Category: yoga texts

Moments of Realization

Guruji: “Gorakhabodha is an amazing book! Discusses some of the heaviest truths about yoga sādhanā.

Q: “Guruji, what happens in samādhi?”

Guruji: “Your consciousness becomes one with Earth’s consciousness. That’s why they say you are everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”

Q: “In Tripurā Rahasya Jñāna Khaṇḍa, it says everybody experiences samādhi every moment, when the mind goes from one subject to another.”

Guruji: “That’s also going on. Every moment of realization is a moment of samādhi. Any new thing you’ve understood is a form of samādhi only.

Q: “It says in the book that whenever you are stunned, you also experience samādhi.”

Guruji: “Because it’s a moment of realization. Every moment of realization can be termed as samādhi. Even when you suddenly discover a new thing in your laboratory, that’s also samādhi. Refer to Yoga Darśana: the combination of dhāraṇa, dhyāna, and samādhi is saṁyama. Samādhis are many.”

Q: “I have the same question as is posed in the book: If samādhi is happening every moment, then why doesn’t everybody become all-knowing?”

Guruji: “Well, knowledge increases with these momentary samādhis. The common concept that in the moment of realization you know everything, in my opinion, is not true. It’s a journey of realization, step-by-step. With each realization your knowledge will increase. Every samādhi experience makes you more mature. What you are today is not the same as what you were yesterday. You are not the same person. Because, since yesterday you may have understood a few more things that you knew then. It’s a gradual progression.”

Q: “So it’s not like a switch suddenly turns on and you become all-knowing.”

Guruji: “These beliefs have become more popular after Ramakrishna Paramhansa talked about samādhi and when Yogananda described it a little. Before then, there was no such misconception. Otherwise why would people practice samādhi everyday, if only one experience was enough? Refer to Yoga Darśana: it gives the exact description of samādhi. And the experience that Paramahanda Yogananda has described, even LSD users have the similar experience.”

[20100711-2]

Yoga Texts

Q: “Guruji, I was reading Hatha Yoga Pradipika. The technique to float on water, is that Plavini pranayam?”

Guruji: “Yes, it’s a simple technique. You basically ‘eat air’, so that your intestines are filled with air and then you’d float. This is one technical way. Now, kriya yoga practice also creates buoyancy that even without being filled with air the yogis can float. Their weight won’t reduce but there will be lightness in their body. It won’t be dense. Even with weight they don’t feel heavy and can easily float on water. This is due to changes in the body due to pranayam. It also means that their grossness is reduced.

“You can even observe difference in shadows of a yogi compared with a gross man who eats meat and does not practice yoga. The shadow of a yogi will be much lighter. These are subtle changes that take time to absorb. Body is just an expression of the mind. Whatever happens with the mind will reflect on the body. Something tremendous changes somewhere.

“[About pranayams] these are locks that cannot be opened without the help of a guru. The eight kumbhakas are different stages of the same pranayam. ….the location goes down from throat, then bronchial track, etc, then upto anahata chakra…. It’s an art that takes a lot of practice to understand it’s beauty.

“No book compares to Hatha Yoga Pradipika! It’s the most mystical work, in addition to Shiva Samhita. Everything about yoga is comprised in these two books, including the most profound secrets of Nath yogis. You can read all four vedas and eighteen puranas and still won’t learn these secrets. Take Khechari mudra, for instance. Despite all controls of the tongue – don’t speak evil, don’t talk too much, don’t eat a lot, etc, you’ll never learn the actual mudra!

“It’s our good fortune that we got to learn about this art. If we didn’t have this information, we wouldn’t know what we are missing. That is the real tragedy! People don’t know what they are missing. Nothing we can do about it, only one in a million gets this knowledge.”

Q: “Guruji, is Swatmaram Yogi (author of Hatha Yoga Pradipika) from recent times or old times?”

Guruji: “Very old; he is directly connected with Gorakh Nath and Matsyendra Nath. He was a direct disciple of Gorakh Nath. Some scholars say Gorakh himself might have written this book, but let’s take Swatmaram’s word for it. “Amaraugh Prabodh”, “Vivek Martand” and other works prescribe only Mahamudra, Mahabandha, Mahavedha, and Khechari for attaining immortality. These practices are said to make the body diamond-like (vajra kaya) which will naturally make it immortal.

“We also found in Sanskrit dictionary that what Nath yogis say ‘aadesh’ literally means ‘yoga’! The call ‘alakh niranjan, aadesh guru ka’, implies that the truth is alakh niranjan – beyond carbon – and not visible. To take up to there is guru’s yoga, practice it!

“Only with years of practice you become aware of these things. Naths’ program was amazing! Even with as much asana practice, a modern yoga enthusiast will remain away from the secrets of Hatha Yoga Pradipika. That’s the beauty of it! It is an original text of kriya yoga. Upto 4th kriya is to master the Jalandhar Bandha. There are 10 mudras and there are also 10 kriyas. We are practicing pure Hatha yoga. They have destroyed its beauty, the so called gurus who went to America to earn dollars and establish missions.”

[20110108-2] Recorded: Dec 2003