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Salutations to the cosmic light, the Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent in His divine presence. A beautiful good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Today is a wonderful day, the best constellation of our existence in this world, that we have come together again to reflect on our being and our Self, and on the relationship between God and the individual ātman. The soul is not the breath or the self. Whatever is said, and though many speak and often translate "soul" as "self," it is not correct. The soul is a Jīvātmā. And Jīvātmā is a mixture between Anātmā and Ātmā—namely, the karmas, good or bad. The true Self of all of us is the highest Self, and there is no distinction. We will return to this topic and also practice some exercises this weekend. The topic is a beautiful one, and I have been engaged with it for several years. I believe we have given so many lectures—over 1500 lectures—on the hidden powers within humans, in various languages, or perhaps even more. I have given numerous lectures on Yoga and on the Ātman as the individual soul, life, and so forth. Since the age of 15, I have begun giving lectures. What is interesting is that something new is always added, and new people are joining as well, which is also interesting. And so it is; it is beautiful, truly beautiful. Every ātman is the same. And every Jīvātmā, every soul, has a relationship. Sanātana, God Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad Gītā: Mamevaṁśo jīva-loke, jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (15.7). "I am the indwelling Self in all beings," speaking as God, as the Ātman. Kṛṣṇa means Ātmā. We have just witnessed a beautiful dance by Bhakti-Devi from Vienna. I believe it is truly a dance between body and soul, which is what the three have explained: the emotions or feelings. But emotions—there are several types. There is quality. Anger is an emotion, hatred is an emotion, nervousness is an emotion, fear is an emotion, restlessness is an emotion, love is an emotion, divine love is an emotion, crying is an emotion, depression is an emotion. So emotion has quality or form. Here, emotion means the inner longing, the longing of the highest Self within us to return to clarity, to one's own Self. And that is Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu means: Viśva is the universe, aṇu means atom. In every atom dwells this divine existence, and this is Viṣṇu. But it is very difficult for us to understand—very, very difficult. When we say that God is in every atom, in every grain of sand, that also means in a bullet. This is a large piece of an atom, not exactly tiny, and this sphere can kill someone. So how can God kill someone? We will come to that later. He kills nothing. It is someone else who kills through their actions. This Jīvātmā, the individual, has its relationship eternally. It is so, even in this book, The Hidden Ones—I believe I wrote a scepter. It is like this: from the ocean rises a kind of steam, becoming mist, and with every step further, the form will change. The beginning is the ocean, let us say, then there is warm air, steam, from which mist rises again; higher up, the clouds form and begin to rain drops, which gather again and flow together. And it has again the goal of returning to its origin, namely the ocean. So many, many drops come together and begin to flow. And every current of water flowing around comes into a river. The river flows toward the ocean and merges. Suddenly, a separation occurs. An island emerges, separated by water, and is sorrowful. One part is sad, the other side is sad. Why does this sense of separation arise in between? Will we meet again someday? You say yes. When the island ends, the river comes together again. So separation was never there. It was only an island—an island of ignorance, or an island of despair, of uncertainty. And then it is together again, present once more. And so it is. Many people feel sad when a friend comes and then leaves again, or when a companion arrives and then departs once more. Sometimes the emotion is so strong, people say, "I no longer have the desire to continue living; I want to end my life." And then I said, do not do that; it is a complete error. You do not need to cry. And after three months, someone calls me and says, "I am the happiest person in the world; I have found a better friend or a better girlfriend." You see that, everyone. You should not decide immediately; wait. Do not eat too hot, otherwise your mouth will burn. And so, every breath, every soul, has a relationship, and they come together again. This is not just from this life—for example, that we are together today—but I can tell you, this is from many lives. Those who accept nothing should continue meditating until they find reality. And so, life and also the farewell from this world: continue to journey onward. And so, the hidden forces within humans. One is love, devotion, a surrender to God, to people, to animals, and so forth. Sometimes, your dog makes you happier than anyone else in this world. And yet, the dog has Ātmā. You know, every time you come home, he jumps and is so happy. In the beginning, your husband leaps and is happy; in the end, after a few years, nothing remains. When you come home, you ask, "Freddy, are you there?" I say, "Yes," that is everything. Animals have love that grows day by day. And the people who live together—for some it is good, they are happy, but for others, love dies. Slowly, slowly it dies. And then comes the topic of letting go. So that is a different topic altogether. So, Viṣṇu is the Ātmā, and the desire, these feelings, is Lakṣmī or the friend or whatever was said—I didn't quite understand—the Sanskrit words, the words from South India, translated into the dialect of Northern Germany. And Viennese is a bit of a dialect; Austrian is spoken; it is a Durkananda. And thoughts—that is the power of thought. The power of thought is so strong that it can make you or me or anyone instantly happy or deeply sad. And the information, the knowledge, is confidential. One cannot digest it. There are very few people who can truly digest the truth, that is, knowledge. Knowledge is not easy to digest. We can digest everything else, but not Knowledge. It is very difficult. Very, very... very difficult. For example, someone is sitting here so happily and suddenly receives a text message or news that their grandmother has passed away. "Oh my God." This message came to you as knowledge, and because you love your grandmother so much, and above all, a beloved person has suddenly passed away, this knowledge, this information has completely unsettled a person, made them sad. As a thought, you can move the entire world. And thus, the power of thought through meditation, through prayer, through mantra. The mantra is a supreme power because you constantly live focused on one quality. Mahāprabhujī said: When you pray, you are speaking to God. But when you meditate, then you listen to Him. And this is important: when you meditate, then He speaks with you. And when you pray, you are speaking with God. And so it is the combination, the Mantras. What is the purpose of existence in this world? Suddenly gone. Nothing and nothing and nothing will come along. Even the body remains here; unfortunately, it does not go along. Your house, your money, everything you think belongs to you, stays here. It is like a liberation from this painful life, or it is like a dark hole, an infinite space; you jump into it alone. And so this Jīvātmā, the soul—not the Ātmā. Please correct once again: The soul is not the Self. The Self is the Ātman, which is entirely different from the soul. The ātman is like a space, omnipresent, everywhere. And the soul is like a personal karma. It is like a snow globe, they say. When you roll a snow globe, it always grows larger. And so this soul from the beyond hovers superficially on the waves of time, in the infinite space. Experiences daily bring painful or joyful, sorrowful or kind moments, through light or darkness. In the infinite space, the individual flutters on the waves of time, through the endless universe, experiencing peace, pleasure, love, harmony, or pain, disappointment. But the Ātmā is the same. The Ātmā is perfect, pūrṇa, everywhere. And when we awaken in our pure ātman, then we have brought our journey to its end. This is called Self-realization. That means knowledge, knower, and object—the three unite into one. This Self, as we know—we want to know what God or Self is—these three, the Ātman, our knowledge, and God, the three are one. Then there is either no knowledge, or no Self, or no God. It is all one, inseparable. And so is the soul. The soul is the combination, the collection of our Karma, and that is called the individual. That means your own ID, identification. My identification is different from that of someone else because my karma is different from someone else's karma. And so, we are now sitting together in this hall, so many of us, yet each of us has our own personality. So that means personal identification. That means actions, karma. Prārabdha means destiny. Destiny is the fruit of our actions. Cause, action, and effect. Every action has a cause, no matter what—good or bad—whether we eat or drink or walk, it has a cause. And accordingly, our feelings—when we have understood nothing or have understood, we act. And then the fruits come again. Who is fully conscious, clear, then knows what fruits will come. And those who are not conscious will suddenly feel disappointed, offended, and so on, because they are still in ignorance. And therefore, we are often disappointed with God. I do not know how many people curse God every day. Millions. Millions. How many mothers cry and curse God because their children were born into a life of war? How many women, how many mothers are crying because their children have become victims of war? How many children are crying because their parents died in the war and through other catastrophes? And we too, we say to the devil, "Lord God, why is this happening?" We entrust the Lord God to the devil. But God says, when I come, the devil runs away. How am I to approach Him? It is not like that. It is simple for God as well. And therefore, He comes very, very rarely to this planet because He is afraid. We will hang Him again or something like that. And so, we do not understand this. Why does it happen, whether it is God or Nature? Nature is cruel. And death does not care how you die. For death, it is important that you die because your existence is physical; you are nourishment for death. Jīvaṁ jīvo bhakṣate. When this planet was created, the question arose of how it would be and so on. It was a long parliamentary session, lasting several years. The minimum report is very long. But they said, Jīvaṁ jīvo bhakṣate—life will consume life; otherwise, there will be no more space here. And that is why they have given death. And death—how does one die? So there are three or four types, but the main person or the main factor, death, is Yama, the King of Death. And so, Jīvaṁ jīvo bhakṣati—life will eat life. But it is cruel, painful. He said, yes, but that is bad karma. Then they have created a life, beings, who are humans. And human beings possess something that other living beings do not have, namely intellect, buddhi. And so, a person can develop their intellect endlessly. But the human intellect requires education. And the most dangerous animal on this planet is the human being. But human beings have received injections, spiritual injections from the saints, in the form of sacred scriptures. That is called Guruvākya. Every sacred book is a Guruvākya, the word of God; it is said to be God's word. The entire testament—what do they say in the Bible or so—is a Gospel. In English it is called Gospel. A gospel; the translation is from the Upaniṣad. The Gospel of the Master and Disciple: Upaniṣad—the disciple sits closer to the Master and listens to knowledge. And throughout the entire Gospel it is written: the Master said this and that, and the disciple asked him this and that. Such an answer from the Master is the Guruvākya. So, because knowledge and truth are one, there are not two truths. No matter which path one follows—whether through Hinduism or Judaism or Buddhism or Christianity or Islam or any other, or through yoga in daily life—all paths will ultimately lead to the same goal. And so it is. People need an education. Through the education of a person, you become a good farmer; through education, you become a good taxi driver; and through education, you become a pilot or a doctor or an engineer, a surgeon, and so on. Or through upbringing, you become a saint, a yogi. The education and upbringing were grounded in morality and ethics. And now, in the present time, this ethics and moral education have unfortunately disappeared. A person does not even think for other people; so animals are completely far away. If a person has such reason, a viveka-buddhi intellect, how can one human being kill another? There must be something wrong. Some education is missing. "Love your neighbor" has only reached the ears, not too far away. And from the ears, the lips slipped out, as if just speaking: "Love your neighbor." But nothing has reached the heart. And in this part, a very important part as well—what God has given us between the two ears—we have lost the use of what we have between the two ears. And that is why they say "brainless." Education. Vidyā. Vidyā-dhana: the greatest virtue, or the best gift, or the finest donation you can offer, is knowledge. To give someone knowledge, to offer comfort through your wisdom. And these are all the forces within us, the hidden forces within us. Peace. Every day, when you rise, at least half a minute—if you don't have more time—lie down or sit on your bed, perhaps half a minute, close your eyes and say: "I am the Ātman. I am peace, perfection, and contentment. I am here as the love for all." Half a minute. These three sentences, or two or three words, will make you happy all day long. Oṁ śānti. Create more amṛta. Peace. "I am the harmonious Self. Joy, devotion, love." So, if anyone can continue for a few more minutes, even better. So think: if something happens, if someone called and was a bit angry, unfriendly and so on, you hang up the phone and don't say, "Again!" No, not like that again. You put down the phone, close your eyes, and say, "Oṁ. Shame. Nothing and no one can touch me. God forgive, for ignorance is also something." And just as we can live our lives and make progress, it is a spiritual path. Hatred, anger, envy, greed, passion, jealousy, oppression, ignorance—these are also the hidden forces within us. Do not think that we possess only beautiful powers. "Wow, today I am going to the yoga lecture; Swāmījī says he will unearth the hidden powers today." Yes, everything must be uprooted. Uproot the weeds and nurture the beautiful plant you need. And we know: weeds grow faster without care. That is the suffering. Every day we clean our piece of furniture or glass table and close the doors and windows and everything. Damn it, in the evening you come and do these finger movements, and there’s dust on them again. People try hard to work and save money, but the more they try to save money, the more they end up spending on donations, and the money runs out. And if one tries to be good, it means gathering good qualities, which fade away more quickly, while the bad qualities grow faster. There is only one: attention. Your inner watchdog has a keen nose. And your inner watchdog must never fall asleep. Chetana, as Rumi says in the Wunderschenen Bhajan: "O traveler, awaken, the train is coming. The train is coming and will also leave again. Wake up." And so it means: the train is coming, our time is coming; we too will be bid farewell from this world. And so, into the kendra-bindu, the cosmic Kendra-bindu, in others, at the center of the infinities, this awakening of Śakti. The Supreme Self manifests in the form of resonance, vibration. And the first resonance, which says that everything is created through a sound. It is very difficult to say where the sound began in the universe. But the Yogi says: yathā brahmāṇḍe tathā piṇḍe—what is in the universe is in the body. And the center point of our body, the kendra bindu, nāda bindu kāla rahita. The nāda bindu. Nāda is the sound, and bindu is a point or a small sphere. Time. Time means effect, creation, beauty. And the center of our existence in the physical is our navel, the Maṇipūra-cakra, the navel. In the womb, we began to realize our body. It started from the navel, a point, a small dot. And from there: digestion, the spine, then the head and hands and fingers and legs and feet and so on and so forth, everything. But the center here is Hara-Śakti. Through this vibration, the whole universe—one without a second—is like when a small thorn is stuck in our little toe; the whole body knows it is a thorn and knows where it is, and immediately the hand goes there. And so, throughout the entire universe, near the sound, near the Rūpa Parabrahma vibration. And through this vibration originate or come the elements of Space, Time, Being, and Becoming. The hidden forces in the universe as elements of fire. Through vibration, the fire element. And through this fire element, the air element. And through air and fire, the water element. And the fourth is the earth. And so: Ākāśa, Agni, Vāyu, Jala, and Pṛthvī. All these five elements have again, through this Kriyā... Cosmic Kriyā means that the Yoga-Śakti has brought together five elements, balanced, harmonized, and the result is that a beautiful life stands before you. Five elements live within us. When an element is out of harmony, our body becomes ill. And that is why we practice yoga exercises. Yoga practices mean harmony for the body, mind, and soul. After so many years of reflection, I have written the subtitles here: "Harmony for body, mind, and soul." And I often wonder, "Do you have harmony?" He says, "Yes," my body says yes, but it is confused. Why? There is no harmony. Jetlag, too much traveling. Also, one cannot lie to the body. You cannot lie to your body. Your body is a reality and very honest; you cannot lie to it. Therefore, be very loving and careful with your body. Nurture it, provide good nourishment, good movement, good thoughts, and good company. The yogīs meditate on this point: the sound, Oṁ-KĀRA. Oṁ-kāra, the form in the vibration, the brahman, the Self. Because Oṁ is the origin of everything. And so, through this sound, thousands and thousands of suns, moons, and stars, millions and billions of stars and planets were created in this ultimate space. And from this entire universe, from the thousands of solar systems, one is our part of existence, our solar system, to which we belong or are connected; that is called Īśvara. Parameśvara is the infinite space, and Īśvara is this divine Self that operates within our solar system, where the planets exist. From this one planet, which we now call a living planet... Yes, God lives here in the form of all living beings.