TV Channel

Yuga yuga jiyo Maheśwar Ānandājī, śrīdhi padāyaluke amṛt āśiṣ nitabhar so Ānanda. Prabhu dī padāyaluke amṛt āśiṣ nitabhar so Ānanda. Yuga yuga jiyo Maheśwar Ānandājī, yuga yuga jiyo Maheśwar Ānandājī. Śrī dīp nān kiye Deva, Īśwar Maa Deva kiye, Mādhava Kiṣṇa Bhagavān kiye. Viśva Gurū Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa Svāmī Śrī Viśva Nānjī Mahārāj kīye, Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Svāmī Śrī Jasrāj Purījī Mahārāj kīye ho. Tupā lagāde, karke dayā, dayālu. Bhērā tupā lagāde, Gurude. Śaraṇa tumhārī, cintā merī miṭāde, Gurudev. Śaraṇa tumhārī, cintā merī miṭāde. Mother, father, and friends, no one is ours. Māyā kī jāl bārī, in se prabhu bachāde, māyā kī jāl bārī, in se prabhu bachāde. Gurudev śaraṇ tumhārī, cintā merī miṭā de, Gurudev śaraṇ tumhārī, cintā merī miṭā de. Saṁsāra rūpī dhariyā kā hai tūfān bārī. Sansaar roopī dharīyā kā hai tufān bārī, Tūhī Prabhu kṛpākar dho bhaṭ nayā bachāde. Tūhī Prabhu kṛpākar dho bhaṭ nayā bachāde. Gurudev, śaraṇ tumhārī cintā merī miṭāde. Gurudev, śaraṇ tumhārī cintā merī miṭāde. Karke dayā dayālu bherā tupā lagā de. Karke dayā dayālu bherā tupā lagā de. Gurude, śaraṇ tumhārī cintā merī miṭā de. Gurude, śaraṇ tumhārī cintā merī miṭā de. Jāp tap naa hove mujh se, yāhī Prabhu āraj hai. Jāpa tapa nā hove mujh se, yāhī Prabhu ārāja haiṁ. Karunā nidhāna tū hī, duḥkhī ko dura bhagā de. Gurudeva, śaraṇa tumhārī, cintā merī miṭā de. Gurudeva, śaraṇa tumhārī, cintā merī miṭā de. Karke dayā dayālu, bheda tū pā lagā de. Gurudev, sharaṇ tumhārī cintā merī miṭā de. Guru-Devāśrī-Dīpa-Dātā, Śaraṇ-Āgati-Hū-Terī Prabhu-Śrī-Dīpa-Dātā, Śaraṇ-Āgati-Hū-Terī. He Arājā Maṅgalāl, give the name of Śrī Rām. Gurudev, sharaṇ tumhārī cintā merī miṭā de. Karke daya dayalu, Behra tupa lagaade. Karke daya dayalu, Ram ka naam rataade. Gurudev Sri Diptana Bhagwan ki Jai. Devashwar Mahadeva. Jai Madhav Krishna Bhagwān kī Jai! Vishwaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśwar Paramahaṁsa Śrīmeśwanānjī Mahārāj kī Jai! Mahāmaṇḍaleśwar Swāmī Śrī Jasrāj Purījī Mahārāj kī Jai! Ho Ambole Śrīdīt Nārāyaṇa Bhagwān kī Jai! Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva kī Jai! Dharam Samrat Paramahaṁsa Śrīmaravanan Purījī Mahārāj Kī Jai, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśwar Paramahaṁsa Śrīmeśwanan Purījī Satguru Dev Kī Jai, Hari Om. In the last month, we have had a physiotherapist in the hospital. From what I have seen, he is quite good; his practice is very good. I am an old, retired physiotherapist myself, though I have not practiced for many years. Patients have been going to him and then coming to me afterwards to complain. Their reason for complaining is something I find interesting, and I believe the principles behind it are useful for everyone. As practitioners of yoga—using it to help ourselves not just spiritually but also with our mental and physical health—there are some very basic principles of physiotherapy treatment and assessment that everyone can apply. When a patient comes to see a physiotherapist, there is a set procedure for assessment. First, you ask what is wrong; they tell you the problem that brought them there. In a normal assessment, unless you are in a great rush, the next step is to take a history of that problem. You ask how long it has been there and when it occurs. Two very important questions are: "Have you done something different lately that may have caused that problem?" and, of course, "Did a particular incident or injury occur?" Often, especially with issues like neck or back pain, there is no single injury. Someone did not get hit; rather, they suddenly felt stiff. For no apparent reason, they lifted something small and suddenly had back pain and could not straighten up. This is usually an accumulation of something that has been there a long time—a bad habit, perhaps, or something they have been doing in recent days that irritated their back until it finally "snapped." The questions aim to establish the cause. For issues with the neck and back, seemingly insignificant questions are very important: Have you changed your pillow? Have you changed your workplace or the position of your monitor or computer? Have you moved house? Changing how you move or your work situation can significantly impact your body. Why is this relevant for yoga practitioners? As we discussed recently, and as Matajī shared from her experience in Kathur, there is a great experiment and learning process happening within yourself. You observe what happens to you, what you do, and how your body, mind, spirit, and breath react. You observe an action and learn from it. Therefore, when using yoga to help ourselves—with a back problem, for instance—it is very useful to ask these same questions of ourselves and observe our daily lives. What might have caused the problem could be very simple. The core principle I wish to share, which I discussed with these frustrated patients, is this: their complaint was that the physiotherapist "doesn’t do anything." He performed only one treatment for five minutes, there was no immediate effect, and they thought it was terrible. They believed he should do everything to make them better quickly. We live in a world of instant gratification; people expect to be fixed in one session. A good physiotherapist will not do that. If you apply two treatments and the patient returns improved, you will not know which treatment worked. Was it the first or the second? You cannot act scientifically; you cannot increase the effective treatment because you are lost. If you throw three, four, or five treatments at someone—"put this on, do that, try this"—how will you know, if they return worse, which one caused it? If they return better, which one helped? If they return the same, perhaps two made them worse and two made them better, balancing out? You would have no idea. I kept telling these people, "It is good," while they insisted, "It is not good; I am not better." I said, "Yes, but you must give it three or four sessions. You must keep coming and allow them to find what works for you." How does this apply to us spiritually? It is a useful principle. When you look within, seeking to change how you react to things, to settle or calm yourself, or to improve your meditation, we often get stuck in a vortex of wanting immediate change. We change our āsanas, lifestyle, diet, and social circle all at once. In the beginning, such sweeping change is normal. But as you progress spiritually, if you change only one thing at a time, you will know if it helped or was not useful. You will also know if it made things worse. For example, I bought a new pillow yesterday after searching for months due to neck problems upon waking. The temptation now is to also try different āsanas to help. If I did both today, I would not know the effect of the new pillow. Was it the pillow or the āsanas? Which one helped or made it worse? If I wake up sore tomorrow, whose fault was it? I might discard the pillow and abandon the āsanas, leaving me in a useless state. The key is to change one thing at a time, to proceed patiently and systematically. The same applies to our diet. If we wish to change our diet to feel less heavy or tāmasic, removing everything at once will not teach us which specific foods affect us. Remove one thing. If that does not bring change, reintroduce it and remove something else. Over time, you develop a real understanding of your own body, physiology, and mind. Each time a patient returns to the physiotherapist, many of the same questions are asked again: How does it feel? How does it feel in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evening? How did it feel after the treatment—one hour later, five hours later? This is all about gaining knowledge, because there is no textbook that is the same for every person. Every human body and personality is different. The principles are the same, but we must apply them to ourselves to learn who we are, how we react, and what is sustaining, nourishing, enjoyable, satisfying, and health-improving for us. This is a process that requires time and, unfortunately, a great deal of patience—which often goes against our mind's wishes. It requires constant observation. A story comes to mind, somewhat related. It is about observation and concerns a swimmer, the Australian Ian Thorpe, who was making an Olympic comeback after having won several gold medals. He was once interviewed in Sydney by a television host who is also a comedian. The host asked a question he thought would lead to humor: "You swim up and down the pool all day, looking at that black line. What are you thinking?" Thorpe’s answer was so profound it left the host, Andrew Denton, speechless. Thorpe said, "While I’m going up and down, I am actually about two metres above my body, looking down at it and thinking, ‘My left arm is a little bit lazy,’ or ‘My left foot’s not kicking properly. I could make it go a little bit more,’ or ‘My right shoulder is dragging.’" That is the observation we seek in yoga: to be detached from ourselves and to watch what is happening to us. To watch how things affect us emotionally, how other people affect us, how our relationships and daily interactions affect us. When we can observe like that and learn from it, we can then change something within ourselves for the better, transform ourselves, and move in the direction we wish to go. God bless you.