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Awakening Human Consciousness: A Path to Peace

A spiritual discourse on awakening human consciousness and defining one's dharma.

"Think every few hours and become aware that you are a human... Ask yourself: 'I am human. Can I do this?'"

"Human qualities make the human. And what are the human qualities? They are kindness, forgiveness, understanding, compassion in the heart for every creature, love for everyone, prayer, and seeking good things."

A spiritual teacher addresses an audience, outlining a path to spiritual awakening through self-inquiry. He poses key questions: What does it mean to be human? What are human qualities? What is one's dharma? He argues that humans are meant to be protectors, not destroyers, and connects this duty to environmental stewardship and the ultimate goal of self-realization, citing the Bhagavad Gītā.

Ahiṃsā paramo dharma—non-violence is the supreme duty. Humans were created on this planet as protectors, not as destroyers. Yet, humans have lost human consciousness. Therefore, this world tour is aimed at the awakening of spiritual consciousness for the sake of world peace. There are certain questions you must ask yourself to become self-aware. I will pose these questions. Only you should know the answer, and indeed, you do know the answer. This means you simply have to become aware of what I will tell you. When you become aware of this, your spiritual consciousness will awaken immediately. Spirituality means purity: pure consciousness, one without any spot. It is crystal clear, transparent, clear consciousness. This is the first point. Think every few hours and become aware that you are a human. We know we are human, but how often do we think that we are human? Whatever you are doing, ask yourself: "Can a human do this?" You take a beautiful creature out of the water—a fish—and put it outside. The fish suffers. She opens her mouth to say something to you, but you have no ears to hear her request, prayer, and screaming. Ask yourself: "I am human. Can I do this?" This is only one example. There are many, many things which humans should not do. So, the first step is to become aware that you are human. Second, what makes me human? Not this body only. Two legs and two hands? Monkeys have them also, and other animals too. The possums you see walking—they also have two legs. Kangaroos, when you go to a deer park to feed them, will hold your hand with one hand while eating with the other so you cannot go away. What makes the human? The human qualities. Human qualities make the human. And what are the human qualities? They are kindness, forgiveness, understanding, compassion in the heart for every creature, love for everyone, prayer, and seeking good things. Help. Helping hands have more value than just folded hands. The quality, the human quality, makes the human. Other qualities are allotted to the animal kingdom. Unfortunately, we think animals are bad; they are not bad. This is in their nature, and nature has to maintain nature. But human consciousness is above this—to maintain, but in a proper way. Jealousy, anger, hate, greediness, cruelties, revenge—these are animal qualities. So, boys, when you are jealous, look in the mirror and say, "I am human." It is a good treatment. I didn't say this to ladies, okay, to always be one step sure. Now, the next questions or occupation for yourself: What does it mean for me to be human? Are you loyal to your human qualities and human life? This gentleman is a consul general of Croatia, and he is very loyal to his country. He is loyal to his culture, to his country people, to his government, to his president, and to his family. And then he is the best friend of Australia—it's true. If anybody says something bad about Croatia, he will stand up and say, "Sorry, excuse me sir, that's not right." Correct? Therefore, what does it mean to be human for me? Am I loyal to my dignity as a human? To the human dignities? Another step then comes: How to protect and cultivate my human qualities? When these questions or these things become clear to you, then finally: What is my dharma? Dharma means duty. Dharma means obligation. What is my dharma? The dharma, or principles. The dharma of my eyes is to see. The dharma of my ears is to hear. Dharma rakṣita rakṣitaha—if you protect the dharma, dharma will protect you. And if you can't protect your dharma, dharma cannot protect you. If you can't protect your eyes, your eyes can't protect you. Dharma of a father, dharma of a husband, dharma of a mother or wife, dharma of sister or brother, dharma of your colleagues. What duty, what obligation do you have towards nature also? A human's dharma is to protect, not to destroy, because we are protectors, we are not destroyers. If we were aware of this—what I am telling: that I am human, what makes me human, what it means to be human, how to cultivate human qualities, and what's my dharma in this world—we would not have disturbed our environment. Unfortunately, still there are millions and millions of people who don't care. They don't care about global warming and many, many other problems which appear in the world. Still they say, "Oh, these are crazy people who are talking about global and this and that. Eat and drink and drive the car, be happy, that's all." They have no other aim. That is the problem which is day by day becoming critical. And therefore, it is said the biggest threat to the world is not terrorism but climate change. This is the biggest threat to the whole world, the whole planet, not only to humans. So, human dharma, in the first place, is to protect. And finally, our dharma, our life mission, is to get self-realization, ātma-jñāna. Now, the self and the soul—these are two. The soul is not the self; jīvātmā is not the self; the ātmā is the self. The soul is individual, and this is individual according to the individual qualities. But the divine self, which is also inside within us, that is universal, and that is the only one quality, the universal. And that is said in a beautiful mantra. Is everything clear? The nature of thy self, ātmā, is brahmānandam, the supreme bliss. The Brahman, only God, the only one God, the universal one, that is called supreme bliss. Brahmānandam param sukhadam. And that one gives everlasting happiness, kevalaṁ jñānamūrti. And the form of the supreme is only knowledge, nothing else. If you want to know how God looks like, God is knowledge, God is light, God is resonance. Knowledge you cannot measure with kilograms, and God's knowledge you cannot measure with kilometers or centimeters. "How many kilos did you learn in school today?" You didn't go to school, that's very good, so you didn't learn any kilos today, that's good. So similarly, brahmānandam param sukhadam, kevalaṁ jñānamūrti—only the knowledge, not the form. Eko brahma dvitīya nāsti—only one, that is the supreme. Where is the truth? The dualism, this body, that is changeable. Ekam nityam vimalam achalam—only the one, ekam; nityam, everlasting; vimalam, spotless; achalam, without any movement, non-changeable—the truth. Vimalam achalam sarvādhiṣakṣibhūtam—knower of everyone and residing in everyone. In the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, Puruṣottama Yoga, God Kṛṣṇa is saying to Arjuna: "Mame vāso jīva loke, jīva bhūta sanātana." "Hey Arjuna, I live in every creature. Mame vāso jīva loke—in this world, the living planet. Jīva bhūta sanātana—all creatures are my relatives, myself, my essence. I am in all and all in me, one in all, all in one." I am above all these emotions. Above these three guṇas, to that divine master, I bow down again and again. So nirguṇa and saguṇa—these are the two forms of God. And bhakti yoga leads us to that path. So finally, the mission of human life is to get self-realization. It doesn't matter how and where—that I am not telling you. Because everyone has their belief, everyone has their masters, everyone has their exercises, everyone has their mantras. So I am not telling you that only if you come to me, then you will get self-realization. Oh my God, that would not be good business; that is not fair business. Therefore, I am just happy that God gave me this opportunity, that I can tell something about the divine love, the devotion, the bhakti.

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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