The Awakening of Consciousness: Kuṇḍalinī and Cakras
The science of yoga is the science of body, mind, and consciousness. Yoga is the eternal balancing principle in the universe, not a religion or dogma. The cosmic vibration, declared as OM, exists within and outside us. Human life is a precious chance within the cycle of rebirth. The human intellect can be trained endlessly, and dormant abilities within are connected to the cakras, or energy centers. The subtle body has 72,000 nāḍīs, or channels, for transmitting consciousness and energy. The mind functions between the subconscious and conscious, taking in impressions that become desires. The intellect's duty is to give judgment. We normally experience three levels of consciousness: waking, dream, and deep sleep. Past deeds create our destiny, or prārabdha karma. The Kuṇḍalinī energy and the cakra system are responsible for developing consciousness and freeing it from subconscious fears. The major nāḍīs are Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā, balancing emotion and intellect. Haṭha Yoga unites these sympathetic and parasympathetic principles. The awakening of Kuṇḍalinī is a divine process of becoming wise and calm, not a physical sensation. The cakras are located along the spinal column and are psychic energy centers. They are connected to the five elements and influence the body. Mastery leads towards liberation, the union of individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness. This requires lifelong practice and guidance.
"Yoga is not a religion, it is not a philosophy, it is not a dogma, but it is the eternal principle in this universe."
"The awakening of the Kuṇḍalinī is a divine process; you don't feel it as a physical sensation. You feel happy, as if in the lap of the mother."
Filming location: Zagreb, Croatia
DVD 188
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Sri SatGuru Chalisa
The Satguru Chalīsā is a sacred text for meditation and crossing worldly existence. We worship the all-pervasive creator, the supreme incarnation. Without this grace, no one crosses the ocean of worldly life. All sages meditate upon this presence. Spiritual knowledge is given to the heart, resulting in fearlessness and the end of problems. Reading or listening to the Chalīsā brings concentration, ends the fear of birth and death, and grants prosperity and fulfillment. Life becomes perfect and suffering departs. The verses describe the merciful protector who uplifts all beings. Those who gain this vision are supremely fortunate and their wishes succeed. The guru is eternal and unequaled. Approaching the guru cleanses eons of misdeeds. The blessing itself is everything.
"Without Your mercy, no one can cross the ocean of worldly existence."
"Those who will have a darśan of you, Gurudev, they will be the greatest, and they will all the time have concentration and feeling for God."
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
Bhajans evening from the Strilky Ashram
A fine shawl, a sacred motherland, a coach of the body, and a two-day meeting.
A bhajan says the body is a fine shawl dyed with God's name, woven on eight lotus chakras; saints keep it spotless. Mother India is like sandalwood, a land of penance and sacred duty. Dawn blows the conch, dusk sings a lullaby, and fortune is shaped by actions. Poets sing sacrifices, wisdom is pure as Ganga, soldiers chant Gita, goal is God-realization. The body is a coach pulled by ten horses, the ten shaktis, controlled by mind and intellect. Knowledge is light; the Atma sits inside with discernment. Five thieves—desire, anger, pride, greed, ego—seized the coach, made horses lose way. Gurudeva's arrow-word made them flee. In the coach are solar systems, five karmendriyas, five jnanendriyas, brahmanas. Through holy worship, joy is enjoyed in this body. Life is a two-day meeting: yesterday, today; tomorrow unknown. It is a play of coming and going; alone we came, are alone, go alone. Only karma, mantra, Gurudeva's light guide. Life flows like unholdable water; at end, no one helps. Meditate on God; dharma, dhairya, mitra, artha must be proved at right time.
“The soul of this country, Bhārata, is like chandan, like sandalwood.”
“The only thing that will go with us is our karma, our deeds. The power of the mantra and the light of Gurudeva—this will guide us.”
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
Bhajan evening in the Strilky Ashram
The bhajan of the caged bird reflects the soul's entrapment in karmas and qualities. A bird confined in a cave endures great suffering, crying out with pain no one comprehends. This symbolizes the soul still bound. Pain is part of life, yet one day abiding in Sat Chit Ananda is certain. The bird, placed in a cage, lives a life no longer its own. Observers see beauty, but the existence is harsh. Never confine a creature; compassion means letting it remain free. The bhajan conveys unbearable suffering. How to open the cage? Humans are similarly caged, dispersed everywhere yet believing themselves at ease. Preoccupation with money and possessions conceals the inner cage. The bird, if free, would stand in a tree, questioning its placement by God. Another bhajan speaks of a girl locked in a cage for countless lifetimes, seeking her beloved husband. Without shame, she lived as a child unable to walk, unable to find the beloved. Eventually, she found the divine beloved and dissolved into the immortal, unborn one. Through bhajan, liberation is attained.
"The bird is held within, and its life is no longer its own."
"We too are inside a cage. What is that cage?"
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
Bhajan singing from Jadan
Archive 20230421 16 Edited
Musical recording.
