what you feel some attraction to, some joy, then you will discover for yourself all these things which are good for you. There is never a need to go against yourself. Never.

There is never a need to go against yourself. Never.

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So, this is the one thing, the first thing you can do: be true to yourself. Follow your joy. That is how I live. I can't do anything else. So often, I experience it in my life. I see how people do things which are obviously good, but I don't feel like it. And then, I don't do them. I just don't do them. I remember the time when Swamiji came into my life.

Swamiji came into my life and into the life of my spiritual Master, Soham, and then, all the people who were around Soham heard about the Samarpan Meditation and about Swamiji. And then, so many people, they went to India to attend Swamiji's, discourses there, and they loved it, and it was obviously good for them. But I didn't felt like it. I didn't feel any energy for this, so I stayed at home. And that's what I do always. I have experienced it with my own Master so many times that he told me something, and I felt: "No.

I don't want to do this. This is stupid." So, I didn't do it. And because I stayed true to myself, I could stay with him. I was true to myself, and because of this, there was no conflict. He said something I didn't like or I didn't agree with, but I was true to myself. And that's why there was never a conflict between me and my Master. And that is why I am still with him to this day. In these 24 years I am with him, I saw so many people come and go.

And many of these people, they were not true to themselves. They thought: it's good to do what the Master says, even if they didn't want to. And then, they always had conflict. They were fighting with him. They were discussing with him. There were conflicts everywhere, and sooner or later, they left. But I did it differently. I was always stubborn. I just couldn't... It's not because I was so wise. I was just stubborn. I was just unable to go against myself, and this served me so well. That is why I could stay with my Master.

I never had to fight with him. I never felt a conflict with him, because I stayed true to myself. And it's the same with the meditation. If you stay true to yourself, you stay close to you, and then, there will be no conflict. But if you are not true to yourself, you will find conflict everywhere. You will find things which are just not possible for you, and you will stop this wonderful thing, this thing you actually want to do. Yeah. So, this is my first advice to you: stay true to yourself.

If you stay true to yourself, you stay close to you, and then, there will be no conflict. But if you are not true to yourself, you will find conflict everywhere. You will find things which are just not possible for you, and you will stop this wonderful thing, this thing you actually want to do. So, this is my first advice to you: stay true to yourself.

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The willingness to feel wrong

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And then, when you are true to yourself, you will discover that you feel very, very wrong. That's what happened to me. When I stayed true to myself... My Master said something, and I thought: "No. This is stupid. I don't do this. I don't want this"... I had no conflict with my Master, but I felt wrong. Boy, did I feel wrong. I saw everybody else being obedient, but I wasn't. I couldn't. I was true to myself, but I felt wrong.

And for this, you need to be ready: be willing to be wrong. That's important. If you are willing to feel wrong, then you can be true to yourself. It always feels wrong. In the beginning of this video, I talked about how we are being conditioned as children; how we learn that doing what we are told to do, this is being rewarded, and when we do what we want, we are getting punished.

And we have this deep in us. When you are true to yourself, it feels wrong. That's why you have to be willing to feel wrong. And my Master, he taught me this. He was never interested in me or anybody else to be obedient or to do what he says. No. His only concern always was to bring people close to themselves.

When you are true to yourself, you will feel wrong. And for this, you need to be ready: be willing to be wrong. That's important. If you are willing to feel wrong, then you can be true to yourself.

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He never punished me for not doing what he says. The punishment, we do ourselves. He never expected me to do certain things. We have the expectations ourselves. What he taught taught me is to be willing to feel wrong. He said: Mikael, if you're willing to be wrong, then you are free.

My Master was never interested in me or anybody else to be obedient. His only concern always was to bring people close to themselves. He never punished me for not doing what he says. The punishment, we do ourselves. He never expected me to do certain things. We have the expectations ourselves.

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That's the secret.

What he taught taught me is to be willing to feel wrong. He said: Mikael, if you're willing to be wrong, then you are free. That's the secret.

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So, these two hints I give you are going hand in hand. Follow your joy. Be true to yourself. But you can only do this if you are also willing to feel totally wrong, to be the black sheep. And this is the reason why there are these stories in the Bible, the story about the black sheep or the story about the Prodigal Son, the Lost Son who goes away from the Father and who does everything wrong. These stories are in the Bible because they tell us: you can only be on the spiritual path, you can only come to God, you can only come to Heaven if you do it wrong.

These Bible stories tell us: you can only be on the spiritual path, you can only come to God, you can only come to Heaven, if you do it wrong. Only when you are true to yourself, only when you go your own way – and that feels wrong –, only then can you come to the Father, or stay with the Master, or meditate. It's all the same.

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Only when you are true to yourself, only when you go your own way– and that feels wrong –, only then can you come to the Father. Only then you can stay with the Master. Only then you can meditate. It's all the same. And that's why these stories are in the Bible. They tell you: if you want to do this, if you really want to go to Heaven, you need to be willing to be wrong. You need to be willing to be the black sheep, because you will think you are wrong. Everybody else around you will think you are wrong. But that's the only way.

And that's why these stories are in the Bible. They tell you: if you want to do this, if you really want to go to Heaven, you need to be willing to be wrong. You need to be willing to be the black sheep, because you will think you are wrong. Everybody else around you will think you are wrong. But that's the only way.

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The magic of patience

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And the third thing I would like to suggest to you is: be patient. Be infinitely patient. You know, it's like this.

When you meditate, something in you starts growing. Swamiji calls this 'your soul'. That what you truly are, that starts to grow in you and becomes bigger and bigger and bigger. It's like a tree growing. And just like a real tree in nature... When you plant a tree in your garden, then you take care of it. You water it. You make sure that the soil is good.

And then you see that the seed is sprouting, and the tiny little baby tree comes out of the earth, and slowly, slowly, it starts growing. In the 1st year, it's very small, and 2, 3 years later, it's a tiny little tree. And it's totally normal. You know when you plant a tree: it takes time. You know it. Nobody expects the tree to grow in one year from a seed to a giant huge tree. Nobody expects this.

If you would expect this, you would think: well, this is crazy. You know: it just takes time. It takes the sun, and some water, and time. And then, year by year, this tree grows bigger and bigger and bigger. And after 10 years, you have this amazing tree in your backyard. And your grandchildren, in 70, 80 years from now, they will have this majestic tree, and they will love this tree and honor this tree, and they think: "Oh, wow. What a wonderful tree. So old."

And it's the same with the tree which starts growing in us when we meditate, when we begin to be on the spiritual path. This tree also naturally grows just by itself with a little sun, with a little water. That's meditation. Meditation is the sun and the water for this tree in you, for the soul. And then it grows. It's a natural process, nothing mysterious – it just takes time. But in the spiritual area, we are totally impatient. We have the feeling, this should happen immediately, and if it doesn't happen immediately, something is wrong, and I might as well stop the whole thing.

This tree starts growing in us when we meditate. Meditation is the sun and the water for this tree in you, the soul. And then it grows. It's a natural process, nothing mysterious – it just takes time. But we are impatient. We have the feeling, this should happen immediately, and if it doesn't happen immediately, something is wrong.

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That's how we feel. This is, again, the ego sabotaging your meditation. So be patient. And there are two reasons why you need to be patient. The one reason I just told you: it just takes time. It doesn't take a week. It doesn't take a year. It takes years and years and years, and that's normal. That's what this life is for. It's not that you have this life, and now you want to become enlightened so then you can do other things. No. This is the goal of this life: this discovery, this growing tree in you, this is why you are here; for nothing else. So, there is no hurry.

It doesn't take a week. It doesn't take a year. It takes years and years, and that is normal. That's what this life is for. It's not that you want to become enlightened so then you can do other things. No. This is the goal of this life: this discovery, this growing tree in you, this is why you are here; for nothing else. So, there is no hurry.

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And you need to be very patient because you yourself are not able to see your tree growing. You see the tree of all the other people growing. You know other people who meditate, and there you can see how they become more and more beautiful. Year by year you see how quieter they become, how much more beautiful, how they become happier, more integrated, stronger. But with yourself, you don't see this. With yourself, you have the feeling: nothing happens. You are the same idiot like you were a few years ago when you started meditating.

You need to be very patient because you yourself are not able to see your tree growing. You see the tree of all the other people growing. You know other people who meditate, and there you can see how they become more and more beautiful. Year by year you see how quieter they become, how much more beautiful, how they become happier, more integrated, stronger. But with yourself, you don't see this. With yourself, you have the feeling: nothing happens. You are the same idiot like you were a few years ago when you started meditating.

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And then you think: "Well, it doesn't work for me. I might as well stop." But, you know, it's like this. When you meditate, your soul starts going. You become enlightened, which means: you see more. Your inner light gets switched on, and you see more. You feel more. You perceive more and more. And that's why you then feel even more that you are incapable. You see even more of your shortcomings.

The wiser you get, the more enlightened you get, the better you can see, and the more you can see all those things inside of you which are not enlightened yet and which are still in need of growing. It's totally normal. It's natural. It's like in any field, the expert, the genius, feels totally wrong and mediocre. Those who are at the beginning, they feel great. They feel like they can do anything. But the more you dive into a certain area of life, the more you know there, the more you feel like a beginner because you can see more and more.

The wiser you get, the more enlightened you get, the better you can see, and the more you can see all those things inside of you which are not enlightened yet and which are still in need of growing. It's totally normal. It's natural.

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And the more you see, the more you realize: I am just at the beginning. And it's the same with the spiritual path. And that's why it's not possible for you to know how good your meditation is. It's not possible for you to know how your own soul tree is growing, and that's why you need patience. You will always have the feeling: nothing happens with me. Let it be like this. Don't judge your own growth.

It's not possible for you to know how good your meditation is. It's not possible for you to know how your own soul tree is growing, and that's why you need patience. You will always have the feeling: nothing happens with me. Let it be like this. Don't judge your own growth.

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The Meditation of Freedom

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Don't judge your own meditation. Never. You can't. If you judge it, the outcome will always be negative. And just know this. Instead, be patient. Just meditate without any expectations. And that's the fourth thing I want to tell you. Have no expectations. I just told you: you cannot see your progress. You cannot see how far you have come. You cannot see how tall you already are. That's why I say in my videos so often about myself: I am just an idiot.

Don't judge your own meditation. Never. You can't. If you judge it, the outcome will always be negative. And just know this. Instead, be patient. Just meditate without any expectations.

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This is how it feels from the inside. Have no expectations. Just do what's fun. Meditate. Just do what's easy. Meditate. And don't expect anything. Don't wait for anything. Be patient and be willing to feel wrong. And then, everything happens by itself. If you do these simple things, you will be able to keep meditating for the rest of your life. You will have no conflict. You have no trouble. No difficulty.

Just do what's fun. Meditate. Just do what's easy. Meditate. And don't expect anything. Don't wait for anything. Be patient and be willing to feel wrong. And then, everything happens by itself. If you do these simple things, you will be able to keep meditating for the rest of your life. You will have no conflict. You have no trouble. No difficulty.

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This is the Meditation of Freedom. No rules. It's easy. And if there are rules, just know that these rules are being created up here in your head. In reality, there are no rules. In reality, there is only freedom.

And that is why I make videos. This is the reason why I started doing videos one and a half years ago: because I observed over so many years in Satsang with my Master and then later with the meditation and Swamiji, how so many people experience conflict, which is totally unnecessary. And that's why I like to talk about this, again and again. And that's why in every one of my videos, I encourage you to be true to yourself. Don't be true to what I say. Don't follow what I say. I tell you how I do it, and then, you can find your own way. I tell you how I find my way: I am true to myself.

Don't follow what I say. I tell you how I do it, and then, you can find your own way. I tell you how I find my way: I am true to myself. I only do what I feel to do, nothing else. And this has served me well. Often, I feel wrong – sometimes, I feel totally wrong –, but I stay true to myself. And the outcome always is a miracle.

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I only do what I feel to do, nothing else. And this has served me so, so well. Often, I feel wrong – sometimes, I feel totally wrong –, but I stay true to myself. And the outcome always is a miracle. It's always so amazing. And that's why I'm still with my Master; that's why I'm still with my Guru; that's why I am still meditating: no conflict. I just stay true to myself. I'm willing to be wrong, and I'm infinitely patient. And I don't expect anything. That's the nature of Heaven. I'm so happy that you're here. I'm so happy. Thank you for listening.

That's why I am still meditating: no conflict. I just stay true to myself. I'm willing to be wrong, and I'm infinitely patient. And I don't expect anything. That's the nature of Heaven.

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I love you.