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In both religion and spirituality, ethics are paramount. Among these ethical principles, Ahiṃsā—non-violence—is of utmost importance. It means not killing any creature and leading a vegetarian life. Many mistakenly believe vegetarian food lacks strength or nutrition. This is incorrect. One of my disciples, your brother Hanumān Purī, has been with me from a very young age. He is a complete vegetarian, not consuming even eggs, as eggs do not grow on plants and are therefore not vegetarian. From youth, inspired by his name which signifies strength, he took up bodybuilding. He is now a trainer for bodybuilders. Recently, he traveled from India, where temperatures reach 48°C, to Croatia, where it was 15°C, to compete. On stage, wearing a t-shirt proclaiming "I love vegetarian," he won. People were very surprised that a human can develop such a physique with vegetarian food, without meat, eggs, or fish. Nagyon meglepődtek azon, hogy az ember felnövekedhet hús nélkül és akár tojás nélkül is. Teljesen elképedtek ezen. This is a wrong conception about nourishment. Az emberek tévesen gondolkodnak az étkezés felől. It is often driven by commercial interests. Consider: we measure a car's power in horsepower. Is the horse vegetarian or non-vegetarian? The elephant is vegetarian. Hanumān Purī, a Croatian, proved in Croatia that through vegetarianism one can develop the body and muscles. India has many vegetarian bodybuilders. Vegetarians have very good concentration and memory, which lasts until the final minutes of life. With good mental power, you can win, as mental power is stronger than physical power. Therefore, from the viewpoints of health, spirituality, economy, ecology, yoga, relaxation, and concentration, the vegetarian diet is the best diet for humans. A human is not fully accepted by spirituality or religion if they consume meat. Many great leaders, poets, artists, spiritual figures, and politicians were vegetarian. Incarnations of God were vegetarian: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, and of course Kṛṣṇa and Rāma. All were vegetarians, and if you are vegetarian, you are in that category. Your level of consciousness ascends. Whenever you think about meat, it descends. But I don't think you think about eating meat. Would you change your mind? You said no. So, ethics. Love. There are two kinds of love. One is love for God, which is unconditional and equal. A husband and wife both have one God or Gurū Dev; they love that Devatā equally. We have one sun in this part of the universe, and we all love the sun equally. The second love is for the creation of God. There is only one Creator of everything, and we belong to that creation. We are not only the children of God, but even the trees are the children of God. Where there are more trees, there is more rain. Try to sit many humans on one rock, and you will see more drops fall there—sweat. Never, never, never think that God loves only humans. That is the greatest mistake and shows a lack of understanding of what God is. God loves all equally. A parent loves all children, even if they are disabled mentally or physically; they love equally. It is our duty to help and love the less able ones more. Similarly, it is our duty to love mukprani, meaning those creatures which cannot speak our language and cannot express their pain; we must represent them. It doesn't matter if it's human or animal; prison is a prison. Everyone is afraid to die. No one wants to die. Even a small injection from a doctor makes you afraid. Your heartbeat rises even if you are a doctor yourself. Everyone feels pain and fears it. It is not true that cold blood doesn't feel pain. All animals, even fish in water, run away if touched. Humans have the intellect to understand death, life, pain, pleasure, and happiness. Therefore, humans are considered higher developed beings. This does not mean humans have a right to destroy God's creation. You are not the creator. Even if you were a creator, you would have no right to destroy that creation. The development of spirituality depends on this ethical principle. There are no arguments or excuses; claiming you must eat meat for your health is not acceptable. You are ill because you are eating meat. Now, vegetation is polluted by pesticides. But not only vegetation; milk animals—cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep—also get injections to produce more milk. Animals kept for milk or for slaughter all receive chemicals. It is very hard to get pure milk. If you want to taste real, pure milk, butter, and yogurt without chemicals, come to Jordan Ashram. Our cows are one thousand percent vegetarian and chemical-free. They walk through dry fields for five or six hours daily. If you made a competition between our Jādon cows and cows here, the Jādon cows would win. That butter, if I held it here, would fill the whole room with its aroma. That is healthy ghee, healthy milk, healthy butter, healthy yogurt. Our cows in this country were also like this, but now there are so many laws, chemicals, artificial feeders, and they have no place to move. No wonder they are ill mentally, emotionally, and physically. Merely growing an animal's muscles does not mean it is healthy. We should think of this. By doing this, we are killing ourselves. Some people breed rabbits, then take one and kill it. When a baby rabbit is born, you say, "Oh, nice baby," you feed them, love them, take care of them—they are like your children. Then you take that rabbit into the kitchen. You take a knife, and the beautiful pink eyes of the rabbit look at you and say, "Mother, please don’t do this to me. I never thought you would do this to me." Pigs, when loaded onto a truck, say, "Where are you sending me?" They call you father and mother. You are their caretaker, their father and mother. Are they your best friend? They trust you. When you open their door, they are happy. When you bring food or water, they are happy. When you touch them, they are nice and happy. Then you load them onto trucks. The pig looks at you and says, "Master, where are you sending me today?" The animal knows what will happen. They don't die only once; they die every minute. When brought into a room with electric saws, machines, and flowing blood, with their brothers and sisters hanging there, do you think they are not afraid? They are very fearful. Imagine being brought somewhere where your colleagues are killed and hanging, and now it is your turn. How would your psychic condition be? People who experienced gas chambers in the Second World War will never forget. Similarly, other creatures also feel pain. You have a wedding and invite people for a dinner, killing animals. Many are on the fire, grilled or roasted alive. Many have a big iron rod put through their body and are grilled. Do you think God will bless your wedding, or will God be unhappy because of these creatures being tortured and killed? Every day you eat meat, and every day you go to church and say, "Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, please forgive me." How many times should He forgive you? Oh man, you are not born only for your body and to look nice and beautiful. If you look at the beauty of your body, skin, and hair... I didn't put oil on my body. But when people massage me, they say, "Swāmījī, your skin is like a baby’s skin." How did you get this? I ask my mother; my mother gave me this. Vegetarian people have good hair, strong hair, strong nails. My nails, when cut with pliers, are like iron; you are cutting iron wires. It's not a joke. Reality is there. The person who cuts my nails has to use great strength. My toenails are like horse nails—horse power. When you have love, you cannot take a knife and kill or cut the throat of a living being. It doesn't matter if it's human or animal. Thou shalt not kill. That is the second kind of love. When such love awakens in an entire family, it is a very happy, relaxed family. Spirituality is not something you achieve or a place you get to; it is what you have to live. If you are hungry, you eat. If you are tired, you sleep. You have to live the spiritual life. Religion is not only in the holy book, temple, ashram, church, or mosque. It is you; you are that one. It is in you. When you don't know, you get the help of the Guru Vakya. Those Guru Vakya are valid from a Guru who is a Brahmaniṣṭha Śrotriya. The holy scriptures and books were written by the great divine. Merely the color of your cloth does not make you holy. Whether you are married or a bachelor does not make you holy. Even if married, you can be holy. One and a half years ago, a lady died on Śiva Rātri. She was a Śiva bhakta. She said that in two or three days it would be Śiva Rātri, and she would go on that day. She was nearly 87. In the morning, she got up, went to the water well, brought a 10 or 15-liter pot on her head, washed, and prayed. At 3:30 a.m., the whole family woke up in Brahmamuhūrta. Then she said, "Now I will go." Her husband was my school teacher, and her children are very good. She had children, was married, but followed spirituality. What is our condition? If we knew we would die in four days, I think we would not be able to survive those four days. So, spirituality, ethical principles, love—that equal love—it doesn't matter if you are family or others. Christianity also said, "Love your neighbor." These are the two kinds of love: love for God, our Iṣṭadevatā, and seeing His divine form in everyone. Because He is the creator, father, mother—both mother and father. Therefore: you are my mother and my father, you are my brothers, sisters, relatives, my friend, my wisdom, my wealth, my everything, oh my Lord. This mantra: one in all, all in one. When such love awakens in you, all problems are gone. Then you are happy; all sorrows vanish. You attain one state of consciousness. As Devpurījī said, God takes upon Himself the destiny of the devotee. So our destiny is in His hands. When it is in God's hands, why are we worried? Spirituality is not something you collect from somewhere. It is in you. Where are you going? Some people go to nightclubs or restaurants every night, especially young people. Ask them, "When you go to a club all week, don't you go to church one evening?" It is very interesting. If I were the father or mother, I would sit six days in church and one day in the club. But you were not able to give them this love, this spirituality. Don't put the ventilator on; I'm ill with the flu, and it will spread more. So, you see... Don't be angry. Some young people might say, "I will not go anymore to Swāmījī’s seminar." How do you imagine that God loves you if you avoid God's house? It is not that there is no church in your village. There may be two or three churches, or a mosque, ashram, or temple. Or you have a home altar. Do you say, "Instead of going to a restaurant or club this evening, I will sit there meditating and praying"? But the restless tendencies in you, that bad luck, push you away from light to darkness. Sometimes you can go to a guest house. There were two good friends: Johannes Gregorius and Johannes Müller. Gregorius was always angry—at doctors who only know pills, needles, or knives; at medical and drug companies. He said, "My dear friend Müller, don't go to the doctor, don't take medicine, don't waste your money." Müller was a little... he said, "Yes, no." One day, Gregorius called, "Müller, come. We shall go to the doctor today." Müller asked, "Why are you going?" "Because I need to." No argument. Friends don't ask why; they support you. The doctor gave some medicine, and they went to the chemist. Müller bought the medicine. Today, a chicken came in a box to be caught. Now he's ill and silent, not criticizing. He bought the medicine. Then Gregorius said, "Let's go for a walk." They walked over a bridge with a flowing river. Gregorius stopped, looked at the water, and took the envelope of medicine from his pocket. He threw all the medicine into the river. Müller thought he should have gone to a psychiatric doctor but didn't dare say, as Gregorius was stronger and might throw him in the river. Gregorius looked at Müller, smiled, and said, "Let's go home. Let's have a banana milkshake." They made and drank it. Müller couldn't digest his thoughts. "Friend, why did you go to the doctor?" "The doctor studied medicine, became a doctor, and has to survive, to earn money. He has to live from something." "I see. I understand. Then why did you spend the money at the chemist?" "They also have to live. If no one buys, they will be poor and cannot eat only medicine." "I see. You have positive thoughts. But you spent money on expensive medicine. Why throw it in the river?" "You don't understand? I also want to live. That's it." So sometimes you can go to a guest house or restaurant because they also have to live. But mostly, go to the church, ashram, temple, mosque. Sit with your mother and father. They are very wise and can help you with many things. In a guesthouse, they welcome you and take your money. Mother and father welcome you and give you money. Ethics, spirituality, morality—you have to develop them within you. If you don't have the feeling for that, you go to kusanga (bad company), where everyone sees you from a different angle, with different thoughts, unlike your father, mother, or sister. Therefore, regarding religion—don't think, "Oh God, why must I go every day to the church?" Thank God there is a church. The church doesn't need you; you need the church. You need a holy place, satsaṅg, an ashram. If you have nothing, take a holy book and read. One evening, only this book will purify your thoughts. Any holy book from any religion or philosophy will generate good energy flowing through your brain. At the very least, there is the name of God. In the Bible, the master spoke to disciples. Jesus is the master, the disciples are listeners. Similarly, in the Upaniṣads, Vedas, Gītā, Kṛṣṇa is the master, Arjuna the disciple. Don't say, "All are going there, why should I not go?" All are going to the hill. Do you want to go also? Don't compare with all. I don't want to compare with all. I want to compare with the one God. I am searching for the shortcut, the direct way to God, without duality, without conflict, and with love. Sabī prāṇī merī ātmā hai. All creatures are ātmā. Myself, ātmā, soī paramātmā. Ātmā is God itself, the light of God. In this way, spirituality and religion can be experienced. Tomorrow morning, European time, 9 a.m., there will be a program until 10 p.m. From 9 to 10:30 a.m., there will be a webcast. I will be with you, and then we travel back to our duty. Think positive. If you cannot think positively, you are very far from spirituality. Someone comes near and passes, and you don't even say hello. That's not good. It doesn't matter who it is. Even if an enemy passes by, Jesus would say hello, or Kṛṣṇa would smile and say, "Hello, my child." Not only to humans; if a dog goes by, you say, "Hello, where are you going?" How you think of others is not how they are; you are like that. If I think badly of others—"That’s a stupid, selfish person"—then I am the stupid, selfish one. Who am I to blame someone? Kṛṣṇa said in the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā: "One who sees the enemy and the friend as equal and loves them, O Arjuna, that one is dear to my heart. That one is dear to God who is equal in name and fame, who is equal in thinking, in loss or gain." So read the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā and think: you are that Arjuna. Compare what Kṛṣṇa is saying to yourself. When you read instructions in the Bible, compare them with yourself, not with Judas or the apostles. That is written for you. Read and see if you are doing this or not. Long ago, a few hundred years, a few farmers lived in a small village. One man went with his horse coach to a festival, a Melā, Kumbh Melā. An elderly man asked him, "Where are you going?" "To the Melā." "When will you return?" "By evening." "Can you do something for me? I give you five kuṇā (money). Please buy me a mirror so I can see how I am every day." "You have no mirror?" "No. My wife fills a pot with water, and I look in to see. When she's not pleased with me, I look, and she moves the pot. I ask what she's doing. She says, 'Not me, it is you. You are like that.' Please bring me a real mirror to see if I am really like that." "Okay, I will bring you a mirror." In the afternoon, the man returned. The elderly man, about 42 (when people did not live long), was waiting. "Hello, my friend. How was it? Did you buy me a mirror?" "Yes." "Oh, thank you. Can I have it now?" The man put his hand in his bag and gave him a small pocket book: Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā. "Here is your mirror. It's not a book; it's a real mirror. You will see your face inside—if you are a Duryodhana or an Arjuna." "Thank you," he said and began to read. "No, I'm not Duryodhana. I'm not Bhīṣma. Yes, I'm Yudhiṣṭhira, perhaps. No, he played. I don't want. I am Kṛṣṇa." So you read books not merely as books. Compare your own mistakes, difficulties, problems, or good things. No desires. Therefore, it is said.