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The Power of Hatha Yoga and the Journey Within

A discourse on the classical definition and power of Haṭha Yoga.

"A Haṭha Yogī endures all kinds of difficulties and never breaks their rules."

"The Haṭha Yogī is above every other yogī, if you understand. But of course, this is not merely doing Netī and having water come out; the Haṭha Yogī is doing sādhanā."

Swami Ji explains the profound discipline of Haṭha Yoga, distinguishing it from the common Western reduction to mere postures. He narrates a story where even Lord Śiva cannot impose a boon on a renounced Haṭha Yogī, illustrating the yogī's supreme willpower. The talk details the six purification techniques (ṣaṭkarma) and clarifies that Haṭha Yoga's true aim is to purify the nāḍīs (energy channels) to awaken Kuṇḍalinī and achieve samādhi.

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

Sādhana, cāra, karohārī, pyārā, jinse hove, mokṣa tumhārā. This is a chapter of Jñāna Yoga. There are many different kinds or branches of Yoga. Generally, they speak of four main kinds, but there are five. The first is Haṭha Yoga. 'Haṭha' means it requires great discipline, power, and practice. A Haṭha Yogī is a very great yogī; it is said even Śiva salutes the Haṭha Yogī. A Haṭha Yogī endures all kinds of difficulties and never breaks their rules. Nowadays, people generally understand Haṭha Yoga to mean just āsanas and prāṇāyāmas, but these are actually part of Rāja Yoga. Generally, we say there are three strong yogas. Haṭha is willpower. It is said, "So Bala Haṭha." 'Bala' means a small child of one, two, three, or four years. When a child wants something and the parents refuse, the child constantly insists, "I want to have this." The parent says no, but the child persists: "I don't want to eat anything; I want ice cream, ice cream, ice cream." Finally, the parent's heart melts and they give in. This is Bāla Haṭha. There is a story of Kṛṣṇa. One night, under a clear sky with a full moon, Kṛṣṇa looked at the moon and told his mother Yaśodhā, "I want to have this, mother. I want to have this moon." She said it was very far, only for looking. He insisted, "Yes, but I want it in my hands," and began to cry. Yaśodhā said, "Okay, my child, I will give it to you." She brought a big pot full of water, placed it before Kṛṣṇa, and said, "Here is your moon." He looked in and said, "Yes, this is what I want." She told him to take it as he liked, and he played with the reflection. This is called haṭha. The second type I am a little afraid to mention, because there is a majority: Strī Haṭha. 'Strī' means a woman. When a woman decides to do something, no one can hold her back—not her husband, parents, nor brothers. This is a woman's willpower. It must not be for bad things, but they possess willpower, strength, and decision. This is so-called Strī Haṭha. Then comes Rājā Haṭha, the will of the king. Whatever the king decides, he will do because he is the king governing everything. No one can stop him. If he says, "I want to dig a big lake here," and everyone objects that it is in the middle of the village, he will move the village a far distance but have his lake. That is Rājā Haṭha. The fourth is Yogī Haṭha. What the yogī decides, he will do. There is a story: One day, a Haṭha Yogī had to go somewhere. He had long hair, and the wind was blowing it into his face from behind. He kept brushing it away, but the hair kept blowing over his face. He said, "Aha, you don't follow me. My hair, you don't follow me. You have to follow. I will not go in this direction; I will go back in this direction." Yogīs have no fixed work or aim; they are free. So these are Bāla Haṭha, Strī Haṭha, Rājā Haṭha, and Yogī Haṭha. Now, how powerful is a yogī? There is another story. One evening, around 11 o'clock, it was cold—about zero degrees—with a fine drizzle. Outside a village, about one and a half kilometers away, was a graveyard and crematorium. Śiva and Pārvatī have many stories; these are the līlā of Śiva, his miracles. Śiva is known as Bholenāth, very innocent and pure. Just as parents are not angry when a small child sits on their lap, kicks them, or climbs on their shoulders, Śiva is similarly not angry; he is innocent and clean, though children are even more innocent. Śiva and Pārvatī were passing by the graveyard. Suddenly, Pārvatī saw a fire and, as they walked nearer, saw a man sitting there making chapati. He made a nice, thick chapati with his hands and was baking it on the fire where a dead body had been burned, with no pots or facilities. Pārvatī was saddened and said to Śiva, "My lord, I can't understand you. It is terrible. This yogī, this Haṭha Yogī, repeats your name day and night. He is your great devotee, and you cannot give him a facility to cook his meal? There is no roof, no pots, no facility to make a fire anywhere. What a pity that he has to make his chapati on that fire. You can't give him something? You have seen cities everywhere. The millionaires and billionaires never even dream of you, yet they have big buildings, air conditioning, servants, all facilities. You gave them so much, and they don't think of you. Why can't you give something to this Haṭha Yogī?" Śiva said, "Pārvatī, he is a Haṭha Yogī. Don't argue with him. It's better we go silently." She insisted, "No. I want to see you give him something—not just cooking facilities, but more comfort and good things." Śiva replied, "My dear, he will not take anything. He doesn't need anything. He is a tyāgī, one who has renounced everything. He is above even me." She said, "I don't believe you. Tell me clearly that you don't want to give, or that you are angry with him." Śiva said, "Okay, my dear. You stay behind this bush so you are not visible. I will go to this Haṭha Yogī and give him something. I will give him the kingdom of all three worlds. What do you think of millions or billions?" She said, "Yes, my Lord. I will be the happiest person today." Pārvatī stood near the bush, and Śiva appeared before the yogī. "Namaste, Śiva. Oṁ, Oṁ, Oṁ." The yogī did not listen or pay attention, behaving like a child playing with his chapati. Śiva said again, "Oṁ Śānti." The yogī did not care. Śiva said, "Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya." Then the yogī asked, "Who are you?" still not looking at him, only taking care that his chapati did not burn. Śiva said, "I am the Lord of the lords, Devāṅkar Mahādev of the entire universe." The yogī said, "Why did you come here? When did I beg from you? I didn't ask you for anything." He still did not want to see Śiva, looking only at his toes. Śiva's toes became nervous. Pārvatī listened and watched, thinking, "My Lord, I have put you in such a situation." That is called Strī Haṭha; it can even move Śiva. Śiva said, "I came to give you something." The yogī replied, "When did I ask you? When did I beg?" Śiva said, "It is my principle that whenever I manifest and come, I give something. I do not go without giving." The yogī said, "If you want to give, then just go away from here. I am asking you to go." Śiva said, "Bless you," and then, "My praṇām to the Yogī Rāj." Śiva walked away, and Pārvatī followed at a distance. After 200 meters, Śiva said, "My beauty, my dear, I told you he is a nirmoyī. He doesn't need anything. He doesn't even need the blessing of Śiva, because he is a Haṭha Yogī." The Haṭha Yogī is above every other yogī, if you understand. But of course, this is not merely doing Netī and having water come out; the Haṭha Yogī is doing sādhanā. Secondly, there are six techniques of Haṭha Yoga for inner purification of the body. Therefore, Haṭha Yogīs perform Kāya Kalpa and can live as long as they wish, barring an accident. But an accident is also a call—you know what a call is? Death. Yama. That is called Yama. There is Dharmarāja and Yamarāja. Dharmarāja is the justice of heaven; he gives judgment for every soul, determining where they will go according to their karma. Those who go there are your ancestors from seven, many, many generations. It is not only your father, mother, grandfather, or grandmother you worship for liberation; it must liberate through and through. One must be very careful and use proper mantras. You know what happens otherwise? If you use wrong mantras and wrong chanting, then the Paṇḍitjī will also become involved with the pitṛs there. Yes, and the pitṛs will all attack the Paṇḍitjī. That is why I do not bring you such other paṇḍits; I was searching for the right one because it is his risk. Consider a jumbo jet, a big airplane with three or four hundred people inside. The wings are like that tree, and you know how heavy it is: four hundred people, luggage, food, water, all kinds of liquid. One pilot, a very small man, presses a button and it takes off. If he gets a headache and you say, "Okay, you relax, I will fly," you cannot. Even from the ground, if you say, "Please take off," which button will you press? So, the right mantras, right times, right chanting—that is it. It is said that in one family, if one becomes an ātmajñānī, a sannyāsī, a master, a brahmajñānī, then seven ancestors are liberated from the past, and seven future generations will also gain liberation. Cauda, Loka, Ikṣu, Brahman, etc. That Haṭha Yogī does sādhanā, not only Netī, Dhautī, Basṭī, Naulī, Trāṭaka, and Kapālabhātī. These are the six kriyās. Netī is cleaning the nose with water. Dhautī has two kinds: Jal Dhautī and Sūtra Dhautī. There is sometimes also Daṇḍa Dhautī, using a soft stick inserted into the mouth, but you should not do that. Sūtra Dhautī must also be learned properly. Basṭī is cleaning of the intestine; what we have is Śaṅkha Prakṣālana, which is much better than other techniques. Naulī is churning of the intestine and stomach muscles. Trāṭaka and Kapālabhātī Prāṇāyāma are the others. These six techniques constitute Haṭha Yoga. Unfortunately, in Western countries, they call it all Haṭha Yoga. People say, "I want Haṭha Yoga only." What is that? Āsanas and a little prāṇāyāma. But this is actually Rāja Yoga: Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi. The other path is Jñāna Yoga. The classical definition of Haṭha Yoga goes very deep. The 'ha' is the Iḍā Nāḍī, and the 'ṭha' is the Piṅgalā Nāḍī. Ha and ṭha become haṭha. When Iḍā and Piṅgalā begin to flow together, then the Suṣumnā Nāḍī awakens up to the Brahma Randhra, and experiences of Samādhi come. So, a Haṭha Yogī is one who purifies the nāḍīs and, with his own willpower, makes them flow together. Then samādhi comes. Even for days at that time, the soul will not go out; the yogī will not die. That is how a Haṭha Yogī can live long. This relates to the Ājñā Chakra. The Ājñā Chakra has two petals. These two petals are 'haṁ' and 'kṣaṁ', and the middle is Oṁ. So 'haṁ' and 'kṣaṁ' come together as Oṁ. This is the science of yoga, the science of Kriyā Yogas, the signs of the chakras, and the way to samādhi. You have a beautifully written book here called Hidden Powers in the Human Chakras and Kuṇḍalinī. I tried to write it as clearly as possible, with no complications, very clear to understand. It also contains prayers for all the chakras. You saw that day before yesterday, our dear Gaurī Śaṅkarjī, ex-ambassador of India, spoke about chakras and how they begin. You know the Mūlādhāra Chakra. We will continue this tomorrow, discussing where all these mantras begin. Each petal has one alphabet, and the main bīja mantra represents the nāḍīs. These mantras are the resonance that creates energy in that particular part of the body. Then the Kuṇḍalinī awakens. But there is no unpleasant feeling, no sensation in the body, no shaking or movements. Awakening of the Kuṇḍalinī means awakening of self-realization: peace, harmony, knowledge, and clarity. We have to learn this, so do not fall into temptations. Seek clarity. Yoga is like a highway; you have a clear way. But when you want to get out, there is a problem. You are sitting in the boat of the Gurudeva of yoga and life, in the middle of the ocean. If you jump out, be sure there are sharks swimming behind you. When a shark sees you have come out of the boat, it is so happy, rolling up and down, because the shark cannot bite you like this. It goes to the other side, turns back upside down; it has so many teeth, and it takes seconds to break your thigh—so strong. And who is that? That is called karma. That is called destiny. So let us be safe, that we may come safely onto the safe shore. That is it. There is one beautiful bhajan about a boat, and so on. Anyhow, I wish you all the best, and tomorrow we will return to the chakras. You are doing your kriyānusthāna beautifully and powerfully. After kriyānusthāna, what is happening is that some people are doing the Real Kriya, and some who were doing sādhanā would just like to meditate peacefully—do not send them out of the class; let them meditate, because the Kriya techniques you are doing mentally, that is it. So I wish you all the best. Blessings of Mahāprabhujī. This science of yoga is called the safe journey to the Brahmaloka.

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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