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The Supreme Light Is Our Origin

A spiritual discourse on realizing oneness through yoga, delivered at a satsang gathering.

"The tiny Jīvātmā, throughout the whole life, collects more and more and more impressions, experiences, or karma."

"What you have to do tomorrow, do it now, today, and what you have to do today, do it now. Within seconds, your life is gone."

The lecturer addresses the audience, exploring the nature of the individual soul (jīvātmā), the universal Self (paramātmā), and the path to unity. Using metaphors like a snowball, a salt dissolved in water, and a broken mala, he explains how karma binds the soul and how selfless service without expectation leads to harmony. The talk weaves in teachings on creation from sound, the five elements, and the importance of unconditional love for all beings.

Filming location: Vancouver, Canada

O sākṣāt param brahma tasmai śrī gurubhyo namaḥ. Mahā-dhyāna-mūlaṁ gurur mūrtiḥ, pūjā-mūlaṁ gurur padam, mantra-mūlaṁ gurur vākyaṁ, mokṣa-mūlaṁ guror kṛpā. Aum śāntiḥ śāntiḥ... Salutation to the Cosmic Light, adoration to our Divine Masters. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Welcome. It is nice to be with you again. Thank you for the good introduction, Mr. President of Yoga and Dairy Life, Nirav Puri, and all the bhajan band who sang beautiful bhajans, and all the volunteers who help here so that all brothers and sisters who come feel relaxed and comfortable. There are many questions and many things to be spoken, but there is one thing that we need. Nirvāṇ Purī gave me the subject: how to realize the oneness through yoga. That was spoken about yesterday: ātmā, paramātmā, and jīvātmā. Jīvātmā is the individual soul. Ātmā is that Ātmā, the light of that Supreme in every individual, not only in humans but in animals too. And Paramatmā is the omniscient, omnipresent God everywhere in the universe. In Sanskrit we call Parameshwara, Param Īśvara. Ishwara means God, and Param means the highest. Parameshwara is that cosmic self which governs the entire universe. Ishvara is that consciousness of God which is governing our sun system, as far as the light of this sun goes. Within that, everything is controlled, ruled, balanced, and harmonized. That is called Īśvara. And then there is the ātmā, which is balancing, controlling, and keeping the oneness of this physical being. This ātmā and jīvātmā, the soul—these are the three. Ātmā, now, in Vedānta philosophy, in Yoga Vedānta, and in this science of consciousness, it is said, ātmā is paramātmā. So the light of the Paramātmā, who is governing the entire universe, is the same light which we have. But the Jīvā is a bundle of karmas, actions, and emotions. You know the example of the snowball? You understand the example of the snowball, Mr. Prempurī? Bigger and bigger. Yes. So when it’s snowing here, or you go on a high hill, there is still snow. I saw today you make a small snowball. And where there is fresh snow, it’s snowing. You let it roll your snowball, and it’s catching more and more snow; it’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger. So the tiny Jīvātmā, throughout the whole life, collects more and more and more impressions, experiences, or karma. Day by day we are loading. It is a heavy load, a heavy load. When we can’t carry any more, then this Jīvātmā leaves this body to become a little lighter for some time, not having more karmas. In the Vedas, it is said, "Ananta Brahman," the endless universe. We don’t know where this space began and where it ends. So that is Ananta, endless, no boundary. And we are limited, we are limited ones. Now, the limited one, how should it know about the unlimited one? Correct? So it is said, anant brahmāṇḍa śāstra sūryas. The Vedas say that there are thousands of millions of suns in that anant brahmāṇḍa. Now what we call galaxy, and what we call it all, we call the Milky Way, and we call, in India we said the sky Ganges, the Ganges in the sky. That is the light of the different suns. Yogīs declared many, many ages before, there are many sun systems. How did they come there? We don’t know. Only through the astral body, only through meditation. Anant Brahmāṇḍa Śāstra Sūrya. Now there are three things in this. The space. Space is immortal. You cannot destroy the space. Space is symbolized as the body of the mother. So this mother principle is immortal. You cannot destroy it. First, God is called "Matri Devo Bhava" in the Upaniṣads. First, God is mother. Know the value of the mother. Now, why did I say mother? It is the mother’s body. And now, the second is called consciousness. That consciousness is like an embryo in the body of the mother. Is the embryo outside or inside? Inside. So we call it cosmic consciousness. Right? So that light, the consciousness, is within the space. And that is known as Hiraṇya Garbha. Hiraṇya Garbha, Hiraṇya means golden, gold. Garbha is embryo, golden embryo. And from there, what in Christianity they take the symbol of the Easter egg. So this Easter egg is an example principle coming from that time, the Vedas, Hiraṇyagarbha. We know that a rabbit doesn’t give the egg. But maybe the rabbit found the egg and gave it to us. And the third is called energy. It is that energy which unites, balances, and harmonizes these two: space and consciousness. Now these are three, but how did it begin? Because space can’t do anything, and consciousness has no desires. How did the creation begin? So that creation began with that energy, and that energy, it is said, is the will of God. Often we speak of God’s will. That came, it is said in the Vedas, "Eko’haṁ bahusyāmi"—I am one, and now I will multiply myself. That’s called the first tendency, or the waves, or the movement, or the resonance. One ache in an ache, one in many, and many in one. So it’s expansion and contraction. The Sarjan in Hindi, Sarjan means the creator, not the doctor. So, Sarjan and Visarjan. Visarjan means to go away or dissolve again. Sarjan means to create. Ekoham bahu syāmi, I am one and now I will multiply. That began with sound, nādaḥ oṁ. Again the Veda said, nādarūpa para brahma. If you want to know how the form of God is, then it is a resonance, the sound. Then everything is created out of this sound. That resonance, we don’t know how many trillions, billions, trillions of years, but it is still resonating. As far as you go in meditation, or you go in some peaceful place where there is no sound pollution, you hear a peaceful sound, very tender, very fine. Go into the cave and meditate. You will hear there is a resonance. So it is said, yogī, śūnyākāś. Sunya means empty space, nothing. But in śūnyākāś is the voice, the nāda, the sound. And this sound began, and creation. The space is there. The fire. Through resonance, the sound fire came. When you rub your hands, what comes? Heat. Fire. Out of the fire came the water, and out of the water came the air from this heat and water. And then came the earth. Space, fire, water, air, and earth. And so we are the manifestation of these five elements. Now, the first resonance that began, and wherever it begins to come together, there began the divisions. And from this division, the light, and then we are the one ray of that one light. And that is our soul. Through that light, something awoke in this material, and we are here, living beings. We are searching again for our origin, where to go. Our aim is that. It doesn’t matter how many billions or trillions of years it will last, but we are searching for that. And that goes through light. Every creature searches for light. Every seed which is in the ground sprouts out where the light is. Everything grows towards the light because it has its aim: to come to the origin, to the light. And light is consciousness, God without. That light again, darkness, and that light is the resonance that will lead us. And that’s how we all wish to come to that one unity. That light, that sound is in you and in me, the same. But now we are divided. One day, again, we will merge into that one place. And we will not merge in that way, but we will lose our individuality. Now, people think, after death, I am automatically one with God. I’m not existing anymore. That’s not true. That’s not true. In this cup, there’s salt in solid form. And we put water in this glass. And now, the salt has melted in the liquid. And we think we give someone a drink, and one will see there’s no salt inside. Nothing. You don’t see salt. I don’t see the salt. The physical form is gone. Now I will test. Oh, nice, salty. How? I didn’t see. There’s nothing visible. But my jñānendriya, my sense, tells there is salt. So after that, our body is gone, still you are existing. Still, you are existing. You are going, searching somewhere in a different form. Again, it will come in solid form. Again, it will go; again, it will come. Our aim is to merge into that reality, which is what we call God. If my God, I tell you that this is my God, how can I limit that limitless in one? That’s the problem of many people. How should I see the complete God in Krishna, in Rama, in Jesus, or in someone? Yes, they manifest it, or they incarnate. They have the quality of that one, but still they are not that one. And that one cannot guide us at all. That is in every atom. And therefore, we have to manifest it. Anant, endless light, sound, and we are sitting here. Now, that God or the Ātmā, Parameśvara, Īśvara, and Ātmā, Jīvātmā, is like a thread. And in this thread, this mālā, these are 108, 109 beads are hanging in one. Because of this one thread inside, that is keeping it all together. If that breaks, then all the pearls will spread here and there. If we see God or Divine in every creature and every human, then we will be in oneness, like this mālā. But if I say, "No, this is not my God. It’s not my religion. It’s not my culture." So we cut this thread in many pieces, and the pearls—we are the pearls—we are gone. There is one song, "Toot Gayī Hai Mālā, Motī Bikhar Chale." It’s a very nice song, bhajan. You can say it’s a bhajan. The mala is broken, and the pearls are lost here and there. Clear? Two days were together, and now we don’t know where they’ve gone. So you can say maybe your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, your child, your husband, your friends, you are related to them, connected with them, and one day when one dies, never know where the soul is gone. Do din rahe kar sāth, only two days: one day was yesterday, second is today. Tomorrow, we don’t say if we will be together or not. Therefore, we say yesterday and today, but we don’t say tomorrow. Clear? We say tomorrow, tomorrow means uncertain. In the small village, there is a shop, and many people come for buying something and say, "Oh, I have no money, I forgot my money pocket. I will give you tomorrow. I’ll come and give you the money, please give me this." Give me this, and the shopkeeper’s day by day getting his business down because people borrow and they don’t come to give back again. So he writes on his shop, very nice: "Āj rokad, kal udhār." Aaj rokad, kal udhar. He said, "Today’s pay in case, tomorrow you can borrow." So next one comes tomorrow, and he said, "Can I borrow?" He said, "No, look here, today’s case tomorrow." So, two days: yesterday and today. Who has seen tomorrow? No one has seen tomorrow. No one. Tomorrow will always be tomorrow. Therefore, in every culture and language, they say, "What you have to do tomorrow, do it today." And when you do something today, do it just now. You never know when the soul will go out of the body. Kaal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so ab, pal mein prāṇ chale jāyegā, bahurī karoge kab. What you have to do tomorrow, do it now, today, and what you have to do today, do it now. Within seconds, your life is gone. When will you do it? Work is undone, and you will die. So complete your work now. And that’s what Patañjali said, "Atha yogānuśāsanam," now and now, just now. Those who are lazy will miss the chance. So, it’s a beautiful bhajan, a beautiful song. One day I will translate completely. And one who is singing is a very old, very old singer, and has a good voice. And when you remain alone, the partner is gone, the friend is gone, someone is gone, then you feel lonely. You feel alone. And that same singer is singing one beautiful bhajan again, very beautiful but very emotional. People begin to cry when they listen to this. He is singing, "Pinjare kā panseere, terā darā danā jāne ko." Pinjare kā panśīrī. O bird in the cage, a bird in the cage. Nobody knows your pain. Nobody knows your pain. This body is that cage, and that Jīvātmā is inside, longing, wishing something. Love, happiness, oneness, warmth, kindness, support. But you are lonely. Though there is someone living with you, you are lonely. That is why it is said, "This cup or this katori is made out of brass." And the sound of the brass is beautiful. What you buy here in some shop, what they call the sound bowl, beautiful, big, thick, five kilos, two kilos, one kilo, half a kilo, a quarter kilo, ten kilos, it depends. And you have beautiful resonance. If there is a little crack, even not visible, that resonance is gone; there is no more resonance. This is not brass; otherwise, it would be better. And now we will break it. Now it is broken. Where is the resonance? We shall repair it. So there is again a point, kāṁśī phūṭī jinkar kahā gayī. This is broken where the resonance is gone. Kaansi phūṭī jinkar kahā gayī, aur dūdh phaṭā kahā gayā ghṛt. The milk is spoiled where the butter disappeared. From the milk where you put lemon inside, after you try to get butter out of that milk, you can’t get butter. Where is the butter gone? Kaansi futi jinkar kaha gayi, aur doodh fata kaha gaya, grit. Dipak bujh gaya. This lamp, the flame is gone off. Dipak bujh gaya, lo kaha chali gayi. Now where has the flame disappeared? Windows are closed, doors are closed. The flame is gone? You are lying, and the soul is gone out. Nobody knows through which window it went out. We may hold the hand or cry, touch, but the flame is gone. Kaansi phūṭī jinkar kahā gayī, dūdh phaṭā kahā gayā, ghṛt. Dīpak bujh gayā, lo kahā chalī gayī, flame where it went. Aur man phaṭā kahā gayā, prīt, ari om tat sat. And when you have in your mind some kind of conflict, disappointment, love is gone. And asking, "Where has the love gone?" At that time, though you live together, you live like a lonely, alone person. Socially, you are together, maybe because your parents or someone will say, "Oh, they divorce," and this and that. In the morning, they get up and say, "Good morning." She’s looking in the window, and he’s looking in the newspaper. Good morning. And what was the condition when you first time came together? How did you say good morning? See, love is gone. And that is the prakṣī, that bird in your inner case, in this body, crying, but nobody knows your pain. And that pain can only be cured by the spiritual divine light and God. So, what we should create in all, in our societies, in our family, is confidence, love, understanding, kindness, service, and helping. Well, it will take time, 10 years, 20 years, but then they will realize, oh, this person is really working for our society, for good things. There will be some people jealous of you. They will say, "My God, what does he want?" The politician will be nervous. They think, "Uh-huh, next election he wants to lose the election." Everyone has ego, jealousy, hatred, and greed. How to put someone down? But the wise and good-hearted people, they acknowledge your work, what you do. So, don’t expect anything from others, like thank you. Don’t expect it. Just do your duty, do your karmas. The Bhagavad Gītā says, "Do your karma, the fruits God will give." This is the essence, the teaching of the Bhagavad Gītā, everywhere. So, when you do something and expect something back, it is selfish karma. When you do without any expectation, it is seva, selfless. And this is the way how we can unite our societies and families. First, you have to unite within thyself to love. Unconditional love means love your birds. Feed your birds in the morning. In winter, there is nothing to eat. Your ants, my God, did you see how beautiful they are? When you bring sugar into your kitchen, you know how they are smiling then? They smile. And they go and tell everybody, they say, "Look, we have got something nice. Look, they are very kind." And when the man comes there, what do you do? Oh God! So, there is a way to give direction to the ants; they will go only to that side. Put some food on that side. Put very fine chapati flour; they don’t like to go over because they get all this in their hair. They are stuck in there, so they go the other direction. They will—don’t kill them. But my kitchen, and say it’s not your kitchen, my kitchen, because we were born here. It’s our house, so love them. Don’t destroy them. Don’t kill them. And they also have children who will think of their children. So the problem becomes in society and in humans, since the human lost the value of other life. We think only we are humans, humanitarian, humanitarian. Okay, one day, what will humans do? The Canadian or the Native Indian said, "When the last tree will be chipped off and the last fish will die, then you will realize, my friends, that you can’t eat your dollars." You may have so many dollars, but you cannot take one bundle and buy it like your big sandwich. So respect and love, this is the way to unite, harmonize, and balance our society. And I’m sure here many people are doing, they are more healthy. The health conscious, the Canadians, and in Vancouver, wherever I go, people are talking about organic, organic... Food, but ask them how many buy the organic. I don’t know if any you have here. I mean, in Europe, they are creating organic supermarkets, supermarkets which have organic food. So, if you all decide, I will not buy anything more, which is not organic, we go to, then automatically they will turn to the organic food. When there is no consumer, then what will the manufacturers do? And the world crisis, the financial crisis, is only because the greedy manufacturers, they manufacture so much, there are no consumers. And when they didn’t find a consumer, then they said, "Okay, we’ll do something. What? Use and throw."

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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