Video details
Balancing Heart and Intellect
The human being is perfected through the balanced union of intellect and emotion. Emotion, in its many forms, is connected to a necessary ego for self-protection and living. Uncontrolled emotions like anger are waves that disturb existence. Self-respect is shown by respecting others through our behavior and cleanliness. The Upaniṣads are a source of transformative knowledge. It is taught that within the heart's cave resides a blue light, the seat of the individual soul. The divine digestive fire, jāṭharāgni, creates the hunger that moves creatures to sustain life. All elements are divine, and modern life has severed our connection to them and to our ancestors, who remain in the subtle world and can affect our lives. Various fires exist within: the fire of passion, anger, love, and the longing for God. The intellect can be polluted by the senses and selfish compromise, losing its connection to the heart's love. Discriminative wisdom, viveka, discerns truth from falsehood and leads to renunciation. This wisdom cannot be polluted; one either has it or does not. The five elements support the body, within which the soul resides in the heart center. Practice awakens energy through the central channel to nourish the soul and open wisdom. The subtle has more power than the gross. Love is surrender, not demand, and when heart and intellect coordinate, one becomes a perfect human, creating a better world.
"Self-respect means to respect others."
"Brahma satya, jagat mithyā. All that is in this world—this is a changeable world, a mortal world—this is not reality."
Filming location: Alexandria, USA
This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.
The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:
- Yoga in Daily Life - The System
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2000. ISBN 978-3-85052-000-3 - The Hidden Power in Humans - Chakras and Kundalini
Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda. Ibera Verlag, Vienna, 2004. ISBN 978-3-85052-197-0 - Lila Amrit - The Divine Life of Sri Mahaprabhuji
Paramhans Swami Madhavananda. Int. Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship, Vienna, 1998. ISBN 3-85052-104-4
