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We discuss the practice of prāṇāyāma and why we always begin with the left nostril. To understand this, we must delve deeper into the knowledge of the nāḍīs and the Prāṇamaya Kośa. We have five layers or sheaths (kośas). The first is the Annamaya Kośa, our physical body. When we speak of it, we refer to the known anatomy: bones, organs, muscles, ligaments, glands, and so on. Similarly, the Prāṇamaya Kośa has its own anatomy, consisting of 72,000 nāḍīs, the chakras, and the flow of energy within this energetic sheath. We commonly speak of three principal nāḍīs: Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumnā. This knowledge is essential, especially when practicing Kuṇḍalinī Yoga, kriyās, and similar disciplines. The Iḍā nāḍī is connected to the left side and the left nostril. It is associated with emotion and the mind, and its symbol is the moon. Why the moon? Because the moon is constantly changing, from the full moon (Pūrṇimā) to the new moon (Amāvasyā). Our mind is also perpetually changing, sometimes elevated, sometimes low. Therefore, we say this entire world we perceive is a creation of our mind. How we see the world depends on our thoughts. If we are inwardly sad and depressed, everything around us appears bad, and our world is one of suffering. If we are in a high state, everything seems beautiful and colorful. Yet, the next moment, we may be down again. Hence, the symbol is the moon. Piṅgalā, connected to the right nostril, is symbolized by the sun. The sun represents the conscious light of conscious knowledge, which we need for our development. When Iḍā (the left nostril, connected to the right brain) is active, you may notice, especially during meditation, that you do not have a problem with your body, but you are troubled by excessive thinking. When Piṅgalā is active, we do not have as many problems with thoughts, but we may have slight discomfort in the body; the mind is peaceful, but the body presents a minor issue. Therefore, it is said the best time for meditation is when the Suṣumnā is active. This is the central nāḍī that passes through the spinal column. This is why the periods of Brahma Muhūrta (before sunrise) and Sandhyā (sunset) are considered optimal for meditation—because Suṣumnā is active then. We can recognize Suṣumnā's activity by observing that both nostrils are equally open. This is the best time for meditation, as we will have calm thoughts and no bodily disturbances. Furthermore, with Suṣumnā open, the rising of the Kuṇḍalinī—which signifies the ascent of our consciousness and inner evolution—can take place. Now, why do we start with the left nostril? First, when we practice Nāḍī Śodhana and begin by breathing through the left nostril, we are activating the Iḍā nāḍī. It is not merely about activation, as the nostril may sometimes be completely blocked. The important point is not to force the breath. If both nostrils are not open and you force the breath, you will create a harsh sound, irritate the nasal area, cause the nostril to close further, and may even feel discomfort in the lungs. If you find a nostril is not open, simply continue breathing very slowly and gently, without force. After a few minutes, you will feel the nostrils open. For this reason, one technique for relieving a headache is to identify which nostril is closed and breathe gently through that nostril. Within five to ten minutes, the headache will typically subside—all done slowly and without force, with a gentle inhale and exhale. By breathing through the left nostril, we activate and purify the Iḍā nāḍī. This means we gradually activate and purify the mind. This breathing also brings in a quality of coolness and can induce a daydream-like state because the mind is activated, leading to more thinking. However, we are practicing prāṇāyāma, aware that prāṇa enters through the nostril and slowly travels to the Mūlādhāra and then exits. It is similar to cleaning a glass tube in chemistry. When practicing through the Annamaya Kośa (the physical body), you inhale oxygen and exhale toxins; 70% of the body's detoxification occurs through breathing. When you go a step further to the Prāṇamaya Kośa, you are inhaling light and exhaling light. If you have a dark room and turn on a light, you do not need a broom to sweep out the darkness; it disappears immediately. Likewise, light goes in and light goes out. Through this process, you activate, purify, and remove darkness—everything that is not good from your mind, such as overly active thoughts and feelings. After this, you switch to the right nostril, which is associated with pure consciousness. The light of consciousness emanating from our mind will make your mind still, enabling you to continue with meditation. Our mind often plays tricks on us, and we aim to finish with being consciousness, being real here and now. Therefore, we start with the left, activating the mind, and finish with the right, activating our consciousness. Only in very rare situations, and only if your guru instructs you to do the opposite, should you deviate from this sequence. Your guru possesses the knowledge of why. For 99.999% of us, the practice is to start with the left and finish with the right. Also, try during prāṇāyāma—and this is my inner feeling—when we practice through the Annamaya Kośa, the normal physiology is to inhale good air (oxygen) and exhale toxins. But when we talk about energy, try not to be a factory polluting the atmosphere. Try not to be a Chernobyl. Instead, try to inhale this cosmic energy, prāṇa, divine energy, divine śakti, and through our positive thoughts and feelings, exhale with the wish: "Let all be happy, healthy"—all of nature, everything, animals, humans, plants, the whole universe. If you say, "Let all be happy, healthy," remember that "all" includes you. Do not be in fear, thinking, "But I need to be healthy." "Let all be happy and healthy" means you are included in that "all." Through such practice, when you inhale the light, cosmic prāṇa, divine energy, and also give your positive thoughts and feelings, you will feel more openness in your heart and become happier and healthier. For this reason, when you read some commentaries on the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā by good commentators, you will find guidance on how to know you have benefited from your practice and have developed. Simply ask yourself: "Am I happy?" If the answer is yes—"I feel happy, I feel full of energy, I feel my heart is opening"—it means we are developing and progressing. If we are constantly talking about suffering, saying, "Oh, it's hard, life is suffering, you must pass through suffering," it means we are not developed. We are stuck below the Maṇipūra chakra. If you always think life is just suffering and you have to get over it, then you are stuck under the Maṇipūra chakra. The Maṇipūra chakra is the level of consciousness, a level akin to being in heaven. Furthermore, what is best for feeling good? It is bhajans. Madhurā is here. He has finished his anuṣṭhān, and now we will continue with another part—perhaps a little about sound, some bhajans, some flute, something. It will be a nice surprise. Śrī Dīpnā and Bhagavān, akī jai. Let us start by chanting three Oms together. Oṁ Oṁ Oṁ Atītaṁ gaganasadṛśaṁ tasmāsyaṁ dilakṣaṁ ekaṁ nityaṁ vimalaṁ achalaṁ sarvādi sākṣibhūtaṁ bhavātītaṁ triguṇarahitaṁ satgurutvaṁ namāmi. Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Devo Maheśvara, Guru Sākṣāt Para Brahma, Tasmai Śrī Gurave Namaḥ. As an inspiration from Swami Vivek Purījī’s talk just now, where he mentioned that all should be happy, and although the Anuṣṭhān just started today, I feel if you lie down, you will be very happy. There will be a lot of sitting. Do we have enough space for everybody to lie down? Okay, just a short relaxation, please. Make yourselves very comfortable. No need for big preparations, just a few minutes. Of course, if you don't have enough space or you would rather sit, no problem. Close your eyes. Take some deep breaths and relax with the exhalations. Feel the earth beneath the contact of your body with the floor. Relax your whole body, from your toes to the top of your head. Feel and relax your face muscles. Particularly relax your eyebrows and jaws so that the natural expression of your face can reappear. Relax and feel both your arms and shoulders. Then extend the relaxation to your back muscles and spinal column, and the other side of your trunk: the collarbones, chest, and abdominal muscles. Finally, give your attention to the legs. From your hips to your toes, feel and relax both legs. Feel the whole body, and as you do, take one more deep inhalation and exhale, relax. For the time being, withdraw from the world of your duties and commitments, the different kinds of activities we do in daily life. Bring your awareness to the center of your chest, the space of your heart. Simply be one with yourself without making any effort, without needing to. Study something we all intuitively know: that we exist here in our inner world. As you observe the gentle movement of the breath in this inner space, feel the calming and relaxing of your mind, sinking deeper and deeper within your inner peace. Relax. Just relax. Once again, slowly expand the awareness to the whole body. While keeping your eyes closed, become aware of your being here—physically, mentally. Take a few deeper inhalations and exhalations. Slowly, start to move your fingers and toes. Continue moving your body intuitively. If you feel like stretching, you can stretch. After stretching, rub your palms together to warm them up. Place your hands on your face and share this prāṇa with your face. Then open your eyes, remove your hands, and slowly, with the help of your hands, sit up. The part of our yoga practices, as most of you know, is something called Nāda Yoga, the path of sound. Somehow in this life, this practice became one of those I have an inclination for. Often, the first part before making sound is to become literate—more quiet. It is like emptying our inner vessel, quieting the mind. This first step is actually very useful. Sometimes we may see meditation or techniques for quieting the mind as something passive. In the world, you may encounter people who do not meditate daily. So why, one might ask, don't we do something rather than sit and be quiet? But when we take time to quiet our minds, it is more likely that our actions will become those that concern the well-being of the whole world—what we call "naham kartā," as opposed to that little "I," the egoic "I" that is often very self-centered. Also, I don't know about you, but I notice how many people in the world are lonely, really. We all seem to have some sort of occupation; we are heading towards something almost all the time. When we encounter another human being, if our mind is preoccupied by our ambitions and desires, we don't have much space for the other person. It's something like a computer. Every computer has operational memory (RAM). The more applications running simultaneously, the less operational memory is available. It seems our awareness is similar; it has a certain capacity. If it is preoccupied with trying to fulfill our own desires, only so much is left for another person when you meet them. This actually makes both parties lonely. We remember from Viśvagurujī’s words that the best medicine for a human is another human. He emphasized this mantra to do in the mornings when we wake up, to remind ourselves: "I am a human." But what does it really mean to be a human? Perhaps it means to be more available, to care, to love, and to give. These are our natural qualities. It is not natural for us to be greedy, to hate, to fight, and so on. When qualities like kāma, krodha, mada, lobha, moha, and ahaṅkāra consume our "operational memory," very little is left for compassion and human qualities. I don't know if this works for your imagination, but for me it did. So perhaps that is the reason why I feel that blowing into this piece of bamboo has meaning. That music, some kind of music, has the ability to help us quiet down and uncover these human qualities from within us, to wake them up a little more. Today is also Śrī Devpurījī’s Mahāsamādhi Day, a day for remembering our inner nature and quieting the mind. I thought of this bhajan, "Cidānanda rūpa śivo’ham, śivo’ham"—that who I am, my inner self, is of the nature of Sacchidānanda. Then Śaṅkarācārya jī speaks about what I am not. That's another technique: one is to remind ourselves who we are and what the human, divine qualities are; another is to remind ourselves who we are not. The end product should be the same. If you would like to join the chanting, you can. Or you can just sit and listen peacefully, or come in when we chant the main refrain, "Chidānanda Rūpa, Śivo’ham, Śivo’ham," which we know. You don't have to strain your intellect today. There is a purpose in focusing on words, but for now, it is to be with the vibration, with the resonance of the sound. Mano buddhi ahaṁkāra chittāni nāma, na cha śrotra jihve na cha ghrāṇa netre. Nātha vyomā bhūmi nātha tejo ’nila vāri, tīrthānanda rūpa. Śivoham Śivoham Tidānanda Rūpa Śivoham Śivoham Nātha Prāṇa Saṅgyo Nave Panthavayur. Nava Saptadhātuḥ, Nava Panthākuśaḥ, Nava Kpanipādau, Nāthopastāpayuḥ, Chidānandarūśivoḥ, Chidānandamedveśalagau, na me lobha moha madhu naiva me naiva. Mācārya bhāva na dharmo na cārto na kāmo na mokṣa cidānanda rūpa śivo’ham. Chidānanda rūpa śivo’haṁ na puṇyam, na pāpam, na saukyam, na duḥkham, na mantro, na tīrtham, na veda, na yajña, ahaṁ bhojanam naiva bhojam na bhoktā, chidānanda rūpa śivo’ham. Chidānanda rūpa śivo’haṁ na me mṛtyu-saṅkā na me jāti-veda, pitā naiva me naiva mātā na janma, na bandhur na mitraṁ gurur naiva śiṣya, chidānanda rūpa śivo’haṁ śivo’haṁ. Cidānanda Rūpa Śivo’haṁ Śivo’haṁ Nirvikalpo Nirakāra Rūpo Vibhur Vyāpya Sarvatra Sarvendriyāṇām Sadā Me Cidānanda Rūpa Śivo’haṁ.