Swamiji TV

Other links



Video details

Guidelines for Meditation and Self-Inquiry

A guide to seated meditation and self-inquiry.

Sit upright with space between bodies. Form Chin Mudrā in the left hand, symbolizing the union of the individual soul and supreme consciousness. Hold your mālā in the right hand to repeat your guru's mantra; it will guide you. Relax the body completely from toes to head, ensuring the spine is relaxed. Withdraw awareness from the external world to the inner self. Feel the body become motionless to generate bliss. Coordinate awareness with the natural breath, harmonizing body and mind. Focus the breath between the navel and throat. Then, concentrate on the space behind the forehead, visualizing a sunrise within as a symbol of dawning wisdom. Maintain stillness for self-inquiry. Conclude by gently moving and chanting.

"The yogī’s aim is the union of ātmā and Paramātmā."

"Feel the motionlessness of the body, and when you have completely relaxed... your aura becomes balanced."

Filming location: Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

We should not touch each other’s body; maintain a space of about one foot on all four sides. You can come a little more forward. Yes, come. Do not touch body to body; keep a distance of at least 30 to 40 centimeters. Make yourself comfortable for the meditation of yoga and daily life self-inquiry. Sit straight upright. Place your hands on your knees or thighs. If you have a guru mantra, take your mālā in your right hand. In your left hand, form Chin Mudrā. Chin Mudrā means the thumb represents Parabrahmapramātmā, and the index finger represents Jīvātmā. The yogī’s aim, the lakṣya, is the union of ātmā and Paramātmā, yog. This is the symbol of this mudrā. The thumb, index, middle, ring, and small finger represent sattva, rajas, and tamas. During meditation, be above the three guṇas, triguṇātītam. This is the meaning, essence, and effect of this mudrā. Through this practice, all our thoughts will become very calm, and awareness will come to your inner center. Your palm may be upwards or touching your knee. In your right hand, hold the mālā which your master gave you with the mantra. Repeat that mantra. It will guide you till Brahma. Just repeat with the mālā. You don’t have to concentrate too much because the mālā will guide you. If you don’t have a mālā, you should get one. If you don’t have a mantra, get the mantra. If you have a guru mantra, do not get a second mantra. Guru is only once, and guru is guru. But you can go to any master, learn anything, get blessings, serve—all that is possible—but as a... your master, your guru, is that one who gave you a proper mantra. Sit straight. Relax your elbows; relax the shoulders. Anything you want to see in this room, see now. Look here and there. Afterwards, you should not open your eyes. Keep your eyes closed because, afterwards, there is nothing new to see. Everything is the same as what you have here. Relax your whole body and close your eyes now. Relax the whole body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head till the toes. Relax. Relax your elbows. When the elbows are relaxed, then the shoulders will be relaxed. If the shoulders are relaxed, your lungs are relaxed. If your lungs are relaxed, your stomach muscles are relaxed. There is no tension on the stomach. When the stomach is relaxed, then your spine is relaxed. When the spine is relaxed, your neck is relaxed. And when the neck is relaxed, and the face muscles and head muscles are relaxed, it means your brain is relaxed. Concentrating on one’s days. Relax the whole. Bring yourself into this hall. Withdraw thyself from the external world. Be aware of your being here in this hall. Yes, I am here in this hall with my brothers and sisters. I’m relaxed. I’m relaxed. Feel the atmosphere in front of us, a beautiful altar where the monument of our Satgurus, Devadedev, Deveśvara Mahādeva, Bhagavān Dīpanayana Mahāprabhū, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī. I know that I am sitting in this room, my eyes are closed, I am going from the outer world to my inner world, in front of the temple of Śāntī and Gurudev. Ānandahī ānand, is jīv ko virām dijiye, viśrām, viśrām. Shareer mein kisi bhi prakaar kā tanāv nahīṁ, apne shareer ko bilkul dhīlā chhoḍ dijiye, aur apne guru mantra diyā huā usko japte rahiye, āṅkhe bandh. Meri awaaz aapko ek nād kī rūp mein us anant kī taraf le jā rahī hai. Meri āvāz āpko kisī prakār kī vikṣyaptā nahīṁ pāda karegā. Relax and be aware of your being here. Listen to my voice, that monotone sound. It will lead you to the highest consciousness. Relax from the toes to the top of the head. And from the top of the head to the toes. Your whole physical body, your eyelids, your eyebrows are relaxed. The body is straight, upright. The stomach muscles are relaxed. Kāya is sthiraṁ; the whole body is motionless. The feeling of the motionlessness of the body will create ānanda. Aapke śarīr ke andar ek wo urjā paidā hogī, jo kī aapko ānanda kā svarūp dikhāyegā. Feel the motionlessness of the body, and when you have completely relaxed the muscles, comfortable joints, normal breath, and a motionless body: your aura becomes balanced. You can feel and see, with closed eyes, 30 centimeters around your whole body, the aura. Hum abhi humāre bhautika śarīra kī jagata mēṁ hī hai. Hamārā bhautika śarīra jo hai, Param Pitā Paramātmā ne ye śarīra diyā hai. This is a great gift. God has given us this body. Relax. The body is not everything, but everything is nothing without the body. Kāyā is therium, motionlessness of the body. Or my body’s energy, the aura of my own body. Let it be your body as it is now. Let it be motionless. And now, bring your attention, bring your awareness towards your breath. I know that I inhale. I know that I exhale. Swās par swās kriyā. Main swās li rahūn aur main swās dhīrī dhīrī nikal rahūn. Śarīra aur śvāsa kā bahut antar hai. Lekin ab svāsa aur śarīra dono kī bīca mēṁ samanvaya ho rahā hai. The breath is different from the body. The body is different from the breath. But now, harmonizing, coordinating oneness of the body and mind. At the time of exhalation, the body is contracting. At the time of inhalation, the body is expanding. Coordinate and feel the oneness with your prāṇa, with your prāṇa śakti. Relax. Agar hamārī andhrī vṛtti chal rahī hai, vichār chal rahī hai, toh ham śarīr aur śvāsa par śvāsa ke sāth, Uṣ ānandh śaurūp, pramātmā kā śaurūp hī samjhe hamāre andhar mein, ānandh hī ānandh mehsūs kare. That kind of thought is flowing through our consciousness, the feeling of bliss through the union of the body and breath and energy. I know that I am inhaling. I know that I am exhaling. My body is motionless. I am comfortable. Now, focus your breath on the space between your navel and your throat. While breathing in, your breath comes from your navel to your throat. And while breathing out, it goes from the throat to the navel. Ara urad. When we put water in a vessel, when we put water in a bottle, the water goes down, but its level comes up. And when we take out the water, it goes down from the top. Similarly, while breathing, in this you will feel the divine bliss and relax. If you feel discomfort, if you have pain, you can’t concentrate, then, slightly, without disturbing others, you may change your posture. If your knees are aching, then without disturbing anyone, you can change your posture. Your body will not move, your head will not move, your shoulders will not move, just breath on breath. Now, between your abs, bhrūkūṭī jahāṁ, trikuṭī jahāṁ, us bhrūkūṭī ke pīche, lalāṭ ke andar, cidākāś, at the centre of the eyebrows, behind the forehead wall, that space which you see now with eyes, dark, dark, dark. Kival imagination, amari chetana, amara awareness, concentration ko ekāgracitta karne ke liye ye kalpanā rūpī citra batā rahā hoon. Brahm mūrt mein subha bhor uskā prakāś jo hotā hai. Early morning, dawn, dark night, and suddenly the dawn appears. Voh apne eyebrow kī bīch mein dekhne kī kośiś kījīye. But ākhāy ki palak ko upar nahī̃ uṭhānā hai. Don’t move your eyelids up and down. Aap śarīra se pare hai. Imagine the sunrise, and you see your body from behind. You are sitting toward the sunrise, and you see your body from the backside. Your head, your cloth, yourself sitting in the front of the dawn. I know my Chidakāś. I’m sitting in a very beautiful place, a nice meadow, and gazing at the sunrise, motionless, peaceful. The dawn is rising within me, symbolically, the wisdom. No movements. Relax. Don’t move even a small finger. Self-inquiry. Self-inquiry meditation of yoga in their life. Ātmanubhūti. Ātmanubhūti. Now bring your awareness back to your breath. I know that I am inhaling and exhaling. Comfortable and relaxed breath process. My body is comfortable, and I feel expanding and contracting my body with the breath. I know that I’m inhaling and exhaling. I’m here. Feel your whole body during the home chanting. Extra word: thyself in the world, and send your blessings to the whole creation. Deep inhale and exhale. Kehra swāsa leo, dire dire swāsa chhoro do. Tin chaar baar pet se swāsa leṅge, pet se swāsa leṅge. Śarīra mat hilāo, gardana mat hilāo, śira mat hilāo. Remain motionless. Now, deep inhale, and all together we will chant, "Oh." Exhale. Inhale. Oh. Normal breath. Move your shoulders, your elbows. Move your head a little bit bent forward and back. Slightly bend your head to the right and to the left. Just relax. Don’t know how to go? Just don’t know. And place your hands on your face, gently massage. Your eyelids and your face muscles, in your palms, open your eyes and move your hand slowly. Bend forward, place your hands on the ground and bend forward. Touch your forehead to the ground. Feel the circulation towards the head. Rakṣañcalan āpke mastiṣk kī aur daud rahā hai, sabhī gyānendriyoṁ ko prāpt rakṣañcar ho rahā hai, supplying enough the fresh blood towards all the five gyānendriyas. Feel your palms on the ground, the reflection energy from Mother Earth, and slowly raise your head up. Uprā jāye, aur dono hāth wāpas karne mā. Asato mā, sadgamaya, tamaso mā, jyotir gamaya, mṛtyor mā, oṁ śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. Once more. First, I will chant, and then you will. First, I will say, then you say. Now, put your garland back on, or put your hand garland in your hand, and if you don’t have a garland, then do take it tomorrow.

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:

Email Notifications

You are welcome to subscribe to the Swamiji.tv Live Webcast announcements.

Contact Us

If you have any comments or technical problems with swamiji.tv website, please send us an email.

Download App

YouTube Channel