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The Universal Path: Yoga, Self, and Divine Unity

The discourse explores the universal principles of yoga, self-inquiry, and divine unity as a path transcending specific religions. "Who am I? From where did I come, and where am I going?" and "Yoga is the principle that balances the universe and universal consciousness" are central themes. It examines the nature of the Self, distinguishing the eternal consciousness from the temporary body, and presents yoga as the ancient, unifying principle of harmony that leads to God. The talk advocates for mercy, non-violence, and simple living, emphasizing that all spiritual paths ultimately guide one toward the same divine source and the unity of all creation.

Filming location: Žilina, SK

Salutations to the cosmic light, the Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. In His divine presence, good evening, dear brothers and sisters. The mantra I chanted is a very ancient mantra from the holy Vedas. The Vedas are the oldest scriptures in the world existing among humans. Within them is knowledge about this planet, life, the elements, nature, and the entire universe. It was the Vedas that spoke, thousands of years ago, of a universe with thousands upon thousands of solar systems. They describe different planets and everything. What we call astrology and astronomy all emerge from the Vedas. The science of yoga is also described within them. The mantra I chanted was: "O Merciful Lord, bless us with happiness." May there be happiness and good health everywhere. No one should suffer—meaning no creature should suffer—because there is only one Creator, only one God, that God in whom all believe. From time to time, a divine spiritual incarnation takes place, and some humans accept that as a holy incarnation. But God is only one, the universal one, Brahman. In Christianity, you call this the Holy Father. We are all the sons and daughters of that one Holy Father. Therefore, we should pray for the well-being of the entire creation. Then our human life will be successful. Peace, peace, peace everywhere. Peace be on this planet. Peace be in the water. Peace be in the vegetation, peace be in the herbs, peace be in the air, peace be in the space, and may peace be in that divine consciousness. That is the essence of the mantra. Where there is a human, there is a culture, and where there is a culture, there is a human. There are different cultures, and every culture is a good culture because it is created by humans from their experiences and stories. But it is said the best culture is agriculture, and it is now high time to protect it. Culture is divided into three parts. One part is connected with nature. Another is connected with people's happiness, forming society where you can have small talk. And one culture is the spiritual culture. Every spirituality, every religion, has one aim: to become one with God again. We believe, pray, and ask God for forgiveness, no matter the religion. Therefore, we shall respect every culture. We do not know from which culture we came. In your last life, where were you? Perhaps you came from Tibetan culture, or the Inca, Maya, Australian Aboriginal, or some Indian or African culture. There is a fundamental question for the human, as said by the great saint Ādiguru Śaṅkarācārya: Ko’ham? Katham idaṁ jātaṁ? Ko vā karta? Kasyāḥ kāryaṁ vidyate? Who am I? Do you know who you are? You might say, "I am František, I am Anička, I am Maruška." But that is only a name given by your parents for recognition. If someone knocks and you ask, "Who is there?" and they say, "I am František," you open the door. What is this? Is this František? No, this is my shoulder. Whatever you touch from front to back, it will say "my": my body, my blood, my flesh, my knees, my bones, my digestion, my life, my mind, my intellect, my consciousness—my, my, my. But who are you? "I am." But where? It is a wonder that we are sitting in this body and cannot explain who we are. The self is searching for the self. A young lady, holding her child, once asked in the market, "Do you know where my child is?" Someone said, "What do you have in your hand?" "Oh yes, I had forgotten." She was carrying her child but had forgotten. Our Self is hidden within this body, and we are searching for it. Ko’ham? Who am I? Katham idaṁ jātaṁ? From where did I come, and where am I going? Do you know from where you came? Not from Trnava, Bratislava, Martin, or Banská Bystrica, but from a past life. There is a continuity of life, and life means life. Life will never die. What dies is the body. Yet it is also said the body will not die, for it is a composition of the five elements. The elements will merge back into the elements. But your real Self was never born and will never die. To know the real one is the answer to all our questions. Whether we believe or not, whether there is a next life or a past life, belief does not change reality. There was yesterday, and there will be tomorrow. The sun shone today and has now set. We may believe it will not rise again, but the sun will rise. Belief does not change reality. Evidence will never die. Ko’ham? Katham? Idaṁ? Jātaṁ? Where am I going? Do you know where you are going? Every day there is a traffic jam. Every day, airplanes fly. Rockets go to the moon and Mars, and I don't know where they want to go. In Prague, there is a very old house, nearly a thousand years old, with an inscription in German: "We are building here palaces where we are only guests. We are not building anything where we will be forever." So, where are we going? What is there? That is the afterlife. What is the purpose of my coming here? What is my mission in this life? Humans have one mission: to know God and become one with Him, according to your belief, where you feel comfortable. Two things are very personal: loving another person and loving God. To love God, to believe in God, is a matter of the heart, not the intellect. Loving someone is also a matter of the heart. Our heart is the seat of the divine. When you write a postcard for holiday greetings, a birthday, a wedding congratulations, or condolences, you write, "I wish all the best from my heart." It doesn't matter the religion, country, culture, or language. "Many greetings from my heart." "I pray from the deep heart." "Hearted greetings." Did you ever receive a postcard that said, "Many greetings from my brain"? No answer is also a good answer, meaning you did not. When greetings come from the brain, war may come. When they come from the heart, blessings, love, understanding, peace, and harmony arrive. These are the masters of yoga. Yoga is one of the most ancient systems; nothing on this planet is older than yoga. Yoga is not merely exercises. Yoga is the principle that balances the universe and universal consciousness. The entire endless universe, with its thousands of solar systems, all stars and planets, all elements visible or invisible, every movement—space is like the body of a mother, and cosmic consciousness is like an embryo within, called Hiraṇya Garbha, the golden egg or golden embryo. During Easter in Christianity, you have a heavy egg; for us, this symbolizes universal consciousness. Both space and consciousness are balanced by one principle, and that is called yoga. Where there is balance, there is harmony, and that is yoga. Practice brings harmony of body, mind, and soul. Where there is harmony, unity arises. Therefore, yoga is called union. From that divine cosmic consciousness, the first nāda, the first sound, takes place, and everything is created from that sound—numerous planets and stars. Our planet came very late. That principle is yoga. There is a unity to unite or to divide. From the very beginning, there are two forces in competition: Sattva... Unfortunately, as happened in Austria: a young man, leading a company, educated, very social, went to a shop, bought an axe, and you know what happened. He killed his grandfather, mother, wife, and daughter, destroying the whole family. Can you tell me which kind of energy was in his intellect? This is completely against any religion, including Christianity: "Love your neighbor. Thou shalt not kill." We shall become real Christians, not to kill any creature. Therefore, we should be vegetarian—not only because you like it or not, but because we humans have mercy in our hearts. Recently in Slovenia, a bull was brought to a slaughterhouse. It managed to run away. Police searched for it, but one of our yoga disciples adopted it, requested it not be killed, and bought it. You see how mercy and love extend to other creatures. You would never be able to kill your dog or cat because we do not see how animals are tortured, kept, and killed. God does not want this. No one wants this. Yoga says there are two tendencies: Āsurī and Devīk—destructive energy and constructive energy. These are yogic principles. Believe there is a God. Prayer is a positive act; it affirms there is a God. Mantra is repeating the name of God. We do not know how many divine forces are in the universe. Helping hands have more value than folded hands. Help, help, help. For example, the missionary system in Christianity has one aim: to help. In the first place is help. Be good. Practice Ahiṃsā, non-violence. Thou shalt not kill. Lead a simple life. Jesus was always against playing with gold and the golden bull; you should not believe in this wrong god—gold, money. So think positive, be good, love, pray, believe, help. These are the principles of yoga. When yoga was predicted or introduced to humans, none of today's religions existed on this planet—neither Hinduism nor any other. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, yoga is that universal principle, and it applies to every human. The duty of the human is to be a protector. Global warming, climate changes—why do they happen? Mahātmā Gandhījī gave a clear answer: "Mother Earth has enough for your need, but not for your greed." All this pollution is nothing other than humans' mental pollution, as far as I know. Regarding other religions and Christianity: people have told me this sentence comes from Christian teaching: "Simple living and higher thinking." How simple the life of Jesus was. See how simple the life of Mahātmā Gandhījī was. It's not that Gandhījī couldn't have good dress; he was known as the nation's father. But to be an example is very hard. This is a little introduction to yoga. Therefore, yoga does not belong to any religion, though of course the great ṛṣis from Vedic times invented this science of yoga for humans, which Hindus follow very much. But you can practice yoga; it doesn't matter if you believe in God or not, and it doesn't matter which religion. Yoga will always lead you in the right direction, directly to that destination, which is God. Because yoga says to believe. I think somewhere Jesus said, "I am the way to the Father, I am the way to God." That we call in India Guru Vakya. Jesus said this—to whom did Jesus say this?—"I am the way to God," to his disciples. And who was Jesus? The Master. That is the dialogue, the gospel, between Master and disciple, to come to Divine Consciousness. So it doesn't matter if you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or whatever. Everyone would like to be healthy, happy, comfortable, and have harmony and love. After all this, my dear brothers and sisters, we come to one point. Purījī Prakāś, Purījī Prakāś... Be a good person. Believe in your own religion, which you like. If you are Christian, be a good Christian. In reality, there is only one religion: humanity. We are all children of one God. Follow these divine principles as written in the Holy Bible, the Holy Quran, the Holy Torah, the Gītā, the Rāmāyaṇa, or the Vedas. Everything is truth, the beauty of the universe, the glory of God. O man, it is given to you free. Take it, enjoy it, and lead a divine and happy life. That is it.

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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