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Going to Brahmaloka

An introductory talk on yoga philosophy and practice at an ashram.

"Even if you are an advanced practitioner, you should do the beginner exercises at least once a week, or you must practice them before performing advanced postures."

"Tons of theory is nothing; a gram of practice."

The lecturer addresses attendees, clarifying misconceptions about terms like Aṣṭāṅga and Haṭha Yoga while emphasizing the foundational importance of basic practices in the "Yoga in Daily Life" system. He discusses the challenges of Vairāgya (detachment) and Jñāna Yoga, using anecdotes and humor to illustrate the gap between theory and practice, and outlines the week's upcoming program of Kriyā Yoga, meditation, and fasting.

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Good evening and welcome to all. We had a beautiful seminar last week, and now we begin the second part of the program. We welcome you, and many of you are continuing the Anuṣṭhāna. The program will be announced afterward. We are very fortunate to be here in our beautiful ashram. It is a place for everyone, and that is very important. We have many different groups. By "group," I do not mean different kinds of groups, but different levels of yoga practice. Our Yoga in Daily Life is different; it is not only physical exercises. We engage with the complete system of yoga—physical postures (āsanas)—and this is also divided into different parts, from the very beginning to the advanced. There are no divisions; everyone is welcome. But a beginner is a beginner, and we begin with very basic exercises, what we call in Yoga in Daily Life the Sarvahitāsanas. Those who are very advanced practitioners, who may have been practicing yoga for four decades, sometimes find that their physical age does not allow for advanced postures. So they are happy to come again as beginners to the Sarvahitāsana. This is very, very good. I would suggest to those who are from their 60s or 80s: come to the beginners. You can say you have a new birth; you are born again and are like a little child, the youngest one, beginning with Sarvahitāsana. I can tell you that the first and second parts of Yoga in Daily Life are more beneficial than advanced postures. If you are an advanced practitioner, you can do the headstand, handstands, and many other postures, but they cannot give you the benefit you will get from the very beginning. So, even if you are advanced, you should do the beginner exercises at least once a week, or you must practice them before performing advanced postures. It is called body warming. One should not practice advanced postures without warming the body, so it becomes flexible and warm. Therefore, our system, Yoga in Daily Life, is very different, as is our prāṇāyāma. The science of prāṇāyāma here is completely different. There is prāṇāyāma for our good health, prāṇāyāma for certain diseases, and prāṇāyāma for meditation. There is no competition. So, even in advanced prāṇāyāma practice, one has to go through the beginning stages every time. Even at the beginning, they must do the beginning prāṇāyāmas. It is like when you start your car and bring it onto the highway; you cannot immediately go at a speed of 150. In the beginning, there is first gear, second gear, third gear, fourth gear, and fifth gear—or it will go automatically. Similarly, prāṇāyāma technique and āsanas are very, very important for our health every day from the beginning. And even if you practice very advanced prāṇāyāma, it runs parallel to the beginner's. After having a particular breathing technique, you must ultimately come back to the normal breath. So the beginning is very, very good. After that, we come to what is, according to Rāja Yoga, called Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. Many people think they are doing Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, but they are only doing six-aṅga yoga. Because Aṣṭāṅga Yoga first consists of Yama and Niyama. Out of 50,000 or 1.2 million, perhaps one may be doing the Yama and Niyama. Then how can you say, "I am practicing Aṣṭāṅga Yoga"? People think there are eight different postures, so you do your āsanas and prāṇāyāmas and pratyāhāra and dhāraṇā and dhyāna and samādhi. So from aṣṭāṅga, people often do only two: āsana and prāṇāyāma, nothing more. Yet they use the name Aṣṭāṅga. I am always wondering. People have made a name—"Oh, Aṣṭāṅga." No, Aṣṭāṅga is about one ṛṣi, and that's called Aṣṭāṅga Charya. You know, Aṣṭāvakra was the master of the father of Rāma’s wife, Sītā. Yes, Janaka’s guru was Aṣṭāvakra. The eight mistakes were in his body—some kind of defects: one shoulder like this, the other like that; one hand like that, the other like that; two legs like this, walking, and a foot like that. So the eight defects in the body are called aṣṭa vakra. "Vakra" means defects in the body. That is also called aṣṭāṅga. "Aṅga" means limbs—the eight limbs of the body. That is also called sarvāṅgāsana. Sarvāṅgāsana—for those who don't know, just raise your hand up, please. Don't worry, just raise your hand. Yes, I also don't know. Yes, Sarvāṅgāsana. "Sarva" means all; "aṅga" means the limbs of the body. So sarvāṅgāsana is more than aṣṭāṅga. Sarvāṅga means every limb of the body is moved. So, how one should do the āsanas and prāṇāyāmas—people don't do that much. And then what they call Haṭha Yoga... Now, in the Western world, they all call it Haṭha Yoga. They want to practice only Haṭha Yoga, but what they are doing is not Haṭha Yoga, not at all. No one is doing Haṭha Yoga according to the scriptures. So what is Haṭha Yoga? When you come to the real yoga practice, you come to know the scriptures. Haṭha Yoga has six techniques, and there are no āsanas. That is the problem. It is like saying, "I am going to Brno," but you are going to Bratislava. Someone asks, "Where are you going?" You say, "I am going to Brno." But no, you are arriving in Bratislava, and you say, "I am in Brno." Okay, we shall change the name, that's all. But Czechs would not be allowed to change it, and Slovaks also would not change it. So how can people say they are practicing only Haṭha Yoga? They telephone: "Please, I want only Hatha Yoga practice." This is a big confusion. Now, including Indians themselves, they also say Hatha Yoga. Indians are very perfect in imitation of the Western. One Western person cut their hair like this, and soon all Japanese and Indians are cutting their hair like that. One lady cut all this hair completely away. She can do it like that, and she can do it like this. I don't know what it means. Maybe one part is Śakti and Śiva. But Śiva never cut all his hair. Śiva had a nice beard and a nice moustache, and he wore the dress of a dead animal's skin, but Pārvatī and Śakti had beautiful silk saris—though there was no silk dress at that time. So she was also using such kind of dress. This is a... we have misunderstood many things. So Haṭha Yoga is very different. Similarly, we come to Jñāna Yoga, Sāṅkhya Yoga, or Rāja Yoga. Jñāna Yoga is called the four principles: Viveka and Vairāgya. Viveka means first to know the knowledge. You should have Viveka. Don't walk in front of a car, and don't walk behind a horse. You must have viveka. Viveka is above the intellect. Intellect can be wrong; intellect can be mistaken, completely wrong. But Viveka cannot. In the Bhagavad Gītā, it is said that when you have some thought, when you want to have something, that is the intellect, the buddhi. But buddhi, buddhi—buddhi means intellect, intelligence—that can also be wrong, yes? Buddhi bhraṣṭosaktir, we call it. The buddhi can be confused, can be mistaken, but viveka is not. Viveka is like that very sharp knife that goes through very good cheese, cutting it exactly in half. So viveka is very precious. It is said that you should use viveka, and when you have viveka, you will never make a mistake. Intellect can be wrong. One may have a very good intellect for mechanics, as a mechanical engineer, but that engineer cannot make chapati. He cannot make your halushki. Everyone is one-sided. So the intellect can be mistaken in different ways, but Viveka is not. Therefore, it is a Pela Sādhanā. The first technique, the first practice, is Viveka. And Viveka gives the exact result. After that comes Vairāgya. Vairāgya means detachment—detachment from everything. And that is not easy. Vairāgya means detachment from this mortal world all the way to Brahma Loka. All kinds of desires should be, for you, like the birds—I don't know, the crows—what he is making sit. So, all kinds of enjoyment, physically, mentally, emotionally, intellectually, in every way, from this mortal world till the Brahmaloka. Then you are coming to that Brahman. For us, all is hopeless. Let it be. But that's why everyone cannot be a Ṛṣi. Everyone cannot be Śaṅkarācārya. Everyone cannot become Vedavyāsa or Ālakpurījī. You see, all the seven Ṛṣis cannot be like this. So, can we renounce? No. We want to have both. We want to enjoy, and we want to go to the Brahmaloka. Then in Brahmaloka you will be bored. What is in Brahmaloka? Nothing. No taste, no visions, no objects. No one is there to speak with you, neither up nor down. You can look down, down... there is nothing. So we don't know. There is no gravity so that we can fall again onto this loka. When we are in Brahmaloka, our earth is like a very small seed, like a seed of the banyan tree or fig. And that is also not visible, so there is no gravity. You don't know where is east and west, north and south, up and down. And there is no body. There is no hunger, no thirst, only that one. I think there is so... you are afraid. Still, that jīva is frightened, and in such a way frightened that there is nothing. "I don't have one leg, one hand, no stomach, but the Jīvā is there." So, do you want to go to Brahmaloka? Repeating all. Well, so only one soul remains. It is like one drop of water, and that also dissolves. The soul is gone. Otherwise, I can try to come somewhere as a soul. There is nothing. Then it is called Ātmā. And Ātmā says, "Where is Paramātmā?" Then he said, "Neither ātmā nor Paramātmā. Now live as it is." As it is. Yes. Neither you nor me. That's it. So, anyhow, therefore, these different kinds of sādhanās, practices, philosophies, etc., etc., are lost. And if we want to come there, then there are so many rules and so many paths—so many different things. Then where am I? Nor here, nor there. I am not there. Yes. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Then I am only Brahman. Yes. So then we said, "I am Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi." And suddenly, you see a lion attacking you. You will not say Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi. Quickly, go on, climb the tree and go to the very small, thinner branch, because the tiger can also climb. But when you come there, he cannot climb. So the lion falls down, and you said, Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. The lion makes, "Wow!" He said, "Ahaṁ brahmāsmi." So, reality is different. Theory is nothing. It doesn't matter whatever theories you make. But we are not searching for that. We are searching for something different. So, how to come there? Through Vairāgya. And vairāgya is not so easy. But there is a path to Vairāgya, slowly, slowly. And so Mahāprabhujī said, "We are longing for that." But our longing is a little bit different. Therefore, Mahāprabhujī said they come to Vairāgya. "Vairāgya nai hovere bināsa tsa saṅg, Vairāgya nai hovere bināsa tsa saṅg, bināsa tsa saṅg hove bhajan ko." So you can sing. So let Gurūjī sing it, okay? So I will give up Vairāgya. Come on, till that time, "vairāgya nahī ho virem, Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān." So therefore, all kinds of techniques are changed. And that cannot be. So Haṭha Yoga—the name Haṭha Yoga. And that also they cannot master through āsanas. So therefore, step by step, technique by technique... There are two ways to inhale: either through the nostrils, or for emergency, the door is through the mouth. There is no second one or third one. Similarly, there are many principles of our body, our prāṇa. And if you cannot follow that principle yourself, then you cannot come anymore. Then there is what happens. There was a professor at a university, and his students were there. The professor said, "Do not eat. We should not eat what we call eggplant." There are some people who don't want to eat onion, don't eat garlic, and also don't eat eggplant. So the professor was explaining, and the students were listening. Then it was Saturday and Sunday, so the professor himself went to the market to buy vegetables. Two students also went to get vegetables, and they saw the professor from afar choosing very nice, good eggplants. The disciples came and said, "Sir, you told us on Friday that we should not eat eggplants, but you are shopping for them now." The professor said, "Still you don't understand. I have to explain again, listen." They said, "But what? You said we should not eat, and you are buying them yourself." "Yes," he said, "I told you what is written on the blackboard: that we don't eat. But in the farmer's basket, that we can eat. I didn't say that from the farmer's basket we should not eat that eggplant. So it was only written on it, oh Master." "So we can also buy?" "Yes, yes, enjoy, enjoy." On Monday again, the same students put the question: "So, Master, can you explain to us again? Is the subject gone?" "I am writing differently: 'Don't eat garlic.' Why? Because those who eat garlic are peaceful people, and those who don't eat garlic are tāmasic people. They are so angry, shouting." "So, Master, I hope you are eating the garlic." "I don't eat garlic." "That's why, Master, I see those who don't eat garlic are very, very angry." "The subject is different today. Come to me after in my office." So theory and practice are different. Therefore, theory is theory. That's why someone said, "Tons of theory is nothing; a gram of practice." We have a beautiful view when we are coming from Brno and turning this way. There are two, three, four very nice boards—billboards with very good pictures of pizza and a little tilak. "Ah, I am hungry. Stop the car." Looking at the picture. Looking at the picture. Beautiful. Ah, vegetarian. But not even one corn goes into your stomach. You have to come to the tilak, and then you see practical reality. Then you can eat something. So theory only inspires us but does not fulfill us. There we have to do practical work. So prāṇāyāma, also the āsanas, and further what we call Yama and Niyama. If you say, "I practice Aṣṭāṅga," then you must know that you have a master and you are doing it. When you do Rāja Yoga, Aṣṭāṅga, then lifelong you have to strictly follow Yama and Niyama. Yesterday I saw somewhere—it came on my Facebook—and I was just looking, and I saw one of my disciples. That disciple is a disciple of many masters. She was giving an interview and said, "I have this, and this is very good. I practice Ashtāṅga Yoga." I said, "Oh Sarita, since when have you been practicing Aṣṭāṅga, and when are you practicing Yoga in Daily Life?" So you are neither there nor here. You are in between. So you must follow one path. You can ride two horses like a Hungarian in the Puszta, but not for very long. But you can't drive two cars at the same time. You can hang behind your car, but you can't drive your car with one hand. So that person can neither get mokṣa, nor the brahmaloka, nor narakaloka, but is in the waiting loka. Yes, neither here nor there. Narak loka is also good, but you will not have entry there. That's called rejected—the rejected material—and you have to wait. So you have to follow one thing: you have one body. You cannot make two bodies now. I can do it, but you cannot. How do I make it? It's a very easy technique: I make a photo, and I am two. That's it. So reality is only one. So let us practice. This week we will have a lot of practices, and I welcome you. We have Kriyā Yoga, Anuṣṭhāna, other normal practice, children's programs, Karma Yoga, and lectures. And we will have a lot of fasting. Yes, yes, yes... yes, we will have enough, you know what? Fresh air, yeah. Sūrya—we will get energy from Sūrya, so we don't drink, we don't eat, only prāṇa. So let's go—how to do with the prāṇa? So it will be very nice. You are welcome. There will be a new initiation into Kriyā Yoga for those who have been practicing for many years. You will get Kriya. And those who are here and want to get a mantra, we will have mantra initiation on one of these days. And there will be many, many things. We will have a consultation on this paper: "Dear Swamiji, I have a problem with my health; I have a stomach problem." Yes, very good. You should do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana and do Agnisāra Kriyā, and eat more salad. Hari Om. You see how quickly we have the one consultation now? I didn't ask your name, so we don't know who that is. I know a person should have a name, but that name I keep, as nowadays called, the data project. So is the data protected? So if you don't want to have your name with data, then just write. Now, out of these hundreds of people here, maybe the same problem affects about fifty. Everyone got the answer. Like that. So this is a good, what you call, coming personally and having an interview. All right, so do you have any questions? Today you can ask long questions. Tomorrow I will say, "Yes, practice, that's all." You know the story, yes? Okay, then thank you. And you know that we have our dear Yogeshjī, Swāmī Yogeshpurī from Jadan. He had work to go to Slovenia, so he was there not even 24 hours. And he loves Swamiji very much, so he drives the whole night. I said, in the night I will not give an interview, but he came. So we are very happy, and I was more than others—you are happy that Yogesh Purī is here, and we welcome him.

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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