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Part 1: The Divine Gathering: Kumbh Melā and the Path of Meditation Mahāprabhujī is the one who is the most blissful, the one who is the only one who is Oṁ Śānti, Śānti. In his divine presence, very good evening, dear brothers and sisters. It is a blessing to be here with you this evening. I welcome you all for this time. For nearly half an hour, you were in India through this beautiful, divine gathering of the Kumbh Melā. Perhaps you would like to know more about that. The story is very long. In the beginning of this Satya Yuga—there are four Yugas: Satya Yuga, Tretā Yuga, Dvāpara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. These span millions of years, and one cycle of creation in the universe is some billions of years. The time is counted not according to our planet, but it is called the time of the Brahman, the entire universe. In the beginning, two energies developed, which I spoke of yesterday: Āsurīśakti and Devīśakti—the divine or goddess energy, and the negative or devilish energy. Both of them wished to be the ruler of the entire universe and to rule forever. But there is a cosmic law, a natural law: who came will go; who manifested must disappear. Who is born has to die. This is the eternal law. But they did not want to die. They wished to be forever young and rule the universe, not only this world. To achieve this, they sought to gain the nectar from the ocean. From the ocean came fourteen jewels—'jewels' meaning something very precious. One of those was the nectar. God Vishnu, in the form of Dhanvantari—Dhanvantari is the Lord of Āyurveda—so Āyurveda is that old. When it began in the Satya Yuga, it was the remedy for the gods to remain young, healthy, and have a long, long life. But that was not enough for them; they wished to live forever. So the god Dhanvantari came with one pot of the nectar from the ocean. On one side were the asuras, and on the other side were the devas. As soon as they learned it was nectar, they fought for it. Who would take it away? Whoever drank it would become immortal. It is a long story. It must be said that they were running, the devils and the devas, to take away that pot. On four places of this planet, some nectar fell from that pot, and those became the four holy places: Haridwar, Allahabad or Prayagraj, Nasik, and Ujjain. There is a special constellation according to astrology. When that constellation occurs, the nectar's influence falls on the earth. All these four places are on the bank of a river. Every twelve years, that constellation comes together, and its radiance touches that particular point. People go to bathe in that water. Two rivers flow on the surface, Gaṅgā and Yamunā, and Saraswati flows underground. During that constellation in Prayagraj (Allahabad), the Saraswati comes out of the earth. The three rivers merge together, and that is called the Kumbh Melā. The rest you have seen. The coming event is the Mahākumbh Melā; the real constellation is arriving. That will be in Haridwar, India, in the northern part of India, at the hills of the Himalayas. The main dates are the 12th of February, the 14th of March, and the 15th of April. As you have seen, as a Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar of the Akhāṛā, I have an obligation to have a camp where our bhaktas can come and stay. You can get more information from your friends, from Yoga and Daily Life, or on the webcast, or on the website of Yoga and Daily Life. You are welcome to come to that Kumbh Melā, to that occasion, and have a dip in the water of the Gaṅgā. If not a dip, then some drops of that water. There is a condition: you have to become vegetarian now. You have to purify yourself. I spoke today about vegetarianism. Very simply, it means thou shalt not kill. It does not matter, human or animal. Ahiṃsā paramo dharma. Non-violence is the highest principle. It is mercy in the heart: no one should be killed—humans or animals. The torturing of animals, the killing of animals in such a cruel way—their suffering comes to us as a sin. Who is keeping the animals for killing? Who is buying them? Who is selling them? And who is killing them? More than that, the sin will come to the one who is eating them, for whom it is killed. So, for the sake of my life, no creature should be killed. And you never know which animal had which kind of illness; that goes into your body. Therefore, this is the law, the eternal law. Thank you. This was about the Kumbh Melā. I hope there will be a chapter from Poland. Okay? I look forward to welcoming you there. Can you imagine? You will also be among these people. Anyhow, our subject is meditation: practice and theory. Today, active meditation and passive meditation. Active meditation. Meditation means to be one with. To withdraw thyself from the external world and be one with thyself. Self-realization—that Self, the Ātmā, is the highest one. The soul is individual. The soul has to suffer the karma, but the Ātmā is free from karma. The soul is born in the body. Ātmā is not born. Ātmā is eternal, everlasting, immortal. Clear? That is it. No weapon can kill the Ātmā. Fire cannot burn it. No elements can destroy it. And death cannot take it away. That is the immortal Ātmā, and that Ātmā’s reflection is within you too. But you have to realize this, and that is the aim of human life. Many things happen in our life, good and bad, but the most terrible tragedy that can happen to a human is that they will die without self-realization. At any price, we should attain self-realization. For that, you have to practice. You have to practice love and mercy. You have to realize that holy heart within thyself. In that heart, mercy lives; compassion lives. In that holy heart, the Brahman, the Holy Father, is living. In that heart, the cosmic light is living. And you have that heart; do not think that you do not have it. Oh my God, you are divine, but polluted. There are layers of pollution, karmic pollution, the karma. Through active meditation, you can purify yourself, and you can refuse it, avoid it. It is said, "My life is a ceremony to thee, oh my Lord." You are here, my brothers and sisters, as a divine soul and Ātmā; we are doing this ceremony. Our life is a worship to God. The love radiates from the human heart to all creatures. God has created you as a protector, not a destroyer. Feed other creatures, love them, do not eat them. You are a human. Dead bodies are not for humans to eat. Active meditation. You are driving a car, and someone is crossing the road. You stop. Please. That is your attention, your respect, your love, that you do care for someone. That counts as meditation. Do not drive a car with closed eyes. You see an elderly person who can hardly walk; you give your hand to help them cross the road. That will be counted as the best part of your meditation. Helping hands have more value than just folded hands. Help. You know, in Christianity, many, many social centers are organized. Many nuns, mostly, are occupied in hospitals and with old people, and so on. Because Jesus is known as the incarnation of love and mercy. Mother Maria is nothing but the incarnation of mercy. She loves all. A mother’s heart loves all children, whether humans or animals. At Christmas time, you receive many postcards where they have in hand some goat or sheep, and donkeys, and cows... A life, not death. At Christmas, you receive a postcard with animals. The animals are there, looking at the baby Jesus. And the father of Jesus, Joseph, has some animals in his hands. Maria has a goat or sheep in her hand. But life, not death. That is a symbol of the mother’s heart, the father’s heart, the love. You are walking through the street, and some drunken person throws a beer bottle, and it breaks. Glass lies on the road... you take it away, clean it, so that no one will be injured. If a dog walks, the dog does not get injured. That is an active meditation. You walk through a door, and some person comes... you say, "Please, first you go." That is your respect and love. But if something is dangerous inside, do not tell that man, "Go first." You go first. Do not be selfish. You work. Your work should bring happiness to others. Be creative. Be creative, and when you come home, help your wife or help your husband. The wife comes home and runs to the kitchen. The man comes home, sits on the sofa, turns on the television, and tells his wife, "Hanulka, prosi moi piwo." He does not think that she is very busy in the kitchen. When she brings the beer, he says, "When will we be eating?" She says, "Very soon." She is working hard. As a husband, or brother, or father, you can help her; that is meditation. Help your children, help your neighbor—active meditation. You go for a walk, you follow the flowers, beautiful plants, nature, the birds. Your heart is singing because you see the beauty of God. Your heart is saying, "O God, beautiful. O God, beautiful." O God beautiful, O God beautiful, In the mountains and the desert, In the rivers and the ocean, O God beautiful. In the forest and the meadow, In the flowers and the birds, O God beautiful. See the beauty of God. That is meditation. Nothing is ugly. Nothing is unpleasant. It is His creation. God sent us as a protector, not as a destroyer. You open your eyes in the morning when you wake up. Look at your holy pictures—some God, or your master, or your father, mother, or your beautiful children, or some flowers. Have nice, beautiful pictures in your sleeping room. When you first open your eyes, you should have a beautiful vision: friendly, loving, of whom you love from your heart. The whole day you will have in your consciousness beauty, love, the memory of mother and father, the memory of your husband or wife, or your beautiful children. Do not keep in your sleeping room some pictures from films with guns, aggressive pictures, aggressive tigers. Tigers are beautiful, but they should be peaceful. So the first thing you see when you open your eyes becomes the aura of your life. That awakens the feeling in the heart. When you get up from the bed, say, "Holy Mother Earth, forgive me, and allow me to step on you. Mother, please make sure that my steps will be very solid. Guide my each and every step towards good things." You go to the bathroom, you open the water, and you touch the water. Say thank you. Voda jīva. Water is life. Without water we cannot live. We say, where there is water, there is God. Because there is life, and life is God. Similarly, everything that you do, do with positive thinking. Now you come to the coffee machine. Say, "Thank you, my coffee machine." And you drink the coffee. Say, "Thank you, Mr. Farmer. Make me happy every morning." That is it. Active meditation. Then you come to your yoga practice. So now we will have two beautiful girls—of course, every girl is beautiful. One here and one here. So your practice should be like a meditation. Practicing yoga is like a cosmic dance. You are in the universe. You know, you are touching your body. And we do not know anything about our body. We know only our skin, and we are not happy with our skin. So we take the mirror and make it like this. Beautiful. So, lie down. Ānanda āsana. First, begin with relaxation. Deep inhale, and exhale. They are just lying; you need not get up. Tell them they are just lying, so you can sit peacefully. When they do something, you can get up. Deep inhale once and exhale. And relax. Relax the whole body. Feel the whole body. Feel your body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. Love your body. Love your life. Your body is your holy temple. Your body is your real house. Be nice to your body. Feel very happy under your skin. God, thank you that I am living, I am healthy, and I could remember you through this body. Relax. Lord, my life is a worship to you. Divine Mother Nature, bless me with the cosmic energy so that each and every limb of my body is healthy. My organs are healthy. My glands are healthy. You can close your eyes and follow; you can close your eyes and also listen to it, and also direct yourself to it. Because it becomes passive meditation, with active. Lord, be always present in my heart. I have nothing to offer you but only my heart. You should reside in my heart. Relax. The whole body relaxes. From the toes to the top of the head, from the top of the head to the toes, just relax. May my each and every blood cell be filled with Thy divine energy. My life is surrendered to serve Your holy creation. Time of inhalation. Cosmic energy is flowing in your body. Time of exhalation. You are radiating this energy with your love for the whole world. No tensions at all, either physically or mentally. And the music a little slow. Concentrate on your navel and feel the breath in the stomach. During inhalation, the stomach expands, and during exhalation, it contracts. When you inhale, the stomach is expanding, and when you exhale, it is contracting. Relax. Lord, Lord of my heart, I surrender to Thee my life. Let me be the instrument of Your love and light, that I can serve Thy holy creation. Merciful One, negatywnych społeczności, negatywnych energii i negatywnych myśli. Just relax. Now, deep inhale. You are inhaling the cosmic light into the body. And slowly exhale through the whole body. Feel the limbs of the body, full of energy. And slowly move your toes. Move your fingers. Close your fists. Open the path. Open the palms. Raise your shoulders up and down. Slowly stretch your hands above the head. Close your fists and open the palms. Interlock your fingers. Slightly bend to the left side. Roll to the left side. Who is lying? And slowly to the right side. Do not fall down. And hands down. Rub your palms. Place the hands at the face. Open your eyes. Slowly sit up, the demonstrator. Now, who would like to see more can come and sit in the front. Good option. How are you, everybody? Good. Now, there is one beautiful series of exercises according to the Yoga and Daily Life book. This book is designed in such a way that it is a system, very systematically. It will guide you very systematically. But it is only in English or Slovak language. If someone can translate it into Polish, then you can print it here too. There is one series of exercises on the back cover and also inside. That is called Kaṭhūpraṇām. Kathu is a holy place where our Grandmaster lived. He lived 135 years, and then he left his body. About Mahāprabhujī, you can read one book called Līlā Amṛt. Or in this book also. So Kathu is the place of beautiful hills, a beautiful place. Praṇām is adoration, or salutation. This exercise will improve the immunity in the body. Especially when you come home after work and are very tired, instead of drinking your beer, you do five rounds of this Kāṭha Prāṇa. You will feel immense energy in the body. This will harmonize the central nervous system: sympathetic, parasympathetic, and central nerve. Part 2: The Harmony of Nāḍīs and the Practice of Kaṭuparaṇa It harmonizes these three nāḍīs called Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā. Iḍā controls our emotions and our mind. Piṅgalā controls our activities and body temperature. Suṣumṇā controls our consciousness: unconscious, subconscious, conscious, and superconscious. Through them, these three nāḍīs are responsible for the energy centers, the cakras. What you call Kuṇḍalinī Yoga—you have a book here outside, and you saw the picture before—then you will understand more. There are different cakras. It awakens the energy center through which your willpower will be strong. Your life will be comfortable. You will have a body full of energy. There are 72,000 nerves in the body. Is something falling on my head? We don’t need anything. Leave it, don’t move anything. Thank you. Just sit down. They should see me. So, these 72,000 nerves are the 72,000 channels through which the cosmic energy is channeled into the body. Some channels are blocked. Through the practicing of Prāṇāyāma and this active meditation or creative meditation, the blockages are opened. These 72,000 channels are mastered by one central nerve, Suṣumṇā. And Suṣumṇā has eight cakras, and these eight cakras coordinate and control, or monitor, the entire body: emotions, energies, the mind and intellect, memories, the talent of speaking, words, and so on. These are the eight cakras: Mūlādhāra, Svādhiṣṭhāna, Maṇipūra, Anāhata, Viśuddhi, Ājñā, Bindu, and Sahasrāra Cakra. For each cakra, you have different exercises. This is the cakra book, Hidden Powers in Humans. It is in about ten languages, including Russian. Unfortunately, not Polish. And here, Kaṭuparaṇa is nicely demonstrated again. Now, they are sitting in one posture, that’s called Vajrāsana. Vajra means strong, like iron. Iron man, iron lady, healthy. When you sit in this position, then automatically your trunk is straight. It means your shoulders are automatically relaxed, so shoulder pain and tension are released. Your chest is expanded. Your ribs and the volume are complete. Your diaphragm is relaxed. It means without your effort, you now have the possibility to take more breath, more oxygen, more air. Because this posture keeps your trunk straight, it means the spine is naturally straight. Now the stomach is relaxed. So all disorders of digestion can be cured through this one posture. After your meal, you should sit for five to ten minutes in this position. Ladies who have spasms during menstruation, if you sit in this position, it will release. When the neck is relaxed, the shoulder is relaxed; the neck is relaxed. So neck pain disappears. Feel light in your head. Good breath. Now, between the big toe and second toe, there’s an energy center. In this posture, that is awakening. Energy is circulating. It’s like biofeedback. When you see someone who is running, jogging, after a few kilometers, he or she is searching for a tree, holding a hand on the tree, bending one knee, holding the foot and stretching the muscles, the front part of your calf muscles. You know that? Did you see someone? Who doesn’t know? Hands up. Go to the park in the morning, you will see, because this stretches the front muscles, and it’s fine, and you will feel relaxed. It will be a protection against what they call sciatica, sciatic nerve problem. So this one posture alone has so many good things. You know, the Muslims, when they begin to pray, they sit in this posture because it calms the emotions, creates concentration, and opens the heart cakras. So this is the first posture for Kaṭuparaṇa, the basic posture. So at least sit for one minute, minimum. Then imagine Mahāprabhujī’s picture, or Gurudev’s picture, or something beautiful, or God, or Jesus, or Kṛṣṇa, or whatever you want. Now, I am controlling how these girls are sitting, yes, very nice. You know, they are very good yoga teachers. She is coming from Czeski Cieszyn, and she is coming from Polski Cieszyn, keeping the balance, Iḍā and Piṅgalā. And between the rivers flowing, Suṣumṇā. Is there a river? Thank you. Now, while inhaling, slowly raise the hands up and fold your hands. Stretch your hands up, and now open your palms. They will do it because you are on the chair, and slowly bend forward and relax. Now, once more, come number two up. When you are coming up, your front muscles stretch, and you have more volume of air. And when you fold your palms, the side muscles are stretching, and slightly look up; your back muscles are pushed together, pressed. And then you come to the second position, where they are now. You feel relaxed. The front part of the body muscles are slightly pressed. The stomach is pressed with the thighs. Head is resting, forehead is resting on the floor. The whole fine, most parallel muscles of the spine are stretched. Shoulders relaxed, elbows relaxed. Now, more blood is flowing towards the head. Good for your eyes. Good for your ears, good for memory. You feel very relaxed, and this posture is mostly given in yoga therapy. If someone has depression or schizophrenia, that’s very, very helpful. And now is the time of depression, November. So, practice this. I know you don’t have depression, but maybe someone has, and you can help them. Then three, now the body itself expresses how coordinated movements, dynamic movement... Some muscles are stressed, some muscles are pressed. Contract it, and it’s great, and the stomach is relaxed. That will also remove cramps from the abdominal muscles for many. Many of you know this. Some call it Bhujaṅgāsana, the cobra. Beautiful. All the front muscles are again stretched. Back muscles are pressed together. Tension is removed from the shoulders. Look more towards the ceiling. Five. The heels touching the ground. So all the muscles, leg muscles, the back side of the leg muscles, calf and thigh muscles, hamstrings, are stressed, also the buttock muscles, then the spine. Nicely stretched, and more concentrated, so blood flows more towards the head. 6. Contour pose. One part of the body, different muscles are stretching and contracting. In the other part, the front completely stretches, and the back is contracting. Now, to develop more concentration, balance, and to train your ankle joint muscles, your ankle muscles. Seven. Sometimes, posture speaks for itself. It’s beautiful. Eight. Nine. The ladies do housework every day, cleaning the floor. Men have to do, so when your husband comes home, you give the broom and clean the floor. So you see, your yoga teachers, how flexible they are. I wish I could do like this. There was a time. Ten. Eleven. So you take your time. That becomes meditation. This is a psychosomatic movement. It’s not a sport, not gymnastics. But it is the postures, the movements, the breathing, which should harmonize body, mind, and soul. It awakens the beautiful spiritual energy. It makes you happy all the time. And if you are happy, others will be happy. But sometimes when you are happy, others are jealous. But keep on being happy. What was the number? 11, 11, 12? You are concentrating on the whole body. You are feeling your cakras, the major cakras: Mūlādhāra, Svādhiṣṭhāna, Maṇipūra, and you feel your breath, you feel your whole physical being. You are one with thyself. Thirteen. Concentration, fourteen. That’s why Yoga in Daily Life is declared as a scientific system. It is proved in rehabilitation centers. It is used as a therapy, and in many rehabilitation centers, the therapists are using this technique. And children love this. But with children, we have to do it a little quicker. Otherwise, after three times, they say, "Ah, no more." And people who want to have a little stronger muscles, they should do it quickly. One hundred eight rounds. Then you will see how your body becomes. So everything is there. Everything is there. Fifteen. Sixteen. So when you exercise, then you have to be one with thyself. And background music is only so that you are not disturbed by road noise. And when you practice, you must have your dress till here. Don’t practice with your underwear and little slippers. Because when you practice, your own energy is developing, but it gets lost. That energy should remain; it’s recharging again. Your skin will become very beautiful, soft, gentle. And if you don’t have a dress properly, then you lose it. Nowadays, people want to make exercises so that they would like to see 95% anatomy of the body. But you are not a doctor, so you want to see the anatomy. So this is how yoga and their life have designed the dress. Seventeen, eighteen, this is everyone, like it? Everyone, they love it. When I tell them the next number, they say, "No, please explain more," so they can stay in this position. Sometimes, a mother finds a child in bed sleeping like this, because one feels more relaxed. 19, 20, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 11, 12, 17. Eighteen. I think next time we should have one weekend for practices. Lecture and practice. Would you like? Should I come for a weekend? Would you like to practice? Okay. Thank you. Nineteen. Twenty. There is a website called Swamiji.tv, and you can practice. There will be live and also recorded, the whole book program. And from time to time, my lectures live. So, Swamiji.tv, thank you. Lie down and relax. So, thank you very much, demonstrator. You are already sitting for two hours on this hard chair, more than two hours. I have a soft one, but I can feel that you are tired. If you have any questions, I have five minutes for questions. And people who are in a hurry to go, go. Yes. Q&A Question: Yesterday, I heard that people need a guru. First, guru is parent, then teachers. Answer: Yes, parents, teachers, friends, religious, and then spiritual guru, Buddha. Before the last is the master, Gurudev. And the last, we are ourselves. Question: I came here so that Swāmījī would be my guru. I now decided, and I believe, that karma brought me here. Answer: Okay, and I believe that karma is something which is unchangeable. Question: I am deciding that I am the last guru. Answer: Yes, when? Yes. And this way I finish karma. Question: Yes, quickly. Excuse me? Quickly. To the question. I receive karma as a fear. Okay, so I resign from karma. What is the question? So, I resign from karma because I receive it as a fear. So, he asks Swāmījī to say yes. Answer: I didn’t understand the last three words: "you realize you resign karma," but I didn’t understand. Last three sentences, I didn’t understand. Question: Can Swāmījī, is Swāmījī a person, is Gurudev a person who can tell that he just began a new life? Answer: Yes. Question: How many minutes daily should we meditate? Answer: Depends on your time. Minimum 45 minutes. Maximum, you should ask your husband. Well, maximum two and a half hours, because you must work. You have an obligation towards your society, your family and so on. Question: And what time of the day? Which part of the day? Answer: The best time is early morning before activity begins. Otherwise, every time is a good time when you find time. In any case, every time is good whenever you find the time. Question: If our help in dealing with others is an active meditation, if helping others is an active meditation, so is it included in these forty-five minutes? Answer: That active meditation is a whole day. Question: So what if this active meditation, which takes us the whole day, doesn’t leave us the time to make different types of meditation? So if I help all day other people, should I say to others, "Please stop dying, and I must meditate in the other way?" Answer: I told before, helping hands have more value than folded hands. Helping is even more than prayer. So when you are helping, that is already your meditation. You need not sit extra and tell others to wait. Question: How to find the answer to the question: What is the reason my soul came into this body? How to find the answer to the question: what is the reason that my soul came into this body? Answer: Yes, did you come here yesterday also? You were here yesterday? Only half, only half. I told everything in the beginning half, but I will repeat again. Meditate and ask within, or read some good books which are not one-sided. I mean, this book should not say only this. No. There are many other books more beautiful and good than this. So no book said only this path is the best, and the other is not good. There is a fanatic, there is discrimination, so you have freedom. You find answers in books, or go to the master, or come to me. Or go to your grandfather or grandmother. Elderly people have more life experiences. They can tell us what mistakes we should not make, because they know they made the mistakes, so they have experience. It depends on what kind of answer you want. If you want an answer about computers, then don’t come to me. You came to this body to serve the Holy Creation and get self-realization out of this circle of birth and death. Well, time is gone. Do you have any questions? No? Thank you for coming. If you didn’t like something, leave it here. And what you like, take it with you. And thank you to the organizers for inviting me, and I hope to see you somewhere on this planet, as divine will shall lead us. Thank you, and God bless you. And please remain seated half a minute more until the organizers do the formalities. Thank you. Organizer's Closing Remarks (Translated from Polish): Also on behalf of the organizers and all of us here, we wanted to say that he fulfilled the wish of many of us to visit us here and give us such knowledge, such wisdom. I would also like to thank everyone who helped us organize this meeting. It was really a lot of people who contributed to the fact that it was so beautifully organized. These are people who also have another master, who follow different paths. I am even more grateful for all the support and help from those people who joined together to organize all this. Of course, I would also like to thank the people from abroad who came here, the students of Swāmījī, who came here to help us organize this meeting. Without them, we would also not be able to do all this here. Of course, to the owners of this place for supporting us all the time, and everything that had to be done was always done as it had to be done. So I hope that I have not missed anyone, and I hope that in the future there will be such a meeting again, and that we will be able to have this grace and gift to be with Swāmījī again. So thank you all for coming, for being here with us, for supporting us, and for the translator who also gave us this knowledge. Thank you very much. On behalf of the organizers, I hope that Swāmījī will come to Poland for a longer time next year, not only for such a one-day program or a two-day public program. They were asking about darśan. Darśan means to see, and you saw me already. But they would like that someone would personally come and greet and go. Swāmījī's Final Response: So, I appreciate it. I appreciate it, and bless you. So, I will be sitting only nine minutes more, and you can come and go quickly if you want. Otherwise, blessing for everyone, Hari Om. Good night and God bless you. I wish you all the best. Good health and long life. Love and harmony in your family. Thank you.