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Swara Yoga and the Brain

A satsang discourse on the essence of spiritual community and the foundational discipline of yoga.

"Sat means the truth. Sat means spirituality. Sat means God... Satsaṅg. Saṅg means to be there."

"The great one will never say to himself, 'I am the great.'... Bada bada nahi kare, the great one will not glory himself."

The lecturer addresses the assembly, defining true satsang and critiquing the modern distortion of yoga into competition. He stresses the foundational yoga discipline (anuśāsanam) from Patanjali, emphasizing proper sleep, a pure lifestyle, and humility as essential for mental clarity and spiritual progress, contrasting this with worldly pride and confusion.

Filming location: Jadan, Rajasthan, India

Om Namah Śivāya, Om Namah Śivāya, Om... Namah Śivāya. Om Namah Śivāya. Om Namah Śivāya.... Om Har Har Gaṅgī. Namaḥ Śivāya, Om Hara, Om Hara Hara Gaṅgā Namaḥ Śivāya, Om Hara, Om Hara Hara Gaṅgā Namaḥ. Hara Hara Bodhi Namaḥ Śivāya, Om Hara Hara Bodhi Namaḥ. Śivāya, Om Namaḥ Śivāya, Om... Namaḥ Śivāya oṁ... Namaḥ Śivāya oṁ. Nam. Good evening to everybody, and good morning to New Zealand now. It is one of the most beautiful times. Beautiful time means when we can be within satsaṅg. Satsaṅg and Durasang. Sat means the truth. Sat means spirituality. Sat means God. Sat means parents. Sat means all that is divine. Satsaṅg. Saṅg means to be there. Satsaṅg. Jiske sāth main vaikthī rehtā hai. Satya ke sāth rehtā hai. Satya se bāt kartā hai. Satya Bhagavān hai. Satya Gurudev hai. Satya Mata Pita hai. Jo kuśatya hai, achchā hai. We should be with those people who are good and who are in the satsaṅg. It doesn't matter where you are, but you have your path. And then sometimes there are saṅgha that could be making confusions. That is important, that it can direct us in a different way; then your saṅgha will not be that which you are on. Now, I'm disappointed. Sometimes Gurujī is also disappointed. Why? Because, being great developed people, they are not as they should be. This is going on in the whole world. Again, it is coming from India, Bhārat. Bharat kā jo ādhyātmik śakti jo hai, saṅg jo hai, wo ṛṣi muniyoṁ kā yogī janoṁ kā hai. Aur ab har ghar-ghar ke andar yoga ko liyā jātā hai. Bhūt acchā hai. Ghar ghar yoga ko sī karnā chāhiye. Lekin wo jo vyakti abhi vichār karte hai ki ham competition kareṅge. Ham aur sabhi ke sāth meṁ kyā kyā kareṅgī. Olimpia. Yoga meṁ olimpia kī āvaśyakatā hī kahā hai. Adhyātmik Yoga jo hai to har ek vaikti kabhi nahi kata, maiṁ baḍā ho tu choṭā hai, nahi ye baḍā hai nahi, wo to hum to choṭā hai, baḍā baḍāī nahi kare, baḍā baḍāī nahi kare, baḍā na bole, bol Rahiman Hira kis ko kare, aage kya bola, mal kamara mol, ye hai. The great one will never say to himself, "I am the great." If they said, "I am great," then you are little, less and less down. There is a great scholar, a poet, and he is a very famous one. Baḍā, baḍāī nahīṁ kare. Bada means great. I am great, I have money, I am a great officer, or prime minister, or minister, or doctor, and this. What is that? Look, Bhagavān Rām, God Rām, it's only two words, Ram. He didn't say Dr. Ram, Professor Ram, Pilate Ram, Minister Ram. Did anyone say "Ram" like the Bhagavān Rāma? Just "Rāma," that's it. See, the Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, even we, Kṛṣṇa, didn't say, "I am Bhagavān." Only "Kṛṣṇa," one word, "Kṛṣṇa," Doctor. Krishna, Minister Krishna's wife is also Krishna, Artha also has the name Krishna Devi, so she is also Krishna Devi. So Bhagavān Krishna, when he incarnates, we said "incarnate," but he said, "I am born. I am." So even that one doesn't go. How? But we have such pride in this, and the higher we are, the lower we are. The great one will never say, "I am the great." Let them glory, but not from myself. Jesus Christ did. Jesus said, "Dr." Jesus, Hanuman, Jesus, God. I am no, only Jesus. Two words: Ram, two words: Krishna, two words: and Jesus, two words. They have no in four and bar, no any other letters. Krishnajī, did he say Krishnajī? Did Rāmajī, is there? So similarly, bada bada nahi kare, the great one will not glory himself. Bada bada nahi kare, bada ne bole bol. And they will never speak in such words that, "I am the best one, I am the good one." Indian people, they go to the British, America, New Zealand or somewhere, two, three years there, and then they come back to India, they are all speaking only English. Mother tongue. Anyhow, so why are we making this yoga just something like a competition? My yoga is good. Many of these, it is making Patañjali Ṛṣi Mahāmuni, Patañjali, and now I would say that they have put down the Patañjali name. Patañjali, how many points are there? Yama, then we tell Indians, you know, you know Patañjali? What are the numbers? Tell me, tell me, what is Patañjali Ṛṣi? What is his first word? Tell me, there is no, but tell me, what is in the cinema? The hero. Not a heroine, not a heroine, not a heroine. You should at least tell him his name. You don't believe in Patañjali. And Patañjali's first word, which is that which Patañjali said, is not atta. Atta is a cow's. Atha. Atha. Yoga. Atha yoga anuṣṭhāna. Anusthāna? Anuśāsan. Atha yoga anuśāsan. The anuśāsan means, what will you say in English, Professor, Principal Jī? Hindi, it is only in Hindi, isn't it? The discipline, that is what you know, isn't it? You don't know that. Atayoga Anushasanam, or system. What does Anushasanam mean, Premananji? Discipline, okay. Anyhow, ātayoga anuśāsanam. So, the ṛṣi said, "Disciples, the first step to come to the higher levels of yoga, or anything, is discipline." So, what is that? How many points are there? Aṣṭāṅga. What is that? Aṣṭāṅga. Aṣṭāṅga. Aṣṭāṅga, there are many meanings. But what is the meaning of aṅga? What is aṅga? It is a part of the body. This is our hand. This is our hand. Aṅga is the body. What is our body? It is our foot, our hand, our mouth, our mouth, our mouth. It is everything, isn't it? Aṣṭāṅga. And this Aṣṭāṅga, to keep healthy, keep healthy and live healthy, happy. Through the asanas, therefore, yama, niyama. Stay with yama, stay with niyama, isn't it? Yama, niyama, āsana. Āsana is not a competition. You can sit like this, or lotus posture. How many? How many? How many? How many? ... You are all sitting here. Do you have any books with you? You can read them if you want. But if you want to read them, I have a book worth 1,200 rupees. At least. Now I have made it 18. I have not seen any book. Even the writer, he has worked so hard, he has so many good photos, so many books. He said, "Give it to me like this. Yes, that is it." Yogīs, yes or no? That's it. But they won't be able to take it. They will give a bottle of alcohol every day. When these people go, they come here and there and drink. If they only read a book, O human, you will become a human. Or else you will go back and become an animal, isn't it? So, oh human, look, what are you doing? Get good things which are good for your body, for your mind, for your soul, and for your internal self, for all of yourself, for everything. But no, because one book is too expensive. Yeah, it is about 100 pounds. And 100 pounds means 18,000 rupees. They take it for 18,000 rupees, and if I am giving it to you for 1,500 rupees, then I thank you. They don't take it. And the book has gone. It comes again and again, "Give us the book back." Everything, the books of, you know, Yogājī, so, but they will drink the alcohol. We don't know how they are getting. Every night before going to sleep, they drink alcohol, though we know we are doing so many. That's it. And they, who is the company who's bringing them, they said, "Rāmījī, then you will have five people only for working." Like this is a condition of India. Or Europe ke liye, alcohol is just like urine. Voters samajh gaye, they know. But Bharat wale chhod diya, sab ho yeh kar rahe hain. Hey, Bhārat ke logon, kyā hain? Tum rahe hoge, kaise rahe hoge, kyā karoge. Don't say that my Bharat is great. Yes, my Bharat is great. Bharat is great. You are not great. Otherwise, you will be quiet. You will be alive, that's it. Anyhow, let's come. So, where are they, Patañjali? So, doesn't matter, Patañjali, yogī, or other, or yogas. Many, many... ṛṣis and munis, that's it. But what we are going to... many people are now confused in India and other places, some, not all. First is called laziness. What do we call the lazy? Ālasya. Or alasya se bhī jyādā, wo kyā karte hai ki adhā kachrā. Neither this nor that. Our brain, the yogī said, the yogī said that your brain has to be very clean. Very fresh, then your whole body will be so... How, for example, that is a tāṇḍra, there is a nidrā and tāṇḍra. So, tāṇḍra kyā hai? Nidrā kyā hai? Batā hai, principles of... No, you can speak a little loud so that... They can hear, "Tandrā kyā hotī hai?" So the Nindra, nindra. There is one yogī. Some we've said, "Bhech doon nindra, jan leve koi? To bhech doon nindra, koi leve to deve choon dindra?" Ek to wo nindra karta hai, wo kaunse nindra? How you are? Kya bhech bhech se ho ki main usko? Itna bhāv se unko de detā hūṁ, aur main vahāṁ kā vahāṁ nirogṛha jāt karo, anyhow nidrā and tandra. So nidrā may have a best quality because the brain needs very, very much functions in the body, what you have done during the daytime or nighttime. It is said that you have 24 hours of the night and day. And in that, where you are working half-half, but it is said 15 hours minimum, 15 hours which you are working, and how much is left? Nine, nine you must sleep, yes, otherwise, yes. So it is said that look, you have, you have the time. So from 24 hours, day and night, God has given you enough time. And so later, he said, "You are going to work for 12 hours. Who is a good person that he will work the whole day, 12 hours for your work? Who will give you the work? Does a yogī do 12 hours of work? He will go here, he will go there." And when a yogī goes, when a yogī comes, he does this. When he does this, then everyone gets to know that when yogis go somewhere, people are working, then the workers, they are waking like this, it means that he is coming. Whoever has all are working, and on the other side, when he is going to the other. Aside what they are saying in the front, like this, so it means he is gone now. They sit down. Yes, it is a condition. It is a condition. It is called a chur. Chur means thieves, and that such kind of thieves is not good for you. Anyhow, 12 hours is the time for work. And now, the rest day, how much? 12 kese, 12 kese. Up 12 me se, what are you doing in your life? 12 ghante tak āp kyā karte ho? Oh, okay, you go at home and be with the families and eat things and that. Let's say, two hours. 3 hours, so 9 hours are still left. So for nine hours, you should read Bhakti, Pratāna. Now, nine are still left. So now you take one more. It is eight hours you should sleep. Then you will be a healthy man. Your brain, if you can sleep eight hours. Your brain will be relaxed, perfect, and everything. But you are gasping, there and there. And somebody is drinking, and this and that, there are different things. But we are not drinking, no? That's it. Now, if you want to achieve that consciousness, the highest consciousness, which you will say, like Devpurījī, like Mahāprabhujī, like Holī Gurujī, and all these great ṛṣis. How did they make their brain very fresh and fresh? Good, because they sleep. In which way? They were definitely sleeping more and more, and then they came to the highest level where their brain was completely fresh and good. They will be perfect. Otherwise, if you are in a tandra avasthā, it will make your brain get little and little. Like schizophrenia. How is the schizophrenia going? Because that person does not get peace of mind. Peace of mind you don't have. And then, slowly, slowly, we are disturbing our brain system. Therefore, go, what we said: early to bed, early to rise. Make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. Why don't you listen to that word from the business people? What many people are doing, when we said, "Go to sleeping, hurry home, everybody have telephone," and they said, "No, please don't sleep." In the college, our boys are under the bed, sleeping, but looking on the side. How much of his brain did he have? He was not a student. Vidya, Vidya means, meaning of meaning, means to take, to take as much money as possible. Which money? To take knowledge. So if the parents can give the education to their children in such a way, they will be the best and brilliant, brilliant child will be. And he doesn't need to give the, what they call, the learning from after the school. You come back and someone gives you tuition? No. Why the tuition more? Because once more your teacher told you, you can know the whole month, the whole year. Because your teacher has taught well and your brain was good. And therefore, sleep. And if you cannot sleep like this, then your spirituality is gone. Spirituality is gone. Neither are you here nor there. Consciousness. Where is your consciousness? Because consciousness means concentration, and concentration is not there because you are in the delete, everything deleting. Therefore, yoga is that. The ṛṣis and munis said, "Sādhanā, sādhanā, sādhanā," that's it. Relax, relax, relax. In relaxation, your brain is giving you more knowledge than in sitting in the school class, yes. So it doesn't matter if you are a yogī, you are sitting here. Many people and my yoga teachers here, all they are doing very much work here, and they... Know that they are learning, and what Swamiji said, and they are happy. But there are some lazy, some are between so and so, that's okay, I think. Okay, doesn't matter. But otherwise, it is where they are all very alert, and therefore we are coming every day to prayer, every day here meditation, every day bhajans here, every day all talking spiritual. Everyone has very sattvic food, nourishment, very organic food, organic water, Yogījī. Because other water, underground water in the earth, is urea inside. Many, many near the nipple, and there are two years, water you cannot drink from the bank of the river. That side is too much yudhya there, and water is so bad. And in our side, in Gurujī's ashram, in Gurujī's, there is still no yudhya water. So it is, the water is deleted. The water is in the, all in the poisonous. But that's, so we should get water from the heaven. Yes? Heaven. Okay? Heaven, no. Blue sky. Where should water come? But God does and purifies this, what you call the yūryas, purified, and we will get. That's why Yogesh is making now a beautiful, very big, big hole. Many, you don't know what you are doing. What is Swāmījī digging here? Underground, underground rooms. So, everybody can sleep peacefully, and in the heat it is cool, and in winter it is warm. That is why we are getting underground, very good. So, there is one science, it is called śvāsa yoga, and śvāsa yoga, which is with them, mostly with both nostrils. Everything giving the instructions to us, and everything is through the nostrils. The brain, from the brain, this is coming. And the brain is giving the indication, "Don't go in this way." Who? The nostrils. Don't go out. Wait. The brain will give the indication again. Now you can go, but this side. Or you can see, look at your hand here, from which nostril is air coming more. Look, by doing this, take out your breath on this. So, make the air more equal in the nostrils. But it changes. It will change. According to that, as your mind is breaking, you said, "I changed my mind." I changed my mind. So, exactly, you are changing mind means that you are changing this energy from the brain, Iḍā and Piṅgalā, and Iḍā, Piṅgalā, Suṣumṇā, and Vajranāḍī. So we are yogīs. We are not going to the competition. We are not going to any competition. We are not going to the Olympics. We always said, "You are great. If you want to run quickly, okay, I will wait slowly, and you can come quickly." That is a yogic yoga. Yoga, what does Patañjali say? Atha yoga anuśāsanam. And anuśāsanam is for all. We should be the right. So if you want to become brilliant of your brain and everything, then sleep longer, but not that whole night you are looking somewhere, and morning you can't get up. That's called, what will you say? Laziness, laziness, and that is also not good because it is said sunrise is very important for our eyes and our ears, that we are awoken. And when the sun goes down, you will see many, we have here many trees, and you will see these trees every day, you can see. These leaves are going to sleep. Did you see that? Who did not see? Okay, you don't know. Tomorrow, at the time of the sunset, you will see all leaves are sleeping. And in the morning, 5 minutes, 10 minutes before, when Brahma Brahmachayat, that time it will awake about 40, mean 50, 50, or 1 hour before. That's called Brahma Mudra. Brahma mudra. So, at that time, they will awaken their lips. Even the trees, ponds, they are awakening. Then why are you lazy there in the... So, the yogī is going with the nature and not with the force. No force. Sleep, go deep. Sleep. You will see very happy and... So, this is how, that's why yoga in daily life is the science of the humans, complete and the consciousness. And that consciousness will lead us into that fine world. That's why, you know, in all of Europe and everywhere, yoga is life in Delhi. And now, from the Indian, they are trying to catch the yoga in Delhi life, but not. They want to say only yoga, but not yoga in the life, and it means they are only wanting to do this kind of exercises, and this is because such conferences are not good. I will go into the conference, and I will talk about this. Yes? You too? Yes or no? Premānenjī? Yes? We have to write this letter to India's yoga ministry. Okay? No, no yoga. Ayush is different. There is an Indian yoga association, so first, laziness is bad. Not sleeping properly is bad; sleeping well is very good. And being active when you are awakened, active and functioning, that is very good, but lazy is not good. And similarly, when you are changing this and that, it doesn't matter, then you will be confused. And confused and confused. That's why in India, wars now are still, but different and changing. When one's husband and wife are married, then they have a whole life. And that is how one's souls become together. Pati patnī kā ek matā hoi svarg mein sāth. See? Pati patnī kā ek matā hoī svarga meṁ. When the wife and husband have always equal thoughts, feelings, etc., then they will be in heaven. They will have the highest and greatest power for them. That's it, but we are changing. Why are we changing that brain? Those who are not sleeping well, they will change again their subject, profession, work, clothes, rooms, house, many things. But what will you do everywhere? That's it. Therefore, peace, peace, peace. Every bird will not change the tree. Every bird will not change the nest, but those birds will change which others will disturb them. Then they will sit on the other tree. So even these birds go about, birds sometimes go about 50 kilometers. Even big birds will go 100 kilometers. But they will come back to the big birds from Europe in the summer. They are there, and when it becomes cool, they are all coming to Rajasthan, India. You know, many birds, you can't imagine how, from over Pakistan and our tourist country, what do they call it? Jessel mare, bird mare, thousands of birds, and how they are coming, like, what is this? V. V otana? W. So what is one? So they are flying like this. One is in the front, and then all are going like this. And nobody's high, nobody's down. If someone is making little up and down, gets... Yes, listen. This should not go high, neither this, and one is in the front. It means that from the front, and this V, they are putting the air, fire, light set. So they will go very comfortably, like an aeroplane going with its wings like this. Similarly, they learn from the birds. And then, after certain kilometers, the front one is tired and just goes down. Others come in front, and he gives the bell. They fly and fly, very big. In Brahmamūrta, when do they fly up? Brahmamūrta, morning. In Brahmamurta means the sunlight. Before the sun rises, they have such a light. Similarly, a yogī is learning according to the nature. And so, but of course, if you have a profession, you are working late at night, you should need to sleep longer. That's okay. But generally, when you are always there, then you should make your timetable so that you can be comfortable. So, therefore, all our activities and everything belong to our brain. And that brain has the roots. And that's why it is said that the banyan tree in the Bhagavad Gītā says that the banyan tree's roots are in the earth, and humans' roots, they are going to the brain. This is the part, so our nerve systems are going to that side, and roots of the earth towards there. So it is up and down, that is kuṇḍalinī cakra according to the kuṇḍalī. What we are doing? So yoga, entire life with the science of the human bodies for health, happiness, relaxation, and everything. Did you understand something, or are you confused? If you are confused, really, I know that you are confused. And why are you confused? Because you don't sleep properly. That's it. And then, if you are having a very nice, deep sleep, then you will have beautiful dreams. Because that mind sends all, all many, many things to empty that mind. Why is this dream giving us the dream out of our brain to empty this, unnecessarily empty this? And then from that, if it is something needed, how quickly the brain can bring us back. Like now we are sitting here, and I tell you, "Jupiter," now all your brain is on Jupiter. And I said, "Oh," then you are all again here. So the mind has such a, what you call, speed. No one can go further than that, and that is going in the... Dream more, it goes in the dream, and from dreams are the two things: either good and bad, or it brings full of the fear. And why full of fear? Because you have nervousness, because you could not sleep properly. So that's why after eating, do satsaṅg a little bit, and this, then go and sleep. Of course, if you have something to do, do it and then sleep. And morning, according to that, we should go. Hari Om. Japa kariya hariyom hariyom... Tat-sa diyavadidev satgurudevaki alakpuri ji maadevaki devadidev deveshwar mahaadev haradibhagwan sridipnarayan mahāprabhujī kī Satguru Swami Madhavan Jī Bhagwan Kī Satya Sanātan Dharma Kī Om Shanti Shanti... Hari Om.

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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