The 6th Sri Swami Maheshwarananda Festival from Maribor
Welcome to the 2nd day of 6th Sri Swami Maheshwarananda Festival of Spiritual Music, which this time will take place in the Sri Swami Madhavananda Ashram, Ruška cesta 104 in Maribor, Slovenia.
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Practicing Asanas 2
A gentle yoga practice integrates postures, breath, and focused awareness to calm the mind and strengthen the body. Begin by relaxing in a comfortable position, observing the natural breath. Practice postures like Pavanamuktāsana and Vyāghrāsana with smooth, controlled movements and coordinated breathing. Maintain awareness of alignment, such as keeping the pelvis level. Vīrāsana is highlighted for its benefits to the feet and mental state, despite potential discomfort from inflexibility. The practice emphasizes eliminating unnecessary movements to settle mental restlessness. Postures like Skandharāsana and Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā are detailed for their physical and energetic effects, including strengthening muscles and balancing prāṇa. Always breathe consciously and maintain control, concluding with relaxation and observation of the body and mind.
"When we have many vṛttis... you are restless inside. That is why we practice āsanas: to ensure we do not have extra movements. By eliminating extra movements, we calm our mind."
"Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā is excellent for your circulation... It influences your Bindu cakra. You will regenerate energy very quickly."
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
Only God can make You rich
A story illustrates the destructive nature of jealousy. While walking, I thought of you. A master once instructed me to recount a tale from 1966. It concerns a jealous man fixated on his prosperous neighbor. He performed austerities, and a divine voice offered a boon: a magical object granting any wish. However, a condition was attached: whatever he received, his neighbor would receive double. Consumed by envy, the man rejected the object, choosing instead to labor in poverty for fifteen years to avoid benefiting his rival. His desperate family later used the object, receiving food and riches, which the neighbor also received doubled. Upon returning, the man's jealousy erupted. He used the object to curse himself with mutilation, knowing his neighbor would suffer doubly, and finally destroyed the object, becoming a beggar. This shows how jealousy ruins oneself and others. Spiritual practice is meaningless without cultivating goodness, mercy, and kindness.
"God said, 'If you ask this kuṇḍ for one million dollars, he will give you immediately. But at the same time, your neighbor will get two million.'"
"He used the object to curse himself... and finally destroyed the object, becoming a beggar."
Filming location: Vép, Hungary
DVD 251
Candle meditation - Tratak
Trāṭak is a Haṭha Yoga practice of one-pointed concentration, best performed on a candle flame. It aids sleep, reduces stress, and improves concentration for those above ten years. Practice in a meditation posture, using a Guru Mantra if available. Close the eyes, relax the body and breath, and withdraw from external awareness. Open the eyes to gaze steadily at the flame's brightest middle point without blinking. After gazing, close the eyes and concentrate on the inner light perceived at the center of the brows, repeating the mantra. The flame's three sections—dark bottom, bright middle, and gray top—symbolize the guṇas: Rajas, Sattva, and Tamas. The practice concludes by internalizing the flame, chanting "Tamaso Mā Jyotir Gamaya," and extinguishing the candle.
"Gaze on the middle point of the flame, or the tip of the middle flame, and you will not close your eyes without my instructions."
"Become one with the flame, a beautiful tiny flame, and say mentally, 'Tamaso Mā Jyotir Gamaya.'"
Be careful with diet
Modern health suffers from a lost connection to natural food and cooking. Most physical and mental unwellness stems from poor diet and heart. Commercial foods like bread contain unknown, harmful ingredients such as feather powder and hair. Humanity's great mistake is forgetting how to cook and use nature's bounty, like medicinal trees. People discard beneficial plants, such as the babul tree, which can cure many ailments. They chase artificial, advertised foods devoid of life force, or prāṇa. True nourishment requires learning to properly prepare vegetables with correct spices. Return to home cooking, abandon junk food, and use natural ingredients to ensure health.
"Eighty-six percent are not healthy because the heart and the diet are not good."
"Eighty percent of diseases in women can be cured through only this babul."
Filming location: Vép, Hungary
