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In Advaita Vedānta, 'Vedānta' means 'Veda' (the Vedas) and 'anta' (the end). You may say it is the essence of the Vedas. From the Vedas comes the essence, which is the Upaniṣads, and from that essence comes Vedānta. The Bhagavad Gītā, for instance, is the essence of the Upaniṣads. It was taken from the Vedas and Upaniṣads and made into the book called the Bhagavad Gītā. It was not exactly the instruction given on the battlefield as described in the Bhagavad Gītā. Holy Gurujī used to say: only one who knows Kṛṣṇa knows what the Bhagavad Gītā is. Only the mother knows who the father is. Yes, that is the truth. This path is called Ātmā Cintan. Ātmā Cintan means: I am the Ātmā. I am not the body, I am not the senses, I am not the mind, I am not the memory, I am not this—I am Ātmā. This is the first level of your meditation and spiritual development. This means you detach from everything. So, vṛtti is citta vṛtti nirodha; here your citta vṛtti nirodha begins. The second stage is Ātmanubhūti. After this level, when you finish your Ātmā Cintan, then comes Ātmanubhūti. Anubhūti means experiences—the glimpse of the Ātmā you receive. At that time, you are completely detached from the vṛttis and the body. When Jesus was crucified, he went through this yoga technique to practice Ātmā Cintan—that "I am not the body." Of course, you can see and feel the body suffering. The body is living; there is prāṇa, there is a function of the brain, a function of the heart, everything. But when you are detached from this, then you see as a witness, but you do not feel. Modern technology in allopathic medicine has proven this. They give you an injection of anesthesia for an operation on your hand. With local anesthesia, you see them cut, the needle goes in, they take something out, put it back, and stitch it. There is everything—bleeding, a big deep wound—but you do not feel because that connection is now disconnected. The medicine has disconnected that consciousness, that feeling, the prāṇa, from there. The prāṇa is put into the level of "I am Ātmā." Now, there are some who developed that Vedānta, saying, "I am Ātmā, I don't need this, I don't need that." It is at the highest level of his consciousness that Śaṅkarācārya sang one bhajan: Cidānandarūpa, Śivo'ham, Śivo'ham. No mother, no father, no master, no disciple, no death, no birth (janma), no eating, no food, and no one who is eating. And also, there is no one who is suffering. This song is based on the Ātmā, not on this body. Ātmā is unborn and therefore Ātmā has no mother, no father. Ātmā is never involved in karma; if it were, then you are Jīvātmā. Jīvātmā is the soul, and the soul is individual. It doesn't matter how many humans—that means souls. Every child is born with one soul; every animal, every small creature, even bacteria, has a soul inside—both Ātmā and soul. So, the soul is individual; the soul is not the Self. The soul is a creation of Ātmā and Ātmā—a miśraṇ, a mixer, a reflection of the Ātmā, like you looking at your face in a mirror. So, it is a reflection of the soul, Ātmā, but it is an Ātmā, unreality from the karmas. There are many souls which are coming and going. When we will be free from both karmas, good and bad—when there will be no bad karmas at all, no sins at all, only good karma—then this good karma will dissolve and you become Brahman again, one day. So, Ātmā—jise śāstra kāṭen agni jalāve, bujhāven pānī namṛtyu mitāve. No weapon can kill it, no fire can burn it, water cannot wet it, air cannot dry it, and death cannot take it away. Nityaṁ śuddhaṁ nirākāraṁ, nitya bodhaya cidānandaya. Nityaṁ—everlasting. Bodhaya—the knowledge. Thus, Ātmā-anubhūti comes through Citta-vṛtti-nirodha; you come to the Cintanā. The Cintanā comes from the Citta, and Vṛtti is Cintanā, meaning "I am the Ātmā." Endure your pain; endure the unpleasantness of the body's situation. I know that the body is suffering, the body is very weak, everything—but I am the Ātmā. So, Cintan and Cintā. Cintā means sorrows. When you have a very great, big sorrow, then you forget everything—all your sorrows. This is also sorrow; that is called Cintā. But we do not want Cintā; we want Cintan. Cintā is that one problem—sorrow. You lost something, and there are many sorrows. Who has no sorrows? Is there someone who has no sorrows? Congratulations to you; we are very rich with sorrows. And Cintan is that: even the sorrow, "I am not the sorrow, I am not this, I am not this, but I am the Ātmā." This is a concentration trial; you are doing a trial. And of course, try, try, ... and try—you will be successful again and again and ... again. And out of that Cintan, you get Ātmā Anubhūti. Anubhūti is experiences. Then the first success comes. Then the second time, it is also there; the third time you may fall down. Again you try, and you are getting it. Now, you are becoming a master. Finally, the third level comes: Ātmā-Bodha. Bodha means knowledge. Anubhūti is experiences, the glimpse. And Bodha is now you have the knowledge: "I am the Ātmā." Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Seminar