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Learning from a Guru is more valuable

A spiritual discourse and gentle chair yoga session focused on service and lineage.

"Many people who only want to become the guru and do not speak about their guru... But those gurus from the past bring one disciple, prepare them, and give them everything."

"The body will go... but the name will remain forever. And that is called the paramparā."

The lecturer begins the satsang by discussing the eternal nature of the guru's name and the spiritual lineage (paramparā), contrasting it with the impermanent physical body. He stresses the importance of serving the elderly, calling it holier than pilgrimage, and shares a cautionary tale about an isolated elderly woman. The session then transitions into a practical chair yoga class led by Swami Umāpurījī, with Vidyā as the model, demonstrating gentle movements for the shoulders, arms, and ankles designed for those with limited mobility.

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Shrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī Jai, Devadhī Deva, Deveśvara Mahādeva kī Jai, Alak Purījī Mahādeva kī Jai, Ārādhya Bhagavān Shrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa, our Lord of the Lord, and Bhagavān Shrī Mādhavaṇandajī. All my dear sisters and brothers, all yoga practitioners, yoga teachers, and we are at that border where the corona disease is coming to an end. Sometimes it is said that when there is heavy pain, it means it is ending. In Yoga in Daily Life around the world, our sisters and brothers—because I do not speak only to my students, my teachers, my disciples—I will always say: my Gurudeva, Svāmī Mādhavaṇandajī, Mahāprabhujī, Devapurījī, we are their disciples. I have been given a duty, and I am trying to fulfill my duty. There are many people who only want to become the guru and do not speak about their guru, their second gurus, and so on. Many are only worshipping their guru who is already gone. But those gurus from the past bring one disciple, prepare them, and give them everything, yet still that yogī or disciple cannot say, "I am God." For example, if someone says, "My guru has passed away, and I am now in the position of my guru; I am now the guru." Yes, your guru has given you the place, but you should follow that guru paramparā. Other people will follow you and say that you are our guru. Many do not know their guru who has passed away; people do not know. But when that guru, who says he is now the next master or guru, is in that place—the ashram, wherever he is—the first thing is his all gurus from the past, and that first has to be worshipped. We worship, we understand, we feel Śiva, Viṣṇu, Brahmā, Rāma, etc., but we have not seen them. Therefore, it is given; it is said: "One in all and all in one." So in that one, we said Śiva. And then from there, from Śiva, spreading or saying that all devotees, all should be Śiva's creatures or disciples or bhaktas. It does not matter—humans, animals, or anything. Nebo zvířata, nebo cokoliv jiného. And so, when we attain that position when our master leaves, do not perceive it like that. "Now my guru has left, let's say died, is not here." Then the disciple did not understand what my master is. It is not the body of the guru. You see, it is said: every god—we are not worshipping the body. Of course, when there is a body, we wish, we worship, and we do, but still not. It is said it gave the name; the name will not go away. The body will go. So when we say, let's say, Śiva, Shiva, we do not know how he was, etc., but still we remember the name of Shiva, and we are dancing, we are worshipping, we are everything. Similarly, Viṣṇu—he is coming and going; Brahmā is coming and going; and Śiva is coming and going. So bodies continue, but the name will remain. Now the last is Kṛṣṇa, but before was Śiva, and after came many, many, many. They were gone, but the name remained. You are not going to search for the bones of some other Īśī, some sādhu or guru or Bhagavān who was there. So this is two things: living God and living God in two. One is: the body is gone, but he is still there. What is that? The name: Mahāprabhujī, Mādhavaṇandajī, Śivānandajī, etc. The body was sometimes such that if we have a photo of something, we worship it also. But the name—the name is very important. And there is always somebody sitting somewhere, and they are asking, calling one person after another. So you can say the name Rām. There are millions of names of Rāma, and there is also Kṛṣṇa. Also, the name of Kṛṣṇa, millions—thousands of millions. But they do not know; they have not seen his body. But the name is that name, and that name is very important. Anything happens with your body, we do not understand. Forgotten. Gone. But the name will remain forever. And that is called the paramparā. It is going through from the Brahmalokas. Even Shiva was coming out of the fire, and in the fire, which is all elements, was inside. So, when you worship Śiva, and we are all bowed down, and we know, so our only one guru—that Śiva has no form, nothing, only the name. But then it was manifesting. There was neither male nor female. He comes, and then we come together, mother and father, male and female. And there is no down or higher; no, all are equal. We cannot say this is a man and the woman is down, or the woman is higher and the man is down? No, not like this. Equal. And when we have two eyes, and both eyes are exactly on the same border equally, they are learning and they are looking at each other. And you know, you do not know them. Sometimes you do not know. It is said that there are two girls or ladies, and they are born from one mother, but they never saw this daughter. Yes, it was given in the body. How did it happen that we do not know? But when it came from the mother's body, out from the womb—a beautiful body and beautiful eyes—until the day of their life, they will not see each other, the daughters of the sisters. They cannot see, and what is that? Are they our two eyes? Our left eye cannot come and say, "Hey, sister, how are you?" Or the right eye also does not come and say, "At least one day, birthday, to see each other." Only we can see in the reflection in the mirror or in the water. So this is that also. Śiva and Pārvatī, they are equal, and they say... But also, they are still not seeing; they cannot see. So, in that way, this was the body. But if one eye is gone, the left will function and see everything, or the other one also. And if both eyes are gone, blind, then it is. Innerly, we are thinking, "If we had eyes and after, blinded..." Then we see through the voice and everything we were looking for. But now we are blind. But the voice, the sound—and with the sound we will understand from a fair distance. Born blind, but still the sound is there. And they have sounds that are better to listen to and everything than other persons do. So, there is an ātmā in the heart, and in the heart there are also two parts, and that is male and female, brother and sister, many things. Similarly, our bodies—everything to body—but body is not enough. That voice, and also the voice will go. But that prāṇa, the life, goes out of the body, and still they are somewhere together. So they will come and do the same thing back. Example: your father and your mother, you know that your child has this blood and all activities, or what you call the bodies. Another, they will again marry, and they will come together again. But when too much is from that certain race—we are calling it the race—if you go out of the race, then you will be confused, but that soul will again go to there, which was that race. Similarly, anyone who has learned very much always does and everything, but without a guru, he is blind. And one who is a disciple of a guru and has not learned anything, but he or she has learned within with the guru—and all who are great learned ones—they will come and fall at the holy feet because of the holy person. Sādhus, yogīs, or holy saints, that we need. So there are two now. One is that we are continuously going further and further and learning, and science is more and more. It is not bad; it is very good. But the guru is also that. So now, the one learned person, professor, or whatever you call him—he will die. His voice is, maybe now we can record the voice, or we can have the picture, or they can write something on paper. But also that will one day disappear. But that paramparā—and which paramparā? You cannot see the two, three, four paramparās. You have one mother, and we can say every lady is a mother, but in reality, it is only one mother, that was it. And there is one father, who gave you. And that, you know, that always, that male will be there. And the women can go out, but still they will be in. And therefore, you know, now in this time, there are no different things. The husband and wife, but all the times, and it will be again, and it is there. If they understand, they can be the best, and they are one. So, we are like, for example, we are Czech in the Czech government here in this country. And for that, we all who are here, born or we are coming here and we are working here, and we want to become a citizen here, then we have the passport. So it does not matter where you go; anywhere you will go. But this paper, the passport, that is the whole Czech country. Similarly, from the father's seed, everywhere it is coming to that one. So it is not necessary that you are learned highly inside in bhakti, so that the ātmā becomes highest and greatest. That is very important, and we will continue. I was thinking today, and you know that the Sarvahitāsan, and we have five for the six pages, that is for the six for the Sarvahitāsanas, and Sarvahitāsan becomes the old. And that is the seventh part. And let's say, it is said, "Who is healthy, he becomes healthy." Who is healthy wants to become more healthy. But nobody does when you are old. Young because they want to become young, but old does not say that I want to become dull. So, for the last two years, I have been thinking very much, and I know that many people are doing this. No, no... I cannot say that. But Yoga in Daily Life and sarvahitāsanas—I want to tell you, many, some may not know this book; you should have it. And that is called Yoga in Daily Life, the system. Very great. So today will be only, let's say, five, maximum five or three. For the elderly person, she cannot get up from the chair. A tak dneska budou speciální pozice pro starší lidi, kteří nemůžou ani vstát ze židle. Tři, maximálně pět pozic, a bude to asi 20 minut. And next time, tomorrow, we will continue. I wish you all the best, my dear brothers and sisters. And I know that this Swāmījī TV is around the whole world. You cannot imagine how many people are sending the message that, "Swāmījī, we were there, we are very far, we left from Europe to other places, and we are now listening to your voice, your four pictures, and everything." So Yoga in Daily Life is going on this path. So now, this is for our grandparents, and some have great-grandparents. And they are very grateful. So now we will have yoga for our forefathers. I am not so old, but also not young. And I moved around the whole world—how many times? Fifty times around the world. And for example, here in Europe, since I am here, I can say that, for example, I am here in the Czech Republic or Czechoslovakia. And five generations are my disciples. I am old already. When I came to Czechoslovakia, there was an elderly couple, about 80 to 90 years old, and their children were about 60, 60, 70 years old. And their children, they were going to these schools. So, this was three generations already. And then their children, and their children. My dear five generations, I am in Czechoslovakia. And some are still living in Slovakia and in many other places also. So these are feelings, comings, and these people are still practicing yoga. And they can hardly get up from one chair to the other side, but they are making a mala. And while sitting, they are doing this from sarva-hitāsana. I am also old. I do only this every day. So today will be very nice for a person who can hardly move outside from the chair. And this, what we can give this person, so it will be, again, will come the strength in the body, and the baby will be, can walk from here to water, bring. So, I think elderly people need more yoga and exercises. I tell you one story, and that was in Austria, nearby Salzburg. And there, what happened to one elderly lady? She was at home alone. I do not know if they had children, that they are not here or this, but this one elderly lady, and she cannot move very much. It was winter time, and this elderly person—now you will see that she was sitting near the chair—but she is not elderly, she is a child. So she was sitting on the chair, that elderly lady, and she had one warm cloth, and there was one, now modern technology, it is called the hot heater oil radiator, and she tried to bring it near so that the warmth comes in. Maybe she was looking at the television; I do not know that. And she wanted to come close to that heater. And that radiator was like this, and it leaned on his knees. She cannot push back. She cannot get up. And it was burning her legs. She was shouting. There was no telephone in hand, no neighbors. And she died from this radiator which fell on her legs. That was one of these elderly ladies, and he used to come to her very many times. And that is Svāmī Premanandajī; he is in Austria, in Vienna. Not in Vienna, sorry, in India. And if you do not believe in me, speak with the permanent. She died with this. So, my dear, if we can help the elderly people, it is the highest holy place, more than helping the elderly people, more than going on pilgrimage. Tak je to velmi svaté pomáhat starým lidem, je to víc než chodit na nějaká svatá poutní místa. So, if we can help the persons who cannot, or the young, but they are disabled, Sarvita Āsana will do many, many; it is very many sit-long exercises. Very good persons will tell, and also they now, of course, their techniques many more. Good, and people are very good in the world everywhere. So, thank you for the help of all the people who do, how to do, and how not to need. But through yogic practice, we can do something. That is why today our Svāmī Umāpurījī will give you only some two or three postures, and then our Vidyā. Takže můžeme starým lidem velmi pomoct, prospět Sarvahitā Anāsānami, a dnes je povede, jako vždy, svāmī Umāpurījī, a naše modelka je Vidyā. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān kī Jai. Ādio. Yes, adió, dear friends. Adió, milí přátelé. Around the world, who is looking at the Svāmījī TV webcast? Like Swāmījī said, it can happen to all of us that we have an accident, or we cannot move properly; we have to sit, we have to rest. Může se stát nám všem, že máme nějakou nehodu, něco se stane a jsme přinuceni zůstat sedět, odpočívat. Můžeme sedět na židli. Zvlášť pro starší lidi. Jak zlepšit flexibilitu ramen, zlepšit dýchání. We are still in part one, or level one, part four. And here we even see the model sitting on the chair. The best would be a good chair, which is stable, which has a straight support. A back side too soft and too low is not good. The back should be straight if it is possible, and like we have here, this chair also has side support so you cannot fall down. Legs a little bit apart from each other, the best would be in a right angle towards the floor, so knee and upper leg and lower leg in the right angle. For half a minute, we close our eyes. Hands on our thighs. Relax your shoulders. Relax your legs. Place your foot soles on the ground if it is possible, without shoes, without house shoes. Lean back and relax your shoulders. Neck straight. And once deep in, and exhale as long and as deep as you can. Long exhale, and once more, deep inhale, and long exhale. Just relax. When you order before, you open your eyes and look down with your eyeballs. Then you can open your eyes and look in front of you. We stretch our arms in front just a little bit at the height of the shoulders and make the movement, the rotation up, like you would hold a bowl of soup, and we make the rotation down, like you would hold bread. That is why it is called supination up and pronation down, just a little rotation. You hold a bowl of soup, and you hold this. It is very, very good also for our elbows, and it slightly strengthens our arm and shoulder muscles already. After this, bring your arms down again. Normal breaths. Next āsana is already a little bit more effective to strengthen. We lift up our right arm. The finger is straight, as much as you can. Lift up your right arm, and then imagine that you hold a rope. We hold a rope, thumb inside. Elbow is straight and strong, pulling down a heavy weight. Stretching your arm and shoulder muscles. We do not hold a hanger, a level. We hold a rope. Pull down. And release, relax your arm. It is different if you hold a handle or a rope. The arm position is different. So, left arm, inhale, lift up. Fingers are straight. Hold it up. Deep breath. And elbow straight, heavy weight, pull down. Exhale. Do not bend your arm. Straight. Pull down. You can feel how your arm and shoulder muscles get stretched. And once more with the right arm. Deep inhale. Hold the rope. Thumb inside and pull down a heavy weight. And with the left arm, inhale. As much as you can, straight up, hold. And pull down the rope. Very good. So this movement we do five rounds, five times. And then relax your arms. This makes our shoulders again movable, more mobile, and strengthens our arm and shoulder muscles, which is also very important not only for elderly people, but we have to sit a lot in our home office or office on the desk. In between, to do these movements on your working chair. The next movement is we bring our fingers, if possible, on our shoulders. Elbows are facing toward the front. Další cvičení, dáme si prsty na ramena, pokud dokážeme, lokty směřují do předu. Very good. And then slowly stretch your arm forward. Elbows remain at the height of the shoulder, if possible. And bring them again slowly back to your shoulders. And continue. Try to hold your arms up. If you want to do it with your breaths, then exhale. Inhale, stretch your arms, and inhale, bring them toward the shoulders. Now we have a good coordination exercise where one palm is facing up and one palm is facing down. Slowly, very slowly. Down, down, yes. Now we have to use our brain and calm the mind. Now we have to use a little bit of our brain. Very good. Very good. Thank you. We bring our arms down. Relax your shoulders. In this position, just lift up your shoulders. No one, only one shoulder. Lift up and relax. Relax. And on the other side, you can even keep your arms hanging at your sides. If you have no leaning, or outside of the leaning, outside of the, you just lift up your whole shoulder and shoulder plate, so that the upper part is moved and relaxed. And the other side also. Very good. And once more. Very good. This also releases the tensions in our shoulders and neck. And then again, the hands on your thighs. And the second variation is we bring again the fingers, if possible, on our shoulders, elbows on the sides. If we cannot do it with high shoulders, of course, bring your elbows more down, but try to bring them up and stretch your arms to the side, palms facing up, and bring them again back to the shoulders. And once more, exhaling, stretch your arms, and inhale, breathe in. And once more, stretch, try to stretch also your elbows. This is very good also for our elbows to strengthen them. Now we lift our arms up as much as possible, we stretch towards the sky and bring them back. And once more. Once more. Stretch palms facing each other. It is very good. It improves our breathing, especially in our chest. Deepen our breath, and arms down on the thighs, hands on the thighs. Very good. Relax, and just a little bit, let your upper part of the body sink down, head down. A little bit relax your shoulders, not too much in front, that you do not lose the balance. And inhale again, lift up your whole back, stretch shoulders back. And again, relax your shoulders, bending a little bit forward. Make your back round. And inhale, stretch again. Shoulders back. Yes, very good. Thank you. So, these are a few movements for our shoulders, neck, and to strengthen the arm muscles, and to strengthen again our elbow, especially when we have pain in the elbow. This rope pulling down, when we have this, how to say, this epicondylitis, the pain in the elbow, to strengthen those parts. So it was a few movements on the shoulder area, strengthening of the calves, and especially useful it was on stretching of the elbows and against pain in the elbows, or inflammation there. When there is pain in the back, like a tennis elbow, we have to move. Because the body, if it has pain in the shoulders, knees, or elbows, the worst thing we can do is not move it. Because then we have the, how to say, the contractions, the joints, they become immobile. It gets stiff very quickly, very quickly. And muscles get weak, so with small movement without weight on it, it keeps our joints movable. Now, one exercise, and if you have at home a small hooker or stocker, how do you say? Then place it in front of you so that you can put your legs on it. It must not be, or should not be, in the height of your chair, because for many people this is painful in the back, or in the legs, or in the hips, so just in this position. Leave it a little bit nearer. Of course, you can do it also with one leg and then with the other leg. We show it with both legs, the movement of our feet and toes. Legs a little bit apart from each other, not too much. And we just bend our toes, like we want to make a fist with our toes, and then we stretch our toes. We separate them as much as we can, and then again we make the fist as much as we can, and then again separate them, stretch them. So this... strengthens again our foot muscles and improves the blood circulation, not only in our feet, but in the whole legs. And the second movement is that we stretch our feet towards the front and then towards our shin, as much as you can, slowly. And forward, stretch. It can happen in the beginning that the muscles are cramping a little bit, because the muscle is not used to this movement. So the muscle has to be trained for stretching and relaxing, like a gummy string. If this gum is not moved, then it gets porous. And that is why we do the slow movements. And train again our elastic strings, which are in the muscles. And now we start to make a big circle with our ankles. Circling. And now we will begin doing circular movements. Yes, circling. Big circle. Veliké kruhy. Slowly, slowly. Pomalu, pomalu. And also in the other direction. A také obráceným způsobem. Very good. Velmi dobře. Very good. So today was a lot for our feet, our shoulders, and our elbows. We can bring our foot soles again on the ground. Relax your shoulders. Relax your neck and elbows. For half a minute, close your eyes. Feel the warmness in your shoulders, in the legs. Once deep in, and exhale. Remember your Guru Dev, mentally do your praṇām. Deep inhale, deep breath. Rub your palms together, and place your palms on your eyes and forehead. Then open your eyes, look in your palms, and bring your hands down. Hari Om. Thank you very much, our dear Svāmī Umāpurījī, děkujeme mnohokrát, naší milé svāmī Umāpurījī. And she made very, very... Very nicely she has done for all our disabled people or the elderly people. That will make you more blessed. They will give you the blessing, Svāmī Umapurījī. This practitioner will give you the blessing. Bylo to velice krásné cvičení pro postarší a nemohoucí lidi, and it will be a kind of mutual blessing from you, Umpapurājī, and from the older people. And they can also practice at their home. And that it will be, many people will come and they will give you somewhere. We will see where they can give a book, something, or a paper, something. Mohly bychom to rozpracovat, uvidíme, jestli vznikne nějaká kniha z toho, nebo skripta. Around the whole world. Na celém světě. All the best. Všechno nejlepší. Siddhi Pnāren Bhagwānakī, Dev Purīśa Mahādevakī, Halak Purīśī Mahādevakī, Satya Sanātana Dharma kī, Hindu Dharma Samrāṭ Satguru Svāmī Madhvanājī Bhagavān kī, Om Śānti, Om Śānti, Om Śānti.

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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