TV Channel

Sisters and brothers across the world, our sun is ever present. The sun is always there, turning the earth for a while, and that is the source of everything coming to us. Yoga is not merely about the physical body and breath. That may be a different aspect. People close their eyes and try to see something. Where are we searching? Everyone closes their eyes. Then why are we seeing? What are you seeing? They think, "I am meditating," and look far away. But where are the eyes? They are closed. "My meditation, my God, oh God, oh Bhagavān." But Bhagavān is there, yet we have closed our eyes. So, if we want to hear and see God, if you want to see God, then keep your eyes open. If you are closing your eyes, then... What are you looking at? You think you are looking, but you are not. And you don't think and don't say, "I am in my God," but where? In a far distance, or here? So, the real yogīs, these yogīs, if they close their eyes, then... They are within our heart, in our God. Which God? Guru Kṛpā. And if we want to see outside, then with open eyes we shall see good, peaceful, spiritual, light, and so on. With open eyes, but the eyes are okay. Yet when we open our eyes, the reflections are different. So many things are there when the eyes are open. It is not easy to see only one thing with the eyes, because the vision is there in front. And there I am, sitting here and talking with you. Though I am near in front of the camera, and I try to see this camera. But not only this; they are sitting on the left-hand side. How many people? The right side also. And if something is moving, immediately our eyes go there. Further, we look where we are sitting. If we are in the forest, we are outside, not in buildings or a house or a hole. We are sitting there, then we are looking at many trees, many birds, and so on. So, where can we think? As it is said, there is a story about one ṛṣi. He wanted to go for bhikṣā. He is walking, but there are ants. Furthermore, there is a snake, this and that, and we are going. One person doesn't have time to give food; another is coming. And what is bringing the food? Coming, and many animals are looking. The dog is looking, the birds are looking, all of them, and the guest is coming. The guest is also hungry, so that sādhu gives food for the ants, for the fish, for the guest, for the dog, and separating more, for the guest, and then for myself. But still, in our vision, how many things are we? It means we are not near God. We cannot see the point with our open eyes. And that point we want to see, even like the horse, but still their eyes are going down. That means we cannot attain that. We are all looking, but we will not bring something. Then, let's say, go to close your eyes. We close our eyes; it is dark, everything. But in our brain, in our thoughts, it is more than with open eyes, because then there is so much thinking, far and near, and in the body, where is your ātmā? Where are you? These people said, "This is not good, one. This is not good, one," and suddenly we are disturbed. There was one story. Holy Gurujī told once of a sādhu in the forest. He was always there in the forest, meditating. Then he could levitate from the earth. He was coming up. Then he said, "I am great, I am great." Then what happened? He was sitting there, and a bird sat on his head. He saw the bird. "You have dirtied my head; I will kill you." And he saw the bird dying. He said, "I am a great man now. I can come up, or I can kill anybody just by looking." Then he said, "I will go now to the village, to other countries, other villages, and I will tell them blessings and good, how good I am." So, who is there? He came near to the village. Everything was very clean; all waters were clean. Everything now is that's nothing. So there was a path to the well, and when a lady came to bring water, he said, "Can you give me the water, please?" She said, "Yes, I will give the water." And then he said something; she told him. He told her, "Give me first or this something." And he said, "You know that you have to do quickly for me, otherwise I can kill." She said, "What? I am not a bird." He said, "What? Yes, you could kill the bird like this, but I am different." She went home, and he wanted something. She said, "Wait, I give to my husband first." And he said, "No, me." So he said, "I can live a very long, long life." And she said, "My husband is... you don't know my husband. And I give that. Don't think that I am like a bird." So he went, and all his prāṇas and everything went away. So he went home again. So the ṛṣi said, "I cannot work with the eyes open. I cannot with closed eyes. I can't live with it, and I don't know what I will do." So it is like this. Many people are working on yoga, practicing, and closing their eyes, and they think, "I am relaxing." But what is there? It is restless, or very nicely sleeping like this. So, where is the reality of that, your yoga? So that is a yoga. It is very far. It has the name of yoga, but yoga has many, many names. But of course, without that, nothing can help. And what does that mean? That our body is from the earth, and this is like that. But animals, birds, fish, etc., they know how much they want. But we humans, we know what we want. And if we can, our visions, our feelings, our thoughts, everything—we humans can do a lot. We can do everything good or bad like this. And so it is said, if we are doing all positives and good and love for all creatures, then we are very spiritual, or we are going to the Paramātmā. And if we are killing animals and killing and this and that, then is it enough? The only difference is the body of the humans or the body of the other creatures. That is a very important point to take; otherwise, people just get little, little things, and then people are making, "No, this is not good," and that. "I don't like this and like that." I was thinking, there is somewhere, sometime, a very nice yogī, a very good yogī. For the yogī, there was one who was giving her food, Śiva. They are very good, and when it, everything... It is very good that his meditation and this and that, then some others said, "But why is this taking a lot of time, this and that and that? Why not we do or that?" Nobody can do like that, they think. "This one is not good," we think. Many, many are thinking. But try to see that person, how they are working and how they are meditating, and they are giving so much within themselves. But it is like this, there are these stories. One dog, and the dog was very hungry; he did not eat. He took a nice bread, a chapati. And he ran away, and there was a little pond. He knew, as a dog, that there was no other way to go. So he came near the pond, and he saw the pond, the water. And he sees, oh, there's one dog. And he has a good bread. He said, "I had only one. I will take one more." What happened? He opened his mouth to take this other chapati, and what happens? He opened like this, and it went in the water, the chapati. There was nothing. And he said, "Are you? But you take it." And so it is that we are doing like that. I think I will do this, and others will not do like this. In this way, we have to think and come forth. We have to come forth. We should not think that they are good or not, and they are not good, and this and that. It's not easy, not easy to become a human, and very difficult to live life, and how and when it will go. So there are many, many, many. We can come many. We think we are sanyāsīs and we are good, and then they have orange dress and this, and then they are sitting only like this. How many sādhus you see, they are only eating and sleeping, and that's all. But others, how they are working very good, and why are they giving orange dress? Because this is like the skin of my body, and only for that. I am so many people. They think, let's say to me, "This is a swamījī, and this and that." Why not? Now we will do everything. That swamījī can sit there. We will come higher, and this. Yes, many are thinking so. It is very far and very hard. More is more and hard and hard. We are going more harder and harder and harder. So, practice yoga and prāṇāyāmas. This is for our bodies. Prāṇas are good, all these five elements, but after that, we are having many, of course, many names of this, but it is only coming from Gurudev. How? They say, "I don't need my guru. I can do, and I can read, and everything is okay." How? How? It's impossible. Impossible. How? There's a couple, husband and wife. They are married, and they want to have children. But they have no child. Why? Because it's not there. It has to come from the mother. And the father is not there. Or the mother, so without a mother, a child cannot become. But also, the mother is there, but the father is not there. So, where and how we are working, that we will become again the child. So we will become a child with the mother, a child and mother. Similarly, we need a guru. And that guru, the guru should give, then he will become a guru or disciple, higher and higher and higher, or whatever it is. But that is like a mother, and also like a guru and disciple. In that way, and if we lost this, okay, maybe next life, but we don't know. Life is not always. We say that we are, and we would like the next life, and it was, it is difficult to know. Yes, we are telling, and we make pūjā, and we do this and put this, and everything. We make so many pūjās, many things. I don't know what is gone, where is gone, how is, where everything, yeah. If it is like this, that you make a meditation and everything good, and then you make it that one child is born and now he will die, and I will see him again back and given back, then I... will be the greatest guru, yeah, that I can see. Someone doesn't matter. We do everything, every religion, every... we are talking, "My child will be like this and that," and that would be there. We can do everything, but that is not that. What we were thinking is on that side, so that... It is very nice, but to the sādhanā, to the work, to something, and so something. Prem Lātā would like to tell something, okay? Thank you. Are you... how I can have 20 minutes? Of course, you can go further, but... At least three months without minutes. Hari Om, dear friends, all who are here and all who are with us, thanks to online webcasting. I was given the task to say something about the main topic we all have in common, which is yoga, and specifically, Swāmījī said, "Yoga Nidrā." And when he gave me this topic, he said, "Oh, that’s the topic you know very well for so many years." So I was thinking, in one way it is true, I’ve been with Swāmījī and with yoga for more than 45 years by now. But the understanding of what yoga is, and who Swāmījī as Gurudev is, and who I am as a yogī or aspirant of yoga, I would say, or disciple, it differs very much from what it used to be 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago. And there is a saying, I believe it was one Greek philosopher who said, and Swāmījī spoke about it, for example, last winter in Střílke Āśram, that when you have a river flowing and you take a bath in it, you cannot enter the same river for the second time. And for many years I understood this, that it’s logical because the water flows, and once you enter it and return back to the banks of the river, even a second after when you dive into the river, it’s already different water flowing. But last year I realized, actually... that it’s not just the river that is different, the water that is different, but that’s the person who is diving into the river. Though it would be a second after, it’s a different person. And it depends where we are within us, let’s say, what the state of our consciousness, of our understanding, of our mind, brain, and heart is. According to that, we understand what yoga is and what Gurudev is. And according to this, we also understand what Yoga Sādhanā means and how to practice. So, when we are to return to the main topic, which was Yoga Nidrā, also this differs vastly. In the beginning, when we come to yoga, we appreciate Yoga Nidrā very much as a kind of very easy-going relaxation technique. Usually, we practice it in the afternoon. When we wake up early, and after lunch we get tired, and we are always looking forward to some nice relaxation, even some nice sleep during Yoga Nidrā, so that’s the first level, let’s say. But later on, we realize that this is not actually the message of yoga nidrā. It’s not, of course, that it’s relaxing and refreshing, but it’s a kind of extra bonus. It’s not the main aim of this exercise. And as we develop on our spiritual path, then also understanding of... Yoga Nidra alters, changes, and develops for those who do not know the technique. So, Yoga Nidra means sleep. It’s a way, how it could be translated, that it’s a way how yogīs sleep. But yogīs actually do not sleep the way we do. They are awake. That’s a different state of consciousness, it’s not the sleeping consciousness, and we can only see some glimpses of how it can look like when we really practice these higher levels of yoga nidrā. Some hint could be in the beautiful bhajan, which our Gurudev Mahāprabhujī used to sing. The only problem is that it’s a beautiful bhajan in Marwari language, not just in Hindi, if I’m correct. There is a lot of Marwari in it. And so it’s very difficult to translate, but still, for some kind of understanding which is behind the words, we could probably listen to the bhajan. Some of us could sing it, and some of us could listen to it and try to understand what’s behind the words. If I can ask our bhajan band. Śravaṇānandajī Gurudeva kī jai. Yogī janam kī yoga nindra birla santa jana jani hai. Yogī janam kī yoga nindra birla santa jana jani hai. Nindra me jāgratā jāne puni rātri me divasu gani. Us nindra me jag nata jāne puni rātri me divasu gani he. Yogī janom kī yoga nidrā viralā santā jana jānī he. Yogī janam kī yoga nidrā virala santājana jānīye. Sena me laga suna me sehja vichanī, ulta nena sena me laga suna me sehja vichanīye. Yīrā lāmbakā pāṅkā chāle puniṣetā sunesalānī hē. Yīrā lāmbakā pāṅkā chāle puniṣetā sunesalāni hē yogī-jānaṁ kī yoga-nindrā dhīrā-lāsānta-jāna-jāni hē Ta phoola kiliya me sana mukhala ki urad bhukanbhani hai. Ul ta phoola kiliya me sana mukhala ki urad bhukanbhani hai. Tūriye tārā lagyo niradhāra, Degam kīgama jāni hē. nindra me jata jane puni ratri me divasu gani hai. yogi janau ki yoga nindra dhīrala santa jana jāni he. Suname suraj ananta uga kudarata kala picāni he. Suname suraj ananta uga kala picāni he. Ulthi khala kamala me jage chetam purusha sujaniye. Adar takht par aap bhi rāj nita nāma nirvāni hai. Yogī janam kī, yoga nidrā virala, santa janajanī he. Yogī janam kī, yoga nidrā virala, santa janajanī. Virela santa jana, janīndra me jagrata jāne, puni rātri me divasu gānī he yogī janam kī yoga nidrā. Virela santa jana jānīhe, santa tantah herāna jānalāgo, surata agama agara jānī hai. Jahāṁ dekhe, jahāṁ suna, chetana hai aura najara nahīṁ ānī hai. Jahāṁ dekhegā, jahāṁ sunatā nahe aura nazarāhī ānī he. Yogī jāno thī, yogī jāno samatā jāne jāne hada binā haṅkā karto pāyā puruṣa purāṇī he. Hadh ve hadh binā haṅkā karto pāyā puruṣa purāṇī hai. Usī puruṣa se senā milāve, mukha baṭalāve banī hai. Usi puruṣa se sena milave mukha batalave bani hai yogī janon kī yoga nidrā dhīrlā sānta jānā jānī he nindrame jagrata jāne puni rātri me divasu gani he yogī janam kī yoga nidrā birla santa jānā jānī he kardi dhāra nūr jab dhar se bhālabhāga mila jānī hain. Śaṅkara Svāmī Antaryāmī Yoga Kalājī Na Jānī Hai, yogī janau kī yoga nidrā virela santajana jānī hai. Śrī Kṛṣṇa saccha sanyāsī Gītāme gāmā gānī he, oranā ṛṣi saba gāve samaje soyi janāranī he, orananta ṛṣi saba gāve samaje soyi janāranī he. Yogī janāṁ kī yogir-lā saṁta jana jānī hē, yogī janāṁ kī yogir-lā saṁta jana jānī hai. Jagratā jāne puni rātrī meṁ divasa gaṇī hai, usnī indra meṁ jagratā jāne puni rātrī meṁ divasa gaṇī hai. Yogī-jānāṁ kī yogir-la-saṁta-jana-jānī hē. Allaka Purījī Sā Daṇḍī Sanyāsī Ullatī Kalā Pechanī He. Śrī Allaka Purī Sā Daṇḍī Sanyāsī Ullatī Kalā Pechanī He. Śrī Deva Purī Sā Adbhuta Avaliyā Deha Vinā Deśa Dikhanī He. Videva Purī Sā Adbhuta Avaliyā Deha Vinā Deśa Dikhanī Hai. Yogī Janam Kī Yoganin. Virela santajana jāni hai, sividi koi virela jāne hai, vohī guru gama-seni hai. Aisi vidhi ko jāne, vohī gama-seni pā santajana sūrā cetana ceta-cetāni he. Prabhu-dipa-santajana-sūrā-cetana-ceta-cetāni yogi-janaukhi yoganindra virala-santajana-jāni. Jāgrata jāne puni-ratrīme diva-sugāni hē. Yogī janam kī yoganī hirālā santajana jānīhe, yogī janam kī yoganī hirālā santajana jānīhe. Rādhye Bhagavān Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇa Mahā kī jai, Devā dī Devā Śrīśrī Devapurīśvara Mahādeva kī jai. Hindu dharma samrāṭ Svāmī Mādhava Nānājī Satvaguru Deva kī jai. When you practice Yoga Nidra, try to approach it fresh and new. Not that, yes, that’s this pleasant, relaxing exercise that we all know, and we practiced many, many times already. But try to realize that it’s much deeper, and try to practice as if you never practiced it before. As a new, very deep sādhanā technique. And one more thing, you know, probably all of you know, that part of yoga nidrā is saṅkalpa, which means a kind of wish, affirmation, that you repeat in the beginning and in the end three times. And probably you all have some kind of saṅkalpa ready; try to evaluate it again, fresh and new, once more. If it really serves you still, if it’s just habit that you repeat something, if it is really what you wish for yourself and for your spiritual path. And it might be that you find out that they are already somewhere else, at some other level on your journey. And not only will your approach to your sādhanā change, but also your saṅkalpa, your inner wish that you want to come true, might also change. So that’s all from my side for the topic of Yoga Nidrā. Thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts with you. Thank you, dear Gurudev.