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Śaṅkarācārya, the greatest proponent of Vedic Sanātana Dharma and Advaita philosophy—which means non-dualism—teaches that there is no individualism; there is only one reality. In contrast, other philosophies believe in dualism, positing both God and the individual as separate. In his teachings, as I have often mentioned, consider various pieces of jewellery: earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Their unity lies in the fact that everything is made of gold. The reality of your jewellery is gold, not the form. Similarly, there are different living beings, different forms, and different people, but the reality within them is only one, and that is the Ātmā. As long as you do not realize this Ātmā, you have realized nothing, and you must continue to undergo suffering. To recognize your Self is Ātmā-jñāna. There are many types of knowledge—jñāna means knowledge—but the supreme knowledge is Ātmā-jñāna, self-knowledge. Śaṅkarācārya wrote a verse on this, called Aprokṣānubhūti: the direct experience of that which is invisible and stands above all properties and qualities. Aprokṣānubhūti is self-realization. Therefore, all who wish to walk the spiritual path and continue their meditation should first hold the Master in their mind, for the Master is the source of knowledge, wisdom, liberation, and happiness. From Him come power and blessing. Every kind of work one begins should start with a ceremony, with a spiritual thought. It is a pity that in modern society this kind of thought is slowly being lost. All these pūjās, ceremonies, mantras, prayers, and various practices have unfortunately been lost. Man has no knowledge of them. Now knowledge is lost. Knowledge can be lost very quickly. How? For example, you sleep at night and have a dream, beautiful or not. In the dream, you think, "Tomorrow I will achieve this." You know what you dreamed when you stand up. Yet, by the time you sit at the breakfast table, you say, "I dreamed something and totally forgot it." The knowledge has flown away like a bird. For those who follow the discipline of Guru Vajrayāṇa, everything can be lost so suddenly. You suddenly stand there with nothing, and that makes you suffer forever. That is why it is very important to return to svādhyāya (self-study), manana (reflection), cintana (contemplation), and abhyāsa (practice). Svādhyāya, manana, and abhyāsa—these three are crucial. What happens now? Instead of svādhyāya, we have fallen into a trance, wandering aimlessly. Instead of manana, we think of something completely different and direct ourselves outward. Instead of abhyāsa, we devote our time to various activities. Thus, we lose this wonderful knowledge. Without a Master, nothing progresses. Therefore, Śaṅkarācārya speaks the mantra: "Śrī harim paramānandam upadeṣṭā reśvaram." Śrī Hari. Śrī means well-being, spiritual energy, power. Śrī is the divine mother, the feminine principle, the energy. One who has no Śrī has lost everything. That is why it is always written "Śrī" before a name. When you write someone's name and address, you first write "Śrī." Śrī is very important to always mention. Śrī Hari is God Himself, the Almighty, from whom all comes. Śrī Harim Paramānandam: Param Ānandam is the highest bliss, divine bliss. Upadeśa tarīśvaram: He is the one who gives upadeśa (teaching). Upadeśa means to be a preacher, a predictor. What does He predict? He predicts the reality, the truth through which students can find happiness and realization. The essence of all predictions is to make clear to people that there is a God, and we should realize that. Upadeśa means the student sits near the Master. Upadeśa means to get closer and learn wisdom. From this comes the Upaniṣad: up means near, and ṣad means the student. The student sits near his Master and hears His upadeśa on how to come near to his divine Self, to realization. Upadeṣṭā Īśvaram: that is Īśvara, God. He is the highest Master, so our Guru is the highest God, Parameśvara. Paramānandaṁ Hari. Thus: "Śrī Harim Param Ānandam Upadeṣṭāram Īśvaram Vyāpakam Sarvalokanam." Vyāpakam means all-pervading. He is everywhere. Where is He not? He is in all worlds, in every plane. There is no heavenly plane where Hari, God, is not present. He is present, He is knowing, He is everywhere. And He is the cause of everything. I bow before Him again and again. My adoration to Him. Therefore, a student, a practitioner, before beginning meditation or any physical or spiritual activity in this world, should first prepare himself spiritually, to offer his results and to recognize. Then he will attain victory automatically. You are the one who can receive this power. You are the one who can direct this power. You should be ready to receive. Through the mantra, your heart will become pure. Through the mantra, devotion will awaken in your heart. When devotion is present, the heart is ready to receive an energy, a power. That is the divine power. The Self, God, then comes there. In what form? In the form of energy. The pure heart becomes pure, and power flows in. This is called divine love. "Love is God and God is love" means that through giving, what one receives—the beautiful feelings—is the presence of God. Hingabe (devotion) means you should surrender yourself. Where there is ego, selfishness, or doubt, you hold yourself a little in reserve; then there is no devotion. Devotion is complete surrendering. If you keep a small piece in reserve for safety—in case nothing happens or succeeds, so you have your security, another place, or an escape route—then no love comes. Then this grace will not come. On the way, it is important to have this mantra, this thought. One enters into an endless divine consciousness. One must prepare mentally and physically. You must prepare well. And who cannot surrender? Where there is ego. Pride. Ego can come from various sides: ego from your knowledge, ego from your studies, ego from your position, your profession, and so forth. There is a lot. It is so important that you always have dedication in your heart. Śaṅkarācārya speaks of this self-realization: "Mokṣa-siddhaye rījaśa-prokṣānubhūti..." There are many types of siddhis (accomplishments), but the best siddhi is the realization of mokṣa (liberation). Not that you go to heaven—heaven is not a place of mokṣa. After the karma of heaven is exhausted, you return. Nor is it about having children, a spouse, money, or a house. You do not need a mantra for that. What do you need for that? Work. Do not be lazy. Be active, creative. But for Mokṣa, the root is the Guru's grace (Mokṣamūlaṁ Guru, Kṛpā). And you can only receive grace (kṛpā) when you understand the Guru's word (Guru-vākya) and perform service to the Guru (Guru-sevā). Svādhyāya, Manana, and Abhyāsa. This makes it easier for you to follow Guru Vajrayāṇa and Śiva. This way, you can achieve your Mokṣa. But we still have a lot of time. This is not enough. You should do something according to life. Do something, and not just for one or two years. It is a lifelong task. Therefore, the Satpuruṣa (true person) in the satsaṅg (company of the holy), in the satsaṅg of the wise, you should contemplate and repeat abhyāsa. Here he speaks of Jñāna Yoga, the sādhanā of Jñāna Yoga. There are many types of yoga: Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Rāja Yoga, Laya Yoga, Japa Yoga, Kriyā Yoga. But the highest, the final level, is Jñāna Yoga. Why Jñāna Yoga? Because it leads us to jñāna, to knowledge. And what knowledge? Self-realization, Ātmā-jñāna. To achieve Ātmā-jñāna, we need, as Śaṅkarācārya said in one of his writings, a small word. What is the name of this book? Vivekacūḍāmaṇi (The Crest Jewel of Discrimination). When you read this book, it becomes very clear. He says, first and foremost, the greatest happiness is to be born as a human being. To be born as a human is not in your hands. It lies in your deeds, your karmas, your destinies. To be born is a grace. It is a great fortune. God was gracious and gave us this human life. It is not as in Christianity, which says man is born through sin. No, it is not through sin. It is a sin to say you are born through sin. No, it is a grace to be born. It is your happiness, your śikṣā, your karma. First, being born as a human. Second, being born in a spiritual family. That is also a happiness. Many are born, but the parents have no idea about God, self-realization, spirituality, and so on. He writes as a Brahmin: Brahmin, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, and Śūdra. This is not a division or separation of people, but a division within the body. In this body, the four varṇas were divided. The best part, Brahmin, means your intellect, your knowledge. Kṣatriya is the power that possesses you. Vaiśya is that which in your body continues this energy through the ten prāṇas: pañca prāṇa and pañca upa prāṇa. And Śūdras are the parts of your body that are always ready to lead you back and forth and do all that: the head, arms, torso, and legs. So it is a division of the body. Thus, to be born in the best family means to have the best spiritual education. Fourth, that you yourself have a feeling within you that you wish to be spiritual. You have inherited this from your previous life. It is not so simple that every person has such devotion and feeling. There may be two siblings, but each has a different path. That gives a bhajan: "Karma kireka nyari re." The line of karma is different. One mother gives birth to four children. One becomes a king, another a peddler, the third a hunter, and the fourth a saint. Why, from the same mother's body, with the same father, did they seek other paths? That is your inner self, what the karmas have brought with them. The fifth happiness is that you meet a realized Master. One seeks through several lives. It is not easy to meet, and even if you meet, you may not understand because you have not yet opened this third eye within you, this knowledge, these feelings. You have no power of discrimination—like the difference between a diamond and a piece of glass. For us, there is no difference if we do not know. But the learned one, who has studied and practiced, can say, "Yes, that is a diamond and that is glass." When a bhakta (devotee) is born, he can decide. He meets the Master and says, "Yes, this is the Master I belong to." When the sun rises, even a blind person feels the warmth on the skin; the sun is there. Then he does not ask whether the sun has risen or not. You do not ask, "Are you my true Master or not?" Ask your inner Self. Thus, a person, once born, through various experiences and educations, comes to a point in life: What is the meaning of my life? There, the first thing said is that according to your Dharma, you should lead your life. In the past, we spoke about Dharma. Śaṅkarācārya writes about four Dharmas: the Dharma of the student (Brahmacharya Āśrama Dharma), the householder (Gṛhastha Āśrama Dharma), the forest dweller (Vānaprastha Āśrama Dharma), and the renunciant (Sannyāsa Āśrama Dharma). According to your dharma, you should carry out your task and continue your spiritual practices. Thus, Dharma, carrying out your duty, is also a tapasyā (austerity). What is tapasyā? Even when it is hard to hold through. What do you understand about tapasyā? Tapa means heat. And what does heat mean? Nothing is pleasant, right? Have you had the experience? Have you put your finger in the fire? How long can you hold your finger in the fire? Who knows how to cook chapati on an open fire? They have experience with fire, right? Or Pāpadum without the Caṅga. Or the chameleon fire, without the Changa. Or the blood that has fallen down, taking it back and putting it in with your hands. Without the hands, so it is also a discipline to follow. And what you have taken up, Satpuruṣa in Satsaṅg. Satpuruṣa means people who always do positive things in the world. Very few walk the path of truth. The path of truth is to walk. That is this bhajan. Tolī Gurujī has written in his bhajan: "Your Satguru is Rakṣā (protection), do not worry about shame." Swāmī Madhavānanda says, "The path of truth is to walk. It is important that one goes in life on the path of truth." And sometimes the truth is painful. But this sannyāsa (renunciation) is only for a short time. Then there is joy. Then it is beautiful, the quality. The more gold is heated, the better the quality that comes out. So it is with the sādhaka (practitioner): when he performs his tapasyā, holds his discipline, meditates every day, and prays, he goes through the fire. To keep a certain discipline in life and to live according to your path is also a tapasyā. But here, people, as I said yesterday, in Austria there are all these fearful people. They have so much fear. They do not even dare to say in the office that they meditate or that they are vegetarian. You have fear from all sides. In Austria, there is so much fear; I have never seen it anywhere else in the world. I am sorry to say, but it is the truth. One is afraid of illness, even. Right? So much fear. How can I show you that one day you will rise up if you live so fearfully? First and foremost is Abhayadāna (the gift of fearlessness). Abhaya means without fear. Abhayapada means one who has reached the level where there is no more fear. So, who here has no fear, except the fear of death? You should not have that either. So tapasyā—that is the tapasyā. How far can you trust your truth? How far can you live according to your truth? That is it. And if you do not understand that and cannot do anything, then you can think a little and understand what human rights mean. As human beings, you have the right to lead your life according to your path. Certainly, one should not go into crime, drugs, or negative activities. One should not participate in them. But for the spiritual, for realization? For many, the heart beats like a scared rabbit. It is hard. So, try to go where the Ṣaṭpuruṣas, spiritual people, speak, and have satsaṅg. That is very important. Why? There you get intuition. What is intuition? There you get a feeling in which there is a sense of longing. Yes, I would like to realize this. Satsaṅg. An ignorant fool can also become a saint through satsaṅg. Even for the gods, it is not easy to get into a satsaṅg. So blessed are those who have the opportunity to go to satsaṅg, to come to satsaṅg, where the satpuruṣa, the spiritual persons, divine grace, divine wisdom—this nectar flows there, and they receive this nectar. And so you come into life. "Sādhanam pravaita-puṁśāṁ vairāgyādi-cathuṣṭham." Through these satpuruṣas and satsaṅgs, you come to know Jñāna Yoga, which has four sādhanās (practices). The first one today is vairāgya (dispassion). There is rāga, and rāga has two meanings. One is rāga, which means attachment, and the second rāga means a melody, a sound. So, rāga and vairāgya are two. Either you are in rāga, dveṣa (aversion), kāma (desire), krodha (anger), moha (delusion), lobha (greed), or you are in vairāgya: an ability, a strength to have, to give up. But you cannot give up things so easily. There are different kinds of vairāgya. One vairāgī is called the saṃsāra vairāgī. A vairāgī is a cemetery. When you go to a funeral and see the whole process, you think, "What meaning does life have? Sooner or later we will all die." Everyone is quiet, thoughtful, saying nothing, and nothing goes with us. And then you come back from the cemetery, and in some countries you go to the inn. In the inn, the first glass of beer comes, and you say "Cheers," and everything is forgotten. This Vairāgya is only a small part; then you fall back into the world. Vairāgya is a quality that has an appetite for the divine, for purity. The upper chakras in the body, the Ājñā chakra, the heart chakra, they open up. Vairāgya comes through disappointment. Vairāgya comes through pain, through suffering. Which suffering? It is repeated more often. It comes over and over again—always the same. And you make the same mistakes again, and then the same difficulties come again. We have repeated things more often in our lives. It makes no sense. It is like someone has an illness, an eczema, and it itches and itches. You can scratch and scratch, and the more you scratch, the more intense it gets. And that is an itch in every life. When you are born, you come to the thought: what is the meaning of my life? Why was I born? Then comes the same thing that Śaṅkarācārya will later say again: Who am I? Why did I come? Where did I come from? And what is the purpose of my coming? And where will I go? Who am I? Why? Why do I always suffer these things? Why am I dependent? Why am I dependent? Only for a few days, a few years, through your body, these various drives in the body drive around. And then, these drives become old, like old trees, branches, and fall down again. You are the tree that always stands in the same place, through every weather: rain, snow, sun, storm, dark or light, night or day. You are the one who always remains in this cold atmosphere. Everything goes away. When such a state comes, then one knows nothing is eternal. There is only one eternal, that is the truth, God, and that is what I want to realize. Many do not understand this. You do not need to worry. Do not think that everyone will be realized here today. It could be a competition, right? So, who will be the first to have self-realization? The one who has realized Vairāgya will have it. So in Vairāgya: "brahmādiṣṭhāvarānteṣu vairāgyam viṣayeṣvaṇu yateva kākaviṣṭhāyām vairāgyam tad nirmalam brahmādiṣṭhāvarānteṣu," from Brahmā to the earth, and from the earth to Brahman. Among all the desires that arise in you, you should be so careful to reject, to be unappetizing, like a goat from a crane. When a crane does something on your balcony, what do you do? Clean, clean,... clean. Be dependent. You should not be passionate about such things. So passion does not necessarily mean a relationship with your partner. No, but there are enough other things. From there, we should have vairāgya first. Not that today you say to your wife, "Done, go." You can go to the snow mountain. And where are you going? You go to the cappuccino bar. Is it cappuccino or cappuccino? Cappuccino mountain. Cappuccino. And what does this cappu mean? Yes, I mean, that is the cappuccino. No, that still means nothing. Or you should not go home and tell your husband he can go white-water rafting. No, not that either. It is very important to create harmony with your fellow human beings. If you want to enjoy life, then learn to renounce. Renounce and rejoice. Be happy. The more things you collect, the more difficulties and responsibilities you have. All of us who have money and possessions are only slaves to our possessions. We are only guards; we are always alert, always worried. The less you have, the less you worry. The more you have, the more you worry. Also, it is difficult, to put it simply, difficult vairāgī, because you can say that your vairāgī is nirmal rāya. When you have reached this level, you do not know what you are looking for. But everything you know and have is not a thing for your pleasure. And now you are looking for something that can make you happy. Everywhere you go, there is disappointment. One day you are happy, the next you are sad. One day you feel good, and the next you do not. I was in Tyrol, and I told them, "If you are not happy, if you don't feel good, pack your things and go to Tyrol." Also, the Tyroleans were happy. And so it is, now the search begins. Now means your reason has awakened, become active. And now, your VWK has begun to develop a little. Dawn, the sun has risen. After the long, dark winter nights—if you go into the mountains and the sky is completely clear, and then the dawn begins. How beautiful is that? The light of hope. And so Vivekā (discrimination) comes. And Viveka says, what Viveka realizes in you: "Viveka says: 'Brahman, the highest Self, is the truth, and the world is unreal, untrue.'" He does not say you should do anything. No, no, no. He just shows you. He shows you, you stand there, very sharply on the knife edge. There you are, and that is the Viveka. He says, "The viveka is very sharp." He says, "Here it is." A life of torment, where in several lives you have tormented yourself. Once you were born as a hare, once as a creature, once as a rooster, once as a little mouse, once as a snake, then suddenly as an ant, then again as a hare, then again as a cow, then once as a buffalo, once as everything, and suddenly a human, and then suddenly as a horse, and then suddenly again... say, as a horse, you received many beatings. As a hare, you were often killed. All your relationships, everything. On the other hand, you have the truth of God. Everything that is visible, everything you can touch, taste, see—all that is transient. Your life is transient, your body is transient, your thoughts are transient. You are nothing. And Śaṭ is that pure bliss, that is it, Brahma Śaṭ, yes, yes, good, with that, yes. Now, my friend, what do you want to have? Do you want to fall back into this torment, or do you want this happiness? The highest happiness, divine consciousness. The decision is in you. He does not say that you should decide and take that. No. The Master is like a salesman. He shows you different goods. The decision is with you, according to your abilities, how far your money allows you. Before, you said, "Now it's a vairāgī." So when you have pure vairāgya, then you would say, "No, I don't want to look at this page." You close your eyes because it stinks, and you turn in the direction of Brahmajñāna, Ātmajñāna, Self-realization.