TV Channel

Part 1: The Viśuddhi Chakra and the Story of Śiva Gurur Brahmā, Gurur Viṣṇu, Gurur Devo Maheśvara, Gurur Sākṣāt Parabrahma, Tasmai Śrī Guruve Namaḥ, Dhyāna Mūlam Guru Mūrtiḥ, Pūjā Mūlam Guru Pādam, Mantra Mūlam Guru Vākyaṁ, Mokṣa Mūlam Guru Kṛpā, Oṁ Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Good evening, and Hari Om. Welcome, all sisters and brothers, and all the juniors also. This evening's subject is also the Viśuddhi Chakra. In the last few days, we discussed one chakra, the Mūlādhāra Chakra. Individual chakras are difficult to explain all at once. I am sure you know what a Kuṇḍalinī is, what a cakra is, and what the cakras mean. We have now come to the Viśuddhi Chakra. The Vajra Cakra was already explained before noon, and since many of you were not here, I will repeat a little bit about the Viśuddhi Cakra. You have heard about Kuṇḍalinī Śakti, power. The awakening of the Śakti or the awakening of the Kuṇḍalinī is not on a physical level. It doesn’t matter what is happening with the physical body; it is different from that energy body. The energy body is not such that you feel some movements in your body. No, it is the knowledge. Kundalini is the awakening of consciousness in a wide space. When we come to the Kuṇḍalinī, then we become one. What does one mean? One with all. Everything is within our individual. We are all the same in oneness. Like the ocean and the water in different forms, but all of it is from the ocean. Yesterday evening, and I think in the Sunshine Coast and also in Melbourne, the same subject about Kuṇḍalinī was discussed, and we were always on the Mūlādhāra Chakra. Well, these pictures of the chakras that we see are not in this way in our body, but on every center there are certain energies, concentrations on that. To understand what it means is to know how many different energies are dormant in a particular center. This is a kind of symbol of the human body, or some animals, pictures, etc. This is called Viśuddhi Cakra. Viṣ means poison, and Cakra is that ring. Now, there is a reason why this Viśuddhi Cakra is in our throat. It is in the creation. First was Śiva. Before noon we spoke of two qualities, negative and positive, the divine or the lower, the devils. So the goddess or the devils, both are balanced by Śiva. Shiva is the master or god of both. He is balancing the entire universe. Thank you very much, all is in Śiva’s power. We know that Śiva is not born, and we are born. All other goddesses were born or manifested or came from some energy of Śiva. So the real God is when He appears from nothing. All others are what we call the twenty-four incarnations. And this incarnation is a God we call all. But they are born from the mother’s womb. So different are the goddess, the avatāra, and Śiva. All these avatāras we have are twenty-four. It’s called Nimit Avatāra. Nimit means from time to time when it is really needed to get under power. Not only the humans, but everything entire. Then comes what we call God. Then it is called Nitya Avatāra, also incarnation. And these are the saints, the holy saints. They are also coming in the whole world, in different religions. There are monks, and through their energies, they are balancing everything. Now, we cannot make some person, let us say, like in politics, Mahāprabhujī Karatā, Mahāprabhujī Karatā... Belief, etc. But Śiva has no mother, no father, no one has given him birth. It is he who manifests from himself in the space. At that time, Śiva also came and went many times. Yugas, there are many, many yugas, and from these many, many yugas, there are four yugas: Satyuga, Dvāparayuga, Tretāyuga, and now it is Kaliyuga. When this goes, again Śiva will appear, and then again it will give further how it will be. Either everything is gone, nothing is there, all has died, all is underwater, and then again it will come. So this is a very long story. So, it is said that "eko’haṁ bahu syām." I am one, and I will multiply. Who said to whom, "I will multiply myself"? I am saying myself, and now I will multiply. Sūrya, Sūrya... All the signs, all energies, all our creations for individuals are given by that time. Empty space, there is nothing. So first, when said, "I will multiply." At that time, first comes the resonance, and resonance is the cosmic self. If you want to see God, if you want to know God, then there is only the resonance in the form of your thoughts, your energy, whatever it is, but not as a physical body. Nādharūpa, first is the sound. Nāda means the sound. And the sound, in many, we have the instruments. This instrument needs a master to get out from this instrument the sound. If you don’t know how to play, you cannot. So Nāda, it is going through the whole universe but not visible. Then there is the fire, the heat, the light. After that is that fire, the light. But that’s not light, this, our physical, what we have here, or artificial. That is a different light. Then appears the form of Śiva. In this, when he appears, then in the whole universe, there is a vibration. And in the vibration, it is appearing itself, this form of Śiva. Another way, there are two. One is the empty space, the Ākāśa, what we call the Ākāśa. And one is that what Swayambhu, the Śiva who is saying itself, but no voice, and that is called Caitanya. You know, maybe the word Caitanya. Chaitanya means consciousness. So the space and consciousness. Now, is the consciousness in the space, or is the space in the consciousness? We cannot make a difference, but it has to be. So, between these two, the conscious and space, how to unite, how to join. And there, in this creation, yoga is coming. Yoga is not this, what we are doing, the postures. That was only one of Śiva’s exercises or mudrās. We call the mudrās given for his body, which means everyone, we are his body. And if we can do these good things like this, and many postures we have, we have created, but real postures, real mudrās, that is something very, very beautiful. Mahāprabhujīp Karatā Mahāprabhujīp Karatā... Mahāprabhujīp Karatā Mahāprabhujīp Karatā Mahāprabhujīp... Akhāṛā is the form coming. Akhāṛā, Ukhāṛā, it is the resonance, and Makāra is the jīvas that are coming into life, the sound coming individually as one, the Śiva who becomes one. Akhāṛā, Ukhāṛā, Makāṛ, and this, when we are chanting "Oṁ," generally we said, "This sound, this sound in our body is bringing all the energy, all the consciousness, awareness, whatever we call, it is there." So from there, balance, that’s called yoga. And that’s why Śiva means yoga. And the authority of yoga is Śiva’s. So you cannot say that is my yoga and your yoga and their yoga, though. All is creation by the yoga of Śiva. It is there in this structure of chakras, and the creator is there, called Viṣṇu or Brahmā. So first comes Śiva, then Śiva creates Viṣṇu, and then he creates Brahmā. He is the Brahmā. The trinity now becomes the Trinity. So Śiva, Viṣṇu, and Brahmā. Brahma is the creator. Vishnu is the balancing, preserving, and maintaining force. So Vishnu is balancing, holding. And Shiva is the creator, or not the distractor, but the dissolver. The word "distractive" is wrong. People said that Shiva is destroying again. Not destroying, dissolving. So Shiva is the creator and the dissolver. Vishṇu is the protector and Brahmā is the creator. Who in our body? So, in the human body, these three principles, or this God, is called the creator and protector, and this Brahmā, then, is multiplying through this. This is the science of the Kuṇḍalinī, which we can hear. So, yoga now, that yoga, what is Śiva’s? It is a yoga. Purījī, Purījī... We are beginning the Śiva. What happens is that one father’s children, I spoke before noon now, that one Ṛṣi and he had thirteen women or wives, and the two they were fighting each other. The eldest woman, she was very dominating. Harsan became a devil out of negative energy and jealousy, etc. And one was a very humble, very kind Harsan. Now this both begins. One is a devil and one is a goddess. Now, this is the balancing of both, again, the Śiva. Śiva, Śiva has to protect from distraction from the devils, and also take care, and not come to fighting also the Devas, the goddesses. They were fighting for many, many ages. Everyone said, "I want to have a heaven; we want to be the heaven." And others said, "No, we want to be heaven." Mahāprabhujī kī Karatā Mahāprabhujī kī Karatā... Devils are here, there, here, there, all the time. They want to have everything, so Śiva thought that he would give them work. So let them work. So Śiva said that nectar in the bottom of the ocean, there is nectar. You can get this nectar, and you both will be immortal, and you will have your peace. But again they will fight, so Śiva said, There was a churning of the ocean with a very big rock, and there was that snake, big like a mountain, with many faces. They were pulling it down, with one side pulling the devas and the other side the rākṣasas. Raksa said, "We don’t want to get only the tail of the snake. We will have the mouth, the head of the snake. If something comes out good, we will take it, and the devas took it from, okay." If you have been in Bangkok Airport, have you seen someone? One. Only two? Three, four. Did you see them? A very big monument was done by this story of the churning of the ocean. Beautiful, beautiful. I think we should make one picture big. Yes? We have a nice picture from there. Well, Śiva thought, "Now let them fight," but they were churning, and it came, the fourteen jewels, energies, and there came an elephant, there came the cow, the horse, etc., etc., and suddenly then came the nectar. Now, when the nectar came, the devas thought, "We will take this nectar and run away. We will be immortal." And the rākṣasas wanted to take it all, and they wanted to become immortal. So there was fighting, fighting,... and there is the point, a constellation where they were fighting in the space. But the nectar was falling on four places in India. That’s called Kumbha Melā. Do you know what Kumbha Melā is? You see, I can’t see anybody because this light is only I have to see. Now I see. Do you know what Kumbha Melā is? Two people know. Thank you. I will take you next time to the Kumbha Melā. Oh, you will enjoy. Now, in the very beginning, poison came. Poison came. Now, the goddess does not want this poison, and the devil also does not want the poison. And if nobody will take this, this whole earth will be destroyed. What to do? What to do? So both, the Devas and the Goddess, and the devils, went to Śiva, "Please, please, Lord, please, we are burning, our body is burning from this poison and everything." Shiva said, "What happened?" He said, "From the churning of the ocean came poison, poison, poison. Please save us, please save Śiva. Anywhere we throw it, it will destroy the earth." Śiva said, "Okay, I will drink it." So Śiva took this poison and he drank it. When he drank, if you swallow it, it goes till the navel, then Śiva will also be aryoma. He will also go. And if he vomits again, this poison will not be under control. Now, this we can compare with atoms, and everyone has atoms, and this atom is not easy to control anymore. Also, that poison means the fight between two to destroy. So what Śiva did, he drank the poison, but he held it in his throat, and he began with his yoga prāṇāyāma to hold all this energy, and he kept it in his body. So not a drop of this poison should fall down, otherwise it will be digested. For me, it’s now the churning of the ocean, that we are drilling the oil in the ocean. And you know, about three years ago, three or four years ago, in Mexico, in the ocean there, It was what they were drilling. Instruments broken, and all the oil came. There was a carpet of oil on the ocean. You know all that? Yeah. So, for me, this Kali Yuga has come, and our greed is the devil’s energy, or these atoms that we have. Now, Śiva has to come to do something, but still, it is preserved. Still, it is a Śiva power on both sides. Part 2: The Viśuddhi Cakra, Stress, and the Story of the Snake When two forces are in conflict, it is a Śiva power. He tried to make peace again, so all that poison remained in Śiva’s throat. As a result, that whole part of his body became dark blue. This is why you will see Śiva’s neck, the throat, depicted as blue. He wanted to drink the poison but neither swallowed it fully nor expelled it. He kept it within his body. I related this to the problems of our body, particularly the thyroid gland. Many people have thyroid issues because they cannot manage their life’s tensions. If a wife is very cruel and the husband is gentle, he may sit quietly and swallow everything, but inside he suffers, and the thyroid gland is affected. Conversely, if the husband is unkind and the wife is humble and saintly, she will neither swallow her feelings nor vomit them out. Yet, there is constant tension in that area of the body, which may manifest as sweating or redness. This is a cause of thyroid illness. We chant "Mahāprabhujī kī Karatā," but all the time there is tension, stress in the brain. This stress attacks certain parts of the body—the brain or elsewhere. Men and women have different problems; these issues attack the organs where cancers may develop. There are problems in the chest, throat, stomach, and so on. Why is this so prevalent nowadays? There are different chemicals, our food is not good, and we have no peace. You have one partner. How many days, months, or years pass? Again and again. One part of the relationship is happiness, relaxation, and goodness. Then disputes come, you separate and go elsewhere, but the same problem persists. So men and women have these issues. There are many other causes of disease. I am not a doctor; I am speaking from the perspective of the yogic body and consciousness. What must we do? We must release it. There is a poem: you catch a snake. If you release it, it will bite you. If you do not release it, you will be very afraid all the time, and how long can you hold it? Catching it was easier, perhaps, but it will not let you go. When you release it, it will bite you. This is just an example. So, what kind of snake are you catching? There is a story. A snake charmer went to catch a snake to train, like a cobra. He searched every day and finally found a big, black cobra. He caught it, put it in a basket, covered it with cloth, tied it with a rope, and carried it home. It was a hot summer day, and he became very thirsty. Seeing a big banyan tree, he put his basket down to rest. A big monkey was sitting in the tree. The monkey thought, "This man has something in his basket," perhaps honey. The monkey, showing its teeth, thought, "It’s mine. I will enjoy it." It tore open the cloth, and the cobra came out. The monkey, in its greed, was caught. If it tries to remove the snake from its neck, it will suffer. That was greed. Similarly, what we possess, the greed we catch, sometimes seems very nice, but it can be a great poison—the poison of negative energies. That attacks different parts of our body. If you think one thing is better and another is not, it will not be so. That is why many people have problems. We are young, but soon we will see there is no one with us, because we lack the confidence, love, humility, kindness, and mutual support to be together. That is very important. Now, this Viśuddhi Cakra is associated with thyroid problems. I would not say it is only due to that, but mostly it is related to hormones and negative thinking or problems from the other side. If your husband tortures you mentally or verbally, and you say, "It doesn’t matter," you are holding it all in this part. For thyroid problems, of course you can take a doctor’s medicine; I have nothing against it. But if you can solve this through yoga, that would be best. One āsana for this is Sarvāṅgāsana. You are all practitioners of yoga. Do you know Sarvāṅgāsana? Sarva means all, aṅga means limbs—all parts of the body. In this posture, you bend your knees and touch them to your forehead. This helps release pain. Then stretch your legs on the ground. This helps greatly with thyroid gland problems. Do it once a day; it is very good for prevention. There is also Prāṇāyāma for controlling the thyroid. Touch your chin to your chest or throat. Practice Ujjāyī Prāṇāyāma: inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. This is also very good for headaches. Similarly, Śīrṣāsana is beneficial. This is all in your book, Hidden Powers in Humans. The Viśuddhi Cakra is located here. Please check, learn, and write everything down. This cakra is associated with Brahmā, the creator, and Sarasvatī. Sarasvatī is knowledge and wisdom. She is the partner of Brahmā and also his daughter. What does this mean? Knowledge is the mother, and the resonance of that given knowledge is the daughter. It is not to be understood in a literal, familial way but symbolically. Here is the bīja mantra, "haṃ," and these are the nerves going left and right. These are the cakras and nerves; three nerves are going, two are crossing, which is why I refer to it as the snake. There is no literal snake inside, but the nerves move in a serpentine manner. In this cakra, the color is blue, which relates to Śiva. Again, there is the elephant. In the Mūlādhāra Cakra, there is an elephant with seven trunks. Seven trunks represent saptadhātu: sapta means seven, dhātu means minerals. Our body needs all these seven minerals, which we can obtain through prāṇāyāma and exercises. We will cover Mūlādhāra and Mūlabandha perhaps tomorrow. From here, energy moves to the vocal cords and then to the Ājñā Cakra, where there is light. There is a space behind the forehead, which is the border between human qualities and divine qualities. Below this, we have various aspects, but above, when we ascend, all is gone; we enter divine consciousness. This is true physically, mentally, and spiritually—all within these cakras and the kuṇḍalinī. There are no physical movements of the kuṇḍalinī in the body. Some people think, "My kuṇḍalinī goes up, then I have energy, I move like this." These are either mental or nerve-related problems. As clarity comes into your consciousness and mind, your kuṇḍalinī rises. The awakening of the kuṇḍalinī is wisdom, the expansion of consciousness, liberation. Please read your book. If you don’t have it, get it and study it. Do not just look at the picture and ask questions. You must learn from the chart on the back. This chart is very important. If you can read it, you know what yoga is. If you cannot read and understand it, then the whole book is for you; otherwise, it is just a nice picture. Now, we will do a little practice. Stand up. Interlock your fingers, place your hands on your head with palms facing upward. Stretch your body up, stand on your toes, and slowly come down. Do this 25 times. Then do 25 steps on your yoga mat, and 25 times on your heels. Again, interlock your fingers, palms upward. With hands up and legs apart, slowly bend to your left side, return to the middle, bend to the right side, and return to the middle. Repeat: left, middle, right, middle. Very good. Hands down, legs together. Now sit on your chair comfortably. You can sit with hands like this. If you are sitting in Vajrāsana, that is also good. Place your hands there. Touch your chin to your chest. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Do this 25 times, according to your breath capacity. After 25 rounds, relax and raise your head. Keep your elbows straight, hands on thighs or knees. Do not fold your elbows. After finishing, raise your head again, relax your elbows and shoulders. Breathe normally through the nostrils. Now we will do Bhastrikā Prāṇāyāma. Deep inhale and exhale. Again, Bhastrikā Prāṇāyāma: inhale, exhale. Take a deep inhale, perform Jālandhara Bandha by closing your chin to the chest, and hold your breath inside. Then, while inhaling, raise your head up and relax your shoulders and elbows. Do this three times. Chant Om from the navel.