Namaste.
Welcome everyone on this International Day of Yoga.
Yoga provides a way to nourish and refine our body,
Mind and soul.
The very purpose being to expand our consciousness to its ultimate potential so that we become one with the source of all existence.
Yoga is truly about uniting.
It is about connecting.
It comes from the Sanskrit,
Yajjiti Yoga,
Meaning one that joins.
Religion also has the same purpose as the Latin root re,
Legar,
Means to rejoin.
So if yoga means one that joins,
What is to be joined?
Actually,
So many things are joined and integrated through yoga.
But in particular,
Our soul,
The life force,
Becomes one with its original state of balance.
That is the purpose of yogic practice.
And the soul in its own wisdom is carrying that memory of its original homeland,
Which is absolute balance.
So unless and until we regain the balance that prevailed before the universe was created,
We remain restless.
Even in the most luxurious life,
The heart will still be yearning for something better.
It won't be satisfied.
Our soul is the carrier of the original memory of perfect balance that prevailed before the creation.
Hence,
Nothing of this world can satisfy us until we attain that state of samadhi,
Something that prevailed before the creation came into being.
And that can happen through a proper practice.
So it is worthwhile to reflect for a minute,
Are our efforts actually leading us to the state of yoga?
When we practice asanas or pranayama or meditation,
What are we doing?
Will our daily or weekly practice take us to that state of yoga of union?
Asanas are designed to take care of the physical body and have a purpose.
But they are just one very small part of the whole field of yoga.
And they cannot refine the subtle bodies or touch the causal body,
The soul.
So how will we refine the mind?
How will we refine intellect?
How will we refine our ego?
How will we touch the soul?
It has to be a combined effort.
Astanga yoga is a complete package of yama,
Niyama,
Asana,
Pranayama,
Pratyahara,
Dharana,
Dhyana and samadhi.
If we pick and choose just one actively because we like it,
Then it will satisfy only that aspect of astanga yoga.
It will not be yoga.
It is like going to work and choosing to do only one task you have been given.
What will yamas think?
Likewise,
The whole system breaks down when we focus only on yama or asanas or dhyana.
We have to find the balance.
But ultimately the true state of union comes from doing proper meditation or dhyana.
Not every type of meditation is equal to in this regard and ensure our goal fulfillment.
The meditation practice we choose must be able to take us deeper and deeper into various levels of consciousness.
Samadhi is the outcome of meditation.
There are various stages of samadhi.
In fact,
At every new juncture in our spiritual journey,
From one chakra to another,
The state of consciousness we experience will be different.
But generally three types of samadhis are described.
The first one is totally unconscious state like stone,
Where we have no consciousness of the condition given to us during the meditation.
It is called paasana tulya,
Just like stone.
The second is a semi-conscious dream-like state and a bit more refined.
It is a light,
Conscious,
Natural,
Sahaja samadhi state,
Which comes after we have traversed the intermediate levels of unconscious or semi-conscious stages along the way.
Natural samadhi simply occurs when our consciousness is totally merged in the ultimate state,
At one with that state.
In the meantime,
Samadhi is a work in progress towards that natural samadhi.
If we have to understand samadhi properly,
The word can break it down into two.
The latter part,
Adhi,
Means that which prevailed before the creation.
What was the state of consciousness at that time?
We must regain that.
So,
Whatever we do in our daily practice of yoga needs to connect us with our source,
Otherwise it is not really yoga.
And just as concentration is the result of meditation,
Yoga is the result of doing proper practices.
All these practices.
The sequences can be different.
How one starts,
How one focuses on each part of this astra yoga is depending upon the practitioner.
But somehow,
Somewhere,
All will have to be integrated.
And when we connect with that sublime source within,
Anything else that we do will also be permeated with some level of fragrance from the source.
That is why Lord Krishna called it skill in action.
Yogaha karmasu kavasalam.
When we are connected,
Everything that we do will have that fragrance.
Karma yoga,
Jnana yoga and pakti yoga are often considered to be three different paths to the ultimate.
Karma yoga is all about evolving through service and action.
Jnana yoga is all about evolving through knowledge and enlightenment.
Pakti yoga is about evolving through love,
Devotion and attachment to the Lord.
It is wise to be selective in what actions,
Knowledge and devotional practices we choose.
We need to ask ourselves in karma yoga what actions and services will refine us.
What sort of karmas can connect us to the source?
In Gyan yoga,
What sort of knowledge can elevate our consciousness?
Which jnana can connect us to the source?
In bhakti yoga,
To whom are we devoted?
What form of bhakti will connect us to the source?
In karma yoga,
Any action must elevate the lower self to seek the higher self.
Such actions will ennoble us and ennoble the very actions themselves because it is our innate nature to do the best possible.
What about jnana yoga?
In his book Towards Infinity,
My Guruji Sri Ramachandranji of Sahaja Yoga describes jnana yoga,
The progressive unfolding of wisdom and knowledge from personal experience on the spiritual journey.
He says that jnana,
In the real sense,
Refers to the inner condition of the mind,
Which develops while passing through different spiritual states and the different knots or the chakras.
Jnana is in fact the realisation of the conditions prevailing at each chakra.
As our inner journey takes us through many chakras,
The knowledge gained will continue to expand as we progress on this journey.
That is real jnana yoga.
What sort of bhakti leads us to that state of yoga?
Worship in itself hardly contributes to our success.
Love is best expressed through the heart in all facets of our activities.
For example,
At bedtime,
When we know we are going to meditate in the morning,
Are we looking forward to that meditation,
To being with the beloved when we awake?
Are we restless enough to receive him in our heart?
Every bhakta,
Every devotee must analyse this.
How must we prepare our heart to receive the beloved?
With such preparations,
The heart will automatically yield.
It is not just a bedtime activity then.
Every moment will yield to such a state.
If we create such an attitude in our heart that is so inviting,
The Lord will have no choice but to descend and be a part of our existence.
A beautiful fragrance will then radiate from us.
It becomes automatic.
Even if a flower is hidden in the crevices of rocks,
The bees will find it.
So how can God not know about an anonymous being filled with love?
We don't really have to go in search of God in bhakti yoga.
But wherever you are,
Be pure,
Be loving and he will come looking for you.
Now,
Are these three paths really separate?
In fact,
Karma without jnana is useless and jnana without bhakti is useless.
There must be a beautiful amalgamation of three in our yogic sadhana,
Yogic practice.
If we perform karma in a loving way,
Knowing well the consequences of our actions,
The bhakti will naturally develop.
If the essence of bhakti is not there,
Jnana yoga will be paralysed and the karma yoga will also be paralysed.
Likewise,
Bhakti without action and without knowledge about what you are going to do is also useless.
We have to integrate these three and continue on with a lot of faith which comes out of experience.
We need not have faith in the beginning actually.
It develops as we practice,
Our experiences will tell us.
Yoga,
When rightly done,
Will always guide us in the right direction.
In Bhagavad Gita,
Arjuna asked Lord Krishna,
How should one lead a life?
Lord Krishna says,
Lead a life in divine consciousness.
So consciousness is at play here.
In the words of Swami Vivekananda,
Through yoga,
We are trying to make use of our available consciousness.
In meditation,
With yogic transmission,
In no time at all,
We allow our available consciousness to soar higher into super consciousness,
From where we get inspiration.
It is a matter of experience.
The super consciousness is all that is yet to happen,
But it tells you ahead of time what to do.
It inspires you to do things.
When the same available consciousness dives deeper into the ocean of sub consciousness,
We receive intuitive wisdom.
The subconscious is the source,
The storehouse of our past experiences.
At night time,
When we offer prayer with a heart full of love,
Then the sleep that we enjoy after such a prayer is of a different order,
A different nature.
Yogis call it as Yoga Nindra.
Right from the first day in heartfulness,
We are able to experience those two states of super consciousness and sub consciousness.
Rishis have died aspiring for this,
Meditating for hundreds of years,
Yet remaining thirsty for it because they did not know where to receive transmission.
My Adi Guru rediscovered this ancient yogic technique and distributed it to all of us actually.
They trained us and they passed it on freely.
That is our heartfulness tradition.
All are welcome to try it and experience it for themselves.
I would like to talk to you also about Sadhana and Chaturthaya.
If you look at this chart,
There are almost 35 elements in this yoga chart.
They are meant to be practiced together,
Especially the later Astang yoga part.
Even though each one contains a vast field of knowledge within itself,
The 35 can be summarized within four main elements known as the four sadhanas or sadhana chaturthaya.
Of these four sadhanas,
Let us focus on satsampati or the six virtues.
Within the satsampati,
The aspect of Shama,
Of molding and regulating the mind is where all the practices of yoga are to be found.
Astang yoga practices,
Hatha yoga,
Raja yoga and the 21st century practice of heartfulness.
The great Rishi Patanjali presented this eightfold path,
Astang yoga,
To the world a few thousand years back to take care of the physical,
Subtle and causal bodies of the human being.
Through asanas to refine the physical body,
Yama and yama to refine our character and the other five to refine the subtle bodies in order to unite the soul with the ultimate.
So,
Each element has a role to play.
Today,
Things have evolved further so that heartfulness brings together all 35 elements of yoga without having to take up each step individually.
There is a complete package of simple practice for all who want to experiment and experience.
So,
At this time in human history,
We can all experience the pure essence of yoga supported by yogic transmission and yogic cleaning.
What is the result?
Oneness with the source.
I appreciate and I heartfully thank all of you for joining me today.
May this heartfulness movement touch each one's heart.
Thank you.
Namaste.
