TV Channel

Good evening, dear brothers and sisters here in this hall, in our āśram in Bratislava. Good evening, and good morning to all our international friends, brothers and sisters who are with us through the webcast. Welcome. This blessing comes to you especially from the beautiful country of the Slovak Republic. Even now, many monks and nuns are meditating in the monastery, and they are praying. In this monastery system, meditation is divided into two parts. One is called Seva—helping, service. Through this, they create what we call humanitarian projects: hospitals taking care of ill people, building rehabilitation centers. This again becomes a spiritual part called active meditation. Active meditation has an effect on your consciousness, on your mind, and definitely on your soul. It is a means to come out of negative karma. Human life is given to overcome negative karma, which in the West is called sin. Any bad deed is a sin; we call it bad karma. Any good act is the opposite of sin and is called good or pure. It purifies our consciousness and our mental thoughts, and it frees us from karmas. Yet, you still may not feel that you have established a relation with thyself. Many questions remain unanswered. For that, there is passive meditation. This means you withdraw yourself from the external world. You become one with thyself. You try to understand what the world is. You try to understand your inner world. You try to understand what the good qualities in you are, and which are the bad qualities. You learn how to earn or cultivate the good qualities and how to purify the negative ones. In meditation, you find out what negative quality exists in you that disturbs others, even if you don't feel you have it. But still, there is a problem. People run away from you. People don't like to be friends with you. You have problems with colleagues, neighbors, partners, relatives, and you don't understand why. Definitely, there is something you don't know. It is like a black spot on your back—everyone sees it, but you do not. Meditation is the technique where you will find out which kind of quality or attitude, consciously or unconsciously, disturbs others. When you come to know this, you then try to purify it. Sometimes it is our ego; it doesn't want to surrender. Sometimes we think we are right and others are not, even when we are not right and it disturbs others, but we don't think we are disturbing. There was a man at midnight going around the street. There was a lot of snow, like today, and it was very cold. He was shouting, screaming, and people couldn't sleep. Some tried to tell him to shut up, but he didn't listen, so they called the police. A policeman came and said, "Gentleman, please don't shout. Don't make noise because people are sleeping. Why are you shouting?" The man said, "You don't know. You are a policeman; it's your duty to do what I'm doing. When you are not doing it, then I have to do it." The police asked, "What?" The man said, "There are so many wild elephants. I have to hunt them away." The police said, "But there is no elephant." He said, "Yes, I know. I hunt them away. That's why there is no elephant." You see, we always think we are right. But unfortunately, sometimes we are not right. So learn to be humble. Learn to accept. Then you can make spiritual development. Otherwise, you will have neither inner peace nor peace with your colleagues, family, and friends. So, passive meditation means to withdraw your senses and your thoughts from the external world and, for the time being, be with thyself. Yesterday we spoke about five points you should think about every day: "I am human." I explained this in detail yesterday. What does it mean for me to be human? What makes me human? How to cultivate those qualities which make me human? And what is the mission of my life? Or what is my dharma? My duty? My obligation in this world? Do I fulfill my obligations, or do I run away? These are the five questions: I am human. What makes me human? What does it mean to be human for me? Which qualities make me human, and how do I develop them? And what is the mission of my life? If you think about this, you will understand human life. We humans have some high aims in this life. Eating, sleeping, having children—animals can do that also. But human consciousness, human spirit, is different. This life is a very precious life. It will not be given to us again and again. It is only the chance. Do not waste this life in ignorance. Become aware of the time of your being human. Many things happen in life, good and bad. But the most terrible tragedy is for a human to die without God-realization or self-realization. There is only one God. That God, which every religion believes in, has different names and different forms, but it is only one. There is one woman. One man says, "She is my sister." A second comes and says, "She is my daughter." A third says, "She is my wife." A fourth says, "She is my mother." A fifth says, "She is my grandmother." Now, the one who says "grandmother" believes her only as a grandmother. If you tell him, "This is my daughter," he will be angry: "She is not a daughter; she is a grandmother." Another said, "No, this is the condition of religion. The person is the same: daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother—but the person is the same." The relations are different, depending on from which side you see. So, whether a Hindu god, a Christian god, or the Islamic God—God is only one. Truth is one. God is one. Only our imagination and relations are different. You cannot tell the person who says, "She is my daughter," "Don't believe she is your daughter; call her grandmother." That is how conflict grows in the world. So God is one, within every creature. You have a higher consciousness, and you can realize that; you can open your heart. The question is, what are you thinking? Today we will have meditation on this subject of thoughts. So adjust yourself in a comfortable way. You remember I told you yesterday: always meditate with one beautiful cotton shawl. This keeps your spiritual energy within yourself and protects it from outer pollution. Even if it is very hot, a very thin cotton shawl will feel very pleasant. If it's cool, you will feel nice and warm. Some people like to cover even the head to avoid outer noises or a cold draft or wind. You will see many people like to meditate like this. It protects us from flies and mosquitoes. It's a beautiful feeling; you feel protected. You feel your bioenergy. It is something beautiful. Cats, tigers, lions—they are afraid to attack the orange color because it is like fire. Also bears. Have you been in the High Tatras? Did you meet a big bear? Luckily not. You know, when you meet a big bear, or a grizzly bear, you know what you should do? Orange. I did not know. Two years ago, I was in Canada for a seminar in the mountains. Everyone was meditating, and Swāmī Gajānand was leading. I just wanted to walk around the house block. There was a storm; a big tree fell down. I was climbing slowly over the trunk—not easy, but I managed. I walked ten meters, and on a hill I saw a big bear looking at me, and one baby. You can't imagine how quickly I crossed back over that tree. It took me four minutes to go over, but maybe fifteen seconds to come back. Then I asked the Canadians what to do when you meet a bear. They said, "Yes, there is a technique. You make yourself bigger." How should I make big? If it were our master Devpurījī or Mahāprabhujī, they could make big. They taught me a technique: when you go to the High Tatras, you can use it. They said, "You raise your hand and do like this, then they will be afraid. They think, 'Oh God, you are very big.'" That's it. If you have an orange cloth, they will not attack. But thanks to God, we are in Bratislava, and there are different bears. So, you should use the mantra given by your master. A mantra is like the soul in the body; without a mantra, meditation is like a stone statue. Take your mālā in your hand and make yourself very comfortable so you can sit for some minutes without moving. Anything you want to see in this room, in this hall, do it now. Afterwards, we have to close our eyes. You need not open your eyes again in between, because there will be nothing new to see. It is the same thing; it is still here. So, no opening eyes without my instruction. If something new comes in, I will tell you to open your eyes and look. So keep your eyes closed. Inhale and exhale, and withdraw yourself from the external world. We will chant OM three times. While chanting OM, concentrate on the resonance. The seat of the sound is in the Maṇipūra Cakra, the navel. The sound awakens from the Maṇipūra—an ascending and descending sound. From the Maṇipūra to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the Maṇipūra. From the navel to the throat, it then begins to manifest through the vocal cords, enters into the head, and the sound divides in different directions. Through the Iḍā Nāḍī (the left nostril), the sound goes towards the heart. Through the Piṅgalā Nāḍī, the sound goes into your whole body—what we call the resonance. And through the Suṣumṇā Nāḍī, the sound stored in the brain goes outside. Fifty percent of the resonance you send into space, which you also hear. That sound—your own sound—you hear it. With that resonance which you hear, withdraw yourself from the external world and come to your inner world, to thyself. Once more: the sound awakens from the navel till the throat, manifests as a loud sound, and divides into three streams, joining the three nāḍīs—Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā. One part enters towards the heart, the second into the whole body, and the third into space, which you listen with. With that, you withdraw thyself from the external world. So, take a deep inhale and chant with me: OM. We will do it three times. Exhale. Once more. Deep inhale to the stomach, then into the lungs. Exhale from the chest first, then from the stomach. Take a deep inhale and chant OM from your being in this hall. Feel the divine atmosphere. Relax your whole body. Be comfortable and keep your body straight upright. The whole day has passed. You were working very hard, but now it is time for thyself. Say mentally to yourself, "Relax, my friend, relax." Just relax. Let me be one with myself. Your body is relaxed. Your mind is also free and relaxed. Feel the comfort. Feel the motionlessness of the body. Relax for the time being. Feel your whole body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. Relax. And now, feel your breath. Do not change the breath rhythm. Just know that you are inhaling and you are exhaling. Breath is life, and life is breath. At the time of inhalation, the trunk of the body is expanding. At the time of exhalation, it is contracting. You feel the prāṇa flowing in your body—the energy, vitality, the life force. All kinds of toxins are exhaled, and you feel very light and relaxed. Relax. Relax. Try to relax inwardly. Inner relaxation means: do not fix your ideas on a particular matter or subject. Do not stop at one thought. Thoughts are coming and going. You are only the observer. And now, let them go. Try to relax. Try to forget everything. Try to relax. Try to forget everything. If you can't relax, then just feel your breath, the ingoing and outgoing breath. So just feel your breathing. Inhale and exhale. And now, try to analyze your thoughts. Which thought is coming again and again? Ask yourself: "What am I thinking? What did I think? Why am I thinking like this? What should I think? And what should I think? What am I thinking? What did I think? Why am I thinking? And why am I thinking this way? What should I think? And what should I think?" And the last question: "What is the cause of my thinking like this?" Go ahead. Relax. Why do I think? What should I think? What is the cause of my thoughts? Can I solve this thought? Can I solve these thoughts? If it disturbs you, then try to put this thought away. Relax. Why do I think? What should I think? What is the cause of this thought? Should I keep or should I remove this thought? And now again, come to your breath. Leave these questions away. Just feel your breath. Feel your inner relaxation. Feel your body. Feel the breath and body together. Take a deep inhale and exhale a few times. We will chant OM once, then three times the Śānti Mantra. Exert yourself. Deep inhale. Put your mālā around your neck again, and rub your palms till they become hot. Place your hot palms on your face. Open all your face muscles. Open your eyes and place your hands on the ground. Bend forward and touch your forehead to the floor. Feel the stretching of the back muscles. Feel your neck muscles. Feel the increased blood circulation towards the head and face muscles. Feel your breath. Feel the whole body. Feel the ground energy of Mother Earth. Now, with the help of your hands, very slowly come up. Slowly. So, for today, that is all. The next webcasting will be on the weekend in the Strylky Ashram. I wish you all the best and divine blessings. If anyone has any questions about this meditation, please send them to our webcast address, and we will write you the answers. Thank you. God bless you. And to those who have a birthday, I wish you a happy birthday. Until then, Hari Om.