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Peace. Where there is peace, there is relaxation, harmony, balance, clarity, and freedom from fear. This understanding comes through language, which holds many meanings. There are ancient languages, such as Sanskrit. It is said that Sanskrit is the mother of many, many languages. The script of Sanskrit is said to be Devanāgarī. Yes, Devanāgarī. Deva means God or gods. A language that comes from God is a language full of love, devotion, understanding, forgiveness, and so on. We are now in this beautiful time of Christmas. When we accept Jesus as a spiritual, a holy being, his arrival and presence was a great joy. As I said, when divinity comes, light appears; we find a light where there was darkness. Where it is dark in the evening, we hold the light. So much restlessness, negative energy, hatred, anger, and war arise. Then divine energy arrives to dispel the darkness, and the Avatar came, bringing with them this divine language. During this Christmas season, we all think positively and happily. It is a time when everyone holds in their thoughts the intention to forgive others. Friendship returns, we say sorry, and we offer a small token, a gift. What does giving a gift mean? There are several types of gifts, or forms. There is also, how shall I say, corruption. I forgot one word: bribery. That is also a gift, but in a negative sense. So someone comes and offers a small flower. This flower is the highest crown on God’s heart, God’s light. It is the energy of God that unfolds. What happens? Usually, all kinds of flowers, when they open, emit fragrance. Perhaps the plant itself does not have a pleasant scent, but from these thorns and from all of it, the flower emerges so tenderly, so gently, with a beautiful, very clear color. One flower after another opens and gives off a good fragrance. Before, there is stress, thorns, hardness, everything. And so, the time of Christmas is like this divine, beautiful lotus suddenly opening. It ends all negative thoughts and brings forgiveness. There is a gift of love, of forgiveness. That means that in the thoughts and presence of God, God's language also comes there. I believe that all the beautiful words written in the Bible are true. But unfortunately, we do not follow these beautiful words. They are spoken beautifully in church, at Mass, at funerals, at births, name days, baptisms, and so on. It is so beautiful. If we could use this language, we would no longer need any war. Because the language of Jesus, like in other sacred languages and sacred books, speaks of forgiveness. If it is true that Jesus was crucified, yet in that state he said, "God, forgive them," it shows we have so much power that no one can do anything truly bad to us. And yet we often use harsh, negative language that causes stress. Whoever is sinful, whoever has done bad things, has a seed of fear sprouted in their heart. Fear has many forms, and one lives and works with fear. There is fear of a company going bankrupt, or losing money. This great fear causes stress. We can practice many techniques, but fear will not go away. Fear will only disappear when we renounce attachment. There is a beautiful poem in Hindi that Holy Guruji often mentioned in his discourses. It says stress will go away then. The poem speaks of a king who was very wealthy, with thousands of elephants—that is prosperity. Today we can't even feed one elephant; it would finish all our money. To feed thousands is grand. Gajadāna, Bajadāna, aura sone kā Bāja—elephants, hawks, and a golden hawk. The king has a kingdom of golden falcons. Gajadāna, Bajadāna, Orratana, Dhanakhāna. And he has the love of diamonds, many gemstones. We say we have gemstones, a great mine. Nevertheless, your stress will not let you go. You have more and more stress. Jabai santosh dhana... All this wealth—elephants, falcons, precious stones—this prosperity is only a headache. "Headache" is another word for stress. Jabāī santosh dhana. Santosh means contentment. When you have contentment, all these worldly things are like dust to you. When you are content, happy, and satisfied, you need nothing at all. Everything else is like dust. When a Yogi, a Rishi, and God Himself are one, there is a state of contentment. We seek peace, we seek love, believing this or that will make me happy. Yes, but for how long? There is another beautiful saying: As long as the lemon has juice inside, it will flow. When there is no more, where do you throw it? With the bucket. A beautiful mango, have you ever eaten an Indian mango? The seed you take out also has a lot of juice on it. But when we have completely consumed the mango and there is no sweetness or juice left, where does this seed pit end up? Now children, do not be sad about what I say. This love you think is your life—"Love is my life"—one day, this love will throw you into the manure. Then even more pain will come, more stress. So, when we speak about love, there is only one—and that is God. But now we misunderstand. One says, "God is love and love is God." But many people have poor understanding. Nowadays, "peace" and "God"—these two words are misused. When you are content, your stress will disappear. And what you think are your best friends one day, all will leave you. I once told stories about my husband. He was a tall man, an old man, a director of a large company with 5,000 people working under him. He had many friends, of course. He had several nice cars: a Rolls-Royce, Mercedes, Jaguar, and a Trabant. The three luxury cars could not climb up the Salzburg mountain, but the Trabant could. It doesn't have to be beautiful, but it has a certain lightness of power. He had three houses, a wife, and a daughter. This was around 1978. We were in Reichenau near Raxberg. You have beautiful hands, a beautiful body, everything is wonderful. A diamond ring on your finger—everyone says, "Oh, how beautiful." Austria is like a diamond on the ring of our fingers, so beautiful it is. Isn't Austria so beautiful? You can see how the diamond shines on every mountain. When the sun shines, you need strong glasses because it is so beautiful. It is, whether we believe it or not. And the Alps, the Alpine mountains. Do you know what Alpen means? In Sanskrit, Alp means small. Like a little finger, or in Austria they say Jause for a snack. For a snack, you need a break and some rest—that is it, to enjoy. So Alp means small. These are the Berge, the small part of the Himalaya. The Himalaya is the gross, but the Alps are part of the Himalaya. It is beautiful. Anyhow, we continue. It was summertime, but sometimes it rained and was cool. The gentleman director was almost 90. Someone brought him in a wheelchair, and he sat in the sun. I came from my room; we had a seminar with 30 or 40 people. I walked by and said, "Greetings, how are you?" He said, "Young man, come, sit beside me." I sat beside him. He spoke of his pains: "You know, young man, I have worked with more than 2,000 people under me, and all of them revered me as a god. Many secretaries, invitations to weddings, birthdays, ministers. I had beautiful cars and three good houses. But today, nothing is with me. All my friends are gone. No one writes, not even a postcard. They were all selfish because I held a high position and they wanted something from me. Now, my house is gone, my cars are gone. I have a daughter in Germany; from time to time on my birthday or Christmas she calls and says, 'Papa, how are you?' This is my state now." So it is with many things we gather. We think, "He loves me," but one does not know if that is truly love. And there is stress. If you are a minister, everything is there, but after the next election, it's already gone. Our best friends should not be because of your beauty or wealth, but because of your heart. A true friend will speak the truth and scold, but will not take away your heart. That is stress. What we call stress comes from deep fear in our subconscious: "What will happen?" All positions will disappear. But not for the yogi, the monk, the saint. He will gain more and more spirituality. Spiritual energy is the light, and light is knowledge, and knowledge brings us into our highest consciousness, into the divine light. So, stress. There is only one thing. There is someone here named Santos? Do we have none? One, yes. But we must ask whether it is truly santosh (contentment). The name is there, but it is meant to be realized. His name is Shanti (peace), but inside there is no śānti. Why do you have this name Shanti? You must realize it and give śānti to all others. That is it. Love is a name we also have. But if one does not feel any love in one's own heart and is not dependent on love—whatever you may think—love is not dependent on anything. Love is the flower that scents the entire hall for everyone. So many sit and receive this fragrance. Thus love, spirituality, the love of God. There is also the great stress of the fear of death. Yes, that is the greatest fear. One fears losing friends, losing prosperity. But the greatest fear is death, dying. In death, there is an even deeper fear. We may not fear death itself, but we fear the pain. How will I die? Will someone kill me? Will I fall and lie there with no one around? An accident? An animal attack? Lying in the hospital for weeks or years. "Lord God, why must I suffer?" People have more fear than animals. Animals die when attacked, not before. But we are afraid. Then fear about the children, how they will be, studying. This is a hidden fear, and stress—the root of stress is our fear. We have witnessed many people, the Second World War, the First World War, how people lived, imprisoned, in suffering. This fear has been caused by people for people. The anti-stress technique, the practice, is that of love and forgiveness. But we humans talk about peace, peace. Then why do we produce weapons? The Bible does not say we should make weapons. It says if someone strikes your cheek, offer the other also. Who has such strength to speak and act thus? We are selfish, concerned only with what we lack. When others love and agree with my opinion, it is good. If not, then they are my enemy to be destroyed. This is not a language found in the Bible or other sacred texts. Fear is the cause of stress. Think about what makes you restless and sad. Let go of these kinds of fear and sadness. That is why meditation and mantra are essential. In the end, we must come to our inner self, to our divine feeling, through our mantra. There is a beautiful bhajan. In this bhajan, a saint named Sūradāsa sang; he was blind, yet his bhajans are so beautiful. He lived several hundred years ago. His Bōsenz is now often sung. He said to God: "Lord God, I am a bird, a seagull on your boat. I do not want to stay here; I want to fly away. But, sir, I see no refuge sitting here. It is only water. I am tired and have no refuge. Must I come back, fly back, and sit on your boat again? I want to fly away from you, but I have no refuge anywhere. If I land on water, other animals or fish will eat me. And so we are these seagulls. Here in my heart, there is only you; this is your boat. I come back there again. So I always, Lord, try to fly away, but there is no shelter to be found. Again I come and find refuge on your boat." So all those today who say, "You are my favorite," one day you will have to fly away from there again, because our true shield is the boat of God, which we reach through the mantra. Mantra is very important, as is meditation. No matter what faith you have, God is one. There are other names: Śiva-God. We do not call Śiva 'God'; Śiva is Śiva. Then Kṛṣṇa, God. Viṣṇu, God. Rāma, God. Likewise Jesus, God. Buddha, God. But why do Buddha, Jesus, Kṛṣṇa, and so on have these names? Why not just 'God'? Dualism is in the name. So which name? God has no name. Nameless. Someone once asked a Sādhu, "What is your name?" He said, "Benāmī"—no name. "Yes, but what is your name?" He said, "No name, I am no name." One might think this is a little crazy. So the name creates distinctions. Otherwise, God is God. Fruit is a fruit. Banana, apple, grape—but fruit is a fruit. And so God is God. It does not matter which mantra you choose according to your feelings; you can take that. But in the end, it is the light. Go to the light. Go directly to the light. Today we will practice meditation. Beautifully, stress will dissolve, and we will be very happy. So proceed towards the light. Light and light and light. When darkness falls, there is danger. Darkness is our ignorance, our emotions and beliefs: "This is my best friend," "my best husband or wife," "my beloved." That man said, "I am sitting here alone, and there is no one even to talk to me." I said, "As long as I am here, I will sit beside you and speak." He said, "That is very painful. You will stay and talk for a few days, and then you will leave. I am back in the same state." Stress causes the primal disturbance. Stress causes our fear and attachment. Attachment and fear cause stress. To lose this fear and stress, a mantra—what mantra did we practice yesterday? If you do not believe in God... What you do not believe in, you say, "No, I do not believe in God." God says, "Yes, but I am in your heart. You just said you do not believe in God, but I am always in your mind." So the one who does not believe in God, you do not believe, but God believes in you. He is with you. That's it. You cannot take that in a fixed way. God is God. So if you do not want any other religion or mantra, then take this mantra. Very easy: One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. In music, they say, "Okay, we get ready: one, two, three, four, five, let's go." When we say one, two, three, four, five, you must be concentrated; you might forget a number. It makes us alert, aware, concentrated, and relaxed. Stress goes away. There are other practices with this mantra to develop memory. These are also numbers. The numbers are arranged so that if you repeat them as a mantra for five minutes every day, your memory will grow again. Everything is in our hands, as long as God is in our hearts—that is the light of knowledge. Stress. The key to unlocking and freeing stress is awareness. Be aware. Be aware of yourself and of the opinions of others. For example, awaken in everyone the awareness of the practice of yoga. The awareness of yoga has greatly expanded throughout the entire world. I am certain yoga will transform the world into a realm of peace and freedom from stress. Hari Om, Jaya Dīpa Nārabhagavān, Jaya Deveśvara Mahādeva, Jaya Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān, Jaya Sanātana Dharma.