You have to walk the Path yourself

Good morning.

I'm so happy that I can make another video this morning.

These videos are for myself

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More and more, I realize how good it is for myself when I make videos. Maybe you know that I was traveling with my spiritual Master, Soham, for 20 years, and I was sitting in his Satsangs almost every day. And he used to say that he is giving Satsang only for himself, and now, I slowly understand what he means by this. It is like I speak about those things which I myself need to hear again and again, and it is a gift for myself.

I just had a few weeks where I had to take care of many other things, technical things for the videos, for the website, I have a job, I needed to do some work and all this stuff. And when I am busy with other things and then, after such a long time, come back to making a video, then I notice what a blessing this is and how good this is for me and how much joy it gives me. So, I am especially happy this morning.

In this video, I want to talk about Samarpan Meditation. I want to answer a few of the questions which I have received in emails about the subject. And I am so happy about the questions I received from you, because they enable me to speak. They inspire me to speak, otherwise, I would not have anything to say. I would just sit here in front of the camera and bore you.

But through the questions, I can share what I can share. So, if you have questions that you would like me to talk about, please send me an email, contact me, write me a letter. On my website, there is the Ask Me page, and there you find my contact information. I am very happy to receive your questions. So, I will just start reading out the first email, and then I will try to say a few things about it.

What really robs you of your sleep?

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"Dear Mikael, I have a question about Samarpan Meditation. Every time I meditate for a few days, my sleep gets lighter and lighter until there is no deep sleep, and I just doze the night away, and then I get up exhausted in the morning. I can manage quite well with little sleep – I am 55 years old – but it still has its limits, and I can feel that my nervous system is overwhelmed.

I would love to do the Samarpan Meditation every morning. I have found out that a quarter of an hour is possible without losing sleep, but in my experience, the full blessings only unfold after half an hour. What can I do? Stay more in the crown chakra during the day? Does Swamiji have any advice if something such as the nervous system is blocking meditation?"

Thank you for your question.

This is a special question for me, because this is one of the few questions where I did not know what to say when I received it. I read the question, and I felt that I don't know from which direction the answer will come. I was just clueless. And that was in the middle of June, just before I went to see my Guru Swamiji. He was here in Germany, he gave a discourse at the Place of Meditation near Frankfurt, and just a few days before I went there, I received this question.

And when I was there... I was there for a few days; I was helping setting up the equipment, the technical stuff for the discourse, and I was just walking around the premise when I saw Swamiji's son, Ambaresh, standing there, and he was standing there alone. I was walking past by him, and while I was passing him, I got the inspiration: I will ask him what he can tell me about this. So, I turned around, and I spoke with Ambaresh about this question. And he gave me a sense for what is going on and where to look for the answer to this question.

And it is like this. The meditation itself does not disturb your sleep, quite the opposite. In my experience, meditation is very good for promoting good and deep and rejuvenating sleep. But what the Samarpan Meditation does is: it is like a light switch. It's like through meditating the Samarpan Meditation, you switch on your inner light. Suddenly, things become visible, meaning: you start to feel them, which you did not notice before.

The Samarpan Meditation, when you do it regularly, increases your inner sensitivity. And in my experience, it is so that when you meditate, specially in the beginning, especially during the first few months or years of you meditating this meditation, a lot of stuff is coming up from your inside, all things which have not had the chance to evaporate and leave your system. It is like an automatic cleansing mechanism: very convenient.

But that means that all kinds of things come to the surface. And how these things come to the surface, this is different for every human being. And what Ambaresh told me is that what you can do is: you look at a few areas of your life, what you are doing there, and this can give you a clue why you experience this phenomenon that you can't sleep when you meditate. For instance, this is the area of nutrition. How is your nutrition?

Do you eat things which are good for your body, which are making your body light and healthy and calm, or do you eat things which are difficult for your body, which are difficult for your diet system? Are you drinking things which make your sleep or your nervous system agitated, like coffee or tea or alcohol? This is one area where you can look at, because whatever you do there, especially with the food, that will influence your sleep. And maybe it only comes up for you when you meditate, and otherwise, you don't notice.

Through Samarpan Meditation, you switch on your inner light. Things become visible: you start to feel them. Especially in the beginning, a lot of stuff is coming up. It is like an automatic cleansing mechanism: very convenient. But that means that all kinds of things come to the surface.

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The other area is with whom you spend your days – with what kind of people? It is like this: if you spend time with people who are quiet, who don't pay attention to their thoughts, who also rest inside and look inside, then this will promote your inner quietness. But if you spend time with people who are very restless and who are living in their thoughts and who don't know anything about meditation, this will promote this kind of energy in you also.

With whom do you spend your days? If you spend time with people who are quiet, who also rest inside and look inside, then this will promote your inner quietness. But if you spend time with people who are living in their thoughts and who don't know anything about meditation, this will promote this kind of energy in you.

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It is very important that we look with whom we spend our time with, because this has an effect on our inner well-being. And sometimes you can't do anything about it. When you are at work, for instance, your colleagues are the way they are. But if you know about this, you can take care of yourself. You can make sure that you have your attention, your Chitta, inside when you are with other people. And often during the day, you have the choice with whom to spend time with, and then you can make the good decisions for you.

Then there is the question: how do you spend your time when you have time? For instance, if you watch movies on TV or on the Internet, or if you consume social media, if you watch movies there or look at messages and images and posts, you will absorb the energy of these movies, of these messages, of these pictures.

You will basically absorb the energy of those people who post this kind of stuff, and in my experience, this is usually a very restless energy. And you take this in, and you may not feel the effects right away, but it changes your inside. It promotes your own restlessness, your own nervousness, your own trauma, your own thoughts.

How do you spend your time when you have time? If you watch movies or consume social media, you will absorb the energy of those people who post this kind of stuff, and in my experience, this is usually a very restless energy, and it promotes your own restlessness, your own nervousness, your own trauma, your own thoughts.

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And the fourth area is: how are you in life? Do you trust life? Do you feel safe? Do you have this inner fundament in you which you can grow through the Samarpan Meditation, or do you feel unsafe? Are you worried about the future? Are you thinking about the past?

And when you look at these areas in your life, you might get some clues what's visiting you at night. The meditation in itself does not inhibit your sleep, but it will open you up to everything you are. It will bring you closer to yourself. It will break things up.

And it can very well be that right now, you don't know what you are dealing with here, but what I suggest to you is that you are meditating every day for half an hour. And when this will happen again with your sleep, that the sleep goes away, that something is disturbing your sleep, something you don't know anything about... Now that you know in which direction to look, you will get clues. Your own inspiration will tell you where this is coming from.

So, the meditation is not the problem. The meditation just uncovers whatever is there which disturbs you. And, by the way, it also disturbs you when you are not meditating. These things disturb you also when you don't notice it, and it is a blessing when these things come up. I know, it is hard when you can't sleep. I know this out of my own experience. I don't have this with the meditation, but, for instance, when I drink coffee, I can't sleep. My body has a special property: it is extremely slow in breaking down caffeine.

And when I have an espresso or a cappuccino in the morning, I don't sleep. I mean, I do sleep just like you, but I don't sleep in a beneficial way. My deep sleep gets disturbed, and I wake up in the morning, and I'm totally done. And this effect lasts for 2 or 3 days for me after one coffee. And it's terrible... I love good coffee. I love a good espresso or a good cappuccino, but I can't drink it because it will sabotage my sleep, and I get increasingly exhausted, and I just cannot live like this.

So, I know what you mean. And having a good sleep, being well rested, this is very, very important for the health of the body, and I find meditation also much, much better when I get enough sleep. My recommendation is that you go to bed as early as possible. If you can go to bed at 8 or at 9, then you will naturally wake up at 4, 4:30, and then you can meditate.

Half an hour – no more, no less

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Maybe this gives you some direction where to look for the answer. By the way, I have the same experience as you. This meditation needs half an hour, not more, but also not less. In my own experience, it is like this: when I sit down and begin my meditation, for the first 10 or 20 minutes... this is the time it takes for my inner to calm down. Well, I can't really say it like this. It's not that my inner calms down.

The thoughts are always there, but it's like my attention slowly, slowly disconnects from the noise, disconnects from the thoughts, and turns inwards. The thoughts are still there, but I don't pay any attention to them anymore. And this takes time. My feeling is that it takes about 20 minutes. And then, after about 20 minutes, it is like I enter a different space, and in that space, it is quiet.

One sage in the Himalayas once said that 10 minutes of meditation per day is enough, and that is my experience, but in order to reach the point where meditation can happen, we need 20 minutes to come to that point, and that is why it is half an hour. Before 20 minutes, nothing really happens, and then, slowly, slowly, something can happen, if it happens. That is why we have to give it 30 minutes. So, that is exactly also my experience.

Thank you for writing. Thank you very much. I am very happy that I can talk about this.

Are there more feminine ways to enlightenment?

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So, on to the next question.

"One question that keeps bothering me is this: most spiritual teachers or masters are male. Isn't the path of meditation and yoga a very male path? Don't women, who are energetically structured quite differently, need female teachers and masters? Are there also more feminine paths to enlightenment?"

What a wonderful question. Thank you so much.

Well, first, I want to talk about meditation.

There is meditation, and there is meditation. What we usually call meditation has nothing to do with meditation. What we usually mean by meditation is a mental exercise, and this indeed is very male.

True meditation is something else. True meditation is not a mental exercise.

It's when you cease to do anything. You don't do an exercise. You don't have a goal. You don't try to reach somewhere. You don't look for an experience. You don't want anything. You're just resting in yourself. And for this, to be able to do this, you need to let go of all these things in you which tell you very convincingly that you have to do something and that you should have a goal and that this is important and that is urgent.

And this letting go, to ignore these things, this is a kind of a surrender. For you to be able to do this, somehow, it feels like you have to place your life into the hands of somebody else, God, for instance, whatever. Whatever does the trick for you. This is surrender: I ignore all this stuff which I believe is urgent and important. This surrender is female. This, only women can do. So, true meditation is the female way.

What we usually call meditation is a mental exercise, and this indeed is very male.

True meditation is something else. It's when you cease to do anything. You don't have a goal. You don't try to reach somewhere. You don't look for an experience. You don't want anything. You're just resting in yourself.

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What we normally know as meditation in society, this is a male way, an exercise, a very mental exercise. But this is not what I'm talking about, and this is not what the Samarpan Meditation is about. Surrender, letting go, this is a deeply female ability.

This is surrender: I ignore all this stuff which I believe is urgent and important. This surrender is female. This, only women can do. So, true meditation is the female way.

What we normally know as meditation is a male way, a very mental exercise.

Surrender, letting go, this is a deeply female ability.

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So, there is no better way for women than this meditation. Samarpan Meditation means 'Surrender Meditation'.

And the Guru who brings this meditation into society, Swamiji, he is so female. I mean, he in a male body, of course. He has a male voice, but his energy is totally female. And one Guru I very much like, Osho, he used to say: first, men have to become women, and then they can go on the path. That's the truth, because this path is the path of surrender.

And for this, you need to be a woman – inside. And the same is true for yoga. You are right. Yoga is a very male way. 'Yog' is something else. You see, 'Yog' is the path to God, the path to your soul. Yog is the one task we why we are here in this funny life. Yog-a is an abbreviation. It is Yog asanas. Asanas are the exercises, the physical things we do in Yoga. They are called asanas, positions, exercises. And Yog is the spiritual path to God. Yog is female. Yog is complete surrender. But we don't know anything about this in the West.

One Guru I very much like, Osho, he used to say: first, men have to become women, and then they can go on the path.

That's the truth, because this path is the path of surrender. And for this, you need to be a woman – inside.

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In the West, the only thing we know is Yoga, the asanas, and they are male. They are exercises. They are tools you do, tools you use to strengthen the body, to make the body beautiful and healthy, and this is usually done in a very, very male way. There is a way you can do yoga asanas also in a female way, but this is rarely being done. But the essence of yoga is Yog, and that's female. So, don't let yourself be confused by what is being done in the world. That is male. But the true path, true meditation, Samarpan Meditation, true Yog, is female.

Yoga is a very male way. Yog-a is an abbreviation. It is Yog asanas. Asanas are the exercises, the physical things we do in Yoga.

And Yog is the spiritual path to God. Yog is female. Yog is complete surrender. But we don't know anything about this in the West. In the West, the only thing we know is Yoga, the asanas, and they are male.

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And I have observed, in all those years I was on the road with my spiritual Master, that mostly women come.

With Soham, it is the same. He is in a male body, but his energy and how he speaks is female. Satsang, surrender, is female.

And there were mostly women in Satsang. And with Swamiji, it is the same. There are so many more women than men coming to him. And in the meditation groups, it's mostly women. And also in my Online Satsangs, rarely is there a man. It's mostly women. The questions I receive are mostly from women, because they are naturally open to this path of surrender.

They are naturally interested in God. Men like to do things, and they like to do them their own way. That makes it very difficult for men to be interested in something like meditation or God. It just is this way. It's not good for men, but this is the way it is.

The questions I receive are mostly from women, because they are naturally open to this path of surrender. They are naturally interested in God.

Men like to do things, and they like to do them their own way. That makes it very difficult for men to be interested in meditation or God. It's not good for men, but this is the way it is.

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So, that's why this is the female way.

Thank you for your beautiful question. I am very happy that I could speak about this.

Are psychoactive substances a help?

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So, I will read out the next question.

"What do you think of psychoactive substances? I have had some experience with Ayahuasca and with mushrooms. I would say that these have acted as a catalyst for my spiritual development. They taught me self-love, devotion, and trust" – I think this is a bad translation. Instead of 'devotion', in German, she said 'surrender' – "which have been firmly anchored in me ever since. When you talk about how you feel in the presence of your Guru, it often reminds me of what I experienced through these plants."

Thank you for this question. This is great. I was actually waiting to talk about this since a while.

It is like this. On the spiritual path, there are no shortcuts.

And there are many things which look like shortcuts, but there are no shortcuts.

On the spiritual path, there are no shortcuts.

There are many things which look like shortcuts, but there are no shortcuts.

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Essentially, what happens when you are on the spiritual path and when you meditate the Samarpan Meditation is that you let your inner become stronger. Your ability to control your attention, where it goes, this strength, that is being trained. Right now, you don't have any strength for this. Normal people, their attention is always outside. And with 'outside' I also mean the physical body, the emotions, the thoughts. This is all 'outside'.

The inside I am talking about has nothing to do with the body, with the feelings, with the thoughts, and with the world. But this is an 'inside' usually nobody knows about. So, our attention, since many lifetimes, always goes outside to the body, to the feelings, to the emotions, and to the world. And when we start trying to turn this attention inside, beyond this body, we can't do it, because all the other things are pulling on us, and we are so used to this. This 'muscle' has never been trained, this muscle which allows us to control our attention. That's what the Indians call the Chitta.

And on this spiritual path, you begin to train this muscle. And it's easy, but it takes time. It's not about getting certain experiences.

Experiences happen on the way, but it's not the experiences which change you. The change which happens is gradual and very slow and almost unnoticeable, and the change happens by this regular practice of meditating. It's like when you ride a bike.

Experiences happen on the way, but it's not the experiences which change you. The change which happens is gradual and very slow and almost unnoticeable, and the change happens by this regular practice of meditating.

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When you ride your bike every day, your body becomes stronger, and you pass by some beautiful scenery, and you love this. But it's not about the beautiful scenery you see. It is about your body getting stronger, and it's the same with the meditation and the spiritual path. Now, we live in a world which does not value patience anymore.

People don't have any patience, and whoever promises a quicker way and an easier way gets attention, in all areas of life. Sometimes I see advertisements on Facebook where people offer some goods for an impossibly low price, and people buy this kind of stuff. Of course, it's a scam, but we love so much the shortcut, and we love so much the cheap and easy way that we believe this kind of lie.

And with the substances you ask me about, it's the same. They give you certain experiences, and they are amazing, but it's not about the experience. The experience gives you certain insights, it gives you understanding, but it's not about the insight, it's not about the understanding. All these are byproducts. The one thing which is actually needed is this inner ability to be the Master of your attention. And when you have this, then you are able to have your attention always where it belongs to: inside.

And for this, this inner strength needs to be trained. And when you do this, you will have certain experiences, for instance, one of these experiences is enlightenment. You will have insights. You will have understanding. But it's not about the experiences. It's not about the insights. It's not about the understanding. The only important thing is this inner strength, and that's the one thing these substances don't give you.

They make you feel good. You feel wise. You think you understand, but the one thing you need, you don't get. It's like people riding the bike. I like to ride my bike around here. I have a beautiful round through the woods, and the first 10 minutes is a steep climb uphill, and it's really hard work. And when I bike up there, often, I'm passed by people who are using e-bikes, and they pass me very quickly and effortlessly, of course.

I mean, they are acting as if they do something, but the main work is being done by the electric motor. So, they have the illusion that they ride their bike. They have the illusion that they do something good for their body. They enjoy the scenery. They have a beautiful bike ride. They come from one place to the other. But the one thing which is important does not happen: their body doesn't get strong.

You will have insights. You will have understanding. But it's not about the insights. It's not about the understanding. The only important thing is this inner strength, and that's the one thing these substances don't give you. They make you feel good. You feel wise. You think you understand, but the one thing you need, you don't get.

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And it's the same with these substances.

The shortcut is a detour

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And because it is like this, something very interesting happens.

I want to tell you the story of Ram Dass. Ram Dass was an American who, during the hippie times, he was one of those young people at that time who experimented with substances like this; with LSD, for instance. And at some point in his life, he came across a Guru. That was in this time of his life where he used to take LSD. This Guru he met was Neem Karoli Baba in India. And when he met this Guru, his spiritual path began.

And I was reading a little bit in his autobiography, and the way I understand what he is writing there is that when he met his Guru... I mean, he had all the experiences. He had all these beautiful experiences through LSD. He knew what surrender is and all this great stuff. But when he met his Guru and when his spiritual path began, he had to go back to the beginning – that is how he described it. He had to go back to the beginning and start the actual work.

He had all these beautiful experiences through LSD. He knew what surrender is and all this great stuff. But when he met his Guru and when his spiritual path began, he had to go back to the beginning – that is how he described it. He had to go back to the beginning and start the actual work.

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And now the thing is: when you are used to these substances, that path is more difficult, because you already know the easy way. And then, to let that go on top of it... Once you are used to the e-bike, to then leave the e-bike in the garage and climb on a real bike and do the work yourself, that's hard. So, in a way, these substances make it harder and not easier, because they give you an excuse. They give you a way out, and you feel wise, you feel good.

But it's not about feeling wise. It's not about feeling good. It's about this inner strength, and this gives you everything else. That's why I do not recommend these substances. I also know people who used these substances and who were not ready for the experiences it gave them, and they got into serious trouble with themselves.

Once you are used to the e-bike, to then leave the e-bike in the garage and climb on a real bike and do the work yourself, that's hard. In a way, these substances make it harder, because they give you a way out, and you feel wise, you feel good.

But it's not about feeling wiseand good. It's about this inner strength, and this gives you everything else.

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There is no shortcut. If it looks like a shortcut, it's a trap. This is my experience. By the way... speaking about Neem Karoli Baba. He was an extraordinary Guru with an amazing inner power. Outwardly, he looked absolutely ordinary, but inside, he was such a power.

There is no shortcut.

If it looks like a shortcut, it's a trap.

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And when Ram Dass and his friends, his hippie friends, came to India and met Neem Karoli Baba, they had LSD with them. And Neem Karoli Baba didn't know this kind of stuff. And LSD, I don't know whether you know it, I never took it myself, but these are little pills, and, usually, you take a tiny little bit of it. That's enough to send you on a trip. And Ram Dass had a little bag full of these pills with him. And one day, he asked Neem Karoli Baba about LSD. He wanted to know what he thinks about this kind of stuff.

And Neem Karoli Baba asked Ram Dass: do you have some with you? And he said, yes, sure, and he threw him the bag with the pills, and Neem Karoli Baba emptied the entire bag into his hand. And, usually, you take a tiny little bit of one of these pills. He took all the pills completely into his mouth, swallowed it, and waited what will happen, and nothing happened.

Usually, this would kill a normal human being. He didn't go on a trip. He had no experience. He just was sitting there, and I don't verbatim remember what Ram Dass wrote about Neem Karoli Baba's words, but what I remember is that he said that... Basically, he said: "Interesting.

It promotes fantasy. It promotes the thoughts." Whatever fantasies you have, whatever wishes you have in you, whatever you imagine, this becomes open and strong. He was totally unimpressed. He said: "Ah, interesting. It promotes your fantasy." And that was it for him. But he was so strong, his inner strength was such that his awareness, his consciousness, was completely unaffected by this. And this strength, that is what makes you happy. This strength, that is what you want to grow. Everything else is just child's play.

So, there's nothing to say against these things – although I mentioned that there are people, for them, it's really detrimental –, but it doesn't help you. In actuality, it's a detour, because you use these things, you think you are on a great path, but when your real path starts, you have to go back to the beginning, and you have to do all the stuff all over again.

That is what I can say about this.

And, of course, if you want to do the real work, if you want to promote your inner strength, if you want to be able to control your attention, if you want to learn how to ride a real bike, then do the Samarpan Meditation. This is the best and the easiest tool for this. This gives you what it's really about. Thank you so much for your question. I am really happy that I was finally able to talk about this.

If you want to do the real work, if you want to promote your inner strength, if you want to be able to control your attention, if you want to learn how to ride a real bike, then do the Samarpan Meditation.

This is the best and the easiest tool for this. This gives you what it's really about.

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Illusion remains illusion

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Now comes the email from a lady who tells me about her life and the trouble she experiences in her life, but you will see: it's also about the meditation. "You know me from Samarpan times. I followed him actively until 8 years ago. Shortly before Swamiji showed up, I met my current partner in his home country. Since then, I've been in a partnership and long-distance relationship. And since then, I have seen Soham only once or twice. I did start Samarpan Meditation several times, but I never got beyond 20 days.

I am currently very restless. I often have palpitations and severe anxiety, especially about the physical health of my partner and myself. These fears have now come true. We found out today that my partner has cancer. The prognosis and treatment are still unclear, and further tests are pending. All of this is wearing on my nerves. I'm finding it very difficult to accept life. Even simple everyday activities, such as eating, personal hygiene and so on are difficult for me.

All I want to do is sleep, doze off, drift away. I have lost confidence in life. I see black, and I feel weak and powerless. But I should be strong and optimistic, otherwise, I won't be able to help my partner. There are also practical problems that I worry about. How will I manage if he needs constant care? And I don't speak his mother tongue very well for paperwork or doctors. I'm on my own in this country. I have no friends there, just him. I've been under stress for months, if not years.

Initially, we were able to live the long-distance relationship well. For about a year now, I've found traveling back and forth a burden. I'm able to work from home in his country, so I've also been with him for longer periods. But every goodbye was difficult. I was always worried about him, and I still am. Meditating is impossible for me. I am afraid of meditating, like I could die in silence. I want to have courage again. Yes. Courage seems to be the key, courage to face life in all its facets. I'm so sad."

Thank you very much for your letter. I'm very touched. And, of course, I remember you from Samarpan and Soham times.

You say that you lost confidence in life, but this is not true. You never had confidence. You never had trust in life. And that's the problem.

You say that you lost confidence in life, but this is not true. You never had confidence. You never had trust in life. And that's the problem.

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And, you know, the trouble is that, usually, if you look for this trust in life out there, in our work, in our partner, in relationships, in the circumstances of our life... There we look for security. There we look for well-being. But as you find out, you don't find it there. And we know this. We all know that you don't find any security out there in life. You know that you cannot trust life, the outer life. I mean, it's a very simple matter. Your body will die.

This is absolutely certain, but we ignore this fact. We act as if everything will go on forever, or that our partner will live forever, that we will live forever, that everything will stay the way it is now. But everybody knows that this is not true. We ignore the fact that everything we have in this life will disappear, including this body. And because we ignore it, although we know the truth, that's the reason why we live in constant anxiety and fear.

Now, the question is: where do you find the real security? Where do you find that which you can trust? The normal outside life is not trustworthy. It's for very good reasons that you don't trust this. But what can you trust? Where is that place where you can finally relax? That's the question. And you know the answer. And now it's amazing... You learn where you find this. You learn Samarpan Meditation.

You discover your inside. You discover: "Ah, that is where it is", and yet, you are unable to go there. And this is the big challenge all of us have in this life, and the reason is simple. We are so used to only look outside that all of our identity is connected to the outside life. You believe you are this body, this body you are worried about, this body that will die, which you can see with your partner.

We ignore the fact that everything we have in this life will disappear, including this body. And because we ignore it, although we know the truth, that's the reason why we live in constant anxiety and fear.

Now, the question is: where do you find the real security? Where do you find that which you can trust?

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But we are so identified with it... it's like, for us, this is me: "I am this body. I am this outward life.

And when this goes away, I will die." And the paradox is that it's difficult to discover your true identity, which is eternal, which has no problems, which knows no fear. But it's so hard for us to discover this, simply because we are so much attached to our false identity. It's something we cannot switch off. It doesn't help to know that this is not true. It's like a mental disease we all share.

And that is why you need a Guru. That is why you need a funny guy like me speaking about it or anybody who speaks from this other side, because then you suddenly feel: "Yes. This is true. Yes." You feel it. For moments, you trust. For moments, you know with absolute certainty, without any doubt: "Yes, that is the truth." But then you are on your own again, and then you are back in your old thinking, in your old identification. And then, it's impossible to look towards the truth. It just is like this. It's not that something is wrong with you. This is the challenge every human being has.

The paradox is that it's difficult to discover your true identity, which is eternal, which has no problems, which knows no fear, simply because we are so much attached to our false identity. It's like a mental disease we all share. And that is why you need a Guru.

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And, you know, what happened to you is very typical. It happens to so many people. It's not your fault. You are with a spiritual Master for a few years, and you know: "This is the way". And then you fall in love, and you forget everything about spirituality and the center of your life now becomes your partner. And with this, this the center of your life is, again, on the outside.

For other people, it's, for instance, career. Suddenly, they become very successful. Then they forget everything about spirituality, and they focus on their career. And then, this is the center of their life. In one way or another, it happens to everybody. And then you come to a point where you discover: "Oh. That what I made the center of my life is not trustworthy. It's not working.

The body of my partner is dying, maybe now because of cancer. But if the cancer is cured, he will still die, you know – sooner or later. So, in one way or another, we discover that what we made the center of our life is not trustworthy. It runs through our fingers like sand, and we cannot do anything about it. And then we remember: "There was something. Once, I knew." Then we remember. And that's where you are at right now. Now you remember. Now you remember yourself. Now you remember your inside.

You are with a spiritual Master, and you know: "This is the way". And then you fall in love, and the center of your life now becomes your partner. And then you discover: "That what I made the center of my life is not trustworthy. The body of my partner is dying. And then we remember: "There was something. Once, I knew."

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Anyone can meditate

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You say you cannot meditate. Now, this is not true. Everybody can meditate. But there is something in you which does not want to meditate.

And that's your challenge. Meditating is easy. It's so easy. Nobody can say: I can't do this.

You say you cannot meditate. This is not true. Everybody can meditate. But there is something in you which does not want to meditate. And that's your challenge.

Meditating is easy. It's so easy. Nobody can say: I can't do this.

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But what you will find is: you sit down for meditation, and immediately, after a few days, the meditation starts working. You become quieter. You become connected to your inside. You discover something completely new inside of yourself. And then, the resistance comes. This false identification, that's what we also call 'ego', our mental conditioning, that kicks in and starts fighting for survival. You begin to discover the truth, but the illusion has a tremendous power simply because we gave it attention all of our lives and many lives before that.

And the only challenge is the only challenge is to be stubborn. Meditation is not difficult. It cannot be difficult because in Samarpan Meditation, you don't do anything. You don't have to achieve anything. You don't have a goal. You don't have to reach a certain state. You don't have to have a certain experience. The only thing you do is you sit down for half an hour. You close your eyes, and you let your attention rest up here in the crown chakra as well as you can. But what happens and how it works doesn't matter at all.

The only thing that matters is that you sit down for half an hour, and that's easy. But then to do this despite all these thoughts in you which say: "Ah, come on. Let's do something else. This is nonsense"... that's the challenge.Meditation is easy. You can meditate, but you don't want to. That's the challenge. Just be stubborn and sit down for meditation every morning. Make this the center of your life. Not your partner, not your job, not your body, but this inside, which you know about – I know it. Sit down for half an hour every morning.

To do this despite all these thoughts in you which say: "Ah, come on. Let's do something else. This is nonsense"... that's the challenge.Just be stubborn and sit down for meditation every morning. Make this the center of your life. Not your partner, not your job, not your body, but this inside.

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And, then for the rest of the day, do whatever you want. Be as focused as you want on your partner or on whatever you do, on your work, it doesn't matter... if you can muster the determination to meditate for half an hour every morning, everything else happens by itself. I promise you. You will not have to deal with any of these problems.

You only need to find this desire in you, somewhere in you, to decide for yourself for half an hour a day what you are going to do. This strength you must find. If you can do this, all the rest happens by itself. The energy will come back into your life. Right now, you are dead. You don't have any energy. You have no hope.

You have no joy. You are dead. If you turn into this direction, you will become alive again. That's the source of your life and your energy. And all the problems you face will change. You don't know how, I know. You cannot imagine this, but this is what will happen. You will become alive again. Your life will change.

If you can muster the determination to meditate for half an hour every morning, everything else happens by itself. I promise you.

You only need to find this desire in you to decide for yourself for half an hour a day what you are going to do. This strength you must find. If you can do this, all the rest happens by itself.

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This is your decision: what is the center of my life? You don't have to be able to do this. You don't have to be holy. You don't have to be strong. But this one wish: "I want to make this important in my life"... If you can make this decision, then you just meditate for half an hour. And as I said, it does not matter what happens during this half an hour in the morning. You cannot fail this meditation.

This is your decision: what is the center of my life? You don't have to be holy. You don't have to be strong. But this one wish: "I want to make this important in my life"... If you can make this decision, then you just meditate for half an hour.

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But this is the one important thing: to sit there for half an hour no matter what, no matter how stupid you feel, no matter how many thoughts you get, no matter how useless it feels. This one strength is enough. And your entire life will change, and you know it. I can see it.

But this is the one important thing: to sit there for half an hour no matter what, no matter how stupid you feel, no matter how many thoughts you get, no matter how useless it feels. This one strength is enough. And your entire life will change, and you know it.

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And you write it in your email so beautifully. You are scared of the meditation, as if you would die. And that's the point. There is this illusionary ego in us, and if we don't give it constant attention, it will just dissolve. It will not die, because there is nothing to die. It's all illusion. But it feels like this. It feels like dying. It is like this, what you feel there. So, I give you my strength and my stubbornness. Swamiji has a recommendation. He says: start meditating and do it for 45 days. 45 days is just long enough for you to develop enough strength in you to then carry on.

So, just start from the beginning. Just start new. Begin completely fresh with the meditation and do it for 45 days. No matter what, no matter where you are now, no matter how impossible the practical situation is, you sit down for meditation half an hour every morning, 45 days. That is all it takes, and then you will go on, and then your life changes. I meditate no matter what, no matter where I am, no matter how tired I am. That is the one rule I have in my life. I don't have any rules but this. If you want, that's what you can try.

You are scared of the meditation, as if you would die. And that's the point.

There is this illusionary ego in us, and if we don't give it constant attention, it will just dissolve. It will not die, because there is nothing to die. It's all illusion. But it feels like this. It feels like dying.

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I'm so happy that you are here.

And I send you all the blessings.

And here's my stubbornness. I give it to you.

Meditating at night?

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So, let's see.

"Another reoccurring question for me is whether it is possible to meditate at night. I would like to do this. However, I once heard that you should only meditate during the day. It would be nice if you could say something about this."

Thank you for this question, which reached me quite a while ago, together with some other questions of the same person.

This is an interesting subject.

The background is that Swamiji says that we should not meditate between 10 pm in the evening and 3:30 am in the morning.

And I want to talk a little bit about my own experiences, and you can experience this too. Maybe you know this. When you go to bed very early at 8 or 9 or 9:30, then your whole system is ready to sleep, is ready to let go, is ready to calm down. Your system is in a kind of a wind-down.

And when you fall asleep during this time, your sleep is very, very restful and deep. But if you stay up longer, if you keep yourself busy till 11 or 11:30 or midnight, then maybe you notice this experience that then you get more and more awake, and a completely different energy takes over.

There was a time in my life where I used to work again during this time of the night. I was in Satsang with Soham. After Satsang, we came back home, and sometimes we ate together, or I ate alone at home at my sleeping place. And instead of going to bed, after Satsang I was filled with energy, and then I ate, which made my body awake, so I was sitting down at the computer, working a little bit, and then I kept working till 1, 2, 3 o'clock at night.

Because once you reach this time during the night, the energy shifts, and it keeps you awake. It's a mental energy. The body is then very, very active, very busy. It's the time of the night where many, many things happen in the body. The liver is active. The digestion is active. A lot of cleansing is happening. The whole body is active, and it's a very wakeful energy, almost agitated.

And if you know this experience, you will also know that then it becomes more and more difficult to get quiet and to fall asleep. Once you are up at 11:30 or 12:30, it's easier to stay awake than to fall asleep. And when you fall asleep, your sleep is different, not deep, not restful. And when you fall asleep at 1 o'clock at night or 2, even if you sleep the same amount of hours, you are not rested in the morning.

So, this is the night energy. And if you fall asleep before that energy starts, you sleep through the night, as nature intended, and the body can take care of all these tasks which are needed to be done during the night. And then, early in the morning, around 3 or 4 o'clock, a different energy starts happening.

The sun is about to rise. A different energy starts also in your body. And when you wake up at that time, it's a golden time. That's the energy which grounds you, which makes you very quiet and very deep. And when you start meditating at the beginning of this phase of the day, it's amazing. It's totally lovely.

And that's where this recommendation comes from. When you meditate during the night, you meditate during a time where the energy promotes the opposite. And when you wait and when you meditate at 3:30 or 4:30 or 5:30, or whatever is possible for you, then the energy promotes being grounded, being connected to your inner, being quiet and resting.

That's where the recommendation comes from. So, my recommendation for you is go to bed early, as early as you can. 8 o'clock is perfect, but I don't manage this. And then get up early, 3:30, 4:30, whatever, and then meditate. That's wow. Thank you for your question.

Negativity and negative energies

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And I think I have time for one more question in this video.

"In your video, 'How a Guru solves all your problems', you talk about Ramana Maharshi blaming the people around him for his cancer. That surprised me because Ramana Maharshi, as far as I know, never implied that his cancer was caused or triggered by his fellow human beings. Where does this statement, which in itself does not correspond to Ramana's teachings, come from?

In my experience, it is often the case that people open up when they realize that their energy does not register in the other person. And, basically, after the last few years, I'm no longer sure what to make of the concept of negativity itself. Do you feel physical symptoms when you have been with people who you feel are radiating negative energies, or is this an idea you have adopted for yourself because of your proximity to your Guru?"

Thank you. Thank you for your email. I love this question, and I'm very happy that I can talk about this a little bit.

The source of this information... I heard it twice. Once, I read a book about Ramana Maharshi. To be honest, I'm not sure which book that was. I think it was the beautiful book from Annamalai Swami, but I am not sure. And there I read, in this book or another book, I read how Ramana Maharshi talked about this, what I mentioned in the video. And the situation was that when Ramayana had cancer, some of his disciples asked him what they can do for him to help him with this, and he laughed and said: "You know, you can't help me.

This cancer came from you to me. You cannot help me." And that's where the question in this email comes from. This is what I stated in my last video. So, I read this in one of these books about Ramana Maharshi, and I also heard Swamiji talk about this. But, you know, when a Guru like Ramana Maharshi talks like this, he doesn't blame anybody. There is no blame involved. He doesn't blame anybody, and he also doesn't talk about negative things. A Guru like Ramana Maharshi just sees what is, and he says this.

He said: this is the way it is. He didn't have a problem with this. He didn't blame anybody. Just when his disciples tried to help him, he said: you can't help me. You are the problem. I don't have a problem. You have problems, and this is what you see in my body. But he was detached from all of this. He didn't say: it's your fault. He was just describing how things work. What are the connections?

And you ask whether I experience physical symptoms when I deal with people.

You know, all I share in my videos is based on my own experience. And often, I talk about what Swamiji says, for instance, and I do this whenever I experience myself those things which he talks about. And then, then I can say: "Hey, guys, this is true. I experienced it like this." So, this is also true in this case. But, also for me, it has nothing to do with negativity.

When you meditate, when you when you do the Samarpan Meditation, what happens is that you become more and more sensitive and you feel more, you see more, you experience how things are. It's nothing negative. And with every year, I can I experience more the effects of certain things in life.

For instance, when I grab my smartphone before I fall asleep and scroll a little bit around on Facebook, I have a different energy as when I sit in bed and grab Swamiji's autobiography and read a few sentences in that. I get into a completely different energy. My sleep is different. My night is different, and my morning is different.

When I grab my smartphone before I fall asleep and scroll a little bit around on Facebook, I have a different energy as when I sit in bed and grab Swamiji's autobiography and read a few sentences in that. I get into a completely different energy. My sleep is different. My night is different, and my morning is different.

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It's not that my smartphone or Facebook is negative, but this is the effects it has. So, when you meditate, more and more you can experience the effects of what you are doing in your life, and then you learn to take care of yourself better. And for me, it is like this: when I spend time with people who are connected to their inner, for instance, when I am at the Place of Meditation or at other places where there are meditators together, it is like happiness is filling up inside of me.

The energy inside of me which supports my soul, that energy is being supported and being promoted. And when I am with people who know nothing about this, who are just in their thoughts, in their worries, like normal people, then I feel different effects. For instance, when I'm traveling, when I ride the train... I live out here in the middle of nowhere on the countryside. I take one or two local trains before I am here. They're fully packed with people. And then, when I come home, I shower. I change my clothes.

I meditate. And then, slowly, slowly, this energy of the world leaves me, and my soul is more tangible and perceivable for me again. It's not that these people I meet on the train are negative. They're just living somewhere completely different than I'm living, and I feel that effect. That's totally natural. That's totally normal. And that's the things I talk about in the video all the time. I tell you what you can do to promote that what is beneficial for you. So, there's no judgments involved.

It's just observation. There is nothing negative in the world. It's not that you find something or somebody who is negative or positive. You're right. The concept of negativity is really a stupid one. But these two words, positive and negative, they are just a description in the context of a goal. Like, if you if you are cooking dinner, yeah, if you turn the heat up too much and then leave the room, this is very negative for the food you cook. It will burn and you will not be able to eat it.

So, for the process of preparing a delicious, healthy meal, turning up the heat too high and leaving the room has a very negative impact on your desired outcome. But if you're in the kitchen and you enjoy cutting up the vegetables and you are very attentive, and you are not distracted, this has a very positive effect on the outcome of your project having a healthy, good dinner. So, 'negative' and 'positive', connected with a certain project, so to speak, this makes total sense. You want to achieve something.

You want to do something, and some things help in this, and some things are not helping in this. That's what we call positive and negative. But you cannot say that the stove is negative because it burned your food. So, I agree with you. Negativity, this concept has no place. This is stupid. But it is very helpful to just observe what helps you in in your task and what doesn't help you in your task.

Now coming back to my personal experience... I love to do videos. That's the one task left in my life: to just share what I was given. I share it in whatever way. These days, it's videos. Who knows what it will be in the future? I have no idea.

But making videos or being with people, talking about this, giving Satsang, has an effect on me. It's natural.

And then, I take care of myself. That's also natural. And I now do videos since 1 year and 3 months, and the one thing I learned during this time is that I have to slowly, slowly become strong enough to handle the effects of this. I can't just keep on doing videos again and again and again. I have to take time to take care of myself, because the more I make myself available, the better I have to take care of myself. This is the one learning for me during this first year of making videos.

And as I said, this has nothing to do with 'negative'.

This is just the way it is.

Now, very soon, in two weeks, I will be experiencing my first live Satsangs on-site with people. There is a spiritual festival in Freudenstadt in the Black Forest area of Germany, and there I'm invited to give Satsang. I will have 6 Satsangs during this festival there, and I am totally looking forward to it, and I am totally prepared to take care of myself, so I can maintain my energy; so I can maintain my inwardness, out there in the crazy world.

That's my learning.

Thank you for your question. I'm very happy that I could speak about this.

Support me if it gives you joy

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And when you want to help me with my task, with my joyful task I have, I am very happy. What helps me is when people support me financially, because this makes it easier for me to take the time and the energy for the videos, for the Satsangs. Then I don't have to work so much, and I can dedicate more time for this.

And if it gives you joy to support me in this, I am very happy. You can do this, and the information how this is possible, you'll find on my website on the Donate page. And I'm happy about every single person who supports me in this very, very much. And I thank everybody who already does this. I am so touched and so grateful.

I am so happy that you are here. Thank you for being here.

I love you.