"I want to be more beautiful"

Good morning.

This morning, I want to talk about the body, about beauty and health. And I got inspired by a letter, and I want to read out this letter now, to begin with:

"Today I'm writing to you on a subject that is not spiritual. I'm 55 years old, and I see that in the mirror every day. I used to like everything about my appearance. I had a nice figure and a pretty face, but that has changed. I had psychosis, and due to the medication I'm now taking and due to menopause, I have gained 20 kilos and the face is full of wrinkles. I don't like it. There are some ways to improve it with plastic surgery: liposuction and injecting wrinkles. I have already had a consultation. Unfortunately, the thing is expensive. I'm actually happy with my inner self. I live in peace and harmony. But I don't like the mirror: belly and wrinkles bother me. I'm interested in what you think about it: does it make sense to do something for the appearance? I have another consultation with the surgeon in a few days and I hope that you can say something about it by then."

This is a very spiritual question. It touches the core of our human way in life, and I'm happy to try to help you find your answer to this question. The answer depends on where a human being is on this path of life.

Usually, it's like this that most people in this world, 99 percent, they are completely unaware of who they are, of how they feel. They're completely unaware of what's going on in them, and they live a happy life; more or less happy; as happy as they can be. They have their worries, they have their fears, they have their dramas, but they also have their happiness. They just live life, careless, so to say. They eat whatever they want, they enjoy their food, they just eat what they like. It makes them sick, but they don't know it. They just enjoy life. And it's a good life, as good as it can be on that stage. Nothing wrong.

And then comes a second stage in the development of a human being, and that is when a human being begins to realize that there is something else to life. You begin to become a little bit aware of your feelings, of what's going on in you, of your body, of your health, of who you are. And this is the age we are in right now, where many people begin to enter this second stage. People become aware of their nutrition. They try to eat healthier. They become more aware of the world and the problems, and they try to do something about it.

But in a funny way, this second stage is even more unaware than the first, because in the second stage, we are in a way, if you look at it closely, even more identified with our body. We are even more identified with the world and with what's going on in the world, and we try to fix it. It becomes really important for us to eat healthy, to do the right things in life, to do the right things for the world. And this second development stage is much more difficult than the first. We have much more problems. We worry much much more.

And as I said: we are even more unaware than before. We don't know who we really are. We really worry. We take it much more seriously, everything. We take much more seriously than those people on this first stage. And on that level, beauty, our health, our body and how we are, our spiritual development, our well-being, the fulfillment of our wishes, all this becomes even more important to us than before. And that's why life gets much more difficult.

And then, there's another stage which follows after that, and that is the stage where we begin to discover who we really are. We begin to discover that we are a soul and not the body, and slowly, the identification with the body and with our wishes and our worries, the identification with the world, that disappears slowly, and we become really happy. In the first stage, people are happy, but they're completely unaware, and their happiness is very limited and completely dependent on the circumstances of life. And in the last stage, we become truly happy, completely independent of the circumstances of life, of the state of this body.

But the second stage, this in-between stage, this is tough, and that's where you are. And it's very important and very very helpful to be honest with oneself and to just be where you are. Be honest with yourself. Don't try to be cooler, more advanced, more spiritual than you actually are. This only leads to problems. When the appearance of your body is important to you, that's okay. Just acknowledge the fact: "Yes, this is important to me. I want to do something about it." And then, you can check out: "What can help me with this? The appearance of my body is important to me. What can I do about it?" And I encourage you to be where you are. This is the most helpful.

Now, having plastic surgery and liposuction and having the wrinkles injected, this can help with the appearance of your body. It's very expensive, and it's very temporary. The effect of such a surgery is very temporary. The effects last only for a very short time, and afterwards, the wrinkles come back, even more than before, because by then, the tissue, the skin, has been artificially stretched and then not only the old wrinkles come back, but they're much worse than before. And the same goes with the weight, with the fat. The plastic surgery doesn't treat the cause of what you don't like, it just treats the symptoms, and that's why it's temporary. And you can do this. You know, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just not very effective. And it's good to know this.

There's another way you can take care of your appearance when you want to become more beautiful. You can try to find out what your body likes. You can try to become more sensitive to what is good for your body and what is not so good for your body, and this will help your body to become more healthy and more balanced, and then your body will naturally look more beautiful. This is a second way to do something for your appearance when this is important for you.

But also, there you have to know that also these efforts are limited. Your body is aging, and no plastic surgery will change this. And also, no matter how much you do for the health and the well-being of your body, your body is just aging, and it will get older. And you will see the effects of this. And if you are in menopause, if you take medication, you will feel the effects on your body, and this is just the way it is. You can do things about it, but also this is limited. And it's helpful to know this, because it relaxes the whole thing a little bit.

Now, there's a third possibility. You can realize: "Oh, this body, this is my body, but this is not me. I am not this body. And when you know this, not as a thought in your head, but when you experience this, when you discover this inside of yourself, this will change things too. You will look into the mirror, and you will see this body, this face, you will see the wrinkles and the fat, but when this is not you but just a body, you will look at it in a different way.

But the important thing is that you are where you are, and that you choose that solution, that path, which suits you; where you feel the most energy for. That's what I want to encourage you to. If you think surgery is a good way for you, then do it. Just know the reality of it. I would encourage you to inform yourself a little bit about what it means to have plastic surgery and what happens afterwards. And don't ask the surgeons, they will only tell you the good stuff. But we have the Internet, and it's so easy to get all information you want on the Internet. Look for the reports of people who did this in the past. Look for reports how it was for people in the long term, how they felt with it after surgery and half a year or a year or two years later, just so you know what you're doing. I say this not to discourage you but so you make the right decision for you.

But if you feel: "Oh, maybe this is not the right thing for me, I want to be beautiful, but this doesn't feel good", then learn how to treat your body better. There are infinite possibilities, this is a huge playground. You can learn so many things, and when you become more aware of what your body needs... This is a great game, and you will see it, it will make you more beautiful. So, if you feel: "Oh, this is interesting, I feel energy for this", then do this. Maybe you have heard that you are not the body and this is all not important, but be honest with yourself. As long as you feel: "The looks of my body is important to me", then it is like this. There's nothing wrong with it, be where you are. Please, be where you are.

And if you feel: "Well, actually this is nonsense, I don't want to waste my time with this. I want to find out who I really am", then meditate and that will also improve your beauty. And this solution is a long-lasting solution. This makes you more beautiful forever, no matter how old the body gets.

But the real issue here is that you need to be where you are. There are many people out there who will tell you: "Oh, this is nonsense. Don't do this", and there are many people out there who will tell you: "You're not the body, this is not important", but be where you are. Be how you are, right now.

In the second stage... I described the first stage where people are totally unaware, and then the second stage where people start to become aware but are still totally identified. One of the characteristics of this stage, and this is our time right now in the modern world, is that of hurry, of wanting to be somewhere else. It's typical for this time that people know what is possible and they want to already be there. But they are not. You read all kinds of wise things on Facebook or elsewhere, and then, people think they should be like this, and they try to imitate this. Of course, this doesn't help at all. And it's the big issue of our time that people think they should be different than they are.

The blessings of the first stage are that people don't think at all about how they are. They don't want to change. They are just the way they are. They do have their sufferings in life, but they don't try to change, and that's why they are comparably happy. In the second stage, you think you should be different, and you think you should be different fast. You think you should be somewhere else than where you are right now, and that leads to all kinds of trouble.

There are these stories from some Christian sects where people torture their bodies. They hurt their bodies on purpose, they inflict pain on the body because they want to get out of this identification with the body. They heard that this is not good, they should not be identified, they punish themselves for this, for being identified with the desires of the body, with desires in general. And then, they hurt the body and they think they do something good. And this is total nonsense. The effect of this is the opposite. In a way you give even more energy to the identification of the body because you punish yourself for how you are.

And this is also the cause of psychosis. Psychosis is happening when a human being experiences things it is not ready for, when a human being experiences things it can't digest, it can't assimilate. And this can be some trauma, some traumatic event in life, but it can also be because the psyche tries to push you further than you are. You think you should be further than you are, more spiritual than you are, more disidentified than you are, and then, you become unstable. And the body pulls the emergency break, and that's what psychosis is: an emergency break. It brings you back to where you really are. And that's why it's helpful when the psychiatrist... he gives you or she gives you medication to make you slower, to bring you back to where you were, to slow the whole thing down, and that's good.

And that's why I encourage you: be where you are. Don't try to be spiritual, don't try to be cool. And the characteristics of this age, as I said, is this belief: "I should be different. I should be more spiritual. I should be more aware. I should be more beautiful. I should be healthier", and it should be fast. That's one of the signs you can... It shows you when your ego, when your intellect is trying to push you further: this hurry. And I see this in your letter. You have this appointment next week, and you believe you should make a decision until then, and you want an answer fast because you need to make a decision. And this is not true. You don't have to make a decision fast. You can take your time.

I have an idea for you, I have a proposal for you: you cancel the appointment you have next week, this consultation, and you give yourself 45 days, 45 days of time where you don't have to make a decision. Give yourself the gift of this time. And you can make an entry in your calendar: in 45 days from now, you can write down: "decision about plastic surgery", but until then, don't think about it. Just give yourself time. Give yourself time to find out which of these many possibilities you have to approach this question of your outer appearance, what is the right one for you. Give yourself time. Play with it a little bit. Inform yourself about plastic surgery, about the long-term effects of it. Find out whether you rather would like to take care of the health of your body. Play with the whole thing. Just give yourself time.

I do this when I have decisions to make. Whenever I feel this urge that I have to make a decision, I realize: "Wait a moment! Somebody is pushing me here. Somebody, my intellect, tries to make me faster than I am." And then, I give myself time, and usually I wait until I don't have the feeling that I need to make a decision anymore. By that time, things have become clear to me just by themselves, just by me giving it time. Then, things become clear, and then you know what you want to do.

So, that is my advice to you: give yourself time. Let it sink in. Wait until it becomes clear to you. And then, you can do whatever you want. You are free to do whatever you want. Everything is okay. Everything is allowed, but I promise you: after these 45 days, you will know what is the right thing for you right now. And I know... As far as I remember, you meditate. I'm not entirely sure... if your psychologist advises you not to meditate, then better listen to this, but if I remember correctly, you told me that you meditate. And if this is true, meditate every day, every morning. And meditate in a group once a week, online is perfect. And give yourself these 45 days. Meditate every day and just see what happens. This is my advice to you.

And I want to say something to other people as well. I want to speak to you when the beauty of your body is important to you, or when the health of your body is important to you, or when you think you should be more spiritual, more enlightened. I said it: it's the characteristics of our times that we think we should be different than we are, and this causes us so much trouble. It causes problems and pain. And then you meditate, and then you think you should meditate better than you do, and you think your heart chakra should be more open or your crown chakra should be more open... all this nonsense. All this happens by itself, over time.

Swamiji, my Indian Guru, he says about us especially here in the West, in the modern world... He says we take the health of our body, we take the things we eat, the nutrition, way too serious. He said we shouldn't think about what we eat. We should just eat and appreciate what we can eat. He said, and he says again and again: "Don't change yourself. Be the way you are, but meditate."

I like this about a true Guru. On the one hand, he gives you the truth, he tells you: "You are not the body! Why do you worry?" Or he tells you: "You shouldn't think about your food or your nutrition", and at the same time, he says: "and be the way you are. Don't change yourself." He opens a door, he shows you the way, and then he tells you: "Be where you are, and meditate." He gives you a direction, but he says: "Don't run, don't even walk. Be the way you are, and meditate." The steps will be taken by itself.

And all the pain... we are in an age where people suffer more from inner emotional pain than ever before. More people are depressed than ever before. More cases of psychosis than ever before. And that's the characteristics of this second stage, of this time where we are in right now. We are half aware. We think we know the way. We try to push ourselves, and all we do is we push ourselves into pain and problems. And that is why my advice always is: "Be the way you are. Be honest with yourself. Relax. Relax with how you are. You're beautiful. And meditate." And you can trust that all these things which are possible will happen, but then they happen naturally. Every step happens at the right time, when you are ready, when your inner is ready.

And I can testify: it works like this. Everything changes slowly by itself, in a perfect way, if you don't push yourself, if you don't try to be more spiritual than you are, more advanced than you are. So, if your beauty is important to you, this is fine. Do something about it, in the best way you can. And meditate. If your health is important to you, okay! Do whatever you can, but meditate. If you're identified with this body, if you're worried about the health of the body, if you're worried about illness and death, do something about it if you can, and meditate. Be where you are, love yourself the way you are right now.

And, by the way: if you do this, you will become the most beautiful and the healthiest you can be. It's a side effect, so to speak.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for being the way you are. You are beautiful.

I love you.