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We should understand the Yoga

A spiritual discourse on the essence of yoga, scripture, and daily practice.

"Our seminar is a very good word; there, all are together in oneness." "We cannot say only this yoga is the best. Therefore, Yoga in Daily Life does not mean only that you should work or teach. It means practicing yoga in everyday life."

Swami Ji addresses a gathering, weaving together teachings on Śruti (revealed knowledge) and Smṛti (memory) with the core principles of the "Yoga in Daily Life" system. He emphasizes that intellectual knowledge is insufficient without consistent practice, using the analogy of a hollow bamboo versus a solid sugar cane. The talk explores various yoga paths—including Kuṇḍalinī, Patañjali's Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, Bhakti, and Jñāna—and shares the legendary story of the saint Jñāneśvara to illustrate spiritual power. He concludes with practical advice on family, compassion, and integrating practice into all aspects of life.

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

It is called Śruti and Smṛti. Śruti is what we are listening to. Smṛti is our memory. How much can you do with memory? So memory is within us. The theory is just like clouds that come and go. There are many people who only want to listen to lectures and read books. That is not enough. In our seminar—in Europe we call it a seminar, and in some other countries they say retreat—we are remembering again. "Retreat": it was treated but forgotten, so again we are remembering. We go to a retreat to learn there again and come to perfection. Our seminar is a very good word; there, all are together in oneness. The strength of the knowledge, Yoga in Daily Life, is a scientific system which we have. Our subject is on Kuṇḍalinī Yoga: Kuṇḍalinī and Chakras. Chakras and Kuṇḍalinī are together. But only Kuṇḍalinī or chakras is not enough. Let's understand the yoga. Now, there are intellectual ways of thinking, but they are empty. That which is practical, practiced, and then you give further is substantial. It is said: you know the sugar cane. Beside the sugar cane, there is a bamboo. Both look similar, but that bamboo is empty. The sugar cane is full of sugar inside; it is solid. So we shall come first to practice, and that is with the guru-paramparā. We all who are coming to the seminar or to the retreat have different tastes, different wishes to know or learn something. Let's say now there is only one word called yoga. There is only one called yoga. And when there are two, then it is yoga. Yoga means many, and only yoga is one. But generally, we are calling it yoga because we have the yoga. In the last 50 years, our Yoga in Daily Life—we are all here sitting. You were learning, you were teaching, you were learning, you are perfection. But still, you are learning and giving the knowledge to others. In yoga, if we don't practice, then our memory, smṛti, will go. When you will not give a yoga class, or you will only sit and teach, your memory will go away. So we have to practice together, our student and teacher. We cannot say only this yoga is the best. Therefore, Yoga in Daily Life does not mean only that you should work or teach. It means practicing yoga in everyday life. In everyday practice, yoga. Now, there is one from the Patañjali yoga. Patañjali yoga, which you can also call Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. Ashtanga means eight practices or eight limbs: aṅga, the limbs of our body. But others, while we are practicing, that's also āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, etc. We have to master this, and when you master it, don't think that now you don't need it and will only teach; then you will lose your knowledge. There are two plants in a pot. You put one plant in, and it was growing with great love and water and everything. It became big. Now you give up this one and give water only to the other one. Though it is big, it still needs nourishment; it needs the water. Similarly, if we want to become a yogī or a master, we should practice every day. Our Holy Gurujī, Swami Madhavānandjī Bhagavān, said: Keep your brain—meaning the memories—clean every day. So mantra, meditation, and dhyāna. Dhyāna means looking, concentrating, etc. So, with great interest, great love, and great respect, we should go to our master. Let us say you have a car and you drive 400 kilometers. You will have many things, but still your concentration is on the road to that destination. So it is Patañjali who was bringing collections together. Patañjali was at the time before the Mahābhārata, before Kṛṣṇa's incarnation. That was about before that also. Vedavyāsa was also about 7,000 years ago. I asked many other ācāryas of the āśramas. So Patañjali was, if you're not sure, more than 7,000 years ago. But yoga is more than that. So, how many yogas are there? We should look at it. There is bhakti yoga. See the chapter in the Bhagavad Gītā: the whole chapter about karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jñāna yoga. Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā has 18 chapters, and this 18 is the yoga chapter. It is bhakti yoga, bhakti yoga, jñāna yoga. So now, how many yogas are in the Bhagavad Gītā? You should get a Bhagavad Gītā. I will tell you the best Bhagavad Gītā, best if you want to listen. It has a lot of knowledge and wisdom and is very neutral. One Bhagavad Gītā is called the Jñāneśvarī Bhagavad Gītā. There was a great saint; his name was Jñāneśvara. That book is Jñāneśvarī. That saint, after she said another name... The most saintly who become great and very holy had a hard life. A hard life with the parents also. Some died. It's not easy. So Jñāneśvara was his Gītā. They were, I think, two sisters and one brother, if I'm not wrong. One of my disciples is studying there in that ashram. In that ashram, they only speak Sanskrit. It is a beautiful ashram with about 10, 15, 20 students. The whole village only speaks Sanskrit. Now he's learning; he speaks very well and gives lectures in Sanskrit. Anyhow, the brother and sisters had problems. They were very poor. One day he brought what we call the flour for the chapati, from the grains. But his little sister, she's about seven or eight years old, and the brother is also so. Their parents died. The sister said, "Brother, what can I cook? How to cook? We don't have any fire, we don't have any wood, we have nothing." He said, "Okay, prepare the dough." And he opened his shirt. That brother was sitting like this, and he said, "Now make your chapati and fry it on my back." She said, "Okay, brother." So she put the chapati on his skin, on his bare body. No fire, nothing. But he was sitting like this, and the chapati was frying, changing, very tasteful, very nice. His whole body was so hot. When the chapati was finished, he said, "Okay, was it good?" She said, "Yes." He put the salt, and they were eating. It is not a joke. It was. And still, people are worshipping that great saint. That Jāṭharāgni, the fire—he could produce the heat in his body to fry the chapati. He was slowly, slowly about 10 or 15 years old, a boy, and he became very famous. There was some other sādhu, a mahātma, who heard that Jñāneśvara was so famous and very holy. That other sādhu said, "I am higher than him." He was riding a lion, and he had a snake, a big snake, in his hand to beat the lion to go. He's sitting on the back of the lion. He told the lion, "Let's go and we will see who is that holy boy." That saint boy and his sister were playing on a little wall, like a frame behind the house. A little piece remained from the other house building which was broken. These brothers and sisters were playing and sitting on the wall. Then someone said, "There's one sādhu who came riding with the lion." She said, "Look, someone is riding with a lion and a snake." Jñāneśvara said, "Then we must go and welcome him. He is bringing a living creature; he is riding. We have this dead wall. We will ride with this wall," the sister said. "How?" He said, "Don't worry, sister, sit strong." And she said, "The wall, let's go." And the wall was going towards there. Then that sādhu, that swamījī, said, "You are the great." This is not a joke; it is a story there. All people know it was some centuries ago. He wrote a commentary from the Bhagavad Gītā, and that is one of the best, very spiritual. You should buy it. Where can we buy? The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind. But there is one printing house, and it is very cheap. In India, a very rich merchant, very, very rich, said, "When I die, and now, what money I have, what you get from the bank, what you go again? Interest. Only interest. My money should remain there, but only from the interest, print all the holy books: Vedas, this, that, all." The book which will be in the market, if you buy for, let's say, five hundred euros, in that printing house it's only ten euros. So if you want to buy, it is very, very well written, very good, very true. This is a very good book. Everything, Patañjali. If you want to buy the Patañjali book, oh God, then you will see how good it is. They all want to get everything. They are flying over the airplane to get things quickly. The Bhagavad Gītā has been written by Vedavyāsa. It is written from the Bhagavad Gītā, from the Vṛṣi. Now, he wrote a commentary, and we are giving the commentary on it. Vedavyāsa also wrote the Bhagavad Gītā. The Bhagavad Gītā is only one little śloka, and that śloka has 18 chapters. Otherwise, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam has 18,000 ślokas. The Upaniṣads also are the best; the grantha is also from the ṛṣi. The Vedas, and from the Vedas came the Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā, and then all Upaniṣads. "Up" means near. "Sad" means the disciple. So the disciple sits near the master and learns. That is called Upaniṣad, the name of this Upaniṣad. Now you are sitting in front of me. I'm not like those ṛṣis, but still, I'm here sitting, and you are sitting. This is one of the best photos you can have, that this is Upaniṣad. Which Upaniṣad? The Yoga in Daily Life Upanishad. Now we have to know, at least from the Upaniṣads, it's also yoga: Haṭha Yoga. Haṭha Yoga is not in Patañjali, but Haṭha Yoga is very great. So, Kriyā Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Haṭha Yoga, many, many yogas: Sahaja Yoga, many, many yogas. We shall learn and come to know about these parts of yoga. Jñānānanda Yoga, Śiva Yoga—there are many, many others. We will get this, and we should learn this. Not only always āsanas and this yoga, and then this is good for the body; this is Ayurveda, and that is good. What is Ayurveda? In Ayurveda, there is a yoga, and this yoga which they are talking about is just a little part. So, Haṭha Yogī is Śiva. You know the story about Śiva and Pārvatī, and that one yogī in the night who was frying his chapati—I have told you many times. In all these chakras and kuṇḍalinī, there is the science of humans. Don't think Kuṇḍalinī is something like miracles or something different. Magic is you, yourself. What a magic you were born. What a magic you came to your mother's body. What was the magic that you were developing? And you were born, you are studying, you are doing everything, and then we will go. We should pray not that we should not die. We will die in any case, sooner or later. God is so gracious; He doesn't tell us when we will die, and that is just finished, so we don't know. Don't think that after 150 years, then I will die. Maybe someone dies after one month, and a child is born. This is in the Supreme's hands. But this is for, as a yogī, for the chakras to pray and meditate and come to the highest consciousness. So, many, many different parts of yoga. But āsanas and prāṇāyāmas are kept more for our health. There is also nourishment. It's called āhar, vihar, āchar, vichār. Āhar means the nourishment, food. Eat natural, very natural. Whatever vegetable you bring, it should not be more than half a day or one day old, then it's not eatable, or you dry it. Dry it in the sun and then preserve it. But you're keeping it in the fridge. It is like one life has died and will come again, the light there. That's what they call nowadays the egg bank. I was in Czech, Brno. There was our Dr. Martin. People always pushed me, "Come there and look, your health and this and that." There was one poster, and it said, "You can reserve the bank eggs." I said, "So many eggs they are eating, so there are no more eggs available?" I have nothing to do with such things, so I told Mansa Devī. I said, "Why do Czech people have no more eggs?" She said, "No, no, this is an egg bank." "But why not in a farmhouse?" Then she explained to me. I said, "Oh, that's it." Then it's very easy for men: get a child. Tell the men to go out, but this all is abnormal. It is different that something is coming stolen and something is coming with love, with happiness, feeling with the goodness to have a child. But if one does not get, then if someone wants to have a child in any case, the ladies have desires because that is the nature of God. So then it's okay. Life is coming, but life will come with happiness, joy, and we love the child. Everybody will say, "Hi, how are you?" Everyone, but then slowly, slowly... you get old, 90 years old, then of course the parents are a burden. Wives will say to husband, "Your mother and your father are a burden for us. Can we not send them to the old house?" When you were born, we would also send you somewhere. Your mother and your father were taking so much care of you. Even they didn't go on holiday somewhere, and all the time looking after the child. That time, your parents did not say, "We don't need them. Send them to kindergarten for 10 years, then we will see." Therefore, don't run behind the money, but let your parents be in your house. Come in the evening and tell them, "How are you?" You know, our old parents, very old parents, will love you very much when you come home, like when you were a little child. One has luck, has destiny: such a father, parents, and such children. They will go first on that path. Yes, it will go straight to the highest level. I cannot tell if you are going to mokṣa immediately. Many things we have done in this life. We cannot go now to mokṣa because you did not know before. Many of you came to me now, and you are listening from me these things. Otherwise, many people say, "No, stupid, I don't know," but someone said. In some countries, there is ice, very cold, very cold, and they give alcohol to the parents, old parents, and then put them on ice, very ice and snow on it. In the morning, when they come, the ice is in the mouth. When your father or your mother, when you were little and were crying, always gave you something and put you on the ice, what would you think, my dear? So the child and the old are the same. If you want to get more good, what we call the sukha, or more blessings, then please, be with the old people, your parents. Yes. So this is a many, many different part, but at the same time, as far as you will continuously meditate, practice in your chakras, kuṇḍalinīs, etc., in our subject, you will become more and more and more spiritual, with higher consciousness, and you will go to the great, great light of God. But when we are running behind the money, and go to that country and go there and there, this is different. In old times, people who had a little house and a little garden survived from this. They were very happy. Neighbors giving to you something, you were giving them something, very happy. At that time, they did not have many facilities, but they were happy. Now we have everything, but still we are not happy. So, yoga, we have to come to this: karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jñāna yoga, rāja yoga. This is very important for us. There are many yogas with no āsana at all, no prāṇāyāma. So that is also part of yoga. Every master is different. One came from Budapest, one came from Ljubljana, and one came from Vienna. So, everyone has a different path. But when we come to that highest consciousness, then we are all one. Kuṇḍalinī. We spoke about Kuṇḍalinī many times. Last week we had a very nice talk about Kuṇḍalinī. The kuṇḍ is like a water well, and there is water. The ring means the whole universe. The moon is round, the sun is round, our earth is round. Similarly, that's why the kuṇḍ. Kuṇḍ means also deep. So our consciousness is very deep down, which is like animal's behavior, and different. Slowly, slowly we come up to the Svādhiṣṭhāna Chakra. This evening we will once more again bring the Chakra, and we can make a screen there. We will go walk over a walk. We will have a first prayer, then a little dark, then we will show our kuṇḍalinī and chakra. So, my dear, there are many, many yogas. Now, one person has made a name also, one yoga. Why not? Very good. That's called chair yoga. I forgot, otherwise in the beginning I could also do it. That was great and very good. The elderly person, or who is not very well physically, then let them sit on the chair and practice yoga like this. So don't make these people unhappy that they cannot practice or do something. Do it with your grandparents. They will be very happy. If you are doing it in your city or village, say, "Chair yoga," many, many will come. These elderly people have a little bit of a committee or a group, so what's the name? Chair yoga. There was just now one Swamiji in London where I was, and his name is Smiling Yogi. He doesn't stay more than two or three days somewhere. He's traveling around the world, smiling with whatever he sees, or he sees somebody speaking, and like, he's always smiling. It's okay. That's enough. So he's smiling and smiling, making everybody smile. It is said: how many muscles do we have in the body? When you are angry, then all muscles are in tension. But if you smile, then only these three muscles of the mouth can release and relax all muscles. So just be kind, smile, and then all muscles are relaxed. If this tree is with the angle, then all muscles are like this, that he is calling yoga. Long ago I met him in San Francisco, and there was a very big conference. There was one man moving there, a yellow dress shirt, and he's called the Laughing Yogi. You know now that he is, who knows, the Laughing Yogi: one, two, three, four, and five. You know that you know that? No, no, they don't know. If we make you, will you be all you can do? It, and really, he came and he came. And now he has a... in the airplane. When he came in the airplane, and he said... "Oh, don't worry. Long way, we should laugh." And he said, "Yes." Then all stood up and everyone was laughing. And he said, "The power is too strong." While sitting, you cannot. You must have your legs solid on the ground, and then laugh. So we can do perhaps while sitting, laughing. So our lecture is finished.

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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