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Part 1: The Lamp of the Self: Reflections on Ātmā Jñāna Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhudīpa Nārāyaṇam. Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhudīpa Nārāyaṇam. Hama Tere Dāsa Prabhu Śaraṇa Parāyaṇam. Śrī Dīpa Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya. Śrī Śrī Devapurīśa Mahādeva Kī Jaya. Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān Kī Jaya. Satya Sanātana Dharma Kī Jaya. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ. All dear ones, blessed self, and spiritual seekers, life is a constant search for ātmā jñāna. It is a struggle to survive in this mortal world, but the time is given to us to gain the essence from this life. That means the Brahma Tattva, that Guru Tattva; Brahman is the highest. It is said, "Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi"—"I am Brahman." But did we realize it or not? In theory, we know it well; all the words we know well. But how far is our experience? That is limited. Therefore, God has given us a beautiful human life, and through this human life we should realize, achieve, and become free from Caurāsī Lākha Jīva Yoni. It is said: "Chāhā"—not "chai," okay? You are all thinking of the chai. "Chāhā" means icchā. "Chaha" means wish. "Chaha" means desire. "Chaha" means longing. That longing, that desire, that wish drives our attention in the mortal world outside. If this chāhā, this desire, were not with us, we would know that I am the Brahman. The Self, the Ātmā, is eternal, residing in our Cetanā, our Citta. One form of the Citta is also known as Jīvātmā. Mahāprabhujī said, "The sun and the reflection of the sun on the water." Similarly, Brahman and our jīvātmā are the reflection on our consciousness. That is within our Pañca Kośa: Annamaya, Prāṇamaya, Manomaya, Vijñānamaya, and Ānandamaya Kośa. These are the layers above our reflection. That light which is coming from the sun depends on how clean and how peaceful the water is. A beautiful lake, very calm—you throw a little stone inside, it creates waves. Similarly, our Cetanā, our Citta, which is by nature peace, purity, and divine, is disturbed. But the chāhā, our longing, our desires, or our wishes, which develop in our manomaya kośa—each thought, no matter in which direction or connected to which subject—creates the waves, creates the restlessness, and draws our attention in different directions. We have the light which Gurudev gave us. What does it mean for us when we light a flame? It is not for the flame, but the dharma of the flame is to give light. If we are constantly on the waves of the layer of positive thinking and satsaṅga, with the peace within and contentment, then this light is bright and gives a nice light. It is reflecting this light at a certain distance. This body is that dīpaka which is holding oil and wick. This body, the annamaya kośa, is the holder of our light within ourselves: the Light of Ātmā, Light of Wisdom, Light of Blessing, Light of Love, Light of Peace, which leads us to the Eternal One. Everyone has rights, and they are given freely by God. Peace, love, light, and contentment are universal principles. If the oil is polluted, or if the oil has some humidity inside, then that light will not be very clean, or it will not shine or burn continuously. So we spoke yesterday about the dīpaka, and we spoke about that onion which has a layer after another layer. This is the layer over the jīvātmā. When you come there, all the layers will be removed, and you will see nothing. As long as the water is here, the reflection is here. As long as the mirror is here, the reflection is here; you see your face. How clean is the mirror? So clean you will see your face. Or if the mirror is broken, then you will see the broken pictures. That mirror is the Citta, which is also over the Jīvātmā. How much dust we have on the mirror, like that we will have self-knowledge about ourselves. Purification of the antaḥkaraṇa happens through the japa, practicing your mantra, through the prayers, and through doing the niṣkāma, seva, karma yoga. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said, "Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam, Arjuna." Practice yoga, and your yoga will be successful. Your practice will lead you to perfection as long as you do good karma. Then that divine light or the fire of yoga will awaken within you. Then it is said, "Yogāgniḥ karmadagdhanī." Through that light, all the negative karmas will be burned in that fire of the Jñāna Agni. A few weeks ago, we spoke about different kinds of Agni: Jñāna Agni, Jāṭharāgni (the digestive fire), Vairāgya Agni, Havana Agni, Citta Agni—many different forms of Agni. So Jñānāgni: Jñāna is the knowledge, Agni means the purification. It purifies everything. We spoke about garlic also yesterday. Some people think that garlic has the rajas guṇa, onion has the rajas guṇa. Yes, but how do you utilize that? In reality, the onion doesn’t have Rajas Guṇa, and garlic also. So, garlic is used as a medicine, and that’s why in your food you put a certain quantity of garlic—not one kilo, not half a kilo, not a quarter kilo. So, to know how to use it, never fry garlic or onions in the oil. Then come Rajas Guṇa and Tamas Guṇa. Also, in which kind of food you should use or not use. Therefore, as I told you yesterday, Pakvaśāstra—the knowledge of the Pakvaśāstra, the knowledge of cooking. How far is the truth? Only I can tell what some in Pakvaśāstra said. If someone makes the beans... beans... "Lauha Mudgāḥ." The beans out of iron, the iron beans. Of course, we can’t eat them, we can’t bite. Or we can bite and then go quickly to the dentist. We can’t digest them, but it is said. Who has the knowledge about Pakvaśāstra? That one can... Pakvaśāstras—that who has the knowledge of how to cook and what to mix, which spices... Śrī Śrī... How did it come to us? Did we take it away from someone? What kind of vibration is in our food? To digest that, it is like hard iron beans. Whatever we eat, that becomes our prāṇamaya kośa. And that prāṇa is like oil in the lamp. That prāṇa is just an example, like oil in the dīpaka or wax. That prāṇa, again we compare with the jīvātmā. This prāṇa keeps us healthy. This prāṇa keeps sāttvika buddhi. We will come to the vijñānamaya kośa again. Buddhi is intellect. Our intellect is influenced by what kind of food we ate, from where we ate, and which kind of food came—whether grains or vegetables came in our food. That will influence our buddhi. What you drink, that will influence your intellect. One has no strength to do, but O God, you are the Lord of the meek. God helps us. "Dīna Bandhu Dīna Nātha"—Friend and Lord of the humble. "Merī ḍorī tere hātha"—the rope, the string of my life, is in your hands, Lord. Will you one day, little one, move your hands like this, that I come closer to thee, my Lord? "Dīna Bandhu Dīna Nātha, Merī Ḍorī Tere Hātha." In another way, we call, when something is alive, we say, don’t disturb, still prāṇa is inside. So it is very hard to separate the prāṇa and jīvātmā. When someone dies, even a plant dies, we will say, "Isme prāṇa nahīṁ hai"—in this, there is no prāṇa. When a dead body is there, or someone dies, you go and check. You say, "Oh God, pity." This body has given up the prāṇa, or prāṇa has given up this body. So prāṇa is life, and it is that prāṇa in our bodies called the prāṇamaya kośa, and there is the flame burning constantly. And there, our bhakti, our devotion, or our cetanā, they always speak, "I am I." That is the wick in the lamp, that which is burning, made out of cotton or anything. And there are many bhajans. In this bhajan, it is said, "Lord, I am that weak, dark one, who is burning for you day and night, burning for you day and night." For what? For God. In which way? Longing for God, or that self-realization. But we are all in that position where we are still not strong enough, and therefore we do not feel the help or strength because we are very weak. So there is a beautiful poem: "Sabe sahāyaka sabala kī, aura ko'u nirabala sahāya, pavana jagāvata āga ko, aura dīpahī deta bujhāya." "Sabe sahāyaka sabala kī"—always, everyone is supporting the strong one. "Ko'u nirabala sahāya"—no one is a protector or helper of the weak. Animals, they are mukha prāṇī, they are helpless, and anyone goes and catches them and kills them; they have no strength to say something. They only feel the pain, and inside they scream. It means they give a curse to the human. Human, what have I done to you? Nothing. Why do you cause me pain? Why do you kill me? "Sabe sahāyaka sabala ke"—everyone is helping the strong one. "Ko'u nirabala sahāya"—nirabala, without strength, without power. "Sabala" means who has the strength to fight against you. Like "Pavana jagāvata āga ko"—the wind, the wind will make a little piece of fire very strong; a little fire can burn everything. Or "Dīpahī deta bujhāya"—the same wind can blow off your dīpaka, the flame. That is the difference between those who have the inner strength of Guru Kṛpā, that jñāna, that knowledge. It doesn’t matter where and what, even the negative waves, kuṣaṅga, cannot blow you off. It will give you more strength; the wisdom will awaken you, so that even you can burn them too. This means, give the light. But as long as you are inside, still not strong enough, then every negative word, every negative sentence written, or every negative vision can blow off the light of spirituality. Imagine you have a flame in your hand, a dīpaka, and you have to go from your house to another house; you will protect this flame very much. If there is a wind, you will take your towel and put it like this to bring the flame, or the lamp, or dīpaka to your house. We are protecting like that. Part 2: Protecting the Inner Flame When we protect a flame in this manner, we feel like a mother protecting a small child from the cold and other elements. Similarly, a practitioner whose spirit is not yet sure and solid should avoid all kinds of winds: the negative wind of bad company (ku-saṅga), negative listening, negative hearing, and negative speaking. Our own thinking can turn against us. How? You have the dīpak (lamp) in your hand, and you have brought it successfully to your door. Yet, your own breath can blow off the flame, can it not? You were successful until that point, but at the very door, you blew it out. Therefore, your doubt, your anger, your hatred, your jealousy, your ignorance, and your immediate reactions to something—all these mean blowing out that light of beauty, light of peace, light of love, light of wisdom, light of God, or light of the Ātmā. Secondly, we are sometimes too extreme. Humans are always searching for something that is very hard, for adventures. For example, someone has a new car and a good road and is driving quickly, and they have an accident. What happened? The light, the flame of this human, is blown off. Prāṇa, the Prāṇamaya Kośa, is that which keeps our body (Annamaya Kośa), our mind sheath (Manomaya Kośa), our wisdom sheath (Vijñānamaya Kośa), and our bliss sheath (Ānandamaya Kośa) in a beautiful way: healthy, stable, pure, and leads us to our destination. When Prāṇa is missing, then in the body, vikāra begins. Vikāra means impurities, and vikāra is the cause of all diseases. It is the vikāra where infection begins, and infection has a great chance if you do not practice your āsanas and prāṇāyāma. Because in the body, our immune system becomes very weak. It cannot fight against those infections, those viruses. It is like the flame is very weak, and it needs good protection. In yoga and daily life, there is one beautiful exercise or āsana. Śrī developed what we call Khaṭu Praṇām. Many people think Khaṭu Praṇām is the second variation of Sūrya Namaskār. It is not that. Practice five days of Khaṭu Praṇām, and then leave it for twenty days—do not practice. Then practice five days of Sūrya Namaskār, and you will find out what is different. Which energy centers in the body are balanced? The flexibility of the body, and especially the immunity. Sometimes people feel very weak. One thinks there is a lack of some vitamins or some minerals or some nourishment, but that is wrong. You are very tired. The doctor will tell you everything is okay, but you feel very weak. Practice five days, three times a day, five rounds of Khaṭu Praṇām: morning before breakfast, lunchtime before lunch, and evening before dinner. After five days, you will feel how much energy is developed in your body. It means it supports our Prāṇamaya Kośa, that energy which is in the body, and at the same time, it is effective. The energy centers, chakras, and these chakras have the ability to purify the negative qualities, tamo guṇa, which creates weakness in the body, laziness in the body, and no strength. Even if you sleep 8, 9 hours, or 10 hours, you still do not want to get up; you are so tired because there was no relaxation. Mahāprabhujī says, "Tamo Guṇa is also very important, otherwise a human will not rest." Also, Tamo Guṇa is a signal that now you need rest. But when you rest too much, then that resting process turns again to the Tamo Guṇa and multiplies more Tamo Guṇa. It means more drowsiness, laziness, and you will feel very tired. So Prāṇa is that energy which represents the cosmic energy, which represents that light, the reflection from the sun to the water, how it is between, how it is coming, that brings that Prāṇamaya Kośa, holding that Prāṇa. And when the Prāṇa is healthy, then our mind is also very, very healthy. The mind needs pure prāṇa. The best quality of petrol needs your engine. The best qualities. And that best quality means it is completely filtered, purified, and so is the prāṇa in our food. Now, that burning of the dot means all kinds of our trying, though sometimes it is very hard. Sometimes we feel disappointed. That God didn’t help us. Suddenly, an accident happened. Some terrible tragedy happened. And we said, "Oh, even God didn’t help." Sometimes we also lose our confidence in God. And then we said, "No, I don’t want God. I will do it myself." Do not think like this. God didn’t do that. It was our ignorance, carelessness, and our destiny. The time was given to you to do your sādhanā. Life span is only that much, and then you have to go. So whatever it is, we shall take the best of it from the human life that we are coming through in this. So it is said, "God, I am that wick which is burning day and night for you. Protect me from that wind. Protect me from the draft, and protect me from the impurity. And supply me more prāṇa, what we call, you may call oxygen, though oxygen is not a prāṇa, but oxygen is supporting our prāṇa to be more good and fresh." Śrī Śrī... You are running, playing football, jogging, or you are deep sleeping, or you are drunken and dancing, but your heart is still your very, very loyal one, very loyal all the time, heart beating for you to keep your life there, and that needs a very good quality of prāṇa. So it is in the entire body, inside and outside, is our prāṇa śakti, which is helping to keep us alert, aware, healthy, conscious. Support your prāṇa while utilizing, using, or nourishing it with what we nowadays call organic food. Try to use more natural materials for your clothes. Try to use natural, recyclable, environmentally friendly soap, washing powders, and many things. If your dress is cleaned with a lot of chemicals, you think the dress is cleaned, but the chemicals are still inside and constantly harming the surface of your skin. On the surface we have a lot of what are called marmas in Āyurveda, and there are two kinds: healthy ones and unhealthy ones. So, using more chemicals kills all these healthy marmas, and that penetrates through the skin into the body. It means our prāṇa is being destroyed inside also. It destroys the prāṇas. There is one man in Australia, and now he is trying to make a big farm for cotton. Many cotton cloths that we are getting are all sprayed with pesticides and cleaned with chemicals, many, many things. And he is taking care; he has a big farm, and he puts the cotton plants. Now the bugs are coming. So he found a beautiful technique. Between two cotton plants, he puts one or two cabbages. So these bugs are more interested in the cabbages and not in the cotton. So he need not spray, and then also, with pure, clean, filtered water, he is cleaning the cottons. And in the factory where he takes care, he does not use any kind of chemicals to wash or clean or use anything there. Now, he made nice cloth, bath sheets, bath coats, and things like this, towels. For the first time in his story, he managed the Australian government, the Australian border, customs, and revenues. They allowed without testing these things with the chemical things, or put in the, what if, quarantines, in the, what, what, quarantine, yeah. And he writes on it, "Never make a mistake to wash this with chemical soap." Otherwise, all that he has done, from putting the seed in the ground till now, has gone over the border and is again destroyed. And he challenges that those who are wearing this have a very pleasant feeling, very good sleeping, and wet. Natural things, so this is to protect our Prāṇamaya Kośa, what they call it, and then you put lemon inside. Instead, you want to have liquid sugar, but you put lemon inside. It will have a different disturbance. But I think you will not drink that coffee, no? So we should know where to put the lemon, where not to put the lemon. It is not only that you like to eat and your stomach is full, but also which kind of spices you should add. Not a paragraph, one everywhere, chili and coriander and whatever you call this, thrown in and cooked, and oh, it’s very nice. Yeah, your tongue is good, svādindriya. But for prāṇa, the māyā kośa is not good. So, please visit our cooking courses through our webcast. There are beautiful cooking courses, and you will learn a lot about this. And especially, which spices should be used for which food. Wish you a good appetite. And I pray that your Prāṇamaya Kośa is beautiful and shining, organic, nice, a reflection, and you are healthy and happy. How happy will you be? Very happy. Oṃ Sacchidānanda Oṃ Sacchidānanda... Oṃ Sacchidānanda Oṃ Sacchidānanda... Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī, you know, there are some plants. If you put certain plants together, they don’t like it. Some plants die. Śrī Śrī... And how to keep the health perfect, that knowledge of the āyu, āyur, āyuṣmān bhava, your life. When someone makes praṇām, then we say "āyuṣmān bhava," which means "live long." So, Āyur Veda, Veda is the knowledge. So the knowledge of life, knowledge of the entire system. Our Yoga in Delhi Life Ayurveda Academy, which is seated in Vienna, and our teachers for Ayurveda, they have very good knowledge about spices, specially, or you can go anywhere and learn. There are many, many good books about spices, and there are many good Ayurvedic Vedas which can give you very good tips on how to utilize this and how to eat. So, some wise man said, "Do we live for eating, or are we eating for living?" So we are eating for living. We are not living for eating, and that’s important. So that is the difference between these. With this, I wish you all the best, my dear ones, brothers and sisters, spiritual parents. And tomorrow, see you again. The subject will still be the Prāṇamaya Kośa, and then comes the Manomaya Kośa. How the man and prāṇa are coordinating together. Till then, God bless you. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī, Devpurīṣa Mahādeva kī, Dharma Samrāṭ, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānanda jī Bhagavān kī. Nāhaṃ kartā Prabhu, dīpa kartā. Mahāprabhu dīpa kartā, he kevalam. Oṃ Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī Jaya, Devpurīṣa. Mahādeva Kī Jai, Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai.