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Part 1: The Path of True Experience: Kuṇḍalinī, Cakras, and the Necessity of a Lakṣārthī Guru Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī, Śrī Śrī Devpurīśamadeva Kī Jaya, Dharma Samrāṭ Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān Kī Jaya, Satya Sanātana Dharma Kī Jaya. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters, dear ones, spiritual seekers, blessed self. Blessings of Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī. With the blessings of Bhagavān Śrī Deveśvara Mahādeva and our universally worshipped Satguru Dev Svāmī Madhavānandajī, welcome to “Chakras and Kuṇḍalinī: The Hidden Powers in Humans.” About Kuṇḍalinī, many books are written. Of course, they are very good. Every sādhaka or every writer is doing their best to give an explanation about Kuṇḍalinī and cakras according to their own experiences. Among all the writers, there are two kinds we call Vācārthī and Lakṣārthī. Vācārthī is that writer who listens to lectures about Kuṇḍalinī and reads the books. Of course, libraries are the source of wisdom where you can find many ancient literatures. You collect the information and you write, but still it is not practical experience. Tons of theory is nothing compared to a gram of practice. Theories are good to inspire, to give motivation to learn something or practice something. There are two kinds of horses. One horse you have in your farmhouse, in your farm. The second horse is on a piece of paper as a picture. Anyone you ask, “What is this?” will say it is a picture or a horse. You indicate toward the horse in the field. “What is that?” It is a horse. Yes, both are the truth. But when you want to ride a horse, you cannot ride the paper horse. You need the real horse. This is the difference between Lakṣārthī and Vācārthī. Therefore, some philosophers said, tons of theory is nothing compared to a grain of practice. Lakṣārthī are those who make their lakṣya, the aim, and then decide to practice. Kuṇḍalinī is practiced under the guidance of that master, or that guru or teacher, whatever you call them, who is a lakṣārthī — meaning one who has been practicing and has made practical experiences, so that one can lead us comfortably to our destination. So about Kuṇḍalinī, this is a very serious subject. We have to do something with our consciousness. We have to do something with our emotion or intellect through the energy centers. Energy is very important. Without energy, nothing will move, nothing will function. But the energy needs a perfect steering master. A driver knows how to drive a car. It’s not difficult. But in a difficult situation, there you can judge if it’s a good driver or not. It’s a highway, a very straight road, with no traffic, no crossing roads, and off you go. You have the feeling to drive a little quicker. You have petrol, and your car is good. But suddenly there comes an icy road, the snow. You are going at a speed of 150, 160 kilometers. A good driver will know what to do. A new driver will just turn the car clockwise, and it will park somewhere on the side of the road, and the car will be upside down. This is what yogic techniques are like. They should be learned from an experienced master, and that will prepare our field. The field means antaḥkaraṇa, the inner situations, the strength of your nerves, etc. Many people try to practice. Let’s say some books write that you feel through the spinal column something is moving up. I doubt if something is moving, some vibration is going up; then you have to seek a psychiatric doctor. Because kuṇḍalinī is not physical, it is a play in the consciousness; it is the awakening of divine experiences in your consciousness, in your viveka, in your intellect. It is not physical. Cakras are not physical, but they are located near certain glands, certain centers along the spinal column, yet it is only the reflection of those energy centers. If the kuṇḍalinī is dormant at the mūlādhāra, about two and a half centimeters after the last disc or column, now, for example, someone said, “I will operate it there and throw all my karmas away.” You cannot operate; it is not physical. So we have to see that it is different, but still it exists in our Vijñānamaya Kośa, it exists in our Prāṇamaya Kośa, and everything is included within consciousness and emotion. Once, one person was practicing Yoga Nidrā — some teacher or a student, a practitioner, who bought a Yoga Nidrā cassette, and some instructions were in that cassette. When played, “Now imagine that you are somewhere in the…” Park, beautiful flowers, trees, a lake, and now imagine that you are flying above the clouds, beautiful, very light, you feel very light. You see everything from above. You see every day the paraglider. If a beginner goes there, it can be twice: the first and last time. But an experienced one can do it. The person was doing Yoga Nidrā in his sleeping room on the bed. It is not good to do Yoga Nidrā in your sleeping bed. Imagination is very powerful. That imagination is with your willpower. And suddenly he felt that his body was levitating. And he sees near the ceiling, and he looks down, and he is moving like this. That was all imagination. In reality, the body was on the bed. Now the fear came. Fear came. Somehow, he managed to change the feelings and imaginations. This is a real story. At 3:30 in the night, my telephone was ringing. And he said, “Swamiji, I can’t sleep.” I said, “Well, but I can sleep. So you can call me tomorrow morning.” He said, “No, no, please don’t put off the telephone. You must help me” and told the whole story. Therefore, practitioners as well as the teacher, the instructor, first, he or she must be lakṣārthī. Not only listening from cassettes, not only reading from some articles, not reading from the books — they are very good, they are not bad — but that’s for our information. There is a picture on the wall with beautiful, delicious food, and you are very hungry, and I will show you with the indicator or the pointer, “Purījī, Purījī…” It is advisable that you go for a yoga teacher training for just 10 days or one week, and you come back with a yoga teacher certificate and declare yourself a yoga teacher. Unfortunately, that’s what’s happening now in the world. It’s years and years of experience. Dekhā Dekī Sajāy Yog Ghaṭāy Kāyā Baḍe Rog. If you just imitate and try to practice like that, you will harm your body. And maybe illness will increase. There was one lazy disciple who tried to be very clever and just learn from hearing. He was living with one master. The master told him, “Practice, practice.” But he said, “Yes, yes, I will practice, I will practice.” And what the master used to speak and do, he tried to imitate. One day, a farmer came with one camel to the master. The master used to give some herbal medicine and some different kinds of practices for certain physical problems. The farmer came and said, “Gurudev, my camel, for the last two days, can’t eat, can’t drink, and he has something here in the throat, like a knot.” Guruji came, he tested the throat of the camel; something was moving up and down in it, so Guruji said to the farmer, “Let your camel sit.” It was sitting, the master was holding the camel’s nose, the camel looked a little up, he tried to make the throat straight, and very gently, with experience, with his fist, he was hitting here on the throat of the camel, and some dry pumpkin, maybe not something, came out. He couldn’t swallow, so it stuck inside. The disciple was sitting there and looking at what Gurudev was doing. Now the disciple said, “Yes, that is a good lesson. This is a good treatment for the throat if there is any problem.” He learned. “Now I know how to treat the throat problem.” After a few months, Gurujī had to go somewhere, and the disciple was alone in the āśram. One businessman came with his friend and asked for Vajagurujī. The disciple said, “Yes, I am here. What can I do for you?” He said, “Well, Vajagurudev,” he said, “well, he went to some other city, will come in a few days. But if there is any problem, my friend came from Kolkata, and he has throat problems.” So, “Gurudev knows many remedies,” he replied. “Throat, okay, no problem. Gurujī just showed me a few days ago, I can solve the problem, I can heal the disease.” They said, “Oh, that’s very nice of you, please.” So he said, “Show me your throat.” He looked at this. “Aha. I see, it is about long here in the throat.” The man said, “Yes, it’s long.” “Lie down on this wooden bench.” He put one pillow behind, under his shoulders, and said, “Please look up.” He was looking up. He closed his fist and with force, he hit. “What are you doing?” He said, “Moment, moment, melon is too long inside.” The man said, “There is no melon inside.” He said, “When the camel came once, let me do it from this side.” He said, “No, no, thank you, thank you.” Therefore, practice and experience yourself. So, before we learn anything, we have to overcome fear. The biggest disease, the strongest or most terrible pain we have, is fear. Fear of many, many things. Fear of animals, fear of ghosts, fear of water, from fire, from people — many, many things. Anxiety means that inwardly you are not strong enough; you have to master thyself not to have fear. And that is how the yoga teachers, yoga instructors, they should have proper, long years of training. Especially when giving the instructions for meditations, instructions for Yoga Nidrā, instructions for astral traveling, you should know what happens, what it is. If you don’t know, then go to a swimming pool where the sports swimmers are learning to jump. A few meters high, standing on the platform or the wooden plate, and the water is about 10 meters deep. Would you jump now? Even if you walk so carefully, you say, “No, thank you, tomorrow I will do it.” Fear is inside. Jīva sabhī ko pyārā hai. Everyone loves their life; everyone loves their soul. We are not afraid of death perhaps, but we are afraid, we have fear of the process. How we will die, how much pain we will have to endure, or whether we will go through pain, we do not know at all. To overcome certain fears, Gurudev said in one bhajan, “Practice, but have the observation of the Gurudev. Let Gurudev guide the disciple.” Bhaktas have to develop faith and confidence. It’s not easy. One practical example: the big Jambu Jet, where there are 200 people sitting inside, or more, a big airplane, double stories. Everyone has so much luggage: this, that, eating, and that — everything big inside, comfortable. You read about airplanes, you read the book “How to Fly,” now go and sit near the pilot, and the pilot will ask you to take off now on the runway. “Purījī, Purījī…” And take all your passengers, and safely land on the destination’s airport runway. You can hardly feel that you are there. Just gently land it. We will say, “What a master work, what a good pilot. Oh my God, it was so gently landed.” That’s it. So this is Lakṣārthī and Vācārthī. So Vācārthī is listening, reading a theory, but Lakṣārthī is practiced. Practice, practice, abhyāsa, abhyāsa, kuṇṭe, abhyāsa. Oh Arjuna, practice, practice, practice. So Gurudev, we need Guru Kṛpā. Terī Satguru Rake Lāj, Chintā Mat Karanā, Chintā Mat, Nirbhairaho Niśaṅk Kabhī Mat Dharanā, Terī Satguru Nirbhairā Ho Niśaṅk Kabhī Mat Daranā, Tom Nirbhairā Niśaṅk Kabhī Mat Daranā. That’s why Satguru Dev protects us. Okay, in this physical body, in this physical world, we are taking care of ourselves. But what is the afterlife? What is a real Gurudev? What is Guru Kṛpā? That you will realize only when you go out of your body. The last breath you will have, and you go out of the body, it means you have died, separated from the body. Then we will see what Guru Kṛpā is, what Guru Light is, and how you are comfortably, safely guided to different lokas. So, Kuṇḍalinī is not a physical process in the body. It is energy. It is very subtle. It is experienced. For example, the Mūlādhāra Cakra has four petals. Each unfoldment of the petal is the awakening of a certain quality: happiness, wisdom, love, light. And this is what we need for the further process to awaken the Svādhiṣṭhāna Cakra. Energy is always moving around the circle, and that’s why we call it Kuṇḍalī. Kundal is like a ring, like an earring. And the ring, in Sanskrit or in our language, mudrikā or aṅguṭhī, is feminine. Therefore, Kuṇḍalinī, the Śakti, is also feminine. This energy is moving like this and circulates there three and a half times, or three and a half coils, around that Śiva Liṅga. The chakras on our foot soles, till the ankle joints, are called the earth chakra. Many people meditate, concentrating on their own feet. They get depression. They ask the question, then why should we meditate on the feet of Gurudev? That is different. You are meditating on others. Guru Nāk Man Ghan Jyoti Tulsīdājī said in the Rāmāyaṇa, all the holy saints said, on the nail of the toes, there is a source of the divine light, a nectar. But many do not understand. That is what we call the Caraṇāmṛta. Everywhere, in every tradition, in every religion, there is holy water. Part 2: The Nectar of Consciousness: Chakras, Dreams, and the Guru's Immortal Word What is that? That is called Caraṇāmṛta. There are many different kinds of Amṛta. Don’t think that you will take a drop of some Amṛta from the chemistry shop, swallow it, and become immortal. It is not like that. There is Jñāna Amṛta, Vācana Amṛta, Pañca Amṛta, Caraṇa Amṛta—many different kinds of Amṛta. Through these we receive that knowledge, that energy, that protection which leads us to immortality. There is also Sañjīvanī Bhūti, the life‑giving potency that can awaken a person again to life—just as you put a few drops on dry wood and it begins to turn green again. Yes, we are all searching for this, but sometimes even poison can affect our body like nectar, and nectar can also kill us like poison. The key is to know how and what. There was once a disciple who came to a master and asked, “Master, please, can you accept me as your disciple?” The master replied, “Well, I give you one duty, and then come to me after that. Bring me one plant from anywhere that is not useful at all.” The disciple said, “Yes, Master.” He took a notebook with him and went through the forest, asking farmers and shepherds, “What kind of plant is this, and what is it good for?” He drew a picture of each plant and wrote down its uses. It took him a few years to complete this task, but he did not find a single plant that was not useful for something. He brought a big book full of entries and returned to his Gurudev, saying, “Gurudev, I failed.” The master asked, “Why?” The disciple explained, “In so many years I worked very hard, and the proof is this: look, I have the name of the plant, a picture I drew, and what it is good for. I did not find anything that is not useful for anything.” Gurudev said, “Now you pass the examination. Now I will give you mantra and initiation.” And that disciple became the author of Āyurveda, the science of medicine. So everything on this earth is of nectar. Nectar is flowing. Even in stones, nectar is there. But we do not know when, for what, and how. This is the knowledge of how the Kuṇḍalinī Śakti works in the body, how the cakras work, and which kind of energy is flowing in whose entire body. Jīvanmuktas, those masters, purify the body—not of physical toxins but of energy—and that becomes the immortal blessing. Therefore it is said, “Mokṣa Mūlaṃ Guru Kṛpā.” That nectar, that Vācāmṛta, is Guru Vākya. Mantra Mūlaṃ Guru Vākyam. The root, the essence of the mantra—the best mantra for us all as disciples—is to follow the Guru Vākya. Mantra Mūlaṃ Guru Vākyam, Mokṣa Mūlaṃ Guru Kṛpā, Dhyāna Mūlaṃ Guru Mūrtiḥ, Pūjā Mūlaṃ Guru Padam. On our foot‑soles up to the ankle joint is the earth cakra. From the ankle joint to the knees belongs to the vegetation, and from the knees to the hip joints—where the spinal column begins—are the animal cakras. The border between earth and vegetation is the ankle joints. The border between vegetation and animal consciousness is the knee. And from the knee to the hip joints lies the border between animal and human consciousness. There is the Śiva Liṅgam, and that is again God Śiva. Śiva is the Lord of all, and that is why we are sitting here in Nepal, where all adore him—it is called Paśupati Mahādeva, the Lord of animals and humans. That is the symbol of the Śiva Liṅgaṃ in the Mūlādhāra Cakra. Where there is Śiva, where consciousness is, there is also energy, the Śakti. And this Śakti is coiled three and a half times, going downward. What we need is that this unfoldment of the energy moves upward again—not physically; this is a methodological picture only. In reality, maybe you will see the difference. This is the border between the human and animal consciousness, and thereby—I told very early, I think in Mūlādhāra—there is an elephant with seven trunks. That is again a mythological picture, and it means the seven minerals, Śabda Dhātu, Śabda Bhūmikā, which bring us to the seven upper lokas. Fourteen different worlds exist: seven below and seven above. These all are balanced and governed by Bhagavān Śiva. Śiva means consciousness, Śiva means liberation. And where there is Śiva, there is energy. But this energy has to be activated. The consciousness is ever there, and so the first mastery is to overcome fear. There is one very good technique we spoke about in the last two days: knowing the changes of consciousness from jāgrat to suṣupti, from waking to sleep. At which minute or second, how was your consciousness transferred from being awake to sleep? It is not easy work, but Yoga Nidrā can enable us. Now the second: how did you separate your consciousness from sleep to dream, and in the morning remember the dream? Many people say, “Oh, I didn’t sleep,” or “I dreamt,” or “I don’t know.” Hardly is there any sleep without a dream, but you were so deep and relaxed that you cannot remember. The first technique to master the dream means to master fear. When you dream, you should know that you are dreaming. In the morning you can say, “I had this and this dream.” Second, during a dream you should know, “My body is sleeping here at my home, but in the dream I am in the park. So I am only dreaming I am in the park.” The third level: during the dream, open your eyes and close your eyes, and continue your dream. That is a little more difficult. You open your eyes and close them—the dream will continue. The difficulty is to open the eyes at that moment, because as soon as you open your eyes, your astral body is again in the physical body. The next step is: while dreaming, you know you are dreaming, you wake up, go to the bathroom, come back, and dream again—the same dream. Try it. It is a beautiful experience. It will uplift your consciousness to higher levels. After a few days, months, or years—it depends on the individual—you dream, you wake up, take your clothes, get up, go out of your house, walk around the block, come back, sleep, and continue the dream. I had one very good experience, or feedback. It was in ’76; a lady in what was then Czechoslovakia, in a beautiful city called Olomouc, told me this story. She said, “Swamiji, I was practicing what you lectured on dreams.” One evening she noticed that one of the buttons of her coat was missing, and in her dream she saw that the button was somewhere in the park near a wooden bench where she had been sitting. She got up, went there, and found the button at midnight, around one or two o’clock. She came home, sewed the button onto her coat, and slept. In the morning she wanted to know whether it was reality or not—and yes, the button was on the coat. The next step is this: in the evening, you make your saṅkalpa, your saṅkalpa śakti, your resolution: “I will dream tonight the same dream I had yesterday.” Now it means you become the master of your dreams. You can call things as you like; you are the master of the dreams at any time. So the final level is that you unite your sleep, dream, and waking consciousness—jāgrat, suṣupti, and svapna avasthā. Then you come to the Turīya avasthā. Turīya is the state that encompasses the three levels of consciousness. And this Turīya is jāgrat, suṣupti, and svapna—past, present, and future. That is called Trikāla Darśī: trikāla means time, darśī means the knower, the one who can see. The knowledge of past life begins to open in your consciousness; otherwise it is not easy. “Ko’ham? Katham idaṁ jātaṁ?” Who am I? From where did I come, and where am I going? Past, present, and future—that is called Trikāla Darśī Turīyāvasthā. Turīyāvasthā begins when we cross the border between the human and the divine consciousness. The divine consciousness—between human and divine, or goddess—is our Ājñā Cakra. From the bottom of the spinal column to its end, or what is called the small of the brain, the Ājñā Cakra is actually located there, not here. But its reflection is there because that is the place of our inner visions, and that is called Cidākāśa. Cidākāśa. Chitākāśa. Chetanā. Our Cidākāśa. We will talk tomorrow about Ākāśa and Cidākāśa. So let us first understand theoretically, then we will slowly put it into practice. And one day you will say, “My Kuṇḍalinī is already awakened.” But those who think and tell you that Kuṇḍalinī awakening means you feel something crawling along the spinal column—well, it can be two things: either you have a problem with the nervous system, or you didn’t change your clothes for a few days. So change your dress. Some say, “Something is falling like a waterfall within the spinal column.” That is better; you should go to the doctor and check it. These are anubhavas. Therefore, Tattvadarśī Gurudevakā Anubhava Paramparā—the lineage of realized experience that can see the tattvas. Five days ago we spoke about Nāḍī Śodhana and the function of Iḍā and Piṅgalā, and how you can see the color of your breath, your prāṇa, through Śāmbhavī Mudrā in yoga. Śāmbhavī Mudrā: Śambhu means Śiva, Svayambhū, the self‑manifested one, whom no one gave birth to—in this Anantaḥ, in the universe. Dark blue light, Śūnyākāśa. From that Śūnyākāśa consciousness awakens through Nādarūpa Parabrahma. Jyotir Bindu, that is a Jyoti Bindu there. And so our beloved Satguru Dev Swāmī Madhavānandajī said about Bhagavān Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī: “Prakāś puñj amṛt ke sāgar, Śrī Dīp Harī Mahādhānī he. Prakāś puñj amṛt ke sāgar, Śrī Dīp Harī Mahādhānī he. Sare viśvame guñj rahī hai, sare viśvame prabhu kī.” Āmar Kahānī, Prakāś Puñjam Hṛthake, Śrī Dīpā Harī Mahādāne—Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai. These experiences can only come if the disciple has that practice, faith, and realization of the Gurudev. First you have to realize thyself; that means thy devotion. Gurujī used to say, “May the mighty Himālaya begin to shake, but a bhakta’s faith should never shake.” That is it. Therefore, then it is said, “Chand Tale, Sūraj Tale, Mahāpuruṣ kā Bachan Kabhī Nahīṁ Tale.” The moon and sun can change their direction, but the words of the saints, the sādhus, will not change. They will come true sooner or later. I heard an old story of the king of Nepal. In very ancient times, some centuries ago, another king attacked the kingdom of Nepal. The enemy had more power, more soldiers, but the Nepal king had his Gurudev—it is called Nātha, maybe Gorakhnāth or something. The king went to the Gurudev. In ancient times it was actually the saints, the ṛṣis, who were advising, guiding, and governing everything. What we today call politics, Rājanīti, was created by the ṛṣis. That is called Nīti, ethics. They made these rules so that human society could be protected, could live together in harmony, and could lead a spiritual life. The ṛṣis made this Nīti and gave it to some person who was more capable of understanding, and they gave him the title of king, rājā. So the ṛṣi gave the Nīti to the rājā, and it became Rājanīti. And Rājanīti is not bad. In Ātmā Kathā, a book of Mahātma Gāndhījī, the last chapter he writes: if one thinks that religion or dharma and rājanīti cannot go together, it means the person does not know what religion is, or does not know what politics is. Without dharma, politics cannot be successful. And without politics, you can also not be successful, because there will be many, many disturbances. Well, the king went to Gurudev and said, “Gurudev, I have this and this problem, this situation. I will lose my kingdom.” His Gurujī said, “Take my wooden sandal and put it on your chair, the throne of the king.” The king replied, “Gurudev, not only on my chair—I will put it on my head.” So he took it and put it on his head. Gurudev said, “As long as this remains on your head, your kingdom will be safe.” So it is said that the king had a very beautiful symbol of the Gurudev’s sandals. But in the later dynasties, the last kings said, “Well, it doesn’t look nice. This is modern times, and shoes on the head…” They removed it, and as soon as they removed it, the kingdom was removed. “Jaba taka ye mere khaḍāū caraṇa pādukā terī siṅghāsana para rahegā, taba taka terā rājya khaṇḍa rahegā.” “Gurudev, maiṃ mere sira para rakhūṅgā.” “Ke, tū betā, jaba taka rahegā, khaṇḍa hai. Haṭa gayā to terā rājya haṭa jāyegā.” So how far is this? Some old Mahātma was telling his experiences, or he read somewhere, or I don’t know—like that. So Guru Vachan, Guru Vākya, is immortal. Therefore it is said in one bhajan, Mahāprabhujī said, “Bhagavān, Dīp Nārāyaṇa,” Mahāprabhujī and our dear sister Hemavatī will sing now: “Bacchana vālā lageśā, maiṃ hī jānūṃ bacchana pyārā lageśā, maiṃ hī jānūṃ maiṃ hī jānūṃ, aura ko kaīṃ.” All the best, and see you tomorrow again.