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The Path of Authentic Yoga: From Āsana to Self-Realization

A spiritual discourse on the foundational principles and authentic practice of yoga.

"Therefore, in Sanātana Dharma, even the Vedas say, in anything we do, the first is the mantra which we pronounce, which we chant, that's called Oṁ. All the knowledge, the vidyā, all the yoga and kriyās, everything comes from that nāda, that Aum."

"Therefore, the yoga practice doesn't matter for which aim you are doing. You should have authentic means according to the ancient literatures, which were written and knowledge given from the first hand to us."

A spiritual teacher delivers a comprehensive talk, beginning with traditional invocations. He explains the primacy of the sound "Aum" in creation and Nāda Yoga, then details the yogic path from physical postures (āsana) and purification techniques (Haṭha Yoga) to prāṇāyāma and meditation. He emphasizes the necessity of self-discipline, authentic traditional knowledge, and the indispensable guidance of a true Guru (Satguru) for achieving self-realization and crossing the "ocean of ignorance."

Filming location: Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Sarveṣāṁ śāntir bhavatu, sarveṣāṁ maṅgalam bhavatu, sarveṣāṁ pūrṇam bhavatu, lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu. Nāhaṁ kartā, Prabhudeep kartā, Mahāprabhudeep kartā, hi kevalam. Oṁ Tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭi-vardhanam. Urvārukamiva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt. Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Rākṣatu Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī Jai. Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādev kī. Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān kī. Satya Sanātana Dharma kī. Sabarṣi Muni Mahātmā kī. Māta Pitā Gurudev kī Jai. Har Har Mahādev Kī Jai. Ānanda Brahmāṇḍa Kī Rājyatā. Śṛṣṭi kī pālan kartā ghaṭ ghaṭ meṁ rahane vāle parabrahma paramātmā kuśala sat naman rādhe gurudeva kī śubha caraṇa kamala meṁ koṭi koṭi śāṣṭāṅga daṇḍavat dharma premī sajjano mātā yā bahanoṁ. Blessed self, dear spiritual seekers, the salutation to the cosmic light means to salute that Parabrahma, Parātmā, which is dwelling in each and every heart. The light of God, the light of the Swayambhū Śiva, Ananta, Ananta Hari Hari, Ananta Kathā. The glory of the Supreme is great, and glory itself is great because Hari, God, itself is great. I always used to say about these few things: in this endless universe, which we call Śūnyakāśa, a space completely void and empty, that is known as the embodiment of the Mother. Within that is called Hiraṇya Garbha, the golden embryo, which means that consciousness. Nāda Rūpa Parabrahma, and that is the form of the Supreme. If you want to know how God is, maybe you can see in the resonance. It is that resonance which is uniting, it is that resonance which is balancing, and it is that resonance which is maintaining. That is the creation that begins before the Swayambhu manifests himself. The sound is awakening. That's called Oṁ Kārvindu Sayuktaṁ Nityadāyantī Yogina. Oṁ Kāraṇam Oṁ Namaḥ. Therefore, in Sanātana Dharma, even the Vedas say, in anything we do, the first is the mantra which we pronounce, which we chant, that's called Oṁ. All the knowledge, the vidyā, all the yoga and kriyās, everything comes from that nāda, that Aum. This entire creation is from that Aum. Aum is everywhere. Swami Śivānandajī Mahārāj of Ṛṣikeśa used to chant, "Aum, Aum,... Aum. Above is Aum, below is Aum, behind is Aum, in front is Aum. Everywhere is Aum. I am Aum, you are Aum. They are Aum, and we are Aum. Everything is Aum, Aum,... Aum." Even modern science tries to know and discovers again the resonance in the space. And that fine resonance is balancing all the planets and stars. The biggest power to keep the balance of this earth is the moon. So the moon is like the tail of a fish in the water or the tail of an airplane, which is balancing. Likewise, all visible and invisible elements in the universe are created, balanced, and maintained by that sound, nāda. So there is Nāda Yoga. When you practice Nāda Yoga, you will hear ten different sounds. These ten sounds, just for example in the human body, belong to the ten senses. The senses, five Jñānendriyas and five Karmendriyas, and these ten senses are balanced and monitored by the ten prāṇas: Prāṇa, Apāna, Samāna, Udāna, Vyāna, and the five Upaprāṇas. These are the ten prāṇas which are monitoring our senses. And therefore, in prāṇāyāma, the science of prāṇāyāma in yoga, prāṇāyāma is the most powerful technique. Āsanas, according to yoga, or rāja yoga, or jñāna yoga, Sukhanam āsanam—comfortable—you sit in one posture. Kāya is tairāyam, the motionlessness of the body, the study of the body. If you have one pot, and inside is liquid, if this pot is moving, the liquid is also moving. But if the pot is in one place and has no movement, then the liquid also has no movement. Similarly, when this body feels discomfort, when this body is too much moved, then our mind and the fine energy are disbalanced. Therefore, meditation, Sukhāsana, first comfortable posture. And what is our condition? After a few minutes sitting or half an hour sitting, they said, "Oh my God, painful." It means you were not meditating. Meditation is only successful at that time. You need two things. First, that this gross body, this physical body, the body of the nourishment, must be motionless, straight, upright. An upright, straight body should be motionless but relaxed. If you are not relaxed, you are not motionless; then the body will create tensions and pain, and movements will begin. Therefore, āsanas, all different kinds of āsanas—actually there are eighty-four āsanas. 8.4 million different creatures, nature, quality, or whatever it is, it is put in these 84 postures. After, there is another called yoga vyāyam, and yoga vyāyam is prāṇāyām, prāṇoka vyāyam. So, then the āsanas become different. But in yoga, it is advised to practice haṭha yoga. If you want to achieve the motionlessness of the body and a steady mind, then chitta-vṛtti-nirodha will take place. But before chitta-vṛtti-nirodha, you have to develop the anuśāsan, discipline. Therefore, Patañjali said first, "In the modern business life, the key to success is self-discipline." Discipline lost, everything is lost. Similarly, discipline with the body. This body is a temple of your Ātmā, but we do not concentrate, we do not think, we do not pay attention. Listen, what we put in our body, what our body needs, and what our body doesn't need. You have the diesel engine, and you put the petrol inside. And you have the petrol engine, and you put the water inside. So Paramatman, Bhagavān, He made this body not for alcohol, but it is made for water. Where liquid is required, there is pure water. But if you consume the alcohol, then you will have that problem sooner or later. What should God do? God has said, "I have given you everything. How can you say that I am poor, I am sad, I am this?" God says, "Okay, you have given me two hands, two legs." God has given everything to the mind. Therefore, āsanas, but before that is Haṭha Yoga. Hatha yoga has two meanings. One is that you need the discipline to tell your body, "No, you must do," because the body becomes lazy; the body becomes stiff. There is a lot of tension, muscles, ligaments, and physical tension too. So, Hatha Yoga. But in reality, the practice of Hatha Yoga and the meaning of Hatha Yoga, according to Śvāsa-dhāraṇā, Nāḍī Yoga or Kuṇḍalinī Yoga or Prāṇa Yoga, in the human body, according to the yogic anatomy, there are 72,000 nerves in the body. In the human body, there are 72,000 nerves. And these 72,000 nerves, they are balanced and nourished, and the main channels they are for are Iḍā, Piṅgalā, Suṣumṇā and Vajranāḍī. Vajranāḍī is responsible for your immune system. Vajranāḍī is responsible for your brain waves. And Vajranāḍī is responsible for your physical and mental well-being. Vajra Nāḍī, that will control the restless thoughts. It will tranquilize your brain waves. And Vajra Nāḍī begins from the big toe and the second toe. From there, Vajra Nāḍī goes upwards. The roots are up and the branches are down, which is said in the Bhagavad Gītā, in the 15th chapter. Then there are three, which are called Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā. Iḍā is the left nostril, connected to the moon. And the moon is emotion, therefore mind. And the moon is never equal every day. When the moon rises, it is different. From the Pūrṇimā to Amāvasyā, and Amāvasyā to Pūrṇimā, the moon is changing. Because it is balancing the earth, the moon is the god of the mind, the moon. So our mind is also flexible, saṅkalpa vikalpa, man kā dharma jo hai, saṅkalpa vikalpa, vichār karnā, vichār ko chhoṛ denā, vichār ko badal denā. In English, "I change my mind." Yes, I want to do business with you, but I change my mind. If you change your mind, change first your body and then change the mind. It is easy to change the mind, but not easy to change the body. And you don't want to change the body because you are afraid that you will die. Man kā dharma, saṅkalpa, vikalpa, man kā devatā, chandra, then chandra jo hai, pānī hai, aur cañcal hai, aur ye vṛtti jaltī ratī hai. This Suṣumṇā Piṅgalā Nāḍī, that is a Sūrya Nāḍī. Like the Sūrya Maṇḍal, this is our Sūrya Maṇḍal. What is in the universe is in the human body, and what is in the human body is in the universe. So this Sūrya Maṇḍal, this sun system in which we are living, there are all the planets, all are circling around this, and the Sūrya, which is balancing, controlling, and the source of our life. Or to cross the border of this sun border and then enter into the other 2,100 different sun systems, a yogī can cross. Sūrya. So the fourth one is called Suṣumṇā. That is the central Nāḍī. That is. Anything that happens to Suṣumnā, Iḍā, or Piṅgalā, the entire brain balance goes. And there, Vajra Nāḍī is also included. So, Chandra is Ha and Surya is Tha. So, it becomes the Haṭha. What happened? Haṭha. Coming together, balancing means the Yoga, so, Haṭha Yoga. The real Haṭha Yoga is there, controlling, balancing, purifying, and making the way to the Brahmaloka, to the Brahmarandhra, is that Haṭha Yoga through different kinds of techniques. But in the physical form, Haṭha Yoga has six kriyās: netī, dhautī, bastī, naulī, tratāk, and kapālabhātī. Those who want to achieve that perfection in that yogic way, even to the physical level, have to practice that kind of Haṭha Yoga. But now, in the modern world, in modern times, in different parts of the world, they are practicing only āsanas for bodybuilding. That they call, "I want to practice only Haṭha Yoga." They don't do anything from Haṭha Yoga. That's Rāja Yoga: Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi. So Hatha Yoga, but these six kriyās, ṣaṭ-karmas, are also called: Ṭoṭa neti, cleaning of the nose with water or with the catheter, thread. Dhauti, cleaning of the alimentary channel, the food channel, with some cloth. Or jal dhauti, jisko kunjal kriyā hai, that is an imitation from the elephant. That elephant drinks the water, and when he feels acidity again, he takes his trunk in his mouth and sucks it out again. Similarly, we have taken all yogic kriyās from nature. That's why yoga is connected perfectly with nature. But if you go against nature, then nature will take revenge. Neti, dhauti, basti, cleaning of the entire intestinal tract. There is saṅkha prakṣālana, basti, dhauti, nauli, nauli kriyā. If you practice Agnishar or Nauli Kriya every day, they say you are 98% sure you will not have cancer of the stomach or your pancreas, etc. Your Rāmdev Jī used to tell us, right? He used to tell us Kapālbhāti, Agniśār Kriyā, and Nauli. He said, "Great, great, looks nice, but we don't want to do it." We want to do differently. Wake up, have a coffee, have a tea, have bread, have toast, this, that. Ramdev Jī gets up in the morning, at 3:30 or 4 o'clock, and until 8 or 9, he doesn't take anything. How many kriyās are you doing? I don't know how we take the energy. The body gets the energy. Many people are doing this now. Ramdev Jī is great. He brought the message of yoga again, once more. He awoke—stop this fan—he awoke the yoga consciousness, especially in Indians. Indians had nearly lost yoga, but thanks to Rāmdevjī, he brought and awoke in the consciousness of the Indian people that yoga is very important and very great, so now only Kriyā, Netī, Dhautī for eyesight and for concentration. And Kapālbhāti means to clean all these sinuses and keep them at their best, so that you have that all the time: best thought, best balance, and best oxygen you can have. So, haṭha yoga kriyā. After that, we come to the prāṇāyāma. But the prāṇāyāma should be done very slowly, step by step by step. After the prāṇāyāma, concentration begins. Then the ṛṣi said, "Dhyāna Mūlam Guru Mūrti." Concentration, imagination. Where are you going? Concentrate on the embodiment of the Gurudeva. But you cannot do it because you have no devotion. No devotion. Yesterday, I told one story. When the master came, one farmer wanted to become a disciple, and the master asked, "How do you think about me?" That story. So, dhana mūlam guru-mūrti, Pūjā mūlaṁ guru-pādam, mantra mūlaṁ guru-vākya. Then comes the mantra for your meditation. So, a statue without a soul inside, a fruit without a seed. Similarly, meditation without a Guru Mantra, your meditation will never be successful. It doesn't matter how many things you will do. Okay, you will go deep into the level of your laziness, consciousness. You are sitting, you think, "Oh, beautiful meditation." But they are seedless, not that. Where will you go forward? So, mantra, guru, mantra that, guru mantra that will lead you there. But you have to develop that confidence. Don't think in which color and which kind of car you are sitting, main. The thing is that a car brings you comfortably to your destination, so it doesn't matter which color or form your master has, or how he or she looks. But the jñāna brahmaniṣṭha śrotriya, Satguru, that is the Satguru. Tri guṇa rahitam, Satguru tam namāmy aham. Beyond these three guṇas, three tapas and kleśas, malavikṣepa and kleśas, this has to go. Ego is to grow it. If your father or mother tells, "Hey, child, don't do this," oh my God, children are nowadays angry. If the master tells the disciple something, they don't say, "Sorry, we will do better." But they are boiling inside like a cobra. And then after we leave the house, there is hardly a disciple you find who will humbly say, "That is a great blessing that you find this mistake in me, Gurudev. I will try to do better." Ahaṅkāra hi mānavakā, that kind of ego is our destruction in our spiritual life. You can't come further. Therefore, Mahāprabhujī said, Guru Dev Bheena Karjanay, Koti Upaya Kare Koi, Chahe Koti Upaya Kare Koi, Chahe Na Bhava Sindhu Tire, Guru Dev Bheena Karjanay. Guru Dev Bheena Karjanay, "Koti" means thousands. You may do a thousand techniques, read a thousand books, go to a thousand places, but Bhavasāgara, you cannot cross this ocean of ignorance without Guru Kṛpāhi Kevalam. When the disciple comes, that time the Guru said, "If you want to be a real disciple and achieve that consciousness," Bhukke maru, bhushwādu, aur nakṣa chīru khal, cham, phir bhai niṣaraṇa nahīṃ chhoḍegā, to kar dūṅgā tujhe nihāl. Satguru Devakī, tan kī panayyā banānī paḍegī, phir kyā bhavatīrṇā kī cintā kyā hai. Kyōṅ ki usko leke main hī calūṅgā. You see, it is great that one needs that time when you come to a high level. But you can't enter the high level. There is a vikṣepa, mala, and āvaraṇa. So you can't cross that border. You can't see anything. Āvaraṇa, the curtain is there. But if you develop that consciousness, humbleness, kindness, sattva, their vīrabhṛttis, then you can come to that divine. So mantra, mūlaṁ guru-vākyam. Which mantra? Gurudev kī vākyā. There is one story, very long, but I will not tell it today. Gurujī ne kā yeh karnā, wo jākar ke alagī dusra hī karegā, to to uḍbegā hī. So, yoga, chitta, vṛtti, nirodha, uske baad mein kleśa aayega. Klishta, aklishta vṛttis. That klishta, aklishta vṛtti is amari dusmane. Akliṣṭa vṛtti, the thoughts which are without any troubles, ego, anger, hate, jealousy, etc., etc., then you are on the highway, not on the highway, but you take off your flight. How speedily you can go. So one said, "If you want to see my speed of flying, then please raise up a little sky." Did you understand? If you want to see my flight, then raise the sky. That's it. Then the speed that goes, otherwise it's fine. Alright, you are eating the laddu of your mind. But that laddu of the mind will not fill your stomach. Laddu will be real only then. Therefore, tons of theory is nothing compared to a gram of practice. Yoga, sādhanā, for which purpose you are doing it, the final is this: to get self-realization, to become free from the cycle of birth and death, from the 8.4 million. So those who are clever, those who are wise, those who have great thoughts, those who have vivekā, and those whose parents gave them real education, made them human, they will come and they will realize. Others will go, all is washed into the canalization. So, yoga, we need support, guidance of our Gurudev. We are all disciples. I am a disciple, you are also a disciple. And the light comes from there. The source is there. You can make many kinds of light: battery, this, that, but the real light is coming from the sun. So, what is the Guru Paramparā? What is your Guru Paramparā? Guru Paramparā says, if you are separated, broken from your Guruliness, you are lost. Means, those how many years you were doing, all is lost. Your life is now short, and you can't achieve anything more in this life. Many things happen in life, good and bad, but one great thing is this: the most terrible tragedy will happen, that a human will die without self-realization. Therefore, let's come to the Guru Maimā and Guru Śaraṇa. Oṁ Namaḥ Siri Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇa. Oṁ Namaḥ Siri Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇa. Namaḥ Sabdhas Prabhu Śaralā Parāyaṇa. Namaḥ Sabdhas Prabhu Śaralā Parāyaṇa. Nama Oṁ Nama Siri Prabhu Dīpanārāyaṇam. Namo Omana Siri Prabhu Dīpanārāyaṇam Hama Saba Bhakta Prabhu Śaraṇa Parāyaṇam ... Om Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpanārāyaṇam ... Śrī Dīpanārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādevak Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān Kī Satya Sanātana Dharmak. Therefore, the yoga practice doesn't matter for which aim you are doing. You should have authentic means according to the ancient literatures, which were written and knowledge given from the first hand to us. Without that, you cannot be successful. Therefore, any kind of yoga you do, you should search for the authentic, ancient, first-hand knowledge of yoga that will guide you on your path. I wish you all the best. Blessings of Gurudev. The next webcast, we don't know, after a few days it will be. So, all my dear brothers and sisters around the world, bless you. And practice your mantra, and practice to improve your devotion, your bhakti.

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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