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The Path from Jīva to Śiva: Ātmā-Jñāna on Śivarātri

The path from individual soul to universal consciousness is realized through self-knowledge, grace, and humility. The universal Ātmā is one, unborn and immortal, existing within all. It is the radiance of Śiva consciousness. To comprehend this formless reality, the divine manifests for human senses. Knowing this Ātmā is self-realization, expressed as "I am that" or "I am Brahman." Attaining this knowledge liberates one from all dualities and desires. Those who possess this wisdom never proclaim it; humility is the mark of true attainment. The ego, which takes offense, is far from this knowledge. The human body is given to attain this Ātmā Jñāna. The individual soul, or Jīvātmā, is bound by karma and is not immortal. Transformation from Jīva to Śiva requires surrendering negative desires and accepting the Guru's grace, which ends the search and brings true happiness beyond worldly suffering.

"Ātmā is unborn, immortal, and that Ātmā is our reality."

"A siddha will never say, 'I have siddhi.'"

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

A very good morning to everyone. Many blessings on this Śivarātri day. To all dear brothers, sisters, bhaktas, spiritual seekers, aspirants, and practitioners of yoga in daily life, good morning from the Czech Republic, from České republiky. Today is the final day and the last lecture of this retreat. It is especially auspicious as Śivarātri begins. It is a very auspicious day, and all your wishes should come true if you pray from your heart to Lord Śiva. Shiva is known as one of the most gracious, kindest, supreme ones, who, with a little prayer, is pleased and blesses us. We are all Śiva Bhaktas, protected by the supreme consciousness. Śiva is the first, Śiva is the highest, and the entire universe is the embodiment of Śiva. Three days ago, I spoke about three principles: space, light, and energy. If you remember from Friday evening, space, light, and energy are there, but they do not occupy space in that sense. They have room, a place for everyone. These three—space, light, and energy—are the universal body. Space, light, and energy are the radiance of the ātmā. Ātmā is universal. Ātmā is only one, and that only One exists in everyone. Just as one sun gives light to everyone—it doesn’t matter if they are human, animal, bird, other creature, vegetation, stone, or water—for everyone equally, the sun is there. Similarly, that cosmic form, or the cosmic cell, what we call Śiva, is the ātmā. Do not misunderstand Śiva. Incarnations came after, but Shiva is a manifestation, and that manifestation is not only for one individual. We humans need a form to understand. We need something to hold, something to touch in order to believe. We need something to smell. Yes, it is so. And we like to adopt that beauty which, through our jñānendriyas—the senses of knowledge—we can accept and understand. These are the five Jñānendriyas: vision, sound, smell, taste, and touch. In order to receive and understand through our Jñānendriyas, He has to manifest. Otherwise, He is only the universal, the highest one in this universe. That is called Śiva consciousness. Krishna said, 5,000 or 6,000 years ago, that the ātmā cannot be killed by any weapons, cannot be burned or destroyed by any elements, and cannot be killed by death. Ātmā is unborn, immortal, and that Ātmā is our reality. When you know that Ātmā, you become a knower of the self. Then you may say, "So’ham, I am that," and then, "I am. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi, I am the Brahman. I am Ātmā." These are the Mahāvākyas which indicate directly towards that which leads to the ātmā. When one attains Ātmajñāna, then all desires, all wishes, all negative qualities and positive qualities, everything is dissolved or liberated from you. Then everything becomes pleasant. You come to the Brahmajñāna Ātmā: I am Ātmā. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. But it is said that those who have this knowledge will never say, "I have ātmā jñāna." A siddha will never say, "I have siddhi." A rich man will never say, "I am the rich man," but a poor one will say, "Well, I have money." A rich man never counts every day, every dollar or every forint. But a poor man, like we all, counts how many forint we have to pay for electricity, for the car and telephone, and how much we earn per month as salary. We speak from that perspective. We go to the supermarket and buy the best. As soon as you speak that you are a wise one, that you know everything and have your own decisions now, you will lose everything. Therefore, never prophesy, never try to tell someone’s future. Never say that you are the greatest one. Always be humble. It is said that when a tree gives fruit, its branches bend and come down. So, as many fruits of the seed you have, you become more humble, more kind. Never speak bad words to anyone. Even if someone is bad to you, it doesn’t matter. So, never anger, never jealousy, never hate, never greed, never be offended by anything. Who is offended? Your ego. That means you are millions of kilometers far from ātmā jñāna. Therefore, God gave the human body to work through this body to attain that Ātmā Jñāna. That Ātmā is within every creature. It is called: "Kaṅkar me Śaṅkar hai. Kaṅkar Kaṅkar me Śaṅkar." In every particle of sand, Shiva is there. Everywhere is Śiva Śakti, the power of Śiva. Therefore, the individual one, the individual soul, is a mixture: a shadow, a glimpse of the Ātmā, and individual qualities. Both together become one, called Jīvātmā, the soul. In English, you call it soul, and the soul is not the self. The self is the Ātmā. The soul is only Jīvātmā, and Jīvātmā is not immortal. Jīvātmā is bound to destiny through karma. But, O human, to become from Jīva to Śiva, God gave you the human body. To change from Jīva to Śiva, you have to surrender, and you have to kill all your negative hearts and negative desires. No anger, don’t be sad. Who is sad? The one who is sad is in ignorance. The one who is sad has not yet understood Gurū Kṛpā, the Guru's grace. That one is scared and is searching elsewhere. We say now, when I met my Gurudev, all my holy places, all pilgrimages, and everything are in the lotus feet of my master. Lucky am I that I got a center in my master. Where should I go to search again for something? "Abahama, Abahama, Guru Śaraṇa Sukhapa, Sāgaralasama, Sāgaralasama." I found the happiness. Sukha, unfortunately, has no translation in English. You can say happy, comfortable, or good, but still it is not sukha. Dukha and sukha. Trouble is duḥkha, a painful thing is duḥkha, what is pain is duḥkha, and sukha is the opposite. This Jīvātmā experiences, in many, many lives, immense pain. Can you imagine? In a slaughterhouse, one is killing an animal, and it’s time for lunch. A half-cut throat animal is hanging, and a person goes for it. Can you imagine the pain of that creature? I am a believer, but how many lives were we facing? Physical, emotional, mental pain in my ears. Now, finally, we got human life to come out of this suffering. So when I found the center in my master, and my master told me, "Don’t do any more of that negative karma. Do only good things. That will create sukha, happiness." Therefore: "Oṁ Prabhu, dīpa nirañjana, śabda duḥkha bhañjana, sāgara lera samaya sāgara."

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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