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Yoga Workshop, San Francisco

A satsang discourse for the Holī festival, blending storytelling with teachings on yoga.

"Today is the day, the victory of the dharma, righteousness, the victory of the devotees, and the end of those Hiraṇyakaśipus, Rākṣasas, who are full of such negativity."

"Yoga was designed for reunion. Yoga practice consists of exercises for this reunion. We are part of the universal one, but through ignorance we feel separated."

Swami begins the morning session by explaining the spiritual significance of the full moon and Holī. He narrates the ancient story of the devotee Prahlāda and the demon-king Hiraṇyakaśipu, culminating in the Narasiṁha Avatāra, to illustrate the victory of devotion. The discourse then shifts to the purpose and practice of Haṭha Yoga, with detailed explanations and demonstrations of the Ṣaṭ Kriyās (Netī, Dhautī, Naulī, Bastī, Kapālabhātī, Trāṭak) for purification and health.

Good morning to everybody. How are you today? Good. It is nice to be with you this morning. Today is a very special day, very special, and I want to tell you why. When I started from my residence to come here, I was thinking, "What will I talk about?" When I entered this building, I changed what I would speak. Then I came to the door, and you were still meditating, so I sat there. I said, "I know what I will talk about." Then I came here and I said, "Now what will I talk about?" Then I prayed to Mahāprabhujī to bless me. You know that in every spiritual path, every culture, religion, or old tradition, whatever we do, we say, "Let's begin in the name of God." In this modern civilization, many have forgotten these kinds of thoughts, and we don't remember those beautiful things, which are actually a guideline for us. There is some energy, and this energy is cultivated or received with positive thoughts. This energy should be for us a pathway, a guideline, like a torchlight to walk in the darkness. So I chant Aum, the universal sound. I always, when I chant, I visit my great masters and adore them. Then I chanted, "I will say mantra, I am not the doer, you are the doer. O Lord, Mahāprabhujī, you are only the doer. I am an instrument. Please guide my actions, physical, mental, intellectual, and so on." And I opened my eyes and looked at you, and then the subject changed again. So you see how we come to the core point. So today is a special day. Many of you know, many may not know. First, today is the full moon, Pūrṇimā, and the full moon has a very special radiance, a light on our planet. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said, "I enter into the vegetation as a nectar through the moonlight, the full moon." On this day, people make more prayers, meditations, and fastings to receive more of this pure, very gentle light of the moon. But there is another thing which is today, and that we call, and we all Indians celebrate, a festival called Holī. This is a very old event, from some ages past. It is said, evidence will never die, which was written by great sages who have preserved this wisdom. I don't know exactly in which yuga it was. You know, the time is counted by the yugas, and we are at present in the Kali Yuga. So millions of years, trillions of years lasted in yugas, manvantaras, kalpas, and so on. That, perhaps, you will read in this book, written exactly. The great master of Paramahaṃsa, Yoganandajī, Śrī Yukteśwar's calculation, he said Kali-yuga is already ending, already ended. But through the Vedic calculation, Kali-yuga is still lasting. Kali-yuga, iron time, the most terrible time. So, in some yugas—I am telling some yugas because I don't know exactly which yuga it was—always, in humans, there have been two desires: power and existence forever, to become immortal. Not to die. But by cosmic law and by the law of nature, which manifested is only temporary, which is born only temporary, created is only temporary. So, though we are human and we have many talents, many techniques to live healthy and long, still no one succeeded to be immortal with the physical body. But still we don't give up; this is a problem. Still there is hope. There are some people trying day and night, but there is a law of death. And death says, "I follow the protocol of the Dharmarāja." Dharmarāja is the king of the universal law, and everything is written in his book for every creature. And Dharmarāja, his order is followed by Yamarāja. Yama means the god of death, and there is Devarāja, the goddess of justice, the divine god. When we have good karma, and our soul will be merging into the universal light, what we call liberation forever, then come the devas, what you call in your culture the angels, to take you. If we have bad karmas—karmas means actions—and these are done through four things: through body, through mind or intellect, through the words, and through the social position. Also, it means your wealth, power, and so on. If you use your actions through body, through mind or intellect, through your words or your position positively, then the angels will come to receive you. If you act negatively and harm others, misguide, confuse, and do many things, instead of creating a faith, you create a fear, then, be sure, by the protocol of the Dharmarāja, death will come. The Yama will come, Yama Rāja. That's also called king. He's also king. So King Yama will send Yamas, his army, and Yama said, "For death, it doesn't matter how you die." This is very cruel. For death, it doesn't matter how you die: accident, under the water, in the fire, while suffering, suddenly, anything. Death, Yama does not acknowledge your pain. And that's why every creature is afraid to die. And we all know that one day we will die. Perhaps we are not afraid of that, but we are afraid of how we will die. Which day, which time, how, and which place this mortal body will fall down and will not be able to move even a small finger, that day will come. Just now, there was a tsunami, there was an earthquake, many people died. Many suffered under the damaged buildings. Some had an iron rod in the thigh, some had an iron rod through the stomach. You know, who knows? Their pain, only they know. We don't know, and we don't want to know, that somebody will have pain. And we don't want that we will have. This is the fear of suffering. Also, the devas, they will say, "You are not forever here. Now time for you, come, go with us." So sooner or later, it doesn't matter in which part we are, for which side we are, my dear, we have to surrender everything to the Mother Earth. Whatever we have here is not ours; it is given to us. And what is given to us, we have to give it back. And again, this individual has to follow the path of destiny. For that, why do we learn always to be humble, to be kind, to be loving-hearted, helpful, and so that we may have some good vibration, good energy in us. So when we pray something beautiful, then it makes our path clean. So long ago, there was a king. He didn't want to give up his kingdom. He didn't want to die, and he knew he was afraid that God would take him away one day. So he went to the forest and made tapasyā, austerity: standing on one leg, both hands up, sometimes hanging upside down on a tree branch, fasting, praying, praying... a long, long time. God came, Brahmā came, and Brahmā said, "My son, what do you wish? Why do you do this hard practice? Why are you torturing yourself?" He said, "Father, I want to have your blessing." He said, "Yes, for what? To be immortal." He said, "Yes, you are immortal in your ātmā." He said, "No, in body." God said, "Brahmā, I cannot give you that because it is beyond my limitation. I gave the law, and I cannot break it. Even I have my time. One day this Brahmā will also be released from his position, and another Brahmā will be created." He said, "But I want this." "It is not possible. Ask something else. You can ask something different, where you can live long and so on." The king said, "Okay, bless me, fulfill my wish. Number one, no human should be able to kill me. Number two, no animals—it means disease, bacteria, and so on—should be able to kill me. Number three, no weapons on this planet which exist can cause my death. Number four, no natural death should attack me. Fifth, I should not die outside of my house, nor inside the house. Seventh, I should not die in the daytime, nor in the nighttime. These are my eight points. Father Brahmā, if you wish, bless me. Otherwise, I will continue." You may have told it. Brahmā said, "Very good, it shall be," and disappeared. Now he was the happiest person in that minute. Neither animals can kill me, nor humans can kill me; no weapons can be the cause of this, and everything. Now I am immortal. But you know, it can be slow, but it is sure in God's will. Now he himself became against God, that he didn't give me what I want. Therefore, he is not anymore God. The king, his name was Hiraṇyakaśipu. He said, "I am the God." He announced in his kingdom, no one should pray to any gods. In every temple, everywhere should be my photo and my statue. If someone prays to other gods, they will be punished with death, frightened. They will be punished, they will be beaten, they will be thrown into the fire of life. Fear is a fear, and he did not trust his own people. He himself used to go in the night and see if anyone was singing the name of God, bhajans, songs, or prayers. One day he took his horse, and after the sunset he rode his horse and went to a small village. There was a big fire burning. And one elderly lady was sitting there and repeating the name of God loudly. He stopped his horse. "What are you doing here, lady?" She saw what he did, and she began to say his name. He said, "No, no,... No. You are praying to God. For what have you been praying to God? What do you wish? What do you need? I will give you everything, but why? Where was the necessity that you pray to God?" She said, "King, I am by profession an artist who makes pots out of the clay. And then I put the pot together and burn it, so it becomes waterproof." And he said, "Ant?" I said, "Sir, it's not ant. In one of my pots, which I put out drying, my cat had three babies inside, three kittens. I did not know this, and I put all pots together, that one also, and I started the fire. Now they are in the fire. And my cat, you see, is running around, meow, meow. I pray to God to forgive me or protect me, these three small babies of my cat." I said, "Okay, I will stay here till the fire becomes calm and cool, your pot. If babies are alive, I will forgive you. If they are not alive anymore, then I will make the same fire like this and put you in the fire." Now she's praying more deeply to God. When we have problems, we really enter into our heart and we pray and we pray. And she was praying, "God, God, pray." It took about 35 hours until the fire became calm and cool. And he called his people, "Remove one after the other pots." They removed the pots. And when they came to that pot where the cat babies were, two pots were facing each other, and these two pots were untouched by fire, and the babies were jumping from one to the other. The king threw his towel away and went away. This was the first introduction for him, that he is not almighty; God is. Then he had one son. His name was Prahlāda, a devotee of God. From birth onwards, and from when he began to speak, he was only speaking the name of God. And the father was so angry. And the father sent the child to a small kindergarten, a nursery school, and told the teacher that they do all their best so that he forgets the name of God. But what happens? He taught all children to sing God's name. All the small kids come home and sing the names of the gods. Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om, Hari, the God, Viṣṇu. Then he sent him to the other school. The teacher came and said, "Sir, we can't educate your child in that way. He spoiled all the children in the whole village. They are chanting God's name. And we are not guilty. We can't do anything." Father knew now there is something, some divine game in it. So he told his people, "Take the child and throw him in the lake where the many crocodiles are." In the middle of the lake, they threw him. He swam through. He came back. No crocodile attacked him. Third action, throw him where the many wild elephants are. Among them, he came back safely. Then he let him throw from the mountain. And when they threw him from the mountain down, there was a tree hanging. The tree was there, the tree went down, and he hauled the tree branches and he came home again. Jisko rakhe saiyān, mār sake na koī, bāl na bāṅkā kar sake, jo cāhe jag verī hoī. Whom God protects, no one can kill. Even the whole world is your enemy. He had one sister. That sister had some supernatural powers, I don't know what you call them, siddhis. She can sit in the fire, and the fire will not burn her; nothing will happen to her. So the king came to his sister, her name was Holikā. "Say, my dear sister, you are my dear sister. Please do one favor for me, otherwise I will kill you," he threatened her. She said, "Yes, brother, what?" "Take your nephew in your lap and sit in the fire. He will be burned. You have seen the fire can't burn you." So she takes him in her lap, holds him, and they put the fire, a big fire. What happened when the fire was finished? The Prahlāda was sitting and singing, "Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat," and she was completely burned into ashes. Now he knew, this child is my enemy. So today is the day that the devotees, the bhaktas, were protected. And non-believers, negative thinking, and all those who cause trouble to all creatures and others are burned. And that festival is today called Holī. So, in India, they put one tree, one month, in the center of the village, and a small trunk of the tree as a symbol of the Prahlāda. And today, now, they will fire the Holī, and Prahlāda will be in the center of the village. They will carry her somewhere outside and burn her. It's a festival. When I came to Europe, the first time I saw that in every village, they call it a may tree. In the month of May, they put that tree there. That is coming as a holy tradition from that time. Well, now the king is restless. The king is restless. Prahlāda is growing in about 10 to 15 years. The king called him, "My dear son, do a favor for your father. I have done nothing to you. I love you. Don't, don't chant your mantras and these, and this is stupid things. For those people who are mentally not in order, we are intelligent, we are powerful, we have everything. Enjoy life." A small son says, "Father, you are a devil. There is God, and don't think that you are immortal. Your days are counted already." You know, next day, in the yard of his palace, he organizes one iron pipe, a big iron pipe, and he puts inside coal, a lot of coal, and fire. A thick iron pillar, the coal inside was completely red, hot. You can't come near. Maximum, maximum that you could come near is 15 meters or 20 meters, then you can't come more near. So the father said to the son, there are two options for you. Either give up the name of God, don't repeat your mantra anymore, or I will kill you. I will chop your head off. If you believe there is a God, then go and hug that pillar. Then I will say, "Yes, there is a God." Prahlāda said, "Better to die in the fire there than to be killed by you, O sinner. I go." And the father was laughing. That was a good deal. Now I gave him an option and let him die with his own wish. He spread his arms and sang, "O Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat,... Japa Kar." Hari is God. That's Om. Tat and Sat, that is the truth. Only God is the truth. Brahma Satya, Jagat Mithyā. And that small child can imagine going towards the fire. When he comes near, just for some seconds he is thinking, "Oh, I will burn." In that second, he sees some ants crawling on this hot pillar. He said, "When this little creature can't burn, how will I?" He ran to hug the pillar, and the pillar broke in two parts. And he ran to hug. From this fire pillar came one figure out, one form, and he embraced him like that. That was, from the navel, half lion and half human. The lion took him in its arms. Now the king, who was sitting about thirty meters from the fire pillar and holding his chair, knew his end had come. He looked left and right. He got up from the chair to run in the house. That his name was Narasiṁha Avatāra, incarnation. Nara means human and siṁha means the lion, half lion and half human. Caught that king in the middle of the door, push him down. "Say, king, open your eyes. Look, where are you, inside or outside of the house?" He said, "Not in the house, not outside." "Look carefully, is it day or night?" Just was sunsetting. Neither day nor night. "Look to me. Am I an animal or a human?" He said, "You are neither animal nor human. You are in between. Now look at this cloth of mine. Are there any weapons?" He said, "No." "My promise, what I bless you with, is fulfilled. Your end is here," and he killed him there and saved his devotee, Prahlāda. So, from these twenty-four incarnations of God which we count, one of those was Narasiṃha Avatāra. Then the whole kingdom was celebrating. They were happy, they were throwing the colors on everyone and screaming, "Hi, happy, happy new year, happy new year, happy!" So that is today. So today is the day, the victory of the dharma, righteousness, the victory of the devotees, and the end of those Hiraṇyakaśipus, Rākṣasas, who are full of such negativity to destroy our planet. And therefore, this day is a very special day, my dear brothers and sisters. And devotees of God, bless you. In the name of Narasiṁha Avatāra, we pray, and we wish, and we should be like Prahlāda and not like Hiraṇyakaśipu. So this is a small story, a reality, real, which came to mind to tell you today. Tomorrow, perhaps I will tell, in the Indian temple we will also have satsaṅg there. So why should we not chant a little bit? Hari Om Tat Sat, Hari Om Tat Sat,... Hari Hari He Om. Hari is the Om, and that is the truth. Tat Sat. So, next step, yoga. And that's why in every yuga, many great saints came, hermits, dervishes, yogīs. And they gave a beautiful science, or a knowledge, for the well-being of the entire planet. And this wisdom, they gave it into the hands of humans. That human will learn to be together as sisters and brothers. That human will protect the beautiful creation of the Almighty One, where we also belong. Humans are protectors, not distractors. A farmer makes a fence around his farm to protect his crops from wild animals. But if the fence begins to destroy the crops, then for what is the fence there? If your bodyguard kills you, then what kind of bodyguard is that? So God gave us as our mission to be protectors. It means to protect us from that ignorance, negative qualities, and negative thoughts. Understand every nation, every culture, every religion, and every individual's needs and feelings. For that, the human needs a healthy body and a healthy mind. Sometimes people say a healthy body has a healthy mind. This is discrimination toward disabled people. Physically, they are not capable of running; maybe they are paralyzed, but their mind is very healthy. Their intellect is brilliant, very beautiful, positive. Therefore, I would not say a healthy body has a healthy mind only. Mind, intellect, body—these are different things. But still, the holy saints give the spiritual injections. The injections of spirituality to the humans, that they should not become wild, destructive. They should think. Therefore, to keep body, mind, intellect, consciousness, and your soul in oneness, in harmony, concentrated to send your divine thoughts and light to all.

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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