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On Physical Discomfort in Practice A question has come regarding two yoga practitioners who experienced a feeling of pain or pressure in the chest during Yoga Nidrā and meditation. This is not an uncommon issue. It is typically a sign of some tension held within the body. To alleviate this, one can experiment with supportive props. Try placing a round pillow under the knees or a small pillow under the neck. Sometimes, the clothing worn can be too restrictive, so ensure it is loose and comfortable. There is nothing fundamentally wrong; it is simply a matter of finding a posture that allows for complete relaxation. A Prayer and a Service We have received a request for prayer. The father of Mariana from Novomesto, Slovenia, passed away a few hours ago. Our evening prayer today will be dedicated to him. I pray to Mahāprabhujī for his soul to be led into the light. Furthermore, there is a practical matter of service, a seva. Many people from various countries are joining us but do not understand English. We must find a technological solution, a way to provide automatic translation so that everyone—whether from Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Slovenian, Hungarian, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, China, Japan, or Spain—can access the teachings in their own language. This is a modern challenge, a kind of division by language that we must work to overcome. Hanumān Jayantī and the Occupied Heart Today is Hanumān Jayantī. Hanumānjī is the great bhakta who, overwhelmed with devotion, tore open his chest to reveal Śrī Rāma and Sītā residing within his heart. He is a symbol of ultimate devotion, selfless service (seva), and a Karma Yogī. He is both immensely kind to devotees and stern against those who create obstacles. This leads us to a profound metaphor: our heart is a temple. When a physical temple, church, or mosque is built, the consecrated image of the Divine must be installed within a certain time. If it remains vacant, Asuras—negative forces—may occupy it, bringing misfortune. Similarly, our heart is the temple prepared for our Īṣṭa Devatā, our Antaryāmī (the indwelling Lord). We must invite the Lord in and then care for that presence with constant awareness, offering the "food" of prayer and remembrance at the right times, maintaining a unity like that between a mother and her embryo. If we let our heart become vacant—devoid of that conscious divine connection—then Asurī śaktis (demonic forces) will enter. The first sign of this occupation is Kuśaṅga, bad company. This saṅga can be external, but also internal: negative thinking, feelings, desires, and imaginations. This is mental pollution, which is more dangerous than any external pollution, for it is the source of all outer turmoil. As Mahāprabhujī said in a bhajan: "O my mind, you lost everything with the ku-saṅgīs." You lose jñāna, you lose bhakti. Therefore, we must constantly observe our heart, ensuring it is never vacant, always filled with the presence of the Lord through the constant repetition of His name—Rāma, Rāma—or your mantra. The Divine Play of Kuḍrat All that happens is part of Prakṛti or Kuḍrat (an Urdu word for nature's miracle). Kuḍrat kā khel—the drama or play of nature. Good and bad, birth and death, accidents and joys—all are the play of Kuḍrat. We are often too weak to accept the inevitable changes of this play, especially the loss of loved ones, because we are attached and selfish. Gurujī’s bhajan "Banāyā Khel" describes this wonder: > Banāyā khel, kuḍrat ne banāyā ho to aisā ho. > What a game Kuḍrat has created! > Bhed nahī̃ jānte koī, sīpānā ho to aisā ho. > No one knows its secret, it is so perfectly hidden. The bhajan enumerates the marvels: the five elements—pṛthvī, ākāśa, agni, pavana, pānī (earth, space, fire, wind, water)—created in a moment. The moon and sun providing light. The endless ocean upon which the earth floats. Mountains, hills, trees of all kinds, each leaf perfectly shaped and colored. Animals and birds, each with their own endless variety of languages, which they understand naturally, unlike humans who must be taught. The human body itself is a masterpiece, within which God resides and speaks (Bolat hai nija sāyī). Yet the Jīva, the individual soul living in this body, does not know this secret (abhedhi ho to aisā ho). This divine Līlā is indescribable. The Lord is omnipresent (Vyāpak hai āp sarvatra); not even the space of a needle's point is empty of Him. He is the mighty one (Samrāṭ) who can create and dissolve everything. We are but a tiny particle within this cosmic play. The only sane response is surrender: "Jo kuḍrat karegī, manjūr hai" (What Kuḍrat wills, I accept). The Untrained Mind We fall into trouble when our heart feels vacant and we think, "I can do all." To illustrate the mind's nature, let us consider another bhajan: "Sādhu Bhāiyā, Mana Baḍā Anādi." The mind is very untrained, foolish (anādi—one who has not learned from the beginning). Yogīs and Yatīs (serious practitioners, from yatna, meaning effort) work hard to create a beautiful spiritual garden (bhajan kī vāḍī). But this mind is like a terrible monkey (man bandar baḍā harāmī) that destroys that garden in no time. The mind also becomes like a great ox, pulling the heavy cart of family responsibilities blindly, until it falls into the deep, slippery hole of desires and attachments, from which it is very hard to escape. This mind has two elephants: Saṅkalpa (resolve, positive imagination) and Vikalpa (doubt, negative imagination). It has twenty-five "children": the five karmendriyas (organs of action), five jñānendriyas (organs of perception), five prāṇa, five upaprāṇa, and the fourfold inner instrument—manas, buddhi, citta, ahaṁkāra—plus desire (lobha). These constitute the 25 prakṛtis. The father of this mind is ignorance (Avidyā), and its mother is lack of common sense. It has no form, yet it controls everything, can turn on a dime, and is never satisfied. Only rare, learned saints have found the mind's weakness, its nāḍī (pulse). They control it with a small hook of awareness. The medicine they administer is a mixture of Jñāna (spiritual knowledge) and Vairāgya (dispassion). Jñāna-Vairāgya kī Davā Pilāo—give it the medicine of knowledge and dispassion to be released from all illness. As the bhajan concludes, by the grace of the Guru (Gurukṛpā), Mahāprabhujī has pulled out the very root of this mind, so it can trouble us no more. Therefore, the solution to all our problems is to never let the heart be vacant. Fill it with the divine presence, and discipline the mind with the twin medicines of Jñāna and Vairāgya.