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Follow the Path

The guru serves as the essential navigator on the inner pilgrimage, and steadfast devotion to the path ensures reaching the goal. Yoga is a lifelong journey; cosmic consciousness may not be attained in one life. The path is like a walk to Rijeka—one continues step by step, resting but staying on the path. Guru Paramparā, the lineage of masters, guides reliably. Without such a navigator, one wanders lost across different directions. A blind man's technique fails when he removes his hand from the wall at the critical moment, missing the door. Similarly, practitioners may abandon the guru just before liberation, thinking they can proceed alone. Āsanas and prāṇāyāmas maintain one on the path, but the lineage leads onward. The soul's origin traces to Satya Yuga, a nest from which it came and to which it returns. Regardless of birthplace, the inner Ātmā seeks its true home. The guru, though not physically present, observes all; the Supreme's vision encompasses the entire universe. The five kośas dissolve at death, but the Ātmā must be realized. The supreme state is absolute solitude; therefore, it is better to live a compassionate human life. Negative karma, such as harming animals, returns as disease. The true guru is within, preparing the soul like a bird brooding an egg. Mantra repetition, especially "Śrī Guru Ātmā," and chakra-focused Oṁ chanting deepen the resonance and unite the kośas.

"The master, the guru, is that navigator—only in this life, only on this path."

"Guru means light. Guru means knowledge. Guru means happiness. Guru means clarity. Guru is thyself, but someone must open that treasure."

Filming location: Zagreb, Croatia

You have been practicing with your yoga teachers, and they have certainly given you many experiences of yoga in daily life. Yoga is for our entire life. Why? Because many of us may not yet be complete in cosmic consciousness. Consider a walk to Rijeka: you cannot complete it in one, two, or three days. Yet we have our path. We may stop overnight, but we stay on the same path, and when we rise, we continue onward. This means we came onto the path early, and we do not rely on aeroplanes, cars, bicycles, or even horses—simply walking. Perhaps this life is not our final destination, but if we remain on the path, we are one hundred percent sure to reach the goal. That is what we call Guru Paramparā, the lineage of masters. Nowadays we use a navigator, which gives us direction and brings us right to the door: “Your destination is here.” Without navigation, we are lost. The master, the guru, is that navigator—only in this life, only on this path. Many of us wander onto different roads, like heading toward a river but at night flying to Hungary, then to Italy, then to Russia, never reaching Rijeka. If you concentrate, you will see that Rijeka is a river, and from different forests and all directions, waters gather into that river, and the river leads us to the ocean. Some of you have practiced for many years, while others have just stepped onto the path. But surely, our Gurudev, the Paramparā, our lineage, will comfortably lead us into the next life as well. Yet if we go from Budapest to Italy and elsewhere, remembering our Master only from time to time, we may think, “I can do it myself.” Yes, you can—you can walk into darkness and become lost, like a blind person with no one to guide. Imagine a large hall and a blind person wanting to exit. Blind people sometimes have a technique: one hand on the wall, the other on a stick, walking and walking until the door comes near. But whenever the door was close, this man took his hand from the wall to scratch his head or back, and so the door passed by each time. He grew angry, shouting, “Who made such a huge hall? How far is it?” A man observing from the gallery said, “My dear friend, whenever the door was there, you took your hand away.” The blind man replied, “You may not find the door, but we blind people have our technique. My whole life I never missed the way.” The observer answered, “My friend, I know you have your techniques, but whenever the gate came, you withdrew your hand and scratched yourself. You did not stop.” The blind man said, “That is my mistake. I was at the gate, and truly, I put my hand here.” Similarly, we may live our entire yogic life, yet in the final moments think, “I don’t need Swāmījī, I don’t need Gurujī, I don’t need anyone; I have my own way.” And just before the door appears, we change to another path, and then another, until we are lost. We may read many books and use many techniques, but the guide with open eyes—these eyes are our Master, our Guru. Therefore, we must be very careful and recognize that this is our path. That is most important. Practicing āsanas and prāṇāyāmas, reading books, and talking—these keep you on the path, but where the path leads us is through our Paramparā, Guru Paramparā. And this is like our connection to Alakh Purījī from the Satya Yuga. You know that in the Himalayas there is a river called Bhāgīrathī, and on the other side Alakanandā; when they merge, they become Gaṅgā. Alakh Purījī was from Satya Yuga, possessing the quality of Śiva. Your son or daughter will die, but they will continue to walk on their parents’ path. You have the country of Croatia. No matter where you live—perhaps in Australia, America, Africa—your nest is here. At sunset, every bird returns to its nest. Similarly, this origin, Alakhpurījī, is in Satya Yuga. Our eggs and babies from the nest will always come back there. You have received those roots from Satya Yuga. It does not matter where you were born; destiny has guided you onto this path. There are many who lead on the path, but only one root. Many branches, many seeds, yet we call it a beautiful apple tree, perhaps a hundred years old. The quality and taste of the apple always remain the same. So too with you: regardless of where you are born or where you are—different language, different culture—the inner Ātmā, the soul, is searching, “Where is my nest?” From the very beginning, many others know their nest. So it depends on us. We should work on that blessing, knowing that our Guru, our God, our destiny, may not be physically here, but they observe from everywhere. As we climb a mountain, we see more whiteness all around. If we go further into space, Croatia becomes just a drop of water, eventually disappearing. Yet the Supreme One knows everything equally. Do not think that God forgets us. Our Gurudevs sit there; once they open their eyes, they behold the entire universe. This earth is like a tiny stone. Our own eyes are still incapable of that vision, so do not worry. Just practice mantra, and you will arrive. I, too, am on the path. I sit here as the driver, and you are the four passengers inside. But if the driver constantly asks, “How are you?” and looks around, an accident will happen. Such a driver may die, and not only himself—he kills all others. Similarly, if someone holds the steering wheel but their attention is elsewhere, disaster follows. Therefore, we should not wander here and there. You may do many things: try this, try that, take medicine, injections, jump, swim, fly airplanes. But the teacher says, “You do many things, but it is not what you need, nor what your Ātmā is doing.” This body will die; it will become ash, dust, and air. The wind will come and blow away all our bones and flesh. Where will the five kośas—the five sheaths—be? Annamaya Kośa, Prāṇamaya Kośa, Manomaya Kośa, Vijñānamaya Kośa, Ānandamaya Kośa—they all disappear. Where is your Ātmā? We must reach that essence, and our work is Yoga in Daily Life. Many of you can perform very good āsanas; perhaps I cannot. That is fine, but it is not our destination—nor are prāṇāyāmas or anything else. Therefore, sādhanā, sādhanā, sādhanā. Some of you know one of Mahāprabhujī’s disciples, Śivānanda. He was from near Kathu, two villages away. In those times, people were called kings—big kings, little kings—and they addressed him as Mahārāja. Gurujī was Swāmī Śivānandajī, a disciple of Mahāprabhujī, a very great person. He composed a beautiful prayer. When Gurujī was in Nepal and I first went there, he would recite this prayer morning and evening. From all the prayers made by Mahāprabhujī’s disciples, this one would give such clarity: Who are you? Where are you? Our soul—we are not merely our self. Within this body, do you know how many things we contain? Not only the soul; sometimes the soul feels alone, and then you feel lonely. Occasionally I would say, “I don’t want to go to Brahmaloka. There is no one; no one says hello. No language, no song, no friends, no earth, no space, no light, no darkness. Where to sleep? In the air. No friend, no girlfriend, no husband, no wife, no child, nothing. No ice cream, no Croatian chocolate. No sweet, no bitter, nothing. No hands, no legs, no eyes.” What do you think about that? Do you want to be good? There you cannot fall anywhere, yet you are falling—but where? We do not know if we go up or down. That state is called Ekoham—“I am One,” I am in the Supreme. Think it over. Will you live there like that? No singing bhajans, no Swamiji talking, no webcast. Where are you going then? It is better to be human, to cultivate good qualities, to do good things, to help all creatures. Love everyone, do not kill anyone, do not take anyone’s life. A happy life—of course, our different organs will torture us. We have to change the body again and again. Yes, we want to come again. In that prayer, it is said: Guru means light. Guru means knowledge. Guru means happiness. Guru means clarity. Guru is thyself, but someone must open that treasure. If we do not have good karma, when we open the treasure we find cobras; we close it and open another side, a crocodile. What is that? That is our karma. How much do you speak negatively to others? If someone has a mistake, you should clear it. You know when something is on your head or on your back. If another person has something harmful, we should, as a friend, say, “Sorry, can I take it away?” He says, “Yes, what?” “This scorpion, quickly.” So we should remove poisonous things from people, take them in our hand. That is all. People cannot even understand how to care for animals. If someone tries to cut your throat, would you like that? If someone threatens our life, before they kill us, we die inside. So how can we kill these innocent animals and eat them? All that karma returns to us—many cancers, diseases in various organs. This is karma coming back. But in this Kali Yuga, no one tells us what is good and what is bad. They only tell you to eat animals, drink alcohol, consume this. O human, can you give love to someone? Yes, that is it. That is why so few reach the Supreme. At that time, the jīvātmā is alone, yet alone is all. Thus, one in all and all in one. This is just what we are doing: a painful world. This world is what we call dying, suffering—coming back again. But all yogīs, all deities, they are with us. That eternal peace, harmony, love, understanding—everything. When we die and leave the body, we say, “Oh, thank you for freeing me from this body.” And when the soul goes out, you know how quickly—like an animal caught in a cave when the door suddenly opens, how swiftly it runs away. Or a bird, how quickly it flies. Similarly, our Ātmā, leaving the body, is like a star falling. In an instant it is gone. The soul does not want to return—neither to Croatia nor to Africa. We do not know where. It is said: Guru Dev is within you. Within Guru Dev, they are preparing us. Like a bird creates an egg and then sits on it until it becomes complete, similarly Guru Dev sits on that nest all the time. So this mantra, our prayer, is Śrī Guru Ātmā. I did not say you will sing it, because many do not know. Śrī Guru Ātmā—who is Gurudev? Our own Ātmā, Śrī Guru. That Śrī is knowledge, wisdom, like Lakṣmī. Śrī Guru Ātmā, Paramātmā—that Gurudev is Paramātmā, the soul of the Supreme. Paramātmā, Duṣa Najvišeg, Vrhovnog. Śrī Guru Ātmā, Paramātmā, Ho Mahātmā—and they are all Mahātmā. You are here, all Mahātmā. Whom do we call Mahātma? In Croatia, do you have Mahātma? Yes, in your city, in a beautiful garden, day and night, standing for you—that is called a Mahātmā. Which one? Mahātma Gandhi. So we are all Ātmā, Mahātmā. Śrī Guru, Ātmā, Padma, Puruṣottama. When you come in the human body, it is all; then you are Mahātmā. But how? How will you take care like Mahātma Gandhi? Even if someone beat him, he would not speak bad words. He said, “We will win without weapons.” You know about his life, but it was not easy for him. Did you see the film about Gandhi? Everyone looked at me. Who did not see it? Very good. One thing is interesting: the Croatian cannot raise his hand up because he is out there. When Tito came, they were… Now Tito is not here. Get up. So, did you see the film of Mahātma Gāndhī? I said yes, I want those who have seen. Perhaps this evening we will translate this prayer. Next time, when we come to such a hall, we should bring some kind of balloon, or many things, or papers, and we will make a good end. Eko—because Eko is only one. That is why I say Eko. There is no second. Eko Brahma Dutte Nasti. So only this Eko is Eko, everything. We are nothing. If everyone—so many, we are one meter, one and a half meters. Hang something here, each one, and we will take it out. Or I will wear a flag. Echo in echo. Now we come back to sit straight, because I was talking about this, our new Kriyā. “A, A, I, I, U.” Come on, we are going to Mokṣa. Again: “A, A, I, I, U.” Where was the tongue? “A, A, I, I, U, U.” Where was the tongue? Relax. Relax. “A, A, I, I, U, U.” Good? Yes, this is how we must go very deep into our resonance, according to our brain. Only a samādhi I will do, I will do… “A, A, U, U…” These correspond to the five indriyas—ear, nostrils, mouth, sound, our skin—and the Sahasrāra Cakra, no pressure. Just gently. Eyes closed. Relax. Relax. Hands on the knees. Close your eyes and follow the resonance. Mentally repeat and follow Pūpak, Anāhat, Viśuddhi, Ājñā, Sahasrāra—the five bodies, five kośas, all united in us. Jñāna and karma. Let us come within Jñāna Loka. Again, three times, Oṁ chanting. Always, whenever we chant, we will go through the navel, Anāhata, Viśuddhi, Ājñā, and Sahasrāra. Three times we will sing Oṁ, and each time we intone Oṁ, we will travel through Maṇipūra, Anāhata, Viśuddhi, Ājñā, and Sahasrāra. Fold your palms and mentally make praṇām to our Gurudevas. Then place your hands on your face. Open your eyes and look into your palms. Touch the palms to the ground, bend forward, feel the circulation toward the air, the face muscles, the stretching of the neck and the spinal column. Feel your whole being. Slowly come up again. Slowly come up. Hari Om.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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