Yoga means uniting
Yoga in daily life is unity with the divine principle present in all existence.
Life originates from and is sustained by water, which constitutes our bodies and the world. All creatures, including those unseen beneath the earth or in the air, are interconnected through life. The natural world operates on consumption, where creatures eat one another. A human is defined by moving beyond this, by not killing, by showing love and care to all. God is not a separate entity to be seen externally; God is within every creature and within your own heart. We are all fundamentally one, a unity temporarily experiencing separation, like a single drop of water merging back into the ocean. Our individual lives and bodies will eventually dissolve and return to the one source. Therefore, the practice of yoga is this conscious unification. It requires purifying the heart, relinquishing anger and jealousy, and acting with devotion. It involves caring for the body through exercise and pure food, but more importantly, it is an inner alignment. True yoga is living in harmony, causing no harm, and recognizing the divine in all.
"One in all and all in one. One in all and one in all."
"If you want to know God, He is in every creature, in every creature."
Filming location: Jadan, Rajasthan, India
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The Power of Satsaṅg and Awareness
The power of satsaṅg and awareness determines outcomes. Two friends chose differently. One attended satsaṅg physically but mentally dwelled on a missed movie. The other went to the movie but his awareness briefly touched satsaṅg. Afterward, the satsaṅg attendee got a thorn in his foot. The moviegoer found a gold coin. They sought explanation. The teacher revealed the satsaṅg attendee was destined for a car crash. Physical presence reduced it to a thorn. The moviegoer was destined for a box of gold coins. Fleeting awareness of satsaṅg reduced it to one coin. Physical presence without awareness still mitigates misfortune. Mental presence without physical attendance still grants reward. The power of satsaṅg transforms fate. It can make a king a beggar or a beggar a king. Everything depends on consciousness and awareness.
"That is the power of bhakti, that is the power of satsaṅg, and that is the power of Gurudeva."
"It all depends on the awareness and how we go forward with our lives."
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
Hymns of Adoration and the Nirvāṇa Ṣaṭkam
The true Self is pure consciousness and bliss, beyond all attributes and dualities. It is not the body, the senses, the mind, or the elements. It is without hatred or attachment, virtue or vice, pleasure or pain. It is not the doer, the enjoyer, or any object of experience. This Self is Shiva, the eternal, all-pervading reality. Devotion to the sacred form, the Linga, is praised as a means to destroy all sorrows and sins, leading one to Shiva's abode. These hymns point to the formless truth while honoring the forms that guide the mind toward it.
"I am not the mind, intellect, ego, or consciousness; nor the ears, tongue, nose, or eyes. I am not space, earth, fire, or air. I am the form of consciousness and bliss. I am Shiva."
"To the Linga worshipped by Brahma and the gods, the destroyer of the sufferings of birth, the always auspicious one, to that Linga of Sadashiva, I bow down."
Filming location: Jadan, Rajasthan, India
Bhajan singing from Jadan
True refuge is found only in the divine name and the realized teacher.
Seeking refuge in worldly attachments leads to suffering and delusion. The divine name is the ultimate sanctuary, the true crossing from darkness to light. All other shelters are temporary and false. The teacher, as the embodiment of grace, is the boatman who facilitates this crossing. To take refuge is to surrender completely, abandoning all other supports. This surrender alone brings liberation from the ocean of worldly existence. The name and the teacher are the singular, eternal refuge.
"O Guru Sukhadhāmasvāmī, [you are] the cause of happiness for the entire world, the liberation from attachment."
"Refuge is yours. Sri Kanata, refuge is yours. Sri Cintāmita, refuge in the body is yours."
Filming location: Jadan, Rajasthan, India
Bhajan singing from Strilky Ashram
The mind is the root of all bondage and liberation. The mind is the only cause of both suffering and freedom. When the mind is attached to the world, it is bound. When the mind is turned towards the Divine, it is liberated. The world is an illusion projected by the mind's modifications. To know the Self, one must still the mind's constant chatter. This stillness is not inactivity but a state of pure awareness. In that awareness, the true nature of the Self is revealed.
"The mind is the only cause of bondage and the mind is the only cause of liberation."
"Where the mind goes, that is where you go; if the mind goes to God, you go to God."
