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A very good morning to you all. Today we have once again a beautiful topic for the entire weekend: meditation, theory, and practice. Yesterday we spoke about this, and today it is the same topic again—theory and practice. Theoretically, we know a lot. Why should I meditate? Perhaps this question arises, and the answer is: you don’t have to. Simply put. But without it, nothing works. For example, one might say, why should I breathe? One might say, fine, don’t do it, it’s your problem. Live, breathe. Want nothing to live, cease. And God or Mother Nature has made it so beautifully that you cannot stop breathing. Yes, maybe half a minute, a minute, and then you decide, but I do want to breathe. And so, why should I meditate? So you don't have to. But nothing works without meditation. Meditation has multiple meanings and effects on our body, mind, soul, and consciousness, and also on our environment. Meditation means being one with your existence and having a positive influence on this environment, in this world. What do you say? "Behave properly" or "please behave." What does that mean? What does this word signify in the German language? Can anyone say? Are the German speakers here, or should I switch to English? Very interesting. One word has so many beautiful meanings. The German language is indeed something beautiful, exactly. And where does that come from? How am I supposed to hold myself? And that is meditation. Attention. Respect for the environment and other people and living beings, and clarity in your mind about what I am doing, why I am doing it, and how I can do something better. Even these thoughts alone are meditation. And so, there are several types of meditations, but the main categories are divided into two parts: passive and active meditation. Now, within active meditation there are many, many techniques, but it is within the realm of active meditation. Passively, there are also plenty of different techniques from various teachers or masters according to their experiences. Someone traveling from Munich to Salzburg describes the journey beautifully, and suddenly a large lake appears. Chiemsee or Chiemsee? Chiemsee, ah yes. Others came from Prague, Czech Republic, and wrote differently about the experiences of the path. Small ponds, beautiful landscape, gentle hills, fields, beautiful. And others come from beautiful Vienna and write, on the way comes St. Pölten and Linz, and then everything begins, and Mondsee. Well, one who is fixated on the description has traveled from Munich to Salzburg. And the other one, who came from Czechia, is searching for Chiemsee in his meditation, but it is not there. And they say, your technique is wrong. No, nothing is wrong. The master, the person who traveled from Munich to Salzburg, saw a different landscape than from Prague or Vienna or Villach, and so on. And so it is that every master has their own experience from beginning to end of self-realization or union with God. Therefore, we assume that every master must be a master, nothing is self-mastered, it is sacred. The master is the one who is connected to a spiritual tradition, from follower to follower. This is called Ādeśa, and others call it Katha, Sampradāya, Sampradāya combined. So, active meditation is very helpful for many, many people. And the best technique is to reduce stress. Through active meditation, how one can reduce stress. Even people who suffer from depression or are somewhat withdrawn psychologically, introverted, find active meditation very helpful. For example, one works in an office, regardless of who is who. The president of my country also works in his office, and a small official or employee also works in the office. There is one group, those who are completely free with self-determination, and those are the housewives. They need nothing. They are the master of the house and themselves. Yes, they hold the highest position. It means, not bound. But as soon as the woman enters the office, then the secretary, doing the work is not easy. The boss moves the fingers and it flows. Okay, so after hard work, mental work, writing machines, writing, all of that, you come home full of stress, whether man or woman. And now there is an active meditation. Instantly, you become free from stress. Yes, go into your garden and look at your flowers. They are so beautiful, they are waiting for you to come home. They are always there for you. And you give yourself water and a bit of earth, to loosen up, as they say. And so, working in the garden, beautiful, that is a relaxation. For many people, this is a relaxation. Now, what if they do not have a garden? Then dig into the neighbor's garden. Whether the neighbors agree, that is the question. For this, we have another possibility. Not too much, but some. Houseplants, the potted plants in your apartment or in your house. Also wipe, cleanse, every leaf cleanse from dust, with beautiful water, be very gentle and spray a little. The plants are very joyful. And then you relax, your stress diminishes. So, some come home and look at the furniture and windows, do a bit of dusting, and take a sip of water. I did not say to take beer; they are thinking about the beer. So, have some good milk or something, relax a little, be happy that you have come home. Ah, you breathe. Now you are the master of the house or this apartment, free. That alone, these thoughts, cleaning your home, organizing things a little, that is an active meditation. And if you take a handful of grain, seeds, and feed the birds, and the birds chirp. When you come home, everyone is waiting for you. And in the morning, if you are late to feed, then they knock on your window. Look at the animal, feed it, not in a cage, but free. Also an active meditation. And wherever there is the possibility, an āśrama, a humanitarian center, a temple, a church, or an unpleasant center, so go there and do some good work, cleanse, make it pure—that is meditation. It would be unimaginable that if a center of humanity or an āśrama has paid cleaning staff, then this center, whether āśrama or otherwise, loses its quality. Because then there is no love there, then it is paid love. And a paid love only lasts for a certain time then. So, happy are those, blessed are those, and they have God's grace and special attention from God who can do something selfless. And so, whether in the Salzburg center or Linz, Vienna or Venezia or Vienna or Washington, we have created all our āśramas so beautifully as opportunities for active meditation, Karma-Yoga. And when the people are there, who perhaps have a board of directors, and a board decides on paid assistants, because the board does not have enough understanding to engage people with beautiful, active meditations, were from past life heavy karma, bad karma, or negative karma. And here in the West, it is said that negative karma is sin. Too much of such karmas, one after the other, rests upon the other karma. Mana is mind, buddhi is intellect, citta is consciousness, ahaṃkāra is your existence as the “I,” the ego. And when it is blood, then you no longer have any feelings. An active meditation. Niṣkāma Seva Bhāva. Feelings without a tent serve the work without a tent. So, active meditation is also when you come with your heart, with your mind, with the smile. Not that I have to do it. You do not have to do it. And never say that you did it. You did not do it. You did not do it for the āśrama. And you have done nothing for anyone. You have done it for yourself. You receive this blessing, grace, power, benefit, whatever it is, gold, when you do this Śiva. Active meditation. You too can take a walk in a beautiful natural setting, where nothing is dangerous. Snakes, scorpions, hares, lions, or even the various humans. This is also an active meditation. Some go swimming. Yes, that also frees you from daily stress. You feel elements, water elements on your skin. It makes you aware of how important all five of our elements are. Or when it is very cold and you go into the sauna. It makes you so aware of what warmth means, and you lie down and breathe. It frees you from your everyday stress, or you sit somewhere comfortably, relaxed, and take a beautiful book in your hand—Līlāmṛta, Upaniṣads, Vedas, or from a great master, or some white book or holy book—and read it with joy. Every word speaks to you like a person. To read something beautiful with full awareness, concentration, and relaxation. Not like the newspaper. Your reader, your spiritual book, your Yoga in Daily Life book, The Hidden Powers in Men or Līlāmṛta or Selected Pearls and so on—we have many. Read one line and ask yourself if you have understood it. And if you have understood nothing, then doubt and stress arise. And when you have understood, you free yourself from your everyday stress. So, active meditation, which also involves the body, balancing energy, creating harmony between body, mind, soul, and your bioenergy. Active meditation is very important and very beautiful. And it is said, my work is my worship. My Śiva, whatever I do in the āśrama or anywhere, or to help my sick neighbors, or to help sick animals. My work is my worship. My help, what I do, is my prayer, my ceremony. And so this active meditation will free you from inner fears, free you from confusion, and free you from everyday stress. After your activation, when you go to sleep, you feel that your day today was successful. You have fulfilled your daily task. One sleeps well, one breathes beautifully. It becomes beautiful for everyone. There is a large stone on the path, and you stop your car there, get out, and remove your way. And not that your boyfriend is behind you, driving in his car, like he is, okay? You do not think about your boyfriend or girlfriend, but you think about everyone, for everyone. And that is beautiful. Niṣkāma Bhāva, Niṣkāma Śiva, this is the most beautiful part of our meditation, an active meditation. Active meditation, those who have practiced it do not feel guilt, but a sense of gratitude. Thank you, Lord, for giving me this task, that I may conduct in your name and that I may serve as a channel for your love, your consciousness, your attention, and your grace to be conveyed. And that is very beautiful. Karma Yoga, Śiva, seen in this way physically, mentally, perhaps it is very exhausting, but spiritually, it is beautiful. And indeed, Jesus also went through a very difficult time. And he asked, God, why me? And perhaps the answer came because I trust in you. And to gain such trust from a master, you must go through much pain. It is a test of whether you fall on this side or move in another direction. They say it’s like a camel sitting upright, and you don’t know on which side it will roll over now. To the left, right? Right. So to realize that, the grace of Guru Kṛpā, through Śiva, is like trying to catch a wild dove on the roof with your hand. It is so difficult. But whoever makes the effort will surely achieve it. And so, God constantly directs His attention to His Bhakta. Constantly. In the end, victory belongs to the one who is devoted. God Kṛṣṇa said, in the end, the victory belongs to truth. Arjuna, do not think that I am somewhat related to you or that you are my disciple, that I am by your side. No, I stand on the side of justice. And such a devoted Bhakta, who serves as Śiva serves, is one who is constantly in the sight of God. He knows, and every step is accounted for, every glance of yours is accounted for, every breath you take will be received by God in His attention. Secondly, it is said, hāt me kām mukh me Rām, for active meditation. Hāt me kām mukh me Rām means, work is in your hands, but in your mouth is the Name of God, your mantra to be repeated. That is a double benefit. Simultaneously. In whatever situation, in whatever environment you are, always repeat your beautiful mantra, God's name, Rāma's name. That will constantly keep your Antaḥkaraṇa pure and free it from the three Tapas. Three types of fire and thus active meditation. Hāt me kām, mukh me Rām. And this is very helpful for people who suffer from depression or who are more introverted. For people who have depression, introversion, or schizophrenia, it is not good for them to practice passive meditation. That can make it even worse. It is like this: when a person is very tired and very weak, the doctor should not put them even deeper into unconsciousness through anesthesia. Because then, one cannot awaken, one goes into a coma. And therefore it is constantly said in yoga, in daily life, that all yoga teachers know that the students, the practitioners, those who have problems with the psyche should only practice active meditation. And they feel very comfortable when they actively meditate. You can go for a walk with them, you can go swimming with them, you can go cycling with them, you can work in the garden with them. Do that. And that will help them suddenly come out of this hole. And repeat the mantra. Always be aware of your mantra, your existence, like this. Active meditation holds great significance, great significance. Now, there are two types of active meditation, one of which is paid. And that would be a profession, like a nurse, yes, easier to say or to complain, Ah, this illness, it was not kind today. She can be a little kind, but you know, sometimes the 24 hours are on duty. And standing before you, smiling, for 24 hours straight is not easy. We give our comments too quickly, without asking why. A doctor and many, many professions are those that help. This is a paid, active meditation that does not have as much effect as an unpaid one. But as I said, everyone needs bread and butter, and everyone needs a roof over their head. In this world, in this modern society, expenses grow day by day while income grows very slowly, like a cactus. That is the suffering. And so it is said, compromise, Svarāṭ and Paramārtha should run in parallel. Svarāṭ is selfishness, Paramārtha is selflessness. So try to maintain balance. And that is very important. There are some people who like to let others do the work. That means, yes, very beautiful, but you take on the karma, that is that. Accepting a disciple, giving a mantra to a disciple, means nothing. Well, now I have two more female students or two more male students. But that means I still carry the burden of two, even more. And the Master must have a way to transfer this entire burden or karmas; otherwise, you will be overwhelmed. And so it is, as I said last night, that among millions of pebbles you might find a precious gem. And such a gem of a disciple is named as the successor. Those receive the light to guide and help others further. And becoming a gemstone is like being pressed or compressed for many billions of years between stones and rocks, and so on. And comfort, that has held the light, the light of the sun’s rays. The first ray of the sun is called Uṣṇīṣa. It is almost as if the sun experiences a dawn in our part of the earth. The first to break through the entire dawn, the darkness, is Uṣṇīṣa. And this is direct, precisely it goes into this stone or there. And he becomes a gem, the diamond, the luminous one. And so many of you are so enlightened, right? Yes, something that is illuminated is also something. But to be enlightened, that is something special and different. And that requires a long, long Niṣkāma-Bhāva-Śiva, without question why. Otherwise, it will be sorted. Sometimes you see in a river, they take a full shovel of pebbles and wash them through, then they sort them out. And I hope that we are not the ones who were sorted out, but rather this side that was placed above. So and so. It is very interesting how rice and grains are purified. From the stones, one takes a handful of rice and rice, rice here, stones there, rice, rice here, stones there. And so, this is called Selektiert. So now we should know if we are the selected ones or the rejected ones. And when you are the rejected one, then your attention is there, but it flows. Say, yes, yes, go on. And suddenly it says, no, stay, you come to this side. This is it. And so, there is a beautiful poem. And at some point, no matter who we are, at some point, my call will resonate in His ears, God’s ears. And he will perhaps fix his attention on me for a second, his gaze. And so, active meditation is so beautiful. And many people enjoy active meditation. Because they cannot sit for long. Can you imagine sitting like this for hours? That is boring. Not moving at all, everything hurts. And those who practice active meditation say, "No, I don't want to do that." I prefer to go to work and make Chapātis. How wonderful to cook for everyone. So, active meditation has a quality. But one must also understand that. You must overcome much and renounce much. Many things you have to overcome and many, many things you have to renounce. Yes, I am not that kind of waste paper basket, as they say in Austria, Mistkübel. That everyone can throw in and move on. So I will not let myself be like this now; now I have a diamond within me, and I do not want any dust on it. So now I no longer want to be that garbage container; instead, I am the treasure of a diamond, pure, gently enclosed, and carefully tended. When this becomes conscious, then we live beautifully and your active meditation becomes indescribable. And to everyone you give attention, gratitude, recognition. Perhaps at the end of the program, they will give you chocolate or flowers to acknowledge the great effort and help you have contributed to this seminar, for example. But none of us sitting here there even get a single nut. So, active meditation requires a pure heart. Like a heart of my mother, when she cleans her little child and changes the diaper, she does not think in terms of any -ism or anything, but with great love, joy. And so it is: active meditation, Śiva-Bhāva, Karma-Yoga, looks beautiful and says, thank you, Lord, for choosing me. And so Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad-Gītā, Arjuna, practice yoga and be active, in the third chapter, Yoga-Karma-Śūnyoṣṭham, your yoga goal will be successful through your Śiva service, Niṣkāma-Śiva or active meditation. It is Karma-Yoga, the Yoga-Agni-Karma-Dagdha, through the fire of Yoga, Karma-Yogas, all bad karmas are burned together, and in the end, you have the precedence as Śiva. And so Holy Gurujī said to Mahāprabhujī, Lord, if you do not accept my service directly to you from me, then let me serve your servant. Through your service as a servant, please accept that my love comes to you. So far. That is the most important thing. What you receive from Sat Saṅgha, what you gain from Sat Saṅgha, what you learn from Sat Saṅgha—this is the most important. Prabodha Padayālaya Rājasa again and again, again and again. I call upon you, O Mahāprabhujī. Please stop. Listen to the prayers of your many brothers. That’s it.