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Last time, we were at Jñāna-sarūpa. What is the form of knowledge? What does knowledge mean? After Jñāna-sarūpa comes Jñāna-upadeśa: how can one realize knowledge within oneself? How can one help oneself? What is the Self? Śaṅkarācārya has said that in the body there are two: the ātman, the puruṣa, Īśvara, the universal Self, the all-pervading form. As the teacher has explained, the ātman is our own Self, and Īśvara is God, in both forms—with form or formless, in astral form. This Ātman, your own Self, or the Īśvara principle, both are separate from your physical body or your astral body. Your astral body is also not what you think you are. You are not even your physical body, nor what you think you might be. The Ātman is completely different. Your Self is entirely different from what you think. Your Self is never sick and your Self is never sad. Your Self was never born and will never die. Everything that happens is merely external, and what you see is only your ignorance. Therefore, do not waste your time on these things. Finally, take some time to reflect and contemplate on what you are or who you are. You are the immortal Self, the highest Self, the divine Self, Īśvara. Breathing is seeing. Whether it is a small spark, a large ember, or a huge fire, the difference is only in quantity, in size. But the quality of fire is fire. Similarly, the reality of a small living being, or of a human, or of God, is itself. And so Śaṅkarācārya said, "Dvaitaṁ mithyā," duality is false. Now, Śaṅkarācārya is going to explain to us about Dvaita. And Dvaita is Mithyā. Mithyā means where there is no reality. We say mithyā means meaningless, nonsense. Mithyā fits very well with the word "nonsense." That is Mithyā, not Nitya. Mithyā is false. So this is the difference between ātman and the body, the deha. We have five bodies: our physical body, our energy body, our radiant body, our mental body, our causal body. These are all these parts; they are different. And the soul is also not the Self. But within the soul, where the soul dwells, that which lives in the Self, is the highest Self. And that is what we shall realize. This is the difference between the body and the Ātman. It is always said there are always arguments. But within these arguments, reality can also be found. But Śaṅkarācārya said, what do you gain from the arguments when you say, "No, but the body is important, the body is this, the body is the reality," and so on? That won’t help you. Do not waste your time on such arguments. Engage yourself every minute in your reality, in your bliss, in your joy, in your truth, in your own Self, so that you can realize it. As was said before, time does not stand still. Time will wait for no one, no matter who they are. God Himself incarnates here on this Earth; time will wait for Him no longer. That is why God Kṛṣṇa said, "I incarnate from time to time." It also means that time does not wait for Him. Time doesn’t wait for anyone. Until now, Śaṅkarācārya showed the difference between Ātman and the body and said that you should not have Deha-bhāva. Deha-bhāva means that you believe, you assert, that you still have attachment to your body. You think you are still the body, and you still think that your body can make you happy. No matter how you are, you are still not satisfied. We have never been satisfied with the body. Absolutely right. One speaks the truth. Perhaps for a short while mistakenly, and then there is nothing again. But is there anyone here who is physically satisfied in every way? Well, I don’t know. But not always. Sometimes it is mistaken. Therefore, Śaṅkarācārya said, your Deha-bhāva, your feelings towards your body, harden your mind. And what is in Ātma? Deha-bhāva is Asatya, and Ātma-bhāva is Satya. Asatya and Satya—this is the discernment in sādhanā. It is called Satsaṅga. God-beloved person, oh blessed one, dear to God, observe and revere sādhanā, the four kinds of techniques which will bring you happiness and liberate you. The first technique is to find out what is the truth, what is reality, and what is non-reality. That is what Śaṅkarācārya explained here earlier: Satya and Asatya. "Brahma Satya, Jagat Mithyā." Brahman, the highest Self, is the truth, and the world is the unreality. What changes is unreal, and what is unchanging, eternal, that is the truth. So the problem is Satya and Asatya. Therefore, it is said everywhere: "Satya beraber tapa nāhī, asatya beraber pāpa." There are no greater spiritual practices than Truth, and there is no greater sin than untruth. That is why you must speak the truth. This is the truth here, what Śaṅkarācārya says: Satya and Asatya. Truthfulness is the greatest virtue, the highest. And Asatya is ignorance and suffering. That is sin. Not that he said something wrong, or that he said nothing, or that he did that. That is a small human folly. Human nature is always to complain about others. It is easier to blame someone else, and therefore we do it. But Satya and Asatya here mean that truth is that God is absolute. God is eternity. God is the Highest. God is the Truth. And this truth is your Ātman. You are that. There is no difference between Him and you. But the beautiful thing is that you still believe you are separate, that you are a body, you are the second. That is the problem. Where is the Satya and where is the Asatya in your life? Compassion is solace. We intellectuals know from books and from masters and from everything. Nevertheless, we do not believe that. And the beautiful thing about our own thoughts is that we think, nevertheless, "I am sick, miserable, sad, lonely, abandoned, no one loves me, no one likes me." So then, despite this, who are you that no one likes you? There is no one else. There is only one, and that is you. They are jewels made from various kinds of pieces. But all of this is made of gold. The truth in your jewel is gold. The reality of your jewelry is the gold. It doesn’t matter if it’s an earring, an arm ring, a finger ring, or a necklace. This is only the form. The reality is the gold. You have not lost a ring; you have lost gold. You have not lost a bracelet; you have lost gold. You have not lost a necklace; you have lost gold. That is the reality. So it is with a human, a cow, a donkey, an elephant, a hare, or a deer. The truth is not the body, but the truth is the ātman that lives within them. The Self that lives in them and is born, moves, comes, and eats. There it is. And that is the breathing. So deha-bhāva is ignorance. And ātma-bhāva is the knowledge, the śakti, the truth. We know that nothing is healthier, no matter what we do. We have an itch somewhere, and we know that we cannot always reach there with our fingers to scratch. It becomes an infection, growing larger and larger. But once you start to scratch, it is so pleasant. And the hand goes back there again. And again you become attentive, telling the hand, do nothing. And again, go there. Damn it, there is something in there. There is perhaps a feeling, a sense of well-being inside. But he said, this is exactly where you think there is happiness, yet you do not know that more sorrow is hidden there. So, the joy of the joyous is less than the sorrows of the joyous. The joy from pleasure is less than the worries. The joy from pleasant things is less than the pain or suffering. Why? Because we are not time-conscious. We do not know that this time will also pass, and another time will come. And there, because we are blind to our moments, and the moments are so intense, one is dazzled by this illusion of Māyā. And all promises are broken there. And there one suffers. Although the Master said that you should be careful on vacation, now she suffers. Now she suffers terribly, even though I had already said before. What did I say during the holidays, the summer seminar before vacation? "Wishing you a happy vacation. But please, no falling in love. And when you are in love, do not come back; stay there happily." That is it. And now all those who were there and are in love, that is the suffering. And so it is said, the words of the Master come true. Right? That is it. So the moments, the moments, those are very difficult to analyze. Very, very difficult to analyze the moments. Who can analyze the moments can save the nerves, because it is difficult. The itch is too pleasant. That is so. But the bacterial infection, the danger, is greater. And so it is the power of discernment and the power of breath. Whenever something sad happens in your life, you should say: "Ānando’ham, Ānando’ham, Ānandam, Ānandam, Brahmānandam. I am blissful. I am blissful. I am supreme bliss. I am nothing that is sad. I am nothing that now suffers. I am nothing, the one who is now miserable and sick and full of pain. I am Siddhānanda, Śivo’ham, Śivo’ham." This is the best mantra that one can always practice. But the moment is difficult to get through. It is only about a moment. Just a moment. An accident happens in a moment. If you had been a little more aware or careful in this moment, this would not have happened. Later there is regret, and afterwards everything happens. But be awake for those moments. Be alert, be conscious, be aware. Step by step, carefully. Take your steps every day. Be careful. This is where we make big mistakes, and that is our great mistake. Of course, the Sanskrit seer did not say whether you are in love or not; that is also beautiful. Just do it, and then, when you have had enough, then finish, bye-bye. Okay, perhaps for some people it is like that, and for others, not at all. But here he means that God has given you such a beautiful human life, and do not waste it merely on material things. Wake up and think, be conscious, yet you are a human and you can think that you are an Ātman. Breath centers, constantly breath centers. And so the Master clearly explained to us why you find yourself between this dualism, between the two. And now we come to the favorite examples that many people speak and say in Vedānta. And many, many, a mistake. One sees something in the mistake. And Śaṅkarācārya gave an example of a snake for this error. In Austria, one encounters very few snakes. With Zuba there are two-legged beings, but not the two-tongued. So, the snake, it stirs. One sees, one is frightened if you see the snake. And so Śaṅkarācārya said, Chaitanya is one only, without dualism. Chaitanya says that under no circumstances can one remain in tears. It is inseparable. No matter into how many pieces you have fragmented, the reality remains the same. Gold is gold. Water is water, regardless of what flavor is added to it. Liquid is liquid. Sky is sky. Space is space. Whether there is a pleasant fragrance or an unpleasant odor, the space remains space. And so the truth, the reality of your Self, you are that and you cannot separate. You cannot separate anything from God; that is what He wants to convey. There is no difference between Him and you; you are one with Him. Your child has an essence of both father and mother; there is no difference. It is about the reality of reality. And so, Ātman, Īśvara, God, is inseparable. It is a sin when you make distinctions between races or even separate people from people, and the animals and the humans and so on suffer. When this consciousness arises, I believe the world will become Satya-Yuga once again, won’t it? Very beautiful, Satya-Yuga. And so, it is like this: when you see a cord lying on the ground, or a piece of rubber, or something, a cable, and from a distance you suddenly see it as a snake. Are you afraid now? And if you throw a stone, it doesn’t work yet, and you light a lamp and come a little closer, then you see, it really is a string. Then you laugh at your own self, at your own ignorance. And there are these great faces, but I do not want to talk about them because the children will become restless. It is time; the children are all coming now. Time with a spirit, the Ghost. The ghost was constantly at rest; a man could not sleep. A guest arrived at a farmhouse, and the guest, a farmer, had a small house where he provided a room to sleep in, and in that room there was a large white tiled stove. And someone told him that a ghost lives in the farmhouse on the farm. And now, he was so superstitious and fearful. And those who no longer believe in the ghost will also think psychologically, perhaps it could be. I am curious about what Ghost looks like. And then one says, it could be unpleasant. So no matter who it is, fear—once fear blackmails your subconscious—your willpower becomes weaker and weaker and weaker. Fear is very strong. And fear is present where there is no reality, where there is ignorance. He sleeps, he covers himself completely with the blanket. And at that time his eye was still open and the lid was open, wondering whether the ghost is there, standing somewhere nearby. And around half past eleven, the moon rises in the night. And the moonlight comes through the window and shines on the corner where the tile stove is. And he continues to sleep, then suddenly opens his eyes and it is already standing there. He is already there. And he screams and is completely paralyzed. Fear. He could no longer move. And he began to scream. The state is such, for example, there are certain dreams: you want to run away, but you cannot. Your legs are so heavy. There are certain dreams. And so he became completely unconscious. He was completely paralyzed and was shouting for help. So then other people from the farm came and knocked on the door. "What is it?" He said the Ghost is in the room. "Where?" He is standing right here beside me. He comes to me, please help. Oh God, then do it quickly. He says, "I cannot, he is stuck in my frustration." And he imagines something. And so, they broke through the windows and came inside. And then, he stands up and walks out. And says, "Where is the Ghost?" "Just around the corner." They say, "My God, we are sorry, poor souls. Indeed, a ghost does live in our house." They also forgot, there is a fireplace there. And then a knower also came and said, "There is no ghost." And he obediently goes inside, turns on the light, and sees that it is a fireplace. All is a change of fear. So the question is, where did the ghost come from and how does it cause this fear? And now, where has the ghost gone, and where has the fear gone? From ignorance, the ghost is ignorance. Ignorance caused fear, and now the light of knowledge has emerged. Ignorance is gone, and there is no more ghost, and there is no more fear. And so there is no more cord, no more serpent, no more fear. It was just a rope, but you thought, you imagined, there is a snake. And so in life, there are many, many wrong attitudes. And then we suffer because of it. One suffers so deeply from these false attitudes; sometimes one cannot let go. A woman lost her young child; the child passed away. And it was very difficult for them to let go of that. Every day, she goes to the cemetery, every day, and weeps and sits there. All the people said, "Please accept it, he is dead, he cannot come back anymore." And it was like that in nature; God, as we always say, comforts. But she said no, she did not accept. But that was her husband, I believe, that was the face of her husband. The man has passed away. "My darling, my husband, my husband,... oh man." And then someone comes to a village, and the people said, "This woman has such a serious problem, whether she can help her." She said, "Yes, I will try." She sits in the cemetery and weeps, "My husband comes back," and so on and so forth. And the man, the other one who wants to help, took a beautiful water jug in his hand, made of ceramic, and it passes by. And right where she sits, a jug falls, and the jug breaks into several pieces. He gathers the whole pieces together and weeps, "My jug, please come back. My jug, how beautiful you were, come back again. I want you back." And the woman sits there and says, "Are you stupid? Don’t you understand anything at all? It is broken. It has run its course, it is broken, it can no longer function. Go and buy a new one." And he says, "Are you also a madman? The man is dead; he cannot come back. Go and find another man." That is it. So accept it; sometimes the fixed idea is so strong, and we suffer because of it. And so, it is difficult to let go of these fixed ideas. Only one thing, knowledge. Knowledge helps us. Ignorance causes suffering, pain, and sorrow.