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Vishuddi Chakra and thyroid gland

A spiritual discourse on the viśuddhi chakra and the symbolism of swallowed poison.

"Wish means poison. Wish means poison."

"Śiva did not swallow it down; he held this poison in his throat here, and he digested it there... Similarly, we say this: in our throat, there is a poison."

The teacher narrates the myth of Śiva drinking the ocean's poison to become Nīlakaṇṭha, using it as a metaphor for the emotional poison swallowed in daily life, such as unexpressed anger or harsh words. This is linked to the viśuddhi (throat) chakra, its purification, and its symbols—the elephant of strength and Brahmā with the Vedas. The talk connects this to broader concepts of the chakra system, kuṇḍalinī, and the necessity of consistent practice over contradictory advice.

Filming location: Vancouver, Canada

Wish means poison. Wish means poison. In the eras of Shakti, there was always fighting. Always. Even we, in our mother's body, are fighting. The mother knows this, and she tries to hold it back a little, to be peaceful. So there was a fight between the goddesses and the devils. They wanted to have heaven, and the others also wanted to have the heavens. What do we want, and for what? So Śiva thought and said, "I will give them some work." It would take ages and ages, but they are clever too. Śiva was thinking it would take time, but they worked very hard. So, in the beginning, it is said there was the churning of the ocean. There was a big, big snake and a big rock like a mountain, and the coiled snake. The devas were holding one side, and the others, the rākṣasas, the other. So they were churning. The rākṣasas said, "No, we don't want to hold the tail of the snake. We will have the mouth." So they were churning like that, and what came of it? Poison came. They didn't know what to do. It would destroy the whole earth; all would be destroyed. So they remained holding and went to Śiva. He was sitting there. They said, "Please, Brahmā and Viṣṇu..." And Arada and all, they came. "Bhagavān Śiva, please, please... give us some choice. We don't know what to do. Wherever we send it, it will be destroyed." Śiva said, "For the sake of all vegetation, and other creatures and humans, I will drink the poison." And so Śiva drank the poison. Śiva did not swallow it down; it should not go till the navel. Otherwise, Śivjī would also be gone, Hari Om. So he held this poison in his throat here, and he digested it there. But Śiva's whole neck and chest, till here, became blue. Completely blue. And that is called Śiva's name: Nīlakaṇṭha. Nīla means this nīla color, the poison. Similarly, we say this: in our throat, there is a poison. In which way? What? There is a long story, but what kind of poison? This is a poison. What? Between two people. If your husband is very angry and he gives bad words, etc., a good wife does not fight against it. She just swallows these words of poison and lets him be, because of her children, because of this. Or maybe the men—sometimes women are also not horikau—so they also have a problem. The "throat" must not be only husband and wife; it could be your colleagues or your company's boss. So when they are saying negative words, we have many, many things. And if you talk opposite to your director, then he will say, "Go home." So what should we do? It doesn't matter, man or woman. So they say, "Okay, let it be." But they are swallowing, and so this is a problem, mostly of the thyroid. Now there are many other causes; it must not be only because of this. There are many medical people who will talk about this gland. But according to yoga, the nourishment, the food, the behaviors, the good health, good families, good life and living—then you will have no thyroid problem. And so this is the viśuddhi cakra. Here we have this. Last time was also about this, but this is where the gland, the viśuddhi cakra, is. And here, again, is a beautiful elephant. The elephant is strength, holding our weight. What kind of weight? All the negative thoughts, all the problems we have everywhere. It is that elephant holding. And will it come? There is another, in the Mūlādhāra Cakra, there is also an elephant that we... I have already translated last time and many times, every time I am coming. And here is the creator. The creator, Brahmā, is nearly everywhere. And so here is Brahmā, who has the four hands and four heads. In every four hands, you have the four Vedas. You see the books? There are four Vedas, and he is a creator. He has knowledge. If you can clean this problem, then it is wisdom. If not, then you are again gone down. And this... is Brahmā's faithful? Now, Brahmā's wife is Sarasvatī, and Sarasvatī means knowledge, and the knowledge is in the hands of Brahmā. And so, this is a vidyā. Brahmā is the creator. On the other hand, Sarasvatī is Brahmā's wife, so people think... How is that, then? His wife and daughter: the daughter is knowledge, and the wife is the creator. Is this a translation, or how to understand it? So, she is here, and she has in her hand a beautiful instrument, a sitar. A guitar? No, a sitar. And so this is a sound, and that sound means sweet sound. Everything that you swallow or lament is cleaned, purified. This chakra, which is here everywhere, we will come down, and here is going the nāḍīs, what we call the left nostril, right nostril, and middle: iḍā, piṅgalā, and the suṣumṇā. So all in this is very beautiful, and each petal of the chakras is one mantra, a sub-mantra. And the pure mantra is there: ha, hatra, hatra, ha. So this chakra, each mantra means a lot. The Sanskrit alphabet or letters are what we call the 52. And exactly all the petals in these chakras are the 52, from the Mūlādhāra till the Ājñā Chakra. The Ājñā Chakra is the border between the human and the divine, or the goddess. Until you come here, be very careful, otherwise you will go down again. So this is about the chakras, kuṇḍalinī, and how the kuṇḍalinī awakening is. First, we have to understand. So this means petals and elephant, and these are all symbols. In reality, the inside here, and that's very important, for this is a chakra here going on. And tomorrow we will either come to the same further. Everything is very interesting. Or we will come to the Agnya Chakra. The Agnya Chakra is here, so this is the third eye. You know, they say Śiva has three eyes. And these third eyes, two we have to see the visions, and the third is our wisdom. The knowledge is on this part. When this is awakened, we are on the top. If we are still blind, we go down again. So these are only symbols, but in these symbols there are mantras, how to practice, how to come further. Because human animals also have some qualities and everything, but God has given in this creation of the humans, and that is a... no, any other science than the Kuṇḍalinī and Cakra science and meditation. But we have to understand, you have to understand your body completely, and these are five bodies, and these five tattvas: the earth, the mind, so physical body, mental body, energy body, and the knowledge body, and the liberation, or the body which desires. You can go again back. It is a... if those who understand and practice. Otherwise, one lecture today from here, me, other one somewhere, other one others. So one said, "Drink the cow milk." Others said, "No, the sheep milk." The third one said, "No, no, goat milk." And another said, "No, no... buffalo milk." So which milk? Now you are doing all milk. It is good, but for which? What should you do? You can come to the right point. Therefore, come practice. You will definitely achieve. Definitely, you will achieve. But if you cannot, and you are always changing and delaying, then I will say the same thing again next year when I come, and you will not be many, and others will come. Then, again and again, I will show you this. Again, I will show you this. So it has to... or you come to Europe, no problem. There's a beautiful, beautiful, and Europeans, they are very concentrated and very, very good. Have you any questions? So tomorrow, again we will have... So today, I made three things together: the meditation, the relaxation, and, at the same time, the knowledge about the kuṇḍalinī. I went through your whole body and inner body. Now it will come, other bodies, five bodies, that we will continue tomorrow. Arayoma. Thank you.

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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