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Any kind of sādhanā requires perfect technique and discipline. One must follow the principles. Consider a car with an engine in excellent condition. However, if the engine is diesel and you put petrol in it, it will not function. Or if you put water instead of petrol. Similarly, this human "motor" requires sāttvic and spiritual nourishment, not the nourishment of worldly, material things. The principle is simple: follow the instructions. When you drive a car, you must follow the road instructions. If you do not, an accident will happen, or you will be punished. Similarly, if you do not follow the spiritual principles, the sādhanā will not be successful. The anuṣṭhāna you are doing, and the other group doing only āsana, prāṇāyāma, and relaxation—this is also anuṣṭhāna for them, as they try their best to perform all exercises and follow the principles. So it is also Anuṣṭhāna. In our Anuṣṭhāna Kriyā, we have one practice called Śabda Sañjālan, the "bakery" practice, where you chant Aum. It is done, I suppose, in the afternoon. This is a particularly powerful technique. "Bhakrī" means speaking loud or chanting. We spoke about Vajrāsana and Vajrā Nāḍī. Ultimately, that leads to the Maṇipūra Chakra. The Maṇipūra Chakra is a very important chakra in our body. The manifestation of our body begins first from the Maṇipūra Chakra. First, the Maṇipūra Chakra developed, then the intestinal tract developed, then the spinal column, then the head, and then the other limbs of the body. Thus, the Maṇipūra Chakra is actually where the soul enters. It is the center where Prāṇa and Apāna unite. Mythologically, according to Hinduism, there is the story of the trinities: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva. Brahmā is the creator, Viṣṇu is the sustainer, and Śiva is the liberator. Viṣṇu symbolizes the cosmic Ātmā. Viṣṇu also means the fire tattva, and yet, Viṣṇu is said to reside in the ocean. This signifies that fire cannot exist without water. If fire separates from water, it becomes an individual, dominating element. Within water, there is also fire. That is the Viṣṇu Śakti. It is said that from the navel of Viṣṇu, Brahmā is born or created. Viṣṇu lies in the ocean on the thousand-headed snake. Life begins with water. In the mother’s womb, it enters like a drop of water, and that water is the ocean. Within it resides the Ātmā, the soul. The first development after conception, the intestinal tract of the baby, is symbolized like a coiled snake. Then the spinal column develops with the head. This symbolizes the spinal column with the Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumnā Nāḍīs. The Suṣumnā Nāḍī rises and unites with the Sahasrāra Chakra. "Sahasrāra" means the thousand-petaled chakra. These thousand petals can be seen as the thousand-headed snake. The central nerve is like a snake coiled at the Maṇipūra Cakra, where the Ātmā resides. This is a mythological picture. According to the science of yoga, the developing embryo is like a lotus connected to the mother's body through the navel. This developing embryo is Brahmā. So, Maṇipūra is the lotus chakra, and what develops upon it—that embryo—is the lotus, or Brahmā. This is the Viṣṇu Śakti. Śiva Śakti is the liberator, the destroyer of negative elements, and the liberator of our individual self. The Maṇipūra Chakra possesses an immense amount of energy. Only it can control the two forces, prāṇa and apāna. Both forces must be kept in balance, and only the maṇipūra chakra can do this. That energy, which is located in the maṇipūra cakra, is called hara-śakti. That is the life force, the energy that keeps you moving. If the hara-śakti is weak, the immune system declines. If the hara-śakti is strong, the immunity develops well. That is the hara-śakti or hara-prāṇa, which fights against all illnesses. If any foreign body enters, the hara-śakti helps our body reject it. Infections are also strangers; when they enter the body, Hara Śakti is capable of fighting and destroying them. It is like a guard or warrior protecting the border. When hara-śakti is insufficient, immunity is low, and you will feel very tired. We have developed a special exercise called Khaṭupranām. Khaṭupranām is the exercise which will help you improve your hara-śakti, and thus your immunity. Some people always feel very tired; this means the maṇipūra cakra is not functioning properly. We have khaṭupranām. You shall make an experiment during your stay here, collectively or individually: do ten rounds, three times a day. You can do it anywhere, and you will realize great changes in your body. The seed of Viṣṇu is there. It is said in the Vedas: nāda rūpa para-brahmā—the form of the supreme is resonance. From empty space, when creation took place, the first manifestation was sound resonance. That resonance is still in the entire universe, in every atom. That sound is centered in our navel. The seed of sound is in the navel. Sound has three levels: parā, paśyantī, and vaikharī. Parā is the deepest, dormant level. Paśyantī is the middle level. Vaikharī is the loud, manifest level. The parā level is in the hara, in the maṇipūra. Paśyantī is in the viśuddhi (throat). Vaikharī is on the lips and the tongue. So, whenever you speak, no matter what, it first creates pressure or heat in the navel, meaning the sound originates from there. Thus, the seed of sound is the Maṇipūra. Because Maṇipūra is the junction of prāṇa and apāna, it is the center. It is the seat of Viṣṇu. Maṇipūra is the center of fire—jaṭharāgni—connected to the digestive fire. Through the help of yoga practice and through the help of hara śakti, meaning the Maṇipūra Cakra, it is said that through the fire of yoga, yoga agni, you can burn all seeds of your karmas. What is yoga agni? Yoga agni is your tapasyā, your sādhanā. That which you are doing with discipline. You are following the master’s instruction, Guruvākyam, and you have devotion. Without bhakti, without devotion, you cannot cross this ocean of ignorance. Where there are doubts and complexes, bhakti cannot be perfect. Bhakti is unconditional. Then your yoga agni will become strong. This means disciplined practice every day. The sādhaka, the practitioner, makes a resolution and sits down to contemplate: For what is this life given to me? What is the purpose of this life? Eating, drinking, sleeping, and creating children—animals are also very active in this. Is that all my aim? Or is there something more? Then you make your resolution: Yes, through this sādhanā, I will attain my aim. It should be authentic sādhanā. We must have the blessing of that spiritual lineage. It cannot be that someone just begins and becomes what we call Swayambhū, a self-made guru. That has no roots, and such seeds cannot grow. When seeds are manipulated, they cannot grow. Many modern people call themselves experts of yoga and want to have their own yoga, their own system and teachings. Their seeds will not grow; it means they will have no success. They may have temporary joy—they may get money and think, "Oh, I am on my own, and I got money." But this is not the aim. This is not the aim of human life. We are not born for this. If we do something, our work should bear fruit. Otherwise, that sādhanā can lead us nowhere. If a true spiritual master tells us just one sentence, it can change our entire life. Someone who speaks only from intellect can give day and night lectures, and nothing will happen. You can touch a wall as much as you like; you can hit your head against the wall. Except for pain, you will feel nothing. But if you touch a little electricity, even with a small nail, the whole body feels it. That is the spiritual lineage; that is Gurudev’s touch. In the bhajan we were singing yesterday, they say: "Para saṅg loā kyā ang se ang milai?" "Ang" means body or limbs. You have to unite limbs to limbs. That is it. The seed of sound is in the Maṇipūra Chakra. Now, these three nāḍīs—Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumnā—according to modern medical science, they come only as far as the Maṇipūra and then disappear below. It is like a river that flows into a desert and disappears. So, Maṇipūra is where the Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumnā, these three nāḍīs, are in complete safety. This nāda, this sound, is constantly resonating, penetrating the whole body. It keeps our body awakened. It keeps our blood cells healthy and supplies that energy and nourishment to the whole body. So when we chant Aum, this "Bekarī Japyā" in the evening or afternoon, we are doing like this: Aum. Arising from the sound, awakening from the navel, it immediately rises up to the Sahasrāra Cakra. From there, one stream of the sound transfers back to the heart. The second stream just dissolves into space in the form of an echo. It goes "sound..." Thus, in the soul, the ātmā—the individual ātmā (not the cosmic soul)—resides in the heart. But its presence is everywhere. It is like having rose spray: you spray it, and the whole room has the smell. You do not know where the smell is coming from; it is hard to locate. Similarly, where is the Ātmā in the body? It is in the entire body. Our small toe has the same sensitivity and feelings of pain as our ear. The same pain we have in a tooth, we can also have in a knee. So the entire body is a temple of the Ātmā. Yet, the yogīs in Hinduism say, "Myself is here in the heart." About 10,000 years ago, Hanumanjī, the bhakta of God Rāma, proved this. He opened his chest to show that in his heart were God Rāma and Sītā sitting inside. So in India, we used to say, "Please believe me, my love is so pure for you, my devotion is so deep and pure. The only thing I cannot do is wish I were Hanumanjī, so I could open my chest and show you that you are in my heart." The same thing, later, about 2000 years ago, it seems Jesus also took his heart, saw within it, and gave it for others, saying, "I am this one." What we call the holy heart—every heart is holy because in that heart, the ātmā is living. That is the seed of the self. Therefore, the sound of the self, which is dormant in the navel, the Maṇipūra Cakra, awakens and comes to the conscious level at the Sahasrāra Cakra. Then, through the Sūrya Nāḍī, it enters into the heart. The Chandra Nāḍī prepares the heart with love, receptive and accepting feelings, and happiness. Then happiness comes. The Sūrya Nāḍī carries that stream—not the nāḍī itself, but the channel of that resonance—into the heart. The second stream goes out into the universe. When these two streams divide from the Sahasrāra, all three nāḍīs are influenced. When you chant OM, it goes through the Suṣumnā nāḍī. Then the Sūrya nāḍī brings the resonance to the heart. The Chandra nāḍī becomes very alert and receptive. Why do this Kriyā? You will notice that your Ājñā Chakra is awakened. The Ājñā Cakra is a very important center. It is the seed of clarity, knowledge, the third eye. Then you hear the sound like a heartbeat, which means the three nāḍīs are now united. That is called trikuṭī. Trikuṭī means the confluence where three rivers meet. It is also called Bṛkuṭī, the center of the eyebrows, and that is called Prayāg. Prayāg is where the Kumbh Mela is held, and where three rivers come together: Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī. "Prayāg" means "milana," uniting. Prayāg Rāj is like a meeting of kings, a unity of the kingdoms of the Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī. There, the yogī bathes inside. "Bath" means that resonance, the sound, and then all sins are washed away. This means you become free from karmas. That is real bathing in the Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī. To bathe in this trikuṭī, yogīs come down from the high mountains. "High mountains" means the high level of meditation or samādhi near the Sahasrāra. When any obstacles come, they come to the Ājñā Chakra to wash themselves—cleaning. Chitta vṛtti nirodha. Again, they feel calm, clean, and pure, and then again go to the higher mountains or go deep into the heart. This is just one Kriyā. We could talk and talk about this, and it is just one technique of your whole anuṣṭhāna. Lucky are they who can do it; lucky are they who follow the disciplines. As soon as you lose discipline, devotion is gone—like milk spoiled with a lemon. It is finished. You will experience something: your knees hurt, your back hurts, your breath becomes restless, and you look at the watch: "Mālā, how many mālās?" You look at the person who is leading, perhaps he is not sleeping. Why? Why? Balance is lost. Now it is imbalanced because devotion is gone. And then, "the British are coming." Your world becomes like your mind. Therefore, before you do your kriyā or your sādhanā, with great devotion you should bow down and say, "Please, merciful Lord, Gurudevo, lead me from darkness to the light." Then you enter into the richness of your inner kingdom. Awakening takes place. Then, Kuṇḍalinī is awakened. Happiness is there, fearlessness is there, unity is there, joy is there. Then you are beyond time and space. These are the results of your anuṣṭhāna and your kriyās. So this sub-kriyā, this "bakery" where you chant your OM, goes like a wave: coming from here, up, down, here, and then ends here.