Swamiji TV

Other links



Video details

Remove the depression

A satsang addressing collective depression and spiritual awakening.

"Why not birds, animals, or fish? It means that somewhere, we humans made a mistake."

"Yoga in Daily Life is not only exercising; we go further. We have to understand that these five principles are these elements."

Swami Ji addresses a European gathering, expressing joy at reuniting after eight months. He discusses the COVID-19 pandemic as a spiritual consequence of humanity's treatment of animals and observes widespread global depression. He leads the audience in laughter exercises to open their hearts, shares parables about finding positivity in adversity, and explains how yoga āsanas connect to nature and the soul, using the example of Haṁsāsana and its symbolic link to the soul's flight.

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

My dear ones, I am very happy to see you. Welcome to all of you. This is a great blessing of our paramparā, of our Gurudevs. We are very happy that after eight months, I am here again near to you, in these cities and countries of Europe. It is a great thing, and I have received so much love, respect, and bhakti. My heart is full of blessings. We know, and our Vasantpurī has told you much, that we must maintain respect. Distance is very important now. First, it is for yourself. Therefore, you should not go close to others, nor should you crowd behind. This space is for you, and for those in front or behind you. It is a sign of your respect and care for your health. We know that all the brothers and sisters in our Yoga in Daily Life programs are very happy, and we are happy to be here. Today we also have with us Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Vivekapurījī, Ānandapurī, and many others from Croatia. We are happy to see them. We will have our seminar programs, and they will be great. You know we have great respect. A víte, že k tomu máme i velký respekt. Now, we know that for nearly a hundred years—not only a hundred, but for what we call a whole century—something very bad has periodically arisen in the world. This year was not good for us. It is very interesting that this corona affected only humans. Why? We must think this over. Why not birds, animals, or fish? It means that somewhere, we humans made a mistake. I asked many people, and with my disciples, we conducted a test. We wanted to know about yoga practitioners who are pure vegetarians—no eggs, no meat, no alcohol, and who do not torture animals. I was thinking one day in meditation, as I have many times, about all creatures except humans. We all know how it is: the torturing, killing, eating, and burning of animals. We know how the animals cry. But who goes to them? Nobody tells them, "Please don’t do this." In this way, I think all the animals, whether in open fields or closed pens, went to God. They said to God, "Please, have you forgotten us? How we are suffering! They are slaughtering us, burning us. What have we done? We have done nothing." The animals said this—not in that form, but from their hearts. The burning problem, how hard it is. This is their crying. They went to God, and from this came an attack this year for us humans. And still, humans have not understood, and it will mostly continue. But in these few months, many, many people have given up drugs and alcohol. They have also stopped eating the bodies of creatures and torturing other animals. The pain from the animals is affecting many people. Now, especially in Europe, people are becoming more and more vegetarian. People have turned very much inward. They are with their families. They understood what family is when they were all at home: with all your children, your pets, your husband and wife. We were all in our rooms, in our houses, for so long. They understood what it is like. Many people got depression. Many people do not speak. And if they speak, it is as if God has closed their mouths. We don’t know what is happening. Many, many people are in depression. When I came here to Europe now, I saw that all people, including our yoga people, were very, very depressed. So here in our seminar, I try to open people again. They all begin to speak to each other, to understand our bhajans and my words. Again, when I speak something, people open their mouths to laugh; they all were. They are opening their hearts, and many begin to open up and think of something good. So you also, now, open your hands. It is 65%—you open your mouth. If you can’t open your mouth, you can make a gesture like this. Only one person said, "Tak, tak, tak." Come on. Some people are greeting, making loud sounds, while others are down like this. Oh, my God. You are depressed. I don’t want you to be depressed now, here in the kingdom of our Bhagavān Dīpnārāyaṇa and Mahāprabhujī and all our guru-paramparā. At least you can say it and make a sound for your Swāmījīs here, okay? Very good, thank you. Oh, I am also relaxed. I know how we all are. I told you one day, and I think you heard it on our Swāmījī’s television long ago, maybe 30 years ago in San Francisco. There was a conference for all yoga centers. They invited me also, and there was a big festival for three or four days, with many people from different yogīs. At that time, an Indian man came to meet me. He wore a shirt, trousers, and a cap. He came to me and said, "Swāmījī, who are you?" and so on. "I know, I heard about you." He said, "Swāmījī, I have some technique, and it’s very good." He said, "I am laughing, man." I said, "What is that?" He said, "I am laughing and very happy, and I am making everyone happy." He was laughing, and slowly he began. Everywhere he brought people for retreats, and in the retreats he said, "Laughing." Every third hour, they all were laughing. Some were a little skeptical, saying, "Oh, he’s a madman." But in one or two days, all became so happy and relaxed. Then, even on an airplane, when it was about to take off, he said in front of everybody, "Hello friends, I want to make you happy." They all looked, thinking, "What is this?" He said, "Everyone, you have to be happy." They said, "How?" He said, "I am standing," and he started. They said, "This boy, this man is not normal." And again he was laughing. People began to laugh, saying, "What is this person?" Again he said, "Please, all of you laugh with me." What happened? All became happy. When he got off the airplane, all his friends said, "Thank you, it was very nice." Now what he made is called laughing yoga. But what happens now in this situation? We all have closed our mouths. So now you have to open your heart and not be depressed. We all have to be very happy and very good. So then, let us all laugh three times, okay? And who will not laugh? He will be depressed, okay? Very good. Again. Once more. One more time. And now we say, "Ha, ha, ha." So, when something happens, sometimes we talk, joke, or do this. We should make it nice. Someone told a story in Yugoslavia, when it was one whole country. That someone was from Croatia, or Slovakia, Slovenia, or maybe another place. They said, "No, when Swāmījī is dead, then we should not laugh," and so on. How they suppressed everything after my lectures or something in a conference! I said, "Thank you." That means that somehow new people were there. They wanted to make it like this, and they said such things. That was depression. Yugoslavia became depressed, and in that depression they spread it. They spread their politics, not the land. You cannot make a wall on the Adriatic coast. So always, when good things happen, we should express your goodness. So he is also saying, "Yes, Swāmījī, that’s right." Do you understand? Good. Once more, Vivek Purī has come. Very good. And now, see, the good bhajan singer, Swāmī Umapurījī, is here. Now I see who has not opened their heart for oneness with all. Maybe you are not a friend of hers, or maybe you don’t like her, but in a conference, with all people together, we have to act together. Otherwise, in some parts, there are two or three political parties. Some are very happy and good, and they are laughing, while others are lost and will not join in. You know, the Croatians, when something... they don’t laugh, but what they are doing is holding their... what is that? A Croatian said, "I want to kill my heart." That’s it. So we always... and another thing is that when someone’s joke makes everyone laugh, it means it awakens everyone. Again, we are awakened. There is hardly one person who can understand or hear everything clearly in ten minutes. We cannot. We cannot concentrate. Or if someone has something for you, or someone is asking, "How much money are they giving? This and that?" then they will say yes. Not only ten minutes, they will take fifteen minutes. In that situation, you will not be laughing; you will be concentrating. So now it has been these three months, or already the fourth month, that we are all depressed. The whole world is depressed. America is very depressed. China is depressed. India is depressed. Europe is depressed. Africa and Australia are very depressed. It has made old people very, very depressed. Now they are depressed, and they don’t know what to do because, you know, many people lost their jobs. Our job is there. They are working, but they have no money. They don’t get paid. And they think that it will give me more money back, and so on. In such depression, do not go down. Therefore, Yoga in Daily Life means we are very open and relaxed. We don’t know how long we will be here. So if we have to do something tomorrow, we should do it today. And what we have to do today, we should do it just now. And what is that? We should be happy and relaxed. Of course, if someone has died, or is very, very ill and in great pain, we are all very sad. But others are not, and this sadness will be sometimes, and then you are laughing again. So this seminar, with all the people who came here—for example, 130 or 150 people were allowed—they all were depressed. Všichni lidé, kteří sem přijeli, bylo to 130 nebo 150 lidí, tak byli všichni v depresii. A když pak odjížděli, tak byli tak šťastní. But with the mask, even though we have a mask on our mouths, we can still laugh. So we can put it like this. Everybody? Hello? That was not me. No, no... no. When I said yes, then you also first said yes. I didn’t say, so I will say you are too happy. Say yes, we are very happy, okay? Are you happy? Yes, we are happy. Very good. Now, say to your heart: relax your heart. And awaken in your heart, happiness. Otherwise, it will also affect our heart. It will be suppressed. So, Yoga in Daily Life is not only exercising; we go further. We have to understand that these five principles are these elements, and this is what we call the annamaya kośa. This annamaya kośa is our physical body. We get oxygen, we have water, we have food, etc. So this is the first point: our body is not everything, but without the body, it is nothing, as someone said. We take care of our body. We look at our body, how beautiful I am or not. Everyone is beautiful. Whatever God has made is perfect and beautiful, but we ourselves are not satisfied that we are beautiful. Therefore, what do we do? Makeup. And this makeup, now they are even making tattoos again, and I don’t know where they are, on many different parts of the body. It is said there was a king, a Muslim king, what they called at that time a Mughal. He and his secretary—his secretary was great. He would advise the king very well on what to do, good and bad, and everything. The secretary always showed what was right. So what happened is that somehow the king hurt his thigh. He tore his thigh, and his secretary came. The king said, "Look what happened to me." The secretary said, "What happened?" "This is a very big wound on my thigh." The secretary said, "Very good." The king was so angry. "You are always against me. I always said this, and you said no." He said, "My Highness, I will tell you, it is great for you." The king said, "From today, finish, go away from my palace." So he went out of the palace and was sent home. After two months, or not two years, the wound was okay; it healed. The king and some friends went horse riding for a picnic. They were all riding horses in the forest and said, "We will meet at a certain place." Everybody was riding. At that time, people in the forest, jungle people, had a festival. People in the mountains and forests are a completely different kind of people, jungle people. They also have one guru. They made a kind of festival or ceremony. Their master was sitting there, like Vivek Purī. They made a ceremony. They said, "For this we have to burn them in the fire." This is like a ceremony, so bring some good, very clean men. Suddenly, one saw the king coming on a horse. All these people tried to get him, and the king said, "Yes, come out." They all caught him with one hand and the other, and they said, "What happened?" They said, "Today is your day. We will have our master, our holy master there, and we will have a ceremony, and he will offer you." Now there is nobody there. The king is there, but so many people are strong. They tied him and brought him to that man and said, "Here is the master. Here we have the best, nice person to give into the fire." His master said, "Okay, then take his dress away. Wash him with soap, with water, with milk, with oils, with butters, with honeys." Again, this is a ceremony. Then they brought him to their master. The master said, "I will check his body." There was on the thigh a big wound. "What is this? We don’t know how his thigh was injured. Take him away. We cannot take a person who is half damaged." The king was thankful. He said, "You go well." They didn’t know he was the king. He took his horse and rode away. He came to his palace and said, "Call his secretary." He came after two years, and the king said, "I was wrong and you were good." I said, "What?" "I have done nothing." He said that when I was injured, and you said it’s very good for you, and I was angry. But now I know that day you said it is good for you. So we know when something happens, we should not always think it is just a negative thing; it can be a positive thing. And so those people in the forest believed that on a human’s body, there should be no kind of carving or something, or it is haunted. Similarly, humans try to be, "I want to be more beautiful." What do you think, that you will be more beautiful? We are not becoming beautiful; we are damaging ourselves. How is our body good? How is our very nice skin? Okay, we have something inside, some kind of ornament. Ornament is okay, you can have it. But as much as you make some kind of makeup on your body—on the body, eyes, and everywhere—do you think you are beautiful? In the evening, before going to sleep, you wash yourself and then say, "How am I?" You dim the light and go to sleep. So, beauty is your heart, beauty is your words, beauty is your behavior, beauty is your health and everything. We have to understand that. So yoga is not only torturing, but okay, we need exercise because we need movement. It’s okay, we should have real yoga postures, the real āsanas. According to tradition, there are 84 āsanas. 84, pardon. 84, not 80. I’m sorry, because these are all different creatures, and these are the postures of the animals. For example, one posture is called cobra, snake. Bhujaṅgāsana? I am wrong. Yes. Then scorpion. Yes or no? Yes. Then the mendicant. You know what is a mendicant? Frog. The frog posture. There’s a cow. Gomukhāsana. So all 84, what we call the āsanas, we should practice. But of course, we humans become more and more practiced and do more and more things, so it’s okay. We are doing many things for the body. It is a chaurāsī lakh, so it is 8.4 million different creatures. For example, let’s say fish, let’s say the turtle also. We have to know the posture. Who doesn’t know the position of the tongue? Yeah, this throttle, not a throttle. It’s not a throttle. So, how many of us are also in the posture where we are sleeping on the water? With which āsana? Lotus. The lotus posture. With lotus posture, you can lie down in the water. If you don’t know, go to the Adriatic coast. There is very nice water, very peaceful, very clean, and there are many sacks. Big fish are not there. And if there were, he cannot eat you because he has to turn like this. So, lotus. The lotus flower is in the water, and the flower is up. So also, from our navel, there are roots of that which we will see in the coming days. The ṛṣis were talking that we have to come out of all these animals, and we come to the humans, and then we come to mokṣa. So there are many, many different kinds of āsana. And then there is haṁsāsana. Do you know somebody here, haṁsāsana? Who can come up here and tell me? Anybody? Come on, quickly. Haṁsāsana, good, very good. Are you male or female? Yeah, because which kind of wings are better? This kind of wings come. Yeah. Not here, there in the middle. Yes. Very good. Thank you. And that’s why, you know, many things about spiritualities are very close to the Germans and philosophy. The Germans and Indians are also close. And European philosophy is from which country? Greece, that’s it. So in this world, when all became neutral, everyone has their names in their countries. The Germans were very, very clever, so everyone made airplanes. But what is an airplane? Everybody wanted a name. So they said, "Which is the, what is it called, Indian airplane?" Air India, and somebody has this and that, but in German it’s Hansa. Ale v Německu těm aerolinkám říkají Hansa. Yes. And that is what your airplane? Lufthansa. Luft Hansa. And Luft is the air. A Luft je vzduch. Hansa is the Hansa flying. Hansa je ta, so in the air the Hansa is the way. And Hansa goes so swiftly and landed in India. So, Hansa, this Hansa, airplane, is everywhere in the world, and also that symbol is like a swan. So all this is from nature, and that in yoga is also nature. So we have here Haṁsāsana. And they said Luft Haṁsa. It’s a very, very good name. Another called Haṁsa is our heart. Our soul, our soul. And that Haṁsa, that’s my soul. My ātmā is different than my body. And so my ātmā is going into the Brahmalokas. When the big flight of the Germans goes very high, about nearly ten thousand meters, we don’t see anything. It’s gone up. That’s it, we are. So, this āsana is very beautiful. Hansa. We have Hansa and Lufthansa. So, haṁsa is many, many things in that, in very spiritual names, in many poets, in poetry. So, like this, all āsanas, if we follow according to nature, then our wings will be like in Mokṣa. Āsanas. That’s it.

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:

Email Notifications

You are welcome to subscribe to the Swamiji.tv Live Webcast announcements.

Contact Us

If you have any comments or technical problems with swamiji.tv website, please send us an email.

Download App

YouTube Channel