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Part 1: The Divine Journey: From Cosmic Origin to Self-Realization Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. It is a blessing to be here with you. I have long wished to come to Warsaw, but as it is said, man proposes and God disposes. The time has now come, and by His divine will, I am guided here today. I am happy to see you, and I hope you are all well—healthy, with harmony at home, a happy family. Your country is a blessed country, with a very strong spirituality, even though it has experienced many difficult situations. The divine mercy of the Lord has always been with you. This evening is a divine evening, and the subject given is meditation: practice and theory. I see many of you know yoga, meditation, and spirituality. This may be the first time I am sharing this information with you directly, unless you have heard me through webcasts, television, magazines, or from neighboring countries. Why should we meditate? What do we expect from it? What is meditation, and from where does it come? I will begin from the very beginning. It is said in the Vedas: Ananta Brahmāṇḍa Śūnyākāśa—the endless universe is a completely empty, void space. Nothing is there, just dark space. That space is known as the body of the cosmic mother, the principle of the Divine Mother. Within that space, consciousness exists but is not yet active. This consciousness within the space is like an embryo in the mother’s body. In the Holy Vedas, it is called Hiraṇya Garbha, the golden embryo, like an egg. That is the consciousness. I recall that in this part of the world, according to Christianity, you celebrate Easter, where the egg holds great significance. This corresponds to what the Vedas say: the golden embryo carries life, the consciousness. Between space and consciousness, there is a perfect balance. That balancing principle is called yoga—not the āsanas, prāṇāyāma, or meditations, but the very principle of yoga. Where there is balance, there is harmony. Thus, the influence of this principle, yoga, creates harmony. So yoga means harmony. Where there is harmony, there is union, unity, oneness. Therefore, yoga means union. The practice of yoga means reunion—the reunion of the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness. That is the final goal. This is a picture of the empty universe. Within the divine consciousness, a divine will or tendency awakens, which is declared in the Vedas: Eko’haṁ bahusyāmi—"I am one, and now I will multiply myself." That one universal consciousness is going to multiply. But where? How? There is only one universe and one consciousness. The first creation began with sound. The Veda says the form or embodiment of the Supreme is resonance, sound. That sound, after long research by the yogīs, was declared to be A-U-M. These three letters indicate the three guṇas: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. You can read about the three guṇas in the Bhagavad Gītā, Āyurveda, or many yoga books. The sound created vibration throughout the universe, and the elements began to form from that one sound: fire, air, water, and earth. The fifth element is space, which was, is, and will be. From that one sound, it is said, Ananta Brahmāṇḍa Śāstra Sūryas—in this endless universe, millions of suns were created, the light and sparklings. There are thousands of solar systems, and we belong to the one we know. Within it, one beautiful planet was created: our Mother Earth. We belong to this planet; we have an attachment to it. We are a vibration, the resonance of this planet. On this planet, life began and qualities collected. Brahmā, the creator, created 8.4 million different creatures, one of which is human. These creatures are divided into three categories: jalacara (in the water), thalacara (on the earth), and nabhacara (in the air). As creatures began, two qualities developed in parallel: asurīśakti and devīśakti—negative forces and positive forces. Sometimes the negative force overtakes, and sometimes the positive one. These forces are still here. We are nothing but vibration, nothing but resonance. Our real self is light, consciousness. But now we exist as individuals. Our aim is to come back to the origin. The Self, the Ātmā, is universal. The soul is individual. This soul, what we call the soul, is fluttering on the waves of time through the endless universe, experiencing darkness and light, pain and pleasure, happiness and unhappiness, creating relations and loneliness—an endless journey. Only you know how many milestones you have behind you, what kind of life you had. But we have lost that memory. It is good that we lost it, for if we still had that memory, we would suffer. Thanks to God that in every life we begin with new memories and new experiences. This individual soul has had to go through the cycle of rebirth and death, coming and going, manifesting and dissolving, appearing and disappearing. In many lives, we have had fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, and enemies. We do not know in which form of life we existed. Finally, God gave us this human body. Humans possess a very powerful tool: the intellect. Human intellect can be trained endlessly. Humanity needs the right education. There are two kinds of education: one to survive on this planet in this life, to take care of our existence; and the second, to achieve self-realization. The great saint Śaṅkarācārya, an incarnation of Śiva and one of the greatest thinkers, said: "Who am I? I am not this body. I am not these senses. I am not this mind. I am not this emotion, nor am I this intellect, and I am not this soul. Who am I?" Knowing this is the answer to all your questions. Go home and ask: Who am I? If someone knocks on the door, you say, "I am." "Oh, how nice you are here. Come in." Open the door. What is this? It is my shoulder. Touch the head. What is this? It is my head. Whatever you indicate, we answer, "My"—my body, my skin, my blood, my bones, my mind, my thoughts, my memory. So who is constantly speaking within us, saying "My"? And where are you? "Here." What a wonder that we do not know. We say, "I am here," but we do not know. And what is funny is that we are searching for ourselves. If you are meditating and practicing for self-realization, to know thyself—who knows himself in meditation, in the higher samādhi? I will speak of that later, but I will say now: when the highest goal of self-realization is achieved, three become one. That is called the highest samādhi: knowledge, the object, and the knower—the knower who would like to know, the object you would like to know, and the knowledge between them. These three merge into oneness. In one poem, it is said: "When I was here, he was not here. Now he is here, but I am not here." Because the street of love is so narrow, two cannot walk together; two have to become one. When you become one, then one has to give up, so neither he nor you remains. Similarly, when it comes to the highest knowledge, the consciousness, that is called self-realization. So’ham—who am I? Katham idaṁ jātam—from where did I come? Where does your origin begin? Where were you in your last life? Perhaps in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Africa, Japan, or India? And in which form of life? We have no memory. So, from where do I come? And where am I going? Why did I come here? What is the purpose of my coming? You ask me, Swāmījī, why did you come to Warsaw? To give a lecture. So, for what did we come in this life? Eating, drinking, sleeping, and creating children? Animals are also very active. Are you born for this? Get up in the morning, quickly eat breakfast, run to the bus, work hard, come home, eat, sleep, get up, go to work again. My God, this is a motor running, and one day is gone. For what did God give us human life? How do we differ? Human intellect needs two kinds of education. One is for our existence, to earn our bread. Human life has four pillars, and both pillars should be solid for a perfect family life. The first pillar is dharma: your duty, responsibilities, and obligations. As said in the Vedas: Dharma rakṣitā rakṣitā—if you protect your dharma, dharma will protect you. If you cannot protect your dharma, dharma will not protect you. So there is dharma-karma. What is the dharma of the father and mother? What is the dharma of the husband to his wife, and of the wife towards her husband? What is the dharma of children towards parents, and of your family towards neighbors, and so on? Our duties, our relations. Protect your dharma. Know what your dharma is. Without knowing your dharma, if you marry, your marriage will be unhappy. The second pillar is artha: wealth, money. It means when a visitor comes home, you should be able to offer them a glass of water, a piece of bread, or a warm blanket. In our civilization, we cannot exist without money. Every step requires some, and for that we must work to feed our children and fulfill our needs. The third pillar is karma: the duty of our responsibility in this world. If you are married and have a happy family, it is also your duty to have a happy child. And if you have a child, you have a great responsibility to educate them, to lead them towards a happy, independent, and spiritual life. The fourth pillar is mokṣa: liberation. It means to come out of the cycle of rebirth and death among the 8.4 million different creatures. After this life, we do not know where we will go. Where will I go, and where will my deeds lead me? You have no permanent reservation in the house where you are living; very soon, you must leave it too. Finally, to become free from karma and attain liberation, like a drop falling into the ocean, this individual soul dissolves through spiritual practices and merges into the cosmic consciousness. That is the aim of practicing spirituality. Thus, the second education is spiritual education. It is said that if you cannot educate your children to be good, kind, spiritual humans—loving, full of mercy, positive thinking, tolerance, and respect—then you have no right to create children. It is not only that you suddenly have a child. Your wife says, "Oh, I am pregnant," and the husband says, "I didn’t want a child!" This happens to many women. How many women are unhappy? I am sorry for them. The greatest dharma of a man is specifically to be with his wife when she is pregnant. Come right home from work on time. If you go to a restaurant, take her with you. Never say harsh words to her. Be helpful. Give her the best time of her life, for her happiness will develop in that child. I will not dwell on this point further, otherwise I may see many tears in the eyes of the women here. In one way, human life is beautiful; on the other hand, it is a mystery. It is hard sometimes, and one thinks of being a free bird in the forest. But do not think like that. I will now conclude this subject. Ultimately, the holy saints came to know this point: there is a Self which is a representative of the cosmic Self—body, mind, intellect, emotion, memory, consciousness, soul, and Self. Part 2: The Path to Self-Realization The aim of life is to attain Self-realization. But how is this possible? It is only possible through human life. Thanks to God, He gave us this human life. Now we need someone to inspire us. That is called the Guru. Guru means teacher. "Gu" means darkness, and "ru" means light. In the Upanishads it is said: Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya — "Lead us from darkness to light." From the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge. Even your driving teacher you may call your driving guru. A music teacher is a music guru. So the word "guru" is a Sanskrit word. The one who teaches you how to clean the floor is your cleaning guru. Here, people misunderstand the word "guru." The first guru is your mother. That is why we say, "my mother tongue." What was your mother tongue? Polish. Because your mother originated from Poland and she speaks the Polish language. When you were in her body, she was talking to you in Polish. When you were born on her lap, she was talking to you in Polish. Her words went into your subconsciousness. The second guru is your father, if he was there. Many fathers, unfortunately, nowadays go away. I met one elderly lady, about 95 years old, in India, from a small village, and she said something very beautiful. I hope it will touch your heart. She said: "When you were born and you had your first breath—when you inhaled first and exhaled—that time your mother was with you. Understand? Yes. When you had your first breath, your mother was with you. My son, when your mother and father have their last breath, your duty is to be with them. Rozumiesz?" So, spirituality means not only to sit down and meditate and pray, "O God, O God," while your mother is somewhere else in an old home and no one is taking care of her. So God said, "My child, I have no time for you. I must take care of your mother." What do you understand about a mother? What do you understand about a father? We are human, and that makes a happy, beautiful family. Well, so the first guru is the mother, the second is the father, the third is your friends, the fourth is your religious priest, and the fifth is your school or university professor, or teacher. And the sixth one is your spiritual Satguru. And the seventh one is yourself. You are that candle which is still not lighted, and the master or the guru is that candle which is already lighted. It means the candle which is not burning has no capacity to give the light. Oh yes, it can give. You have to bring this candle to that candle, which is already burning. That’s called enlightenment. You cannot hold a candle here and another candle in another room and say, "My master, enlighten me. My candle, burn my candle." You cannot. So you must meet physically your spiritual Sadguru. And hear from his mouth directly the instructions, the mantras, the guidance, and the blessing. And that master is known as Brahmaniṣṭha Śrotriya — a knower of Brahman, the Supreme, and one who can inspire or guide us. They came to this point: human life is the last gate to come out. So there is a little story. One blind man was sitting in a big hall like this, alone. Now he decided to go out of the hall. Blind people have their own techniques, so in one hand he had a stick. On the other hand, he put his hand on the wall, and he was walking. He knows that when the door will come, he knows this is a door he can go out. Walking, walking along the whole hall along the wall, when he came one meter far from near the door, then he had itching there on the head. So he took the hand away and began scratching and kept on walking and put the hand on the wall. While he was scratching his head, the door was left behind. Walking through the whole hall, he came again near the door. It was itching here. Again, he left the door behind. Again, he went through and came near the door. And he became angry. "How big is this hall?" Again, he missed it. One man was standing and observing. He said, "My dear friend, the hall is not so big. But you missed the door three times." The blind man became angry. "Don’t think that we blind people are stupid. We know very well how to walk and how to find our path. All the time, my hand is on the wall." He said, "Yes, my friend, but when you came near the wall or door, you begin to enjoy your itching." Similarly, this means this life is a big hall, and our desires are that kind of itching. When the right time comes and the master comes, we begin to think, and we miss it. So the master said, through human life, it’s possible to achieve enlightenment, liberation, Self-realization, or God-realization, whatever you call it. Then the disciple said, "If I die, what will happen?" He said, "Be healthy. Long life." So, come to the right, good food: healthy food. And the movements. So the food, nourishment, and movements—these two will keep our life long and healthy. And you will practice between your spiritual practices. Dear brothers and sisters, around the whole world there are many, many spiritual paths. Many possibilities we have. And out of that one, I can tell you, is also yoga. Yoga is first. Beginning of this creation in the universe. And all of these spiritual paths have the same principles, like yoga. And so, first, eat healthy food. Practice scientific, beautiful, balanced exercises. For example, you have Yoga in Daily Life. It’s a system. In yoga, there is no competition and no challenge. If I can’t sit in lotus, will I not get liberation? Oh yes, I will get. And if I sit in lotus, will I get liberation? No, you cannot. Torturing the body is not accepted. Wiedza i błogosławieństwo mistrza to drzwi do oświecenia. Znaleźć wewnętrzną ścieżkę. Znaleźć wewnętrzne inspiracje. I practice your mantra which your master gives you. Meditation without a mantra is a body without a soul. And the mantra you must get directly from the master. But which master? That master to whom your heart can surrender and your intellect will accept. Not only saying, "Oh, this is a good one. Oh, I read a book about this one. He is the highest one." Yes, all are best. Every child says, "My mother is the best mother." Which mother is not a good mother? So, every master is a good master. But where your heart feels and surrenders—that’s your master for the great mantra. Mantra, prayers, and a positive way of life will lead us to our goal. And now we’ll come to practice. This was a theory, and now we’ll come to practice. For that, I will give you a little rest. You have to digest all that I told you, so of course you need 20 minutes if you have to go. We invite you; it will be a completely different lecture. The second thing is that we have a very beautiful āśram in Strzelce. It is not far from Brno; it is a castle where we meet at such weekend seminars. We have a practice together: meditation and satsaṅg, that is, a meeting with Swamiji. We sing bhajans. If someone would like to go to this place this weekend, which is ahead of us—Friday, Saturday, Sunday—it starts on Friday evening and ends on Sunday afternoon. So if anyone would like, we cordially invite you. You can then come to me after everything. Leave some contact to each other. So, we will begin our program. I have one question: how many of you meditate every day? Hands up, please. Very good, thank you. How many of you practice regularly? Good, thank you. And how many are there who never meditated? So little. Okay. Thank you. If you don’t mind, we shall put a little light off. If you don’t feel cold, and if you don’t feel unpleasant, then take off your shoes. So you have direct contact with the floor. During this meditation, you should remain with closed eyes. Anything you want to see in this hall, you can do it now. After this, there will be nothing new, so do not open your eyes. And make yourself very comfortable, so that you will feel very comfortable. These five fingers: the thumb represents the Brahman, the Supreme. The index finger represents the individual self, so the aim of meditation is the union of the individual with the Supreme. There is special energy flowing through this chakra here on the tip of the finger and the tip of the thumb. There is a special chakra which harmonizes and tranquilizes our thoughts and unites our energy circulation. This is called cin mudrā. Three fingers represent three guṇas: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Yogīs have to be above these three guṇas. Unless you are above the three guṇas, you cannot have that consciousness. Therefore, if you don’t feel unpleasant, keep your fingers and thumb together. You can have like this, or you can like that. Palms can be facing upwards slightly, or you may touch your thighs or knees, no problem. In the body, there are many chakras. Seventy-two thousand chakras. These chakras are the energy centers. Through different practices or concentration, we can awaken them. For example, the chakras in our hands. Now, open your palms and hold your palms like this. You will feel some kind of sensation at the tips of the fingers, through the fingers and palms. It’s not a miracle. It’s very simple. It’s a blood circulation, but now you feel it should become a hundred percent more, or maybe a thousand percent. It means we activate these chakras. So now, fold your palms and rub your palms. Fingers together, and rub it till it becomes hot. And now, hold your palms like this. Do you feel? No. Do you understand me? Then say yes or no. Now, make like this, move your hands. Do you feel moving needles? And feel like that. Like that. And close your palms, fists, hands down. It’s gone. Make it again? Is there? So, likewise, you can activate through your concentration all the chakras of the body. Then your aura becomes strong by that. Each blood cell radiates the divine energy. So, we will come to this point after. So, index fingers and thumbs together. Three fingers separate, and hands on the thighs. You may touch your palms to your thighs or knees. And close your eyes. Relax the whole body and take a deep breath in, and we will chant three times OṂ. Deep inhale, deep inhale, and feel the OṂ resonance in the whole body. Deep inhale. Normal breath. Your eyes are gently closed. Relax your whole body. And withdraw yourself from the external world. The whole day has passed. You were working physically and mentally very hard, but now it’s time to relax. Bring yourself consciously into this hall. Be aware of your being here in this hall. Relax. Say mentally to thyself. Relax, my friend. Relax. Just for the time being. Let me be one with myself. Relax the whole body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. No tensions at all, either physically or mentally. Just relax. Relax. Each and every limb of the body systematically tries to relax. Relax the whole body. Now feel the motionlessness of the body. Feel the motionlessness of the body. Your body is relaxed and comfortable. You feel very pleasant, the motionlessness of the body. Now, bring your awareness to the breath process. Do not move your body. Change the breath rhythm. Just know that you know you are inhaling, and you know that you are exhaling. Very relaxed, very gentle breath. And now, feel the expansion and contraction of the body with the breath. During the inhalation, the trunk of the body is expanding, and during the exhalation, it is contracting. Feel the prāṇa, the life force, which flows with the breath in and out. I know that I am relaxed and comfortable. I feel very pleasant. I feel the motionlessness of the body. Breath. Time of the inhalation, cosmic energy, prāṇa, flowing in the body. At the time of the exhalation, all kinds of toxins are exhaled from the body, and during the exhalation, all kinds of toxins are exhaled from the body. Relax at the time of the inhalation. And Śakti, the life force flowing in the whole body, each and every blood cell is recharging the vitality and creating a resonance, a very harmonious resonance in the body. And now, at the time of the inhalation, you are radiating harmony. And divine energy, feel the center of the energy, that you are the center point. No tension, no imagination, just be relaxed. And feel the reality, relax. Now bring your attention to the center of the eyebrows. Observe with your inner eye the behind part of the forehead wall at the center of the eyebrows. Whatever you see, just observe. Do not imagine anything, just the reality. Maybe some colors, maybe some color waves, maybe stars, or only darkness. Just observe your inner space. Now, for some minutes, try to imagine the morning dawn. In dark winter nights, a beautiful dawn rises. And observe until the sun rises in this dawn. Relax. Very peaceful and beautiful dawn. If you have a mantra, now is the time to mentally repeat your mantra. If you don’t have a mantra, you may repeat OṂ mentally. Relax. Again, towards the whole body. Your body is relaxed. It’s comfortable. Take your breath. It’s flowing very calmly. And try to deeply inhale and exhale. While inhaling, feel that energy flows into your body, and while exhaling, you radiate positive and divine energy into the world. Deep inhale and exhale. While exhaling, become extrovert. Deep inhale and chant with me three times, OṂ. Three times Śānti. Śānti. Keep your eyes still closed. Feel your whole body. Close your fists and open your palms. Stretch your arms. Bend your elbows, fold your palms, and rub your palms. Place the palms on the face and open your eyes into your palms. Slowly move the hands. Hari Oṁ. So, in this way you can continue your meditation. According to your time, I think we were meditating for more than half an hour. So it depends at home how long a time you have. Tomorrow we will see how to meditate, what we call active meditation and passive. And for today, that is enough. I wish you a very pleasant, very good night. Thank you, and God bless you. Hari Oṁ. Hari Oṁ. Hari Oṁ. Hari Oṁ. Hari Oṁ. Hari Oṁ. For coming here, we are very happy, and tomorrow will be the next program. Please come if you have time, and this is the end of the program for today. Thank you very much.