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The Union of Consciousness: Yoga, Chakras, and the Human Journey

Yoga is the union of individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness, achieved through balance. The universe is an endless, conscious body. Within it, the divine will manifested as the sound Aum, from which the elements emerged. The human form is special due to its educable intellect. The physical body is sustained by 72,000 energy channels, or nāḍīs, which distribute cosmic energy. Three principal nāḍīs—Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā—govern our being and intersect at energy centers called chakras. The dormant spiritual power, Kuṇḍalinī, awakens as super-consciousness, uniting these energies. Our current consciousness is often mired in lower chakras, leading to animalistic behaviors and negative emotions like jealousy. The mind cannot be controlled, only guided, as it moves between the conscious and subconscious. Physical death is a recycling of elements, analogous to the soul's reincarnation.

"Yoga means balance. Where there is balance, there is harmony. Where there is harmony, there is unity."

"The mind cannot be controlled. If you control the mind, then psychic problems will appear. You cannot control the river, you cannot block it, you can guide the river."

Filming location: Sunshine Coast, Australia

Yoga means balance. Where there is balance, there is harmony. Where there is harmony, there is unity. Therefore, yoga means, literally, the union—the union of the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness. Baccha Baccha Rām Hai, Baccha Baccha Rām. Yeh śarīra mandira sa pāvana, hara mānav upkārī hai. Jahāṁ siṁha bana gahe, khilona gāī jahāṁ pyārī hai. Jahāṁ savera śaṅkha bajātā, loharī gātī Śyām hai. Hara bāla pratimā. Bachcha bachcha Rām hai, bachcha bachcha Rām. Jiske sainik samar bhūmi meṁ gāyā kartī Gītā hai, jahāṁ khet meṁ halkī nīce jīvan kā ādarś jahāṁ par parameśvar kā dhām hai. Har balād pratimā, bachcha bachcha Rām hai. Baccha Baccha Ram, Jahaan Karm Se Bhaaj Badalte, Shram Nishta Kalyani Hai, Tyag Hor Ki Gaathai, Gaati Kavi Ki Vaani Hai, Gyaan Jahaan Ka Ganga Jalsa, Nirmal Hai Abhiram Hai. It is a very great and divine constellation this evening. It is a divine blessing of the Almighty that we can be together to know something about the hidden treasure within our body and in our consciousness. The subject is yoga, and in yoga there is Kuṇḍalinī and chakras. This time, the subject is the hidden power in humans. Let’s see which kind of power, talents, or abilities are hidden, about which we do not know still, or we know but we don’t know how to master them. So relax and enjoy. I wish you a divine consciousness to receive the wisdom which is spoken through me by the Supreme. We are not the doer. He is the doer, Mahāprabhujī. Mahāprabhujī Deep, the Lord is only the doer. We are only the instrument. When his divine grace, divine will appreciates us, then he makes a man a channel for his divine love or for his divine wisdom. On the day when we will think that I speak, I give lecture, then everything will be confused and the person will be failed. So, beginning of every lecture or speech, we have to dive within and see on the inner altar that your personal God, doesn’t matter whom you believe, in which form—he has no form and he has a form. Then he blessed you with that divine knowledge, which you can distribute as a prasāda, we call it, as a blessing of the divine. Yesterday we spoke about the universe, the universal consciousness, the will, the divine will, the creation, how the elements were created, the different planets, and thousands of the sun systems. And this planet, where the Creator has created 8.4 million different creatures. Among them, one is the human. And humans are only special because of the human intellect. The human intellect is the most powerful tool which this creature, as a human, has got. Then we spoke about the human body, literally about nerve systems and how the chakras are formed, and that we will now continue further, coming to the chakra Mūlādhāra. Literally, I will repeat, it was that it is an endless universe, empty, and we don’t know where the end is and where the beginning is. That’s called Ānanda. Ānanda Brahmāṇḍa, endless universe, and Sahasrāra Sūrya, thousands of sun systems. In that Ānanda Brahmāṇḍ, there is also what is called the cosmic consciousness. The universe is like a mother’s body, and consciousness is like the embryo or the child which is residing in the body of the mother. Between the space and the consciousness, the perfect balance, maintaining perfect balance, that balance or that power is called yoga. Yoga means balance. And where there is a balance, there is harmony. And where there is harmony, there is unity. And therefore, yoga means, literally, the union. The union of the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness. In that endless universe where the cosmic consciousness is spread throughout, within that is another tendency that is called Eko’haṁ Bahusyāmī, "I am one and I will multiply myself." That is called divine will. And with that, the first movement which began in the universe was the sound, that is called Auṁ, which I was singing in the beginning. And that Aum, the resonance which awoke in the cosmic body, and the cosmic body is so far, as far as the universe is big, we don’t know how far. Now, yoga is as old as the universe. Physical exercises, breath techniques, relaxations, and meditations are not yoga, but these are the exercises in order to create the balance between body, mind, emotion, intellect, and our memory. That creates the balance because yoga is a balancing principle. When the balance is achieved, then harmony appears or is created in the body, and you feel happy under your skin. You feel happy with your body. Your body is very light and joyful. Your body is healthy. The first wealth is good health. Health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health. Therefore, exercises, breath technique, and meditation are for achieving good health: physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. From that cosmic sound or resonance, the elements were created. First, the fire element, then the air element, then the water, and the fourth one is the earth element. The space was, is, and will be. So these are the five elements, and out of these five elements, on this planet, the creator has created 8.4 million different creatures. These different creatures are divided into three categories: jaltar, thaltar, naptar. The creatures which live in the water, the creatures which live on the earth, and the creatures which live in the space. All together is 8.4 million, and out of them, 8.4 million, one is the human. And now we come to this human body. So the human body is because of the human intellect. The human intellect can be educated, trained, endless. Also, the human intellect can be manipulated in different directions. Education for humans is very important, but free education. If there is one-sidedness, one becomes what we call fanatic. If one is educated in different professions, then due to or according to the education, one is a doctor, one is a driver, one is an engineer, one is a builder, one is a swimmer, one is a sportsman, and so on and so on. That is education: how the intellect is educated, and according to the education, the human consciousness, the human mind, the human emotion adopts the way of life. This has been spoken yesterday, so you have not missed. Then we came to the body. In this body, there are numerous energy centers, or chakras. So we came to one subject, and that is called the nerve system. Now you have this picture here, and in the human body, yogīs say there are 72,000 different nerves. Now, with the nerves, it’s a little bit of a problem to translate. We call nāḍī, and in English you say nerves. But the nāḍīs are not the nerves. Nāḍī is different. Because there is no translation of the nāḍīs in the English language or in some other languages, therefore, we simply call them nerves. But these nāḍīs are the energy channels which are transferred or transmitted throughout the whole body. And these are 72,000 channels through which our body is receiving cosmic energy constantly. The cosmic mother is nourishing her child, what we call the light of life. That light of life is that cosmic energy which is constantly moving through the body. And the day when the soul will depart from the body, all these channeling systems will stop. Then what will happen? The elements will unite into the element. Water in the water, fire in the fire, air in the air, and earth in the earth. All these five elements will merge into their origin. And so when this body, the physical body, what we call it, dies, it doesn’t die, because the elements again unite with the other elements. And it becomes what we call the cycling, recycling process. Recycling again, this body will be born in different ways. The body which you put into the earth, in a grave, after some time will become good fertilizer. And then you plant there some fruits or tomatoes. And it will be very nice, big tomatoes. And then, some creatures you will eat. That will again transfer into the different forms. So this is the recycling system, the recycling of the elements. Similarly, there is a cosmic recycling system, and that’s called the reincarnation system. Do you believe in the recycling process? No. Yes. If you believe in the recycling process, then where is the problem in believing in reincarnation? That’s it. So, the nāḍīs, 72,000 nāḍīs in our body, out of 72,000 nāḍīs, some of them are designed in this picture. It is written in Sanskrit, and I think it is not readable. You can read it if you can, you are welcome. From the 72,000 nerves, some of them, which are very important nāḍīs in our body, are designed on this picture. Now, from this, those three are very important. They are governing our entire being: our physical being, mental, emotional, and intellectual. Everything is guided by these three nāḍīs: sympathetic, parasympathetic, and the central nervous system. Both begin from here, or three, all begin from here, the small of the brain, whose reflection is at the center of the eyebrows. Viṣṇudī represents the emotion, controls the emotion, and it is the moon. The Moon means the emotion. The Moon never rises equally. Every day is different. Similarly, our mind is different every day. Our thoughts are different every day. The sun is our activities, our creativities. And the central nerve is called the consciousness. In yoga language, Sanskrit, we call them Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā. Iḍā begins from the left side, and Piṅgalā begins from the right side, and that is the center nerve. Now, these nerves are traveling wherever the main nerves have their stations, junctions. There are chakras like the wrist, elbows, shoulders, neck, ankle joints, knees, and hip joints, and so on. Throughout the whole body, there are many, many chakras, many, many chakras in the body. Now we come to the other part. Please, can I have the body with the chakras? Very good. So we spoke yesterday about all this. This Nāḍī begins from here, and the left immediately turns, comes to the right, and the right one travels and comes to the left. Where the chakras are, where the Nāḍīs are crossing each other, that becomes a junction, and this Junction is a very powerful station, and there is a chakra, there is a center, the energy center. Out of many, many centers, these eight centers are most important: Mūlādhāra, Svādhiṣṭhāna, Maṇipūra, Anāhata, Viśuddhi, Ājñā, Bindu, and Sahasrāra. These are the eight chakras in our body. Now, in some languages, they call Kuṇḍalinī a serpent power, the snake. And when it awakens the energy, some feel like a snake is going through the body. No, I don’t want to awake such energy that I sit here in meditation and suddenly some cobras are moving. So it is not like that. It is only symbolical, symbolical because the attitude of the nerves is moving like a serpentine, and that is why it is called Kuṇḍalinī as a snake power which is awakening. When the Kuṇḍalinī awakes, it means that when the super-consciousness is achieved, then all these three nāḍīs unite and coordinate the energy through the central nerve, that’s called the Suṣumnā. The white one is a consciousness that unites from here, from... The navel center, where we will come after, and this is going up, and here is this energy they call Śakti, and here is the consciousness they call Śiva. Śiva, the word Śiva. Śiva means consciousness. Śiva means liberation. Shiva means bliss. Shiva means beauty. And Shiva means the truth. Satyam, Śivam, Sundaram. Satyam, the ultimate truth. Shivam, that is Śiva, the bliss or liberation, and Sundaram, the beauty. So Shiva means consciousness, Shiva means liberation, Shiva means bliss, Shiva means the truth, Shiva means the beauty, and so this is the pure consciousness here which we have to achieve, and the Śakti, this is the Prakṛti, the energy. Our consciousness at the present is residing more or less here. Though the seat of the consciousness could be here, this is the seat of the intellect. But most of the time our energy is dormant here, and we are pendling up and down, up and down. These are the lower chakras. In our body, chakras also have different levels. From the toes to the heels, this is what we call the earth chakra. If you want to see, come to this side. Okay, so you don’t have to turn, come here. Okay, good, very good. Otherwise, always your neck will be... From the ankle joints till the knee is the vegetation chakras, and from the knees till the hip joints belongs to the animal kingdom, and from... The hip joint, where the end of the spinal column is, where Mūlādhāra cakra is, from here till here, the cakras which belong to the human consciousness but still have the touch of the animal qualities. When this lower chakra becomes active, then a human behaves like an animal. And many times, many habits of the humans, it’s like an animal. No, they do not use the logic. Always, humans should use what God has given between two ears. But if we use only the brain, then it becomes a negative intellect, a dry intellect. A dry intellect is like a beautiful apple, but it’s made of plastic. Therefore, we shall coordinate this chakra and the heart chakra together; then, life becomes perfect. But what we see in most people is that this chakra and these lower chakras are coordinating, and therefore life becomes very critical, very difficult. There are many qualities, what you call jealous, jealous, oh my God! Know? Do you know what jealousy is? No, no. The person who is jealous is, in modern psychology, they said, an undeveloped personality, still not self-conscious, depending on something. And when someone takes away, you are angry. And if you can’t fight against it, then inside you are burning, you are jealous. So jealousy is a fire which will burn you. The emotion which began from this side, the left nostril, we spoke that time, the moon principle with this nāḍī comes here. Emotion has many different qualities. Anger is an emotion, hate is an emotion, fear is an emotion. Restlessness is an emotion. Jealousy is an emotion. Greediness is an emotion. There are many qualities of the emotion, how the emotion is filtered, by which filter, and then, according to that, we become angry or something. Emotion. Emotion means motion. We are in a certain motion, so we can’t master our life. Emotion should be controlled, and emotion attacks through the senses. Karmendriyas or jñānendriyas, which were spoken of yesterday. Yesterday, I explained what a mind is. I will not repeat completely, but the mind is a coordinator between the subconscious and the conscious. Consciousness is connected to intellect, and intellect is connected to all senses: five senses of knowledge and five senses of action. Whatever is achieved from the external world through the jñāna and kriyā senses of knowledge is taken by the mind to the subconscious. And the subconscious is the store room of all our impressions, and then from the subconscious, the impressions in the subconscious work out and become desires, and those desires from the subconscious are brought up to the conscious mind. That is a function of the mind. The mind is up and down, an ascending and descending process between subconscious and conscious. That is the mind. The mind cannot be controlled. If you control the mind, then psychic problems will appear. You cannot control the river, you cannot block it, you can guide the river. Similarly, we can guide our mind, but we should not try to stop the mind by thinking, "I will not think, I will not think." And when you think that you will not think, then you think what you should not think. And that is not a thing which we should achieve. Therefore, the mind has to be guided. We need a particular direction. And then you will be successful.

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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