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The Subtle Power Of Yoga

A spiritual discourse on the awakening of divine consciousness through mantra, dharma, and selfless living.

"The principle of life is to be born, to grow, and to die. No one can stop this, not even the Creator Himself, because the Creator is also bound to the cosmic law."

"Within you is the ocean of bliss... Kill this little 'I', ego, 'my', 'my'... Then you will have a divine life, an awakening of the divine light."

A spiritual teacher leads a satsang, beginning with an explanation of life's manifestations and the universal law (dharma), illustrated by a story of a king and the dharma daṇḍa (staff of righteousness). He discusses the purpose of human life, advocating for karma yoga and the spiritual science of living, including cooking (Pakśāstra). The discourse honors other masters like Swami Sivananda and culminates in guided meditation and collective chanting of mantras like Om Namah Shivaya and the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra to awaken inner divine light and bliss.

Filming location: Alexandria, USA

Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu Niraamayaah, Sarve Bhadraani Pashyantu, Maa Kashchid Duhkha Bhaag Bhavet, Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. Let us begin with some mantra chanting. Nādaḥ, Rūpaḥ, Parabrahma. The form or embodiment of the Supreme, the Highest One, is called resonance. The entire universe is Ananta. Ananta Brahmāṇḍa, the endless universe. Ananta Brahmāṇḍa, Ananta Hari. The universe is endless, and the Lord Himself is endless, and endless is His glory. His glory is transmitting in each and every atom and in every life, in each and every soul. Life comes to this martyaloka, the mortal world. There are four different ways, or doors, through which life manifests here with the help of the five elements. The jarāyus—jarāyus means all those born from a mother's womb in complete form: we and many other animals, cows, deer, elephants, dogs, rabbits—all that are born complete. Aṇḍajas are born through eggs, udbhijas sprout from bark in trees, and svedajas are like bacteria. These are the four doors, or ways, through which life enters this mortal world. All of them possess the light of God, the Supreme. These three exist, live, and develop: jalacara, thalacara, and nabḥacara—creatures in water, on the earth or surface, and in the sky. The principle of life is to be born, to grow, and to die. No one can stop this, not even the Creator Himself, because the Creator is also bound to the cosmic law. The president of a country is also bound to the law of the constitution. There was once a king who said, "This is the law, this is the order; it applies to all, but not to the king. A king can do what he or she wants." At that time, the ṛṣis, the great spiritual leaders, yogīs, masters, or gurus—whatever you call them—were guiding and overseeing the kings so they would not do wrong. When the king said the king is not affected by these laws, the master came with a stick in his hand and struck the king on the head three times. "King, you said no law can punish you, but I tell you, in my hand is this stick called dharma daṇḍa." Daṇḍa means the stick. Dharma means the principle or spirituality. "Three times, King: dharma daṇḍa, dharma daṇḍa, dharma daṇḍa. If you act selfishly like this, then dharma will punish you." Since that time, all holy saints carry sticks in their hands. In Christianity, they call it the staff of the shepherd. So you are all the goats and sheep, and whoever has the stick in hand leads you as sheep. But the ṛṣi said, "No, this stick is only for the protection of dharma for you." Dharmo rakṣati rakṣitaḥ. If you protect dharma, dharma will protect you. Therefore, you will see many yogīs with a stick in hand, not for walking or for beauty, but as dharma daṇḍa. That dharma daṇḍa is very holy. You should not touch it with your feet. If you have the dharma-daṇḍa of your master, you should at least touch it to your head and place it nicely in one spot, because that is the daṇḍa. It is the cosmic law, the constitution of the entire universe. All are in this cycle of birth and death. Therefore, it does not matter which incarnation was here; they also have to go one day. Forever, you cannot rule from the chair of the president. Now it is at a maximum; you can be elected once more, but not a third time. You must vacate the seat. Similarly, everyone who came playing their part on the stage of this world cannot stay forever. Your game is over; go behind the curtain, hurry up. If you are taking a long time, there is a second curtain coming down. If you say, "Wait, stop, stop," it is still going down. That is the curtain of limitation between life and the next life, life after life, life after death. This is the process that Kīrtī had divided. Now, whether you will come to this platform next time or not depends on your demonstration, on how you acted. So the principle, the law of life, is to be born, grow, and die. There is a saying in a Hindi poem; those who understand Hindi will know it: "Rām nām kī lūṭ hai, aur lūṭ sake to lūṭ." Anta kāle meṁ pistāyegā, prāṇa jāyegā, lūṭ. Lūṭ. "Loot" has both positive and negative meanings. Loot means that something very valuable, precious, is lying there, and you can take away as much as you can. Sometimes this is negative, as in some countries where there is a big disaster, flood, or such, many people do not go to rescue or take people out from houses where they died in the flood or earthquake. Instead, they go to take whatever they can find: golden chains, rings, and such. Even when the body is swollen, they cut fingers to take rings out. That is called loot. Take as much as you can, for tomorrow the area will be controlled and no one will be allowed to enter. Or there is another loot: that is called Rām Nām, the name of God. It is lying here in the field. Anyone who likes can take as much as they like. Otherwise, antakāla—kāla means time—at the end of this life, you will be sorry you did not take these precious jewels of the name of God. At the end of life, the prāṇa will leave your body. No more prāṇa. The body looks very nice, beautiful as it is. Hands are there, legs are there, eyes, ears, everything is there—mouth, nose. But there is no prāṇa. No soul is God. Then you come there, and all your pockets are empty. Some pockets are full of negative karma or positive karma. As Dr. Rathod said, he now dedicates his life to humanitarian work, to karma yoga. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad Gītā, "Arjuna, yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam." Arjuna, your yoga practice will be successful through karma, through seva. So it is good. He worked long, he has two beautiful sons. They are grown; they are also doctors working in different fields. Now he and his wife have decided they are in the third āśrama: brahmacarya āśrama, gṛhastha āśrama, vānaprastha āśrama, where you renounce and go to do something good. Lucky are they who can go and render their service. It must not be only when you are old. It is better to do it when you are younger so you can provide better service. Otherwise, when you are old, you sometimes become a burden for the organization because they have to take care of you. But it is okay; we will take care of you. It does not matter what condition you are in; render your seva. What is your profession? Are you an artist, a painter? Oh, beautiful. Those who are living there can try to teach children painting. You are a musician; teach them to play instruments. You are a singer; teach them singing. If you are a good cook, then teach them cooking lessons. Now America needs cooking lessons. I see day by day, unfortunately, many Americans have no cooking talent because we are all spoiled with ready-made food. They say, "Madam, the dining table is served." Just come and eat, wash hands, and go. That has slowly, slowly made us lazy, and our abilities and knowledge about cooking have slowly, slowly gone away. If there were no market, no supermarket, a newly married couple would come home and say, "What should we cook?" He will say, "You are my wife, so your duty is to cook." She will say, "But yes, you are my husband. Your duty is to start the microwave and such." So cooking is a science in the Vedas, in yoga. This is called Pakśāstra. We have different philosophies, and one of the philosophies is called Pakṣāstra. Pakṣāstra means—pak means cooking—transforming raw material, raw food, into prepared, edible cooked food. The best cook is one who can cook for you iron beans. Do you know what iron beans are? Iron is metal, very hard, small beans. Yes, not lentils, real iron—metal. Iron means if you try to break it with a hammer, it will not break. But a good cook can prepare and cook it in such a way that you will enjoy eating it, and you will have no lack of iron in the body. That is it. It is that Ayurvedic science that can turn mercury into a solid form. When you walk over a mountain somewhere and are exhausted, they give you this, like a little Śivaliṅga, and you put it under your tongue and walk. You will not feel tired. And here, mercury in its higher state is a poison; you cannot touch it. So that is something only one with knowledge of Pakṣāstra can do. There is a mercury Śivaliṅga, a mercury small piece, a mercury necklace. Yes, and mercury has the power to destroy gold, which you said gold, gold, gold. Mercury is higher than gold. Put gold and mercury together in one pot and close it; in the morning, the gold disappears. Yes, gold disappears. So that is called the science of cooking. This is one śāstra, one philosophy, part of the Vedas: Pakṣaśāstra. And then it is called Svayampāk. Are you Svayampākī? When you become a disciple and come to a master, the master asks you a first question: "Are you Swayamprakāśī?" It is in Sanskrit. What does that mean? Can you cook? Can you cook? The disciple will say, "Yes, master, I can cook." Then, come. You are a disciple. Tomorrow, prepare nice food. So knowledge, cooking is a science of life for survival. There are many creatures that know how to prepare and get their food. If you cook and give it to them, they will not touch it, but we are bound to this. So one of the best parts of Yoga in Daily Life is the satsaṅg and cooking code. Goal. Really, really. Because it is said: are you living for eating, or are you eating for living? So we are eating for living long and healthy, to achieve our final goal through human life. Or we are living for eating; then we take junk food and become ill, and eat and eat, and the body grows in this direction and that direction, and sometimes a few centimeters more, and you can be like a football, rolled into any corner. So it is the weakness of our knowledge, or lack of knowledge of cooking. Every mother in villages—I think in America too, and in India—the best chemistry shop where you buy medicine is the mother's kitchen. And the recipes of the grandmother's kitchen—now, where is the grandmother? And where is grandmother's kitchen? As soon as grandmother dies, we throw everything out and put in new things, all kinds of spices. That is medicine. And you should know what to put in. So life, but still, is to be born, to grow, and to die. Even Brahmā, the creator, has his one period, one yuga, then he retires. Viṣṇu also has one yuga, and then he retires. Yugas and yugas—that is why Kṛṣṇa says, "Every yuga I come." In the Bhagavad Gītā, He said, "Arjuna, time to time, through my yoga māyā, I manifest or incarnate in this world through yoga śakti." Brahmā is the creator, but finally, there comes what is called Mahāpralaya. And after the Mahāpralaya, then once again comes Svayambhū Śiva. Other times, Śiva gives the duties to Brahmā and Viṣṇu. Go ahead, work. Nityāvatāra and Nimitāvatāra. Nimitāvatāra is from time to time for a particular reason, and that is called the incarnation of the Viṣṇu ones. Nityāvatāra is the sense. Every time, every day, everywhere, some senses are born. That is called Nityāvatāra. But Svayambhū Śiva, and it is His energy everywhere, and He is called Gaurī Śaṅkara. Gaurī is the Śakti, and Śaṅkara is the consciousness, the Śiva. And Gaurī Śaṅkaras are sitting, living in oneness beside you, beside me. The Śakti is the Gaurī sitting in your body. It is Śakti and Śiva together. But Śakti and Śiva are not in that form which we call human, or male and female. No, no. It is a consciousness and energy that comes to the creation. So, after one Mahāpralaya, again Svayambhū comes. And, from time to time, also Śiva Himself manifests in different forms, different places, which we call Dvādaśa Jyotirliṅga. In those places, Śiva again appeared. So His name is very, very beautiful and very good. So chanting will awaken our spiritual energy. Chanting does not need a translation. When a child is crying, a small baby who does not speak anything—everyone we know, the child is crying, the child needs something, and we go. Because that language we understand. But when husband and wife are fighting, maybe in a different language, we do not understand why they are fighting, what it is. Because the asking and crying of a child is a universal language. It does not matter if the dog is from America, from Africa, from India, or from Australia. The barking of the dog is the same, yes or no? Yes. So that is a universal language, but we do not understand their dialect—the Indian dogs or American dogs or the European dogs or the Australian. They also have their own dialect, you know. We teach them our language. Otherwise, they have an equal language of the creature which God gave. A cat. A cat has its own language. She says, "Meow. You want to eat?" Meow. Many, many things. That is a universal love, universal oneness. Humans create through their intellect different things. So Śiva, Śiva Śakti, Śiva Jyoti, Śiva Nāda, Śiva Brahmā, Śiva Satya, Satyam Śivam Sundaram. And here we have also, sitting here, our Sadhvi Swami Sardhānand. Many of you know her master, and I know her master. Unfortunately, he passed away, I think already two decades or three decades—two decades he passed away. In America, the whole of America, not only North America, and in other continents, he was very well known and respected. Many artists, the film stars or painters, and many, many were his disciples. I called and I said to him, "You are like a holy saint from Assisi." Swami Śrī Chidānanda Jī was a disciple of Swami Śivānanda from Ṛṣikeśa. Śiva Nandji was from South India, and he studied to become a doctor of medicine in Malaysia. So he had many disciples from South India, and one of his disciples was also his successor, Swāmī Chidānandajī. And he was a master of Śānti, the Mary, Chidānandajī. So, Saccidānand Jī, and then, of course, we all grow, we will become older and older, as I told you. And we will get nice gray hair. I tell you, young kids who are sitting here, age of 20, 30, 40, 45, my dear, it is not easy to get gray hair. It is not easy. Still, you have to wait and struggle in life and work and work. Yeah, you can go to the barber shop and color it. That is not reality. Lucky are they, wise are they, proud are they, blessed are they, that now the divine nature tells. Now we give you the award, the award of the gray hair. And some people, even with gray hair, mostly the men, you know, they make their moustache look like, and their beard also, you know, and their hair also. You can put spray on your hair, but I tell you one thing: you must be very careful. I am warning you. If you have a spray, an artificial spray in your hair, do not go near honey bees. Bees will attack you in such a way that nobody can protect you. So if you are protecting or they are looking after the bees, then do not go near the beehive where they are living, because they do not like artificial things. They love to go to real flowers, not plastic flowers. So, gray hair. So you see, Swami Satchidanandaji, when he grew older, he had such beautiful white hair. And then he had one loving dog, very small, white; he was also very white, and he held him in his hands. Did you see the picture? Oh, you did not see; they did not see, maybe I saw it. So he was loving the animals like Francis of Assisi. And his disciples were taught satsaṅg, equal respect, and equal being. Do not act like missionaries, "Come to my master's bed, your master's bed," no. All masters are best, and that was the teaching of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. Go where the satsaṅg is. Go where the saint is. But do not go where they say, "Come to my ashram and learn from me and this." Then it becomes business, commercial. "My goods are good. My productions are good. I give you my sample, you know. Please take my sample." So it is not like that. Satsaṅg is the satsaṅg. And therefore, my dear, the awakening of the spiritual light within us is not through jogging, not through climbing or doing something; it is within us. I always used to say, Sivanandajī said—he made an organization called Divine Life Society—Divine Life Society. And he said, "Within you is the ocean of bliss." The ocean is very big. Many airplanes and ships can disappear; nobody will find them. So many things will just merge in your mercy. Within you is the ocean of bliss. And within you is the fountain of joy, which fountain comes from your heart. But you must know where to put it, open that vault or press that button, so that the fountain of joy comes out. Within you is the ocean of bliss, and within you is the fountain of joy, and within you is the immortal soul, ātmā. If you want to realize and enjoy and know the bliss, the joy, and self-realization, then Śivanandī said, "Do one thing: kill this little 'I', ego, 'my', 'my', 'come to me', 'I am'. Kill this ego and live the divine life." Then you will have a divine life, an awakening of the divine light. And therefore, Svayambhū Śiva. Close your eyes and sit in meditation. Go towards your heart. Feel that light and energy. See in your Ājñā Chakra that Jyoti, Śiva Jyoti, blue, beautiful blue Jyoti. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya,... Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya,... Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya,... Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Om Namaḥ Śivāya, Om Namaḥ Śivāya,... Om Namaḥ Śivāya. Very good. Remain with closed eyes, and many of you know one thing. When you use modern technology, as Dr. Rathore says, "We are talking with wireless, cordless connections." So when you Skype someone, and you see in the middle there is a light going from down to up, or from left to right, light is going to make the connection. Similarly, from Mūlādhāra till Sahasrāra Chakra, when we chant any kind of spiritual song or sound, and we are now at the center of our navel in Maṇipūra Chakra, let us feel energies ascending and descending, ascending from the navel through all the chakras to Sahasrāra. Descending as a pure quality to the whole body and filtering the negative energy, so we should sing slowly with this kind of feeling. I will chant, and then you begin to chant with me like this. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya ... Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya,... Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. After that, when you begin to feel harmony, oneness, and you have withdrawn yourself from the external world; you become Śrīmaya, then it is called Brahmananda. Ānandoham. Ānandoham. Ānandam, I am bliss, I am bliss,... bliss am I. Ānandam Brahma Ānandam ... ... Ānandam Brahma Ānandam. This chanting, when you come home after long work—yes, work is also physically hard; it also consumes a lot of mental energy and strength. Sometimes you feel exhausted, or your batteries need recharging. When you sit and chant such divine mantras, then the mental tension, you call the stiffness, releases, and you feel relaxed and one-pointed, energies charging. What is that energy? I am bliss, I am bliss, bliss am I. And what is that brahmānandam? Brahmā kā ānandam, the joy of the Supreme Brahmā. What is that? That is called sat-cit-ānandam. Sat means truth, cit means pure consciousness, and ānanda means bliss. We enter into our cidākāśa, the inner space. Through our meditation, oṁ is the bīja, the seed of the entire universe. Everything creates, comes out of one seed, that is Oṃ. And what brings that? Sat, the truth. What is the truth? Brahma satyaṁ, jagan mithyā. Only the one truth is Brahman: Ānanda, Satya. Śiva is that consciousness. Satyam śivam sundaram. Sat citta. That is consciousness, Śiva. Satyam śivam sundaram. Sundara is beauty or bliss. Om Saccidānanda, Om Saccidānanda,... Om Saccidānanda,... Om Satchidānanda, Om Satchidānanda. Do not hurry; slowly. I know you are a good singer and you always sing as a kīrtan, but I want to have meditative awakening of the divine light within us through yoga. Therefore, consciously be aware. Oṁ Sat Cit Ānand. Oṁ Sat Cit Ānand.... Auṁ Satī Dānam. Om Sat Chid Ānanda, Om Sat Chid Ānanda,... Om. Again, feel this vibration, this meaning. Sat is the truth. Is that what you are here as—ātmā, jīvātmā, energy, consciousness, and body? Sat chitta, I am alive, I am aware, I am living, I am experiencing. What? Ānanda, divine bliss. This is recharging the divine light, which you are awakening within you. And that light goes within each cell. Beautiful. Om Namaḥ Śivāya. Om Namaḥ Śivāya. ... Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Namaḥ ... Śivāya. Auṁ Śrī. Auṁ Śrī.... Auṁ Śrī... A Oṁ Śrī Devaiśvara Mahādevāya Namaḥ. So we come to Śiva again, to the Mahāmṛtyu Jaya Mantra five times. Oṁ Tryambakaṁ Yajāmahe Sugandhiṁ Puṣṭivardhanam, Urvārukamiva Bandhanān Mṛtyormukṣīya Mā'mṛtāt. Oṁ Tryambakaṁ Yajāmahe Sugandhiṁ Puṣṭivardhanam, Urvārukamiva Bandhanān Mṛtyormukṣīya Mā'mṛtāt. Mṛtyor Mokṣi Māmṛtam. Oṃ Tryambakaṃ Yajāmahe Sugandhiṃ Puṣṭi Vardhanam. Urvārukamiva Bandhanān Mṛtyor Mokṣīya Māmṛtāt. Oṃ Bhakam Yajāmahe Sugandhiṃ Puṣṭi Vardhanam. Kāmindana Mṛtyośi Māyitā. Oṃ Vākaṃ Yajāmahe Sugandhi Puṣṭi Vardhana Meva Vandana Mṛtyo Mokṣim Amṛta Śānti Śānti Sadā Śiv Deveśvar Mahādev Kī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandjī Bhagavān Kī Om.

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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