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How are you? I hear already that today is a good day because of a little rain. How are you? And Anuṣṭhān is today much better than yesterday. Yes, the climate is such, and I remember the old times here in the museum, Anustān. The afternoon program was really suffering—first after lunch, and second, the humidity and the warmth in the room. And always this problem with a little sleeping. But what to do? Yes, I know, because I know how it is during the meditation when you are going down. But from my experience, no coffee or anything will help you. You may drink a big coffee, nothing, but one thing is really functioning. You need to practice prāṇāyāma, not just today. But if you start to practice prāṇāyāma now, every day—I told that many years before, Swāmījī said one hour per day—Guru Swāmījī said that one hour a day is hard, but really it is functioning. Yes, and we said that in the morning program we will have some questions. Do you have any questions? Until we are waiting for Madhuram and people from Anuṣṭhān. First day was two questions, now nothing. Oh yes, it’s coming. How do we practice prāṇāyāma for one hour? Like we have the round of 20 breaths, and do we repeat this cycle, or do we count till 108? How do we do this? What is in the book? It is for beginners, and you know when people start to practice prāṇāyāma, they start to make 20 rounds on one side, 20 rounds on the other side. And in three minutes, they are finished. Why? Because normal breathing, as medicine says, is about 12 inhalations and exhalations per minute. What does this mean for such a person? Twenty Nāḍī Śodhana, first twenty on one side is one and a half minutes. But that is just the beginning. If you just relax yourself, and just as you are at the beginning, you have the first class of yoga, and you will see that after just relaxing and being aware of the movement of the navel, it is not anymore 12 inhalations and exhalations per minute; they start to become 8. And with a little more practice, there is normally, they have five inhalations, four inhalations, exhalation in the minute. What does it mean in the beginning? Somebody is finished with the prāṇāyāma in three minutes, one round. But if you are relaxed, you have more. And because of that, talking 20, 100, or something, inhalation, exhalation is not correct. Because somebody is breathing quicker and somebody is breathing slower. But you will see through your practice. Put once, twice, put a clock. And you will see how many rounds you have in the half hour. You will see that, with time, your breathing becomes slower and slower. What does it mean? You will have fewer rounds. And you have minutes, something, for relaxing, breathing with both nostrils, and you continue with the other nostril. Or when you practice Nāḍī Śodhana, start with Adho Nostra. Usually, I put a timer. And very nice, I feel a peep, and I know, okay, now it’s finished. And breathe, minute to minute, and continue on the other side. I like to repeat mantra during the prāṇāyāma. And also, you will see and you will get the rhythm, because sometimes you practice one mantra inhalation, two mantra exhalation. But also, it’s depending. If you have a Guru deep, Guru deep... you will breathe like a rabbit, and you will be in the most stress. But if you practice, they say that it is also Gāyatrī Prāṇāyāma. What means one Gāyatrī inhalation, four Gāyatrī retaining, two Gāyatrī exhalation, and four retaining, Kumbhaka. What do you mean, you are one round and you are kaput? What does it mean? For everything, you need common sense. And that is not a rule. I must do this; it’s like in the box. Common sense. You know your ability, you know how long your mantra is, everything. And never force prāṇāyāma. You know from Guru Gītā, if you force the prāṇāyāma, you will not gain anything, only kontra. But if you are in the state of love, what does this mean—this open heart and nice feeling inside? Prāṇa and apāna, everything in your body comes in a nice, harmonious way. If you practice lovingly, with an open heart, in harmony, then your prāṇa, your prāṇa, and everything will be balanced out nicely. Also, common sense. Maybe 99% of us, including me, are a little lazy. And if I will do everything, relax, good, not forced, I will remain in the bed, or, we are joking in Croatia, drinking coffee the whole day. And you need to force yourself a little and to say no. And give discipline to yourself. But if you are fanatic and you are too much forcing yourself, in that case, relax a little. For everything, we need common sense. Do not be fanatic, and also do not be lazy. It is very easy to see around yourself how the people are. And you will see that those who are lazy, all that kind of life, it is nothing accomplished in life. No business, no life, no family, nothing. No spirituality, nothing. Everything starts, but nothing completes. And for that we need discipline. And also, not too much stuff at the same time. I remember what Viśvagurujī said about Gurujī. That Gurujī said, "If you want to manage everything, you will lose everything." But if you keep one thing, you will master this. People start and say, "Oh, prāṇāyāma," and, "This morning we’ll do this prāṇāyāma, after that this prāṇāyāma," and five prāṇāyāmas in the same day. For what? It is boring. No, it is not boring. Put that your prāṇāyāma is more interesting. Be aware of your inhalation and exhalation. Be aware that light is going in and also going out. Be aware that you are purifying the nāḍīs. Make this visualization, repeat your mantra, feel also physically your nāḍī, Iḍā, Piṅgalā, how it’s going, and you have, oh my God, you have a science fiction movie inside, and half an hour will finish, oh my God, it’s already finished. And because of that, really, I don’t know how many rounds, because it depends on your rhythm of breathing. Try a few times with this clock. And after that, you will see how much round you usually have. But try really long. Now I am not practicing one hour of prāṇāyāma. But I remember that after 45 minutes, something starts. What it means is that we need a little longer prāṇāyāma. Also, you see, with the meditation, you need some time to start. Sometimes it’s needed a little time, sometimes it’s needed more time. But you need some time. And really, it’s functioning because everything that Vishwagurujī said is finally true. If you are in the beginning thinking, "Oh no, it is a little too much," or, "I don’t know this, maybe it’s..." You think that is not correct, but after some time, sometimes a longer or shorter period, you realize that Swāmījī was completely right. And you are angry in the end at yourself, because you are stupid not to listen in the beginning, but you need something. But that is our situation. And also, if you want to chant mantras, you need air, and you need to know how to breathe, to sing. What Madhavan will do today with this special flute is also very important: how you breathe. For talking is very important, breathing, and it’s very important how you talk. Sometimes it’s more important, your voice and that energy in the voice, than what you talk about. And that is what I speak all the time; that is a non-verbal communication. Position of your body and your voice, that is important. It is very important for the first impression. And you have āsanas to correct the position of your body. What is also correct is your self-esteem. And also, singing, talking—Maṇipūra Cakra is very important for voice. What it means is, when you have self-esteem, your voice is different, and when you are in fear or feeling unpleasant, your voice is completely different. And for that we need āsanas, we need prāṇāyāma, we will have a good, strong Maṇipūrī Cakra. And you know that from the Maṇipūra Cakra starts our spiritual development. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān, Kī Jai. Now we have a special surprise today, yes. This vibration, and how that vibration is functioning on our whole body through chanting Oṁ 108 times—many, many years ago, Swāmījī said, "If you have any problem with allergy, also try to chant every day 108 times Oṁ." It was approximately 25 years, even more, at one public lecture in Zagreb. And for me, it was completely why? What is the connection between this and allergy? And I think 15 years ago, two scientists got the Nobel Prize for nitric oxide, NO. And about 15 years ago, two scientists received the Nobel Prize for their work related to nitrogen oxide. And everybody said, "Oh yes, yes, that is good, that is a good article." But 25 years, maybe 10 or 15 years before that, Vishwagurujī told us, and we said, "Okay, forget it." Before that, for about 10-15 years, Vishwagurujī told us, and we said, "Well, it’s good," and we forgot. What it means is that Swāmījī is much more ahead of his time and science. But he told us in a little different way than what the science is. And sometimes we don’t; we need time to understand this. And this sound, flute or anything else, all didgeridoo, also makes this vibration, which stimulates our body to produce this nitric oxide. And more about this, because it’s already Svara Yoga, a little Madhura. Oṃ saha nāvavatu, saha nau bhunaktu, saha vīryaṃ karavāvahai, tejasvināvadhītamastu, mā vidviṣāvahai, Oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai, Śrī Devīśvara Mahādeva Kī Jai, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān Kī Jai, Viśvaguru Paramahaṁsī Svāmī Śvarānandajī Gurudeva Kī Jai. So, Hari Om, Praṇām everybody, good morning. So, we will continue today with some musical Nāda Yoga practice, practices. And I remember this morning, a few years ago, before COVID—now we speak in terms of before and after COVID—Vishwagurujī asked me to say something in Strīlī. And he gave the topic, "Yoga and Flute." Now, the good thing about the order from the Master is that he also supplies the answers when he asks you to speak. You may know this; sometimes it happens that he suddenly picks someone and says, "You speak about this." And you have this very kind of blank mind, not knowing really what to say. And in one way, that’s the ideal platform to speak, really, to let something from within you say what needs to be said. Anyhow, so I was thinking about the material, first of all, from which these flutes are made. And some of you may know it’s made of bamboo. And in most countries, bamboo is considered a weed, a pest. And the reason is that it spreads very quickly. It takes over within no time. And there is not much, really, unless the bamboo is big and thick, then it is useful, but otherwise there is not much use for bamboo. And on top of this, what can happen is that when the wind blows and the bamboo rubs against each other, it can create fire. So, almost everywhere, people want to get rid of it the moment they see it growing in the garden. And so you can see this instrument; this is the root of the bamboo. And so it grows; it can go up to many, many meters. But, yes, another thing is that the bamboo is full from inside, originally. You can see here, some of you can see if you are not far, that here is empty, there is a hole inside. But when the bamboo is fresh, it has something inside; it’s filled. So someone who has in his or her mind a vision of what he or she can make out of this bamboo that nobody really wants, slowly begins to remove from inside what is not needed. And it is a very long and delicate process. It can take up to six months to make one flute like this. And the good maker has to take time and always test the flute, then leave it, come back to it, and so on. But all the time when he is working on this instrument, he can already see the potential and the end product that he wants to make. If he would rush and remove too much too quickly, it will not play. So, in a similar way, the master has this kind of vision that he or she can see the potential within all of us. And it’s simply removing slowly, slowly what is covering up that inner potential, that light. And it also takes some time, and sometimes it’s not so pleasant. But when the work is completed, then both the master and the disciple, they both can see that it was worth it. And so, in some ways, our job or our part to do is through sādhanā also to allow this process of—now it’s very much spoken in the world—the process of letting go. And surrendering to the Master. Let him remove what needs to be removed. Because what remains, the final product, is who we truly are. And so we need to bear that a little bit; sometimes it’s not so pleasant. And interestingly, the master seems to even know how much that particular bamboo can withstand. Even we may think that, no, this is impossible, I can’t anymore. But through some kind of power that allows us to let go of the old ways or our limitations, suddenly we realize that we can go through something more than we thought. So, just these few thoughts about yoga and the flute. Now, this particular instrument that I showed you is coming from Japan. It’s called Shakuhachi. And the flute of Shakuhachi has many, many years of history. And it was played by one sect of the samurai monks, called Kumuso. And there is also an interesting thing to note here, that they were samurai monks, so they had swords, originally. Samurai monks, so they had swords originally. But when they lost their master, they were proclaimed as dangerous. And so they were given the flutes instead of the swords. And you can actually defend yourself with this root at the back. If you take it like this, it’s a kind of weapon. And I think it was in Nepal or India when I went through the x-ray at the airports, I had to play, so they believe me. It’s an instrument, it’s not a weapon. And there came so many of these little officers, and they... So, originally there were no holes; this flute had only one sound. Something like in a didgeridoo, you know, in Australia. So when the monks were moving from village to village for food, for begging, they would announce with the sound of the shakuhachi, "We are here, please come and feed us." And later on, when the musicians took over, of course, one sound to play continually is a bit boring after some time. So they made these five holes inside. But still, this music of Shakuhachi, called the Honkyoku music, was very strictly limited to the temples only. And the music is very simple and not emotional. For them, it was a prāṇāyāma, really. And the way of developing concentration. And, plus, what we were talking about with Swami Vivek Purījī, this resonance of the instrument. They were undergoing very, very austere training with this. There was one person, a quite famous player from Australia, his name is Riley Lee. And he learned to play this shakuhachi in Japan, in a Zen temple. And so they were sent early in the morning to go and play under the waterfall in January, where it was minus degrees. And under this flowing water, they were told to play as long as it took until the icicle started to form from here on the flute. Only one tone. Many of the monks who still play this instrument today are given only one piece of music. Which is about four minutes long. And they play this whole life, nothing else. So it’s kind of a mantra for them. So you see, there are different ways to discipline our minds. But also, at the same time, the sound is very attractive for our mind, for our awareness, for our attention. And so, while playing or listening, it is easier to focus. And, or to relax, really, to stop. I’ve been playing in, let’s say, in the hospitals and for people recovering from strokes and different, different places. Or for elderly people in rest homes. And they are in, some of them are in this difficult situation. Because you can see that the mind has not really let go yet or renounced the desires. But the body cannot fulfill them anymore. And so there is a lot of suffering in that condition. Often, they are in one room and can’t move, really. But the mind still wants something, and sometimes when I play, then everybody goes to sleep. And I think it was Vivek Purījī who once told me, that, you know, they play for a cobra, and the cobra goes up. And you play to the people, and people go down. So, sometimes we don’t really realize how much the inner movements underneath are happening inside us. And we need to stop sometime, and we need to rest. From the continual receiving of more, more, more from the outer world. We may encounter that there are some tensions in our body suddenly we didn’t know about. And so we have techniques from Viśvagurujī on how to release them. But also, how to do it with kindness, not with the energy of pushing it away. But as Swami Vekpurījī said, it takes time. Mahāprabhujī sings the bhajan, "My mind, dearer, dearer, manovā, dearer, dearer, ciao." Swami Vivek Purījī said that it takes time, and Mahāprabhujī also said in his sermon that my mind is slow today. So we need a little bit of patience and give these techniques a space so that they can reveal themselves fully. But anyway, I’m distancing now a little bit from our music, so let’s come back to it. And you can lie down. If you have space. So that our spine, our back can have a little relaxation. If you have too much sun, come here. It’s more shadowy here. And make yourselves comfortable. You know the position for relaxation very well. Once you settle, close your eyes and take a few deep inhalations and exhalations. And relax. Relax your whole body. Feel the earth element beneath. With every natural exhalation, allow your body to sink deeper down to the floor. Let the arms become heavy, so your shoulders can sink down. And the tensions from the upper back can be released. The collarbones release, and your chest opens to the breath. Then relax your face muscles, and finally, our legs, feet, and toes. And finally, relax your legs, your head, your toes. As you feel the whole body. Take a deep inhalation, and with exhalation, try to double the level of relaxation in your body. Let your thoughts be free. Just like you would watch the clouds passing in the sky. Become a loving and kind space for everything that is within you. Bring your attention towards the center of your chest. The heart space. Just feel relaxed and happy. Worry less, be peaceful. One with your inner self. Slowly, we begin to regain once again the awareness of the whole body. And you’re being here in this room. Physically, mentally, deepening your breath. And slowly, slowly, start to move your fingers. The toes, the arms, the legs. And with deep inhalation, stretch your whole body. As the space allows, and after stretch, palms together, rub your palms.