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Mūlādhāra Chakra. 'Mūla' means the root. 'Chakra' is the circle, meaning circulating energy. 'Mūla' means origin, the foundation, and it is called the Mūla Śakti. This is the origin and the root where it begins: the Kuṇḍalinī. From among the 72,000 nāḍīs (subtle channels), one nerve, which we call the Vajranāḍī, supports and balances that Kuṇḍalinī Śakti. Śakti means energy. There are three primary nāḍīs we spoke of yesterday: Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā. The Iḍā Nāḍī flows through the left nostril, beginning in and balancing the right hemisphere. The Piṅgalā Nāḍī is the right nāḍī, balancing the left hemisphere. Iḍā and Piṅgalā, and the third is called Suṣumṇā. The Suṣumṇā Nāḍī is the major nāḍī of all. This nāḍī comes and joins, beginning from the Ājñā Chakra, coming to the left side and connecting to the left nostril (Iḍā), and connecting to the right nostril (Piṅgalā). Yesterday, I told you this is called 'kha', the energy of Hari-Hara. And this is 'tha', so it becomes 'hatha'. Thus, the name 'haṭha yoga' comes from these two nāḍīs. The left is 'ha' and the right is 'tha'. Balancing and coming together means uniting; that is called yoga. So here we can say haṭha yoga. Now, haṭha yoga has different definitions and practices. In this part of the world, people think they practice haṭha yoga, but what you are practicing is rāja yoga: āsana, prāṇāyāma, relaxation. Haṭha means that you try very hard; you use willpower. We must have the willpower to achieve something. Don't give up. Try, try, try. Practice, practice, practice. In the Bhagavad Gītā, it is said to Arjuna, "Abhyāsa, abhyāsa, he son of Kuntī." There is a little story. One yogī, like you, was going every day to sit in the park or near the bank of the river. Under the nice shade of a tree, he was practicing exercises. Years and years passed. One day he lost his confidence. "So many years I am practicing, I have no experiences. I didn't have any kind of miracles, no success." He had his mālā for practicing mantra, and he just put the mālā near his shoulder or on his thigh and sat dejectedly. When you have little confidence and are disappointed, you sit like this. It's called a mudrā. Mudrā means how you are sitting, how you hold yourself. He was thinking, "So many years I practiced my mantra, but no success." He was looking at the trunk of the tree, and there was a little ant. In the mouth of the ant was a grain of sugar. The ant was climbing the tree; after half a meter, she lost the sugar piece. She went down again, searched for it, took the piece of sugar, and climbed the trunk again. After twenty centimeters, it fell down again. Again, it went down, caught the grain of sugar, and climbed about one and a half meters. Again, it lost the grain. Again, it went up. He observed this ant, how it found the sugar. Sometimes he would take the grain of sugar and put it close to her, helping. That's a master; sometimes he helps. Otherwise, generally, it's a test, an examination. In about one and a half hours, this one little ant brought the piece of sugar from the ground up between two branches. In the two branches was a little hole, and she went into the hole because her babies were there. She managed; she did not give up. The yogī said, "Practice now. This ant is my guru. Never give up." Try, try. So practice, practice, practice. Have confidence and say, "I know I will do it." So, haṭha yoga. Haṭha means different kinds of willpower. "I will do it. I will not give up." Sometimes a man says, "I will do it." So there are different kinds of haṭha. There is the heart of the king. What that king wants to get, he will get it. Who can stop him? But luckily, there are no more kings now. The kings are the prime minister or the president, but thanks to God, temporarily. That's called Rājahaṭa: the will of the king. Even if he had to fight a war or battle, he will fight for his wish or for his nation. Then it is called Bālahaṭa: a little child. When a small child begins to cry and wants to have something, he will not give up until you give it. The child will cry and cry and want to have it. Finally, parents will say, "Okay, here it is." So children have strong willpower. And we, the parents, have strong love. But even our strong love cannot win against the will of the child. So your love has to surrender. Rājahaṭa, Bālahaṭa. 'Bāla' means the child. Then comes the third one: Strīyāhaṭa, a woman's will. Yes. When a woman decides, it will be, sooner or later. How we do that, I don't know. You know better. So you will fulfill your wish. That's called Strīyāhaṭa. Her heart may be positive. She may want to give good, vegetarian eating. She will keep on doing; finally, the husband will say, "Yes, okay." When husband and wife are fighting or arguing, always the Śakti is the winner, the woman. Time? No. Then they are very merciful. They say, "Okay." But sooner or later, she will win. She will say, "Okay, now." But after one year, or two years, or a few days, or months, she will do it. That's it. And then it's called the yoga of Haṭha: the will of the yogī practitioner. If he wants to realize God, he will do it. He will renounce everything. He will renounce all desires, renounce all fashions, and he or she will meditate and pray and pray... until you get near to God. Because the Haṭha Yogī has only one way, only the highway. No one can block the way. Either you go over or under. Over means either over the bridge or under the bridge; it doesn't matter. You have to give everything up for only one destination: God. Renunciation. Therefore it is: renounce and enjoy. If you want to be happy, if you want to enjoy life, then renounce. Otherwise, as many things as you collect, that is a problem. It will be more and more problems. As many things you have, that many burdens you have. But it's not easy to renounce. So renounce and enjoy. Renounce your attachment, renounce your desires, renounce the fashion of your dress, yes. Renounce property. Share with everyone, share everything. Renounce and enjoy. That Haṭha Yogī doesn't matter; he will walk on the snow, on very hot sand, or a thorny path, but will go through. That is called haṭha yoga. Secondly, haṭha yoga is a practice of purification, called ṣaṭ karma: six techniques. You have definitely heard from your yoga teachers: netī, dhautī, bastī, naulī, trāṭaka, and kapālabhātī. These are the six techniques for the purification of the body. If you do this, illness will be far away. Illness will telephone you: "Can I come to you for a while?" The Haṭha Yogī says, "Do not come close." That's it. Accept accidents or some kind of infections. That's it. So Haṭha Yoga is the most powerful yoga, and when the Haṭha Yogī decides... You know what is the renunciation of a Haṭha Yogī? That's a beautiful story. Should I tell the story? No? I think you will remember the story. You will not remember Mūlādhāra. There was a small village of about 40-50 houses, and there was a crematorium about one kilometer away. Someone died, and they performed the funeral. They burned the body. A lot of wood was used. Then they put the coals together and went back home. It was a cold winter, with a little air and rain—like a water spring, half snow and half water—and cold air. Śiva and Pārvatī. You know who is Pārvatī? Who doesn't know? Okay, Pārvatī was Śiva's wife. They went for a walk about midnight because that's a peaceful time. Śiva said, "Let's go for a walk." Poor girl. Cold. There was no cold, nothing. Śiva said, "Tapasyā." So if you love him or her, then you have to do everything with them. Suddenly they came closer and saw a fire glowing. They went a little closer, about 100 meters, and saw a man sitting—a Haṭha Yogī—baking his nice bread or chapati, one thick piece. He made a dough and was baking it on the fire where the dead body was burned. Women are always good-hearted; they have mercy. She said to Śiva, "My lord." He said, "Yes, my Devī." God is, my God is. She said, "Who is that?" Śiva said, "This is a burnt-out yogī sitting and cooking, baking his bread." She said, "In your kingdom is darkness." What do you mean? He is your great bhakta and has no facilities, even to properly cook his food. He's making his bread on the dead bodies' coals. And there are so many people having great villas, drinking and dancing and parties, and billionaires and millionaires. And they don't think of you at all, and you give them everything. And he is night and day remembering you, Lord. And you don't give him the facility for his cooking, at least. Give him something, please. He said, "He doesn't want anything." Very easy to say when you don't want to give. "Give him. I will see you give, and he will refuse." "Yes, don't, don't make an argument for us. It's better we just go a little away and pass on." She said, "No, I'm not going more. I stay here. You go and give him something, okay?" You see, the women are winners, but how long? This is the question. About 50 meters away, there was a bush. Śiva said to Pārvatī, "Stay here behind the bush, look, and hear and see. I go to give him something." She said, "Yes. Thank you, thank you. God, you are merciful, my Lord. Please give him more than he asks." Śiva is standing in front. The yogī is breaking his chapati with his tongue and doesn't look up. He is occupied with whether his chapati is properly baked or not. After ten minutes, Śiva spoke. He didn't pay attention. Nothing. "Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Who are you?" He did not look up. That is a Haṭha Yogī. This is one who has no desires, no fear, above death, pain, name, and fame. That is a great Haṭha Yogī. Again Śiva said, "Namaḥ Śivāya." The man said, "Who are you?" He is still looking; the bread is not burning. "Who are you?" Śiva said, "I am the Lord of the Lord, Mahādeva, Śiva." He didn't say, "Oh, no." He was looking at his bread. And he said, "Why did you come here?" Now, Pārvatī is biting her finger between her teeth. "Why did you come here?" But still he is looking down; he does not want to see Śiva at all. Śiva said, "I am Śiva. So why did you come here? To give you something." "When did I ask you to give me anything?" Śiva said, "I didn't ask you for anything. But when I come and appear in front of the bhaktas, I give something. Even you can ask for a blessing." He's not answering. It was very cold, but Pārvatī was sweating in her sārī. So Śiva said, "Ask anything." He said, "Okay, if you want to give me something, then please go away." Śiva went away. Śiva walked away. And Pārvatī from behind the bush slowly went on. She said, "I'm sorry, my lord. I'm sorry I humiliated you." He said, "No, no. It is a Haṭha Yogī." That yogī is above Śiva. That is a yogī. So, my dear, if some God comes and asks us, we will immediately say, "Yes, please, yes, please, give me one car, one nice house, and God, give me one work, please," etc., etc. So, desire—as long as we will not renounce our longing, our desires, we will not get to that higher consciousness. We are caught in the net, like a fish or a mosquito in a mosquito net. Therefore we practice: renounce, renounce, renounce. And so these three nāḍīs—Iḍā, Piṅgalā, Suṣumṇā—take from the Ājñā Chakra, turn again left to right. So the left nāḍī—meaning nerve (nāḍī is not a nerve, but we have to give the name 'nerve' because we don't have another name)—goes to the left. The right goes to the left, crossing near our vocal cords, and there is our thyroid gland. That's called the Viśuddhi Chakra. "Viś" means poison, and we can purify the poison through this chakra. To read the Viśuddhi Chakra's techniques in Hidden Powers in Humans, or when we come to the Viśuddhi Chakra we will talk. We cannot talk about one chakra in ten minutes, either ten days, or ten months, or ten years. When you open that, it is called the khajana. You know what is khajana? Khajana is an Urdu word. It means treasure. You open it, and you have all the jewelry and everything. Similarly, every chakra, when you open it, there is one after another story coming, one after another good word is coming, energy is coming, my dear. It is something beautiful. And this is the point where Śiva drank the poison. This is another big story. We will not reach the Mūlādhāra today, but it is a story about the churning of the ocean, searching for the nectar. And first, what came? The poison. Now they did not know where to throw the poison. If they put it on the earth, the whole earth would be destroyed. Everything would be destroyed, so what to do? Neither the asuras wanted to take the poison, nor the devas. So, in this Kali Yuga, the atom bomb is that poison. Now, if we explode it, it will be destroyed. If we can't, still we have fear. Who can neutralize this? Only Śiva can do it. So Śiva said, "Okay, you give me this poison," and he drank it, but he held it in his throat, so all his throat became blue. That's why Śiva's name is called Nīlakaṇṭha, the blue-throated one. And that is Śiva with the practice of prāṇāyāma. What we did this morning, inhalation through the nose and exhalation through the mouth, this is a technique to clean the poison from your body, to control again your thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is a big problem, especially for the ladies, so if you practice this kriyā, you will have no problem with the thyroid gland. So yoga is also a remedy, a treatment, a healing power. And so these two nāḍīs are like the snake; it's called nāga and nāginī. Nāga means the male, nāginī means the female. Two channels, strong and turning back: the left went right, and the right went to left. Now the right went to the left, and the left goes to the right, so always meeting again here. There is a second chakra: Anāhata. Anāhata means endless; there is no border. When this chakra opens, then one has the ability of singing. Maṇipūra? Answer. Then your voice becomes that of one of the best singers in the world, or you become a poet or an artist. So, in the heart chakra, there are the jewels of wisdom, and there is also emotion. This is our heart and light of the soul. You know about Hanumānjī's story? Otherwise, next time I will tell. Hanuman said, "Always God, Rāma and Sītā are in my heart." Some people said, "Everyone can say, 'God is in my heart.' Can you show me?" Then Hanuman tore his chest. Blood is flowing, but here in his heart, Sītā and Rāma are inside, giving blessings to Hanumāna. That's it. And that's what, after, in the Bible they wrote about Jesus's holy heart. But it is the holy heart of Hanumanjī, because it was 10,000 years ago. Well, then again, it goes. Again, this is because the power is so strong, each other wants to unite, male and female, so it again comes like this. So again, another chakra is in the navel, the Maṇipūra Chakra. We spoke about Maṇipūra about 1% only. The Maṇipūra Chakra is most powerful. You can digest anything. All bacteria you can destroy at any time, if the Maṇipūra Chakra is active. If the Maṇipūra Chakra is weaker, then we have many, many diseases because we don't practice Haṭha Yoga. After that, again it turns and meets down. What is that chakra called? Svādhiṣṭhāna. Svādhiṣṭhāna. In reality, the first seat of the Kuṇḍalinī was in Svādhiṣṭhāna. Svādhiṣṭhāna means: "sva" means the self, and "sthāna" means the place. The kuṇḍalinī was there, but due to ignorance, it went down. The svādhiṣṭhāna chakra is full of desires, compassion, and passion. All your passion and energy is in the svādhiṣṭhāna chakra. If you can't control this... you can't come anymore up. So that is called... There are a lot of, many stories of these chakras, every one. Then again, this nāḍī goes further and comes together. From here, they started to get a union, but they did so long until they merged into oneness. But there is śūnyākāśa: unconsciousness, nothing, you can't know anything. It is like a frozen state, so it is called Śiva Liṅga. Liṅga means the attribute of the entire universe. That is the Śiva Liṅga, that is a manifestation. There is a consciousness, there is a light, there is energy, there is the embodiment of Śiva, omniscient and omnipresent. There he manipulates, there he appears, there his consciousness becomes the light. And he manifests himself. So there are these three nāḍīs: Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā. Suṣumṇā is the consciousness, is balancing, and these two nāḍīs going like this and like that. Where they cross is called a junction, and there is the chakra. And there is immense energy. And so it comes to the down end of the spinal column, and there is a mūla. Mūla means the roots, so our mūla, our foundation, is there in Mūlādhāra Cakra. So till there, it is human energy, and down there it goes, comes animal energy. So when you have immense emotion, then you begin to act like an animal, but then you realize you become like a human. So that's why that is the border between human and animal consciousness. Śiva is the master of both, the animals and humans, or devas and asuras, the gods and satans. Both are controlled by Śiva. There is Śiva energy in us. Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya, Oṁ... Har Har Bholi. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya... Śaṅkara Bhagavān Kī Jai! Well, so this, our energy, is called dormant consciousness. It is a sleeping serpent, but it is only a symbolic serpent. There is not a feeling of a real snake. And when it awakes, if you practice wrong and some wrong mantras are used, then in the bottom of your spine, near your anus, a fire begins. And then the vibration goes up. Sometimes you feel something going up. Sometimes you have a crawling sensation, like ants on you. So when you feel the ants are crawling on your spine, then go and change your dress because you did not clean properly, and wash your back with a brush. So that was not a kuṇḍalinī of any kind. But you thought it's a kuṇḍalinī; it becomes a psychic imagination. You read in a book, or you look in the mirror, and suddenly you imagine this. Everything is imagination. Then you feel that the snake is going around my body, or going through the spinal column. That is not awakening. Awakening of kuṇḍalinī—that time you feel contentment, the joy of the supreme joy. That you realize, "Yes, I am one with the supreme." The happiest minutes of your life; it doesn't remain for whole days. It's only a glimpse, but it will come time to time. In the Mūlādhāra Chakra, there is an elephant. So you have seen, down, an elephant. The elephant is a symbol of prosperity. The elephant is the representation of the Gaṇeśa elephant. The elephant is the most ancient creature, and the elephant is such a creature where each and every piece of its body is very valuable. Now, the elephant has seven trunks. Seven trunks? I didn't even see two trunks. Did you see the seven? So, what means the seven trunks? So, these are the symbols. Now, seven trunks means ṣaḍdhātu. Ṣaḍdhātu means seven minerals, and these seven minerals represent under the earth in the roots, and these seven minerals are what we need for our health. Then our health is solid. So that is the symbol of the seven trunks: the seven minerals. And the elephant is called the mighty, the power that can hold your existence, your being. The balance is there on the foundation. You see this. Home, yoga cave, we see the foundation. How strong is the foundation? So the multi-floor building is on it. So, after that, our Svādhiṣṭhāna, Maṇipūra, Anāhata, Viśuddhi, Ājñā, Bindu, and Sahasrāra. All these chakras are based on this mighty elephant, as a symbolic elephant, and Mother Earth, which has all these minerals for our well-being and our health. And there is a seat of Śiva and Pārvatī, Śiva and Śakti. So here is the Śiva Liṅga, and the snake is coiled three and a half times. Generally, it is going down. So till your Kuṇḍalinī is not awakened, it is dormant. It's sleeping energy, but when the Kuṇḍalinī awakes, then this snake makes its way straight upward to the Sahasrāra Chakra. That's called the unity of the Śakti and the Śiva. Śakti means your energy, your power, your willpower, your energy. And Śiva means your consciousness, so that your spiritual power merges into the divine consciousness of Śiva. It is not meant physical body, not meant male and female. In every woman, there are both symbols, male and female. Every woman has more male energy in the imagination, and every man has more female energy, more feelings and imagination about the woman. So this is how Śiva and Śakti are together. But here, the Śakti is the energy, that knowledge is the Śiva, and this energy is the Śakti. So your consciousness, pure consciousness, is the Śiva. So when the Śakti will merge this light, this energy, into the light, it's Brahmajñāna. Now, there are the petals of this Mūlādhāra Chakra, and it is a symbol of the lotus. Because the lotus is a symbol of the very beautiful, the flower of the king, or the king of the flowers. The lotus is growing in muddy water, in dirty water. The roots are there, but the bloom comes above that, very pure and clean. So, our roots are in this material world, where there is a lot of dirt—emotional dirt, anger, hate, jealousy—but still, that lotus flower is within our ātmā. And one day, when we will come above, above this attachment which I told before, we enter into the Brahmaloka. Then, each and every petal of the lotus, the enfoldment of each petal, brings one siddhi, one quality, one happiness. Each petal brings some kind of joy, some happiness for us. And on that petal, there is an alphabet written. The first alphabet is Devanāgarī, the Sanskrit alphabet. And this is not man-made. It appears in their meditation as a resonance. So on each petal, when the petal is opening, at that time a nāda comes, the resonance, the beautiful voice of beautiful instruments. So each letter represents one God. And therefore it is called Akṣara Brahma. Akṣara means alphabet, and Brahma means the supreme. So, my dear, in our body is the entire universe, the entire universe. Just look within thyself, don't look outside. The whole universe is in you. Yathā brahmāṇḍe tathā piṇḍe: what is in the universe is in your body. Just, if you want to have astral traveling, then travel in your body. This is your inner world, so big and vast. You can fly with airplanes. The beauty of your inner self. Therefore, you are God. But the āsurī śaktis, satanic power, have encased our inner gold. So let us work on this. We will come to it again further. So it is a science. It's endless knowledge. So these chakras are not only, oh, beautiful design—what is this elephant? Oh, it has a crown, so many. What is this, snake? Every alphabet is a bīja mantra, the seed, the corn of this Mūlādhāra Cakra. That's called 'laṁ'. We will come to that after, next time. Wish you all the best, and I hope you will think it over. We will practice, and we will continue this again in different satsaṅgs and lectures. Ādi Oṁ.