англ. название записи: Q&A: Importance of Sadhana, Breathing and Prana - 2025-05-03 - Sri Prem Prayojan
0:01Tolerate the urges of the mind. Rupa Goswami's first teaching, vāco-vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ. So vāco-vegaṁ means to tolerate the urge to speak. Tolerate the urge to stop chanting and go and speak to someone. Manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ, manasaḥ-vega is the force of the mind to stop chanting. And especially the mind is pushing us to engage in worldly karma.
1:02So all these things have to be tolerated. Without increasing our chanting, we cannot overcome the mind. Powerful, powerful mind. The conditioned soul has many anarthas. And in Kṛṣṇa-saṁhitā and also Caitanya-caritāmṛta of Srila Bhakti-vinoda Ṭhākura, he compares each of our anarthas to a different type of demon in Vrindavan.
1:47So, only Krishna can kill all these demons. That means only the holy name can kill all of our demons.
2:01But Srila Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said that unless every day the devotee will spend some time in Savikalpa Samadhi, he cannot overcome the anarthas. So what does that mean? Yesterday we spoke about the samadhi, when the devotee is in the stage of bhāva and praying. So, there are many different types of samadhi. But the preliminary type of samadhi comes actually in niṣṭhā, in the state of ekāgratā, one-pointedness. So, of course, niṣṭhā comes after anartha-nivṛtti. Anartha-nivṛtti is not over the time of niṣṭhā, but niṣṭhā is
naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī. Niṣṭhā is when, acharyas have said, 75%, so there's still 25% of anarthas are there, but the 75% of the anarthas have cleared, in other words, the anarthas have cleared enough to have a steady mind, sthira-citta, so, in that stage of niṣṭhā,
3:26ekāgratā, one pointed attention. Then, this is called Savikalpa Samadhi. It is a, like, let us say, not a deep trance, but a shallow trance, in which one experiences the state of sākṣitva, of being, I am not this, I am not this body. Okay. Now, one may raise the question, if niṣṭhā, in the stage of niṣṭhā, you have ekāgratā, you can be in the Savikalpa Samadhi, Then, how will you go through the anartha-nivṛtti to get there if you need the savikalpa-samādhi in order to get rid of the anarthas?
4:12Understand the question, Karls? Does everyone understand the question? Yes. Yeah? And so the answer is this, that in niṣṭhā, the steadiness of our consciousness, our ekāgratā, is a consistent thing. We stay in that peaceful and contemplative, reflective state, whereas before that stage, when we're in Anisthita-bhajana-kriya, we can only experience it for some moments while we're chanting.
4:48We're chanting a long time, and as we're chanting, we may experience this sudden rise up out of the mind and objective, seeing the mind objectively from the vantage point of the soul. and then afterwards it disappears, you see. So there's, in the stage of Anisthita-bhajana-kriya, unsteady practice of bhakti, there are some glimpses of what it's like to be in ekāgratā, in your peak moments, you know, because when there's unsteadiness, you have peaks and the troughs, you tend to go up and down, so at your peak moments when you're chanting the holy name, then you experience what it's like, the savikalpa-samādhi, And then even though you cannot remain there for a long time, but it leaves a saṁskāra, it leaves an impression of what it's like to really not be this body, to really be a spirit, to really be eternal, to really be outside of the limitation of the material mind, to really be Krishna's servant.
5:56So, it leaves an impression, and now impression competition begins.
6:06Because you also have impressions of being the body, and being the enjoyer, and being in the modes, with the frogs and the toads, and down in the lower gunas. So, those impressions are there, and this higher impression that came from just a moment of savikalpa-samādhi. Then what do you have to do? You have to practice every day. Because every day it will become easier to go into that state. And you'll collect more and more saṁskāras, impressions of the savikalpa-samādhi. And as the impressions of the savikalpa-samādhi become stronger and stronger, then the impressions of I am the body and sense gratification and the enjoying mood, bhoga-bhāva, these all become weak and weaker.
7:00until your impressions of niṣṭhā, ekāgratā, jita, focus, one-pointedness, steadiness, they overpower the material impressions and the material impressions become weak and then one can give up all anarthas, overcome all anarthas and this is why Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said if you want to kill your demons you cannot do it that the holy name that is Krishna can do it but you'll have to spend some time every day in the stage of ekāgratā, savikalpa-samādhi, and then, slowly, slowly, you can overcome the habitual thought patterns of bodily life, understand? And so this is why it's extremely important to have sadhana, that is a daily, disciplined, undistracted, focused practice, every morning. If you don't do it, then that day is lost. It came and it went.
8:39When it's gone, it's gone, it's not coming back.
8:48Gurudev used to say, It's a saying in Hindi. It means, what's the use of crying when the birds have come and eaten all your crops?
9:05You didn't put a scarecrow, you didn't protect your crops, you just planted them and went away, you were careless, neglectful. Then the birds came, they ate all the crops and you came back, oh my crops, alas, alas. So what's the use of crying when the birds have eaten all your crops? The meaning is this. What's the use of crying after many, many years at the end of your life when all the days were squandered without actually having a deep sādhana?
9:32So don't be that person who's crying that the birds have eaten his crops when you become old, when your hair is white, and your face is wrinkly, like a prune, like a raisin, now you all look so young and beautiful, but time, kālaḥ, never stops for anyone, so don't be that person who's lamenting at that point, now you have to make this decision, because it takes time, it takes time.
10:11Once devotees, they're trying to buy some land in Mumbai, and the local, you know what it's like in India, you try to buy land, and you negotiate with someone, and then you buy and you get the deed, then you find out there's five other people also have the deed for the same land, and then you're in court for 30 years, so anyway, they're trying to buy some land, the joys of real estate in India, so they're trying to buy some land, and everyone is trying to cheat them, and the devotees came to Prabhupada and said, Prabhupada, Prabhupada, Prabhupada, all these Indians are cheaters, and Prabhupada said, oh, and am I a cheater? I said, no, no, no, you're not a cheater, Prabhupada. Prabhupada said, actually, I am, because if you knew what you had to go through to become Krishna conscious, you would never join this movement.
11:06Hare Krishna, be happy. Sixteen rounds, go back, come back to God. Very clever, very clever. So, don't, this is, this is okay, this kathā, we will speak later in the festival. So, there's a type of kathā for the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, and there's another type of kathā for the madhyama-adhikārī, and another type of kathā for the uttama-adhikārī.
11:31So, we cannot be forever in the first class. We cannot be forever in the society for kaniṣṭha consciousness. We have to come to the least madhyama consciousness, try for madhyama consciousness. So, the kathā is a little bit different. It's a little bit harder to digest. It's a little, I have to be mature and face reality.
11:51And that means every day have to do sādhana. And we kind of know it because just look.
12:11They completed their one lakh or two lakhs or three lakhs harināma every day, singing so many songs every day, giving so many daṇḍavat-praṇāmas every day. in this way they utilize their entire time in hearing, chanting and remembering, they conquered over eating and sleeping, like this. How did our Acharyas do sādhana? Of course they're eternal associates and they give the most extreme example, but still they are the ideal and we have to try to move towards that ideal. So try to have a very strong sādhana every day. Just a few just practical points, simple things, kind of
12:57mechanical. If you are sitting in the lotus position, then you can sit up straight. And then when you start to lose awareness of your body, you will not flop over. In the Vedic times, like if you see the iconography of Srila Vyasadeva, the deity of Vyasadeva is always in the jñāna-mudrā, you know the jñāna-mudrā? You know why that's called the jñāna-mudrā? Why? Because there are three guṇas, and the soul is attached to the three guṇas. But how does it come free from the three guṇas?
13:34He has to bow down to the Supreme Lord. This is the jñāna-mudrā, and he's giving a blessing with the other, and he has one, like a band around the legs, like that, the yogis do that, so they've been going to trance for a thousand years, and he kind of holds them up straight, goes around the back, around the front like this.
13:56So if someone is in a lotus position or has one of those bands, then they can go, they can just park the body and go to the Krishna's līlā, don't worry, it will be there when you come back.
14:10So, but if you're uncomfortable in that posture, just sit like ordinary cross-legged, then you should just elevate your lower spine a little bit, just have like, you can see I've got some cushion under here, just elevate at least about that high, so you can sit with the spine straight, because if the spine is bent over, then your prāṇa will not move around well, and when the prāṇa is not moving in a healthy way, because you're not straight, that will make the mind slow down, and you'll feel sleepy and start to sleep. So try to have a good posture and be straight and the best way to do that if you're not like a super flexible yogi then just elevate yourself a little bit, it will help very much. Srila Gurudev in his commentary on Bhagavad Gita, he's quoting from Vedanta Sutra where it says, without asana you cannot do dhyana, you can't do meditation without asana. That is not for the very advanced vaisnaras like you can see.
15:12our, you know, Gokshodas, Babri, Maharaj is all hunched over like this, it's not a problem for him, because he has ascended, he's already ascended, but for those who still have bodily consciousness and are trying to ascend, then to sit in a proper way is very helpful, it's very helpful to be disciplined in this way, you do Ganon Mudra like this with the left hand, because the left hand has a life of its own, it will just start wandering here and there, scratch him and do it, just sit, don't move, don't change. So anyone who's heard Srinivas Prabhupada chanting know how important this is.
15:53Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, right?
16:02You all heard that recording. So try to follow these things, there's small things, but it will be helpful. So you can raise your hand, you can have a few questions.
16:16I have a question in regards to, maybe it's a little superficial, but breathing, also while chanting.
16:24I'm just going to reference YouTube because I watched the devotee, someone had sent me the video and so on the exhale, like you're supposed to technically, at least from a pranayama standpoint, you're supposed to breathe in through the nose, so prior to that I was just breathing out and into the mouth so I could, because I'd like to chant out loud, so do you have any recommendation and whatever Acharya say in terms of breath or is it actually necessary or just, yeah, yes, no, no, it's, it's, it's, it's not really important.
16:54Understanding pran is quite important. Understanding what pran is and how it works is quite important and it's helpful to know it. And that will be this evening. Morning class will be Guru Tattwa. The evening will be on the subject of citta and pran and how knowing this very, very basic physiological thing in the beginning, it will have applications later as you go deeper and deeper and deeper into the Siddhanta that if you did not understand it in the most basic way, sense, the high acid dancers won't be clear, so we'll discuss that in the evening, but you see, the yogis do pranayama because the pran is the interface between the physical body and the mind, so, you know, let's say, if you're a policeman and you arrest someone and you're interrogating them, so those who are trained in psychology, when they're interrogating, they watch the breathing of the person, because if his breathing speeds up,
17:59He starts to breathe a little bit more quickly when he's being interrogated. He's probably guilty because he's panicking inside. Because when the mind becomes disturbed, the mind starts fluctuating more, then because it's connected to the pran, the breathing speeds up. And conversely, if you mechanically slow down your breathing, it will make the turbulence of the mind die down. You see? They're connected in that way.
18:30When I'm giving lectures in yoga studios and to introduce these concepts, then, oh, I'll do this in the evening class. It's like a trick that teaches the connection between the pran and the mind. But anyway, that's the connection, the pran and the mind, they're connected. If the pran is moving very quickly, the mind is also oscillating. Or if the mind starts oscillating, then the pran speeds up, the breathing speeds up.
19:03So, there's a connection there. So, the yogis, they're doing Aroha Panta, the ascending process. So, they try to mechanically control the breathing to make their mind calm down. But for devotees, it's not important. It's not important at all. Just try to chant clearly and try to hear the syllables of the holy name and try to surrender to Nam Prabhu and the things we went through yesterday.
19:35just adjust yourself to begin with, chakshi, kalatit, drisha, anutap, jivanasandhi, vastu-shakti, like this, this idea is just, you know, so you're not up to the cloud of material thoughts, just adjust yourself properly in relation to the holy name, and then just chant and hear, in a very humble mood, and then, when namabhasa comes, it will, your whole body will relax, it will take over your posture, and it will take off your breathing and your breathing will be very very smooth and you'll be chanting as you are breathing out and you'll be chanting as you're breathing in and you won't even be conscious of it don't worry about it nam will do everything nam will do everything yes so don't get
20:28mechanical don't get into like a yogi mindset we're not like yogis you know the yogis they're mechanically by their own effort trying to remove the coverings of the soul but the gopis they take bath and the Jumona and Krishna comes and steals their coverings, right?
20:51So this is Rastaha and Lila and one dimension, it teaches us the difference between bhakti and ashtanga yoga, bhakti yoga and ashtanga yoga, we don't try to remove our coverings by force, we take shelter of Krishna and Krishna comes and steals our coverings, you see?
21:43without fidgeting. And Sukhum means at ease. So you're not moving, but you're not feeling a pain in your hip and a pain in your knee and a pain in your neck. You just feel so comfortable that you can forget about your body completely. So that is an arsenal. And so automatically, if you slowly become free from the offenses and nama-vas is coming, you start to become disembodied. You feel the disembodied experience and then there's no discomfort at all coming from the body naturally. You sit up straight, The breathing becomes very, very slow and regular, and you can chant on the indoor breath and the outgoing breath also, like this.
22:21So don't get too mental about it. As soon as you get mental and mechanical about it, then you'll lose your focus on what's really important, Krishna.
22:33Reza, you can have one more question before we have a little break. Yes, Naira Singapur. I think I can speak only for myself that when I come to festivals and I'm in sadhu sangha and I hear great advice like this I feel enthusiastic like absolutely I can definitely do this beginning for sure tomorrow there'll be no problems I'll be fully committed to making this endeavor and then when I'm separated from that sadhu sangha just by the experience of my own mind maybe even the physical separation is there but not internally but still I'm thinking I'm separate then all of a sudden all the resolve disappears, I can't be steady like I desire to in the moment when I was hearing the good advice, so how could I not lose that?
23:18Yeah, yeah, well, good question, good question, and the answer, it touches on the question you asked yesterday as well, about, well, you know, I also have a family, and this and that, how can I do bhajan? So, first of all, the first teaching of Rupa Goswami, Vaachalvegam, Manasakrodha, etc., it all begins with Vaachalvegam.
23:45The main thing that steals our dhriti, our fortitude, our determination, our mati, our state of absorption is Prajaupalu's talk. It's the main thing.
24:35and then the material talk just steals it away and she's compared to a prostitute you know why because when a person meets with a prostitute they see oh she's really beautiful she's so nice she's so charming and she's really affectionate she really loves me because that's their job right they know how to do these things and so at the time when a person meets with a prostitute they feel really happy but then afterwards they find that their wallet is empty and then they feel really sad you see, so mundane talk, you know, just like shooting the breeze, is just like that, when you do it, it feels kind of happy, but then afterwards you notice that what you worked really hard to gather, together, it's gone, your wallet is empty, in other words, what's really valuable in your life, it's gone now, so bhaja-vega, want you be dear, want you be sober, and be very selective, don't speak unnecessarily, if you have to speak, speak about Krishna, or speak about
25:39the subject of how we can all perform our services in a better way, with more quality, like this. And when we start to shoot the breeze and just become in a very relaxed and casual way, what we're actually doing is we're slipping back into our previous samskars. That instead of being, everything we're doing, being very deliberate and very thoughtful, quite calculated and aimed at attaining our goal, we just like slipped into autopilot, you see, our saṃskāras took over, just talking about this and that and complaining about stuff as well. It's like very low energy; even scientists, they did tests on the brain and they found that when you're complaining, then it uses the least amount of brain sugar, you know, it's like it's the least energetic state of the brain when you're complaining, so like complaining and moaning about
26:42things, that's practically like the screensaver on your computer, you know, it's like, try to save the battery, so it's like, it's a zero effort mode of thinking, it's a zero effort mode, it's the lowest effort mode, the screensaver comes like, 'Oh, what about this, just did this,' blah, blah, blah, and like that. So, and in the material world, that's like the standby for most people, that's their basic, that's their basic sentiment, you know, there's a statement in, there's a
27:45I accept in my life everything that's favorable for attaining my goal. And whatever's unfavorable for attaining my goal, I reject it. And that's why association is very important. Selecting our association very carefully is very important because good association encourages good habits and bad association encourages bad habits and slipping back into habitual thought patterns, that is the saṃskāras of our not so devotional aspect of life. So now this is why and now in reply to your question and coming back to your question simultaneously, Lord Brahma prayed to Sri Krishna,
jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva jīvanti sanmukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. You know this verse? Anyone? Does anyone know? Sthāne sthitāḥ śrutigatāṁ tanuvāṅ-manobhir ye prāyaśo 'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyām. When Ramananda Rai was speaking to Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu was rejecting everything, he said, 'Eho bāhya', this is external, tell me something more. But when he got to this verse, this is the first time Mahaprabhu said, 'Eho bāhya',
29:03āge kaha, this is okay, but still go further. This is the first thing accepted by Mahaprabhu, and it's Lord Brahma saying, those persons who, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya, they give up the attempt to get knowledge by their own endeavor, that is āroha-panthā, they give up trying to understand Krishna's opulence by their own power, but rather they just listen, jīvanti sanmukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. They bow down and they worship the words coming from the lips of pure devotees. They dedicate their whole life to hearing Hari-kathā. And then that Krishna, who is Ajita, cannot be conquered by anyone. He becomes conquered by that person. Why? Because Krishna is only conquered by love. So it indicates that by hearing Hari-kathā very seriously, really bowing down from the heart to the speaker of the kathā,
30:04kathā, the subject of the kathā, the shastra of the kathā, the place of the kathā, the cooks who are cooking for the festival, everything in connection to the kathā is worshipable for us. We really appreciate the value of the kathā. For that person, love for Krishna comes in the heart and he is conquered. So, Brahma is saying, sthāne sthitāḥ śrutigatāṁ tanuvāṅ-manobhir, 'sthāne sthitāḥ' means stay, sthita, be situated in sthāna, in the place.
30:35So here, it has two meanings. One meaning is, sthāne sthitāḥ, if you're a grihastha, just stay there, you don't have to change anything. If you're a brahmachari, just stay there, you don't have to change anything. If you're a sannyasi, stay there, you don't have to. In other words, the upādhis by which the soul is covered are not relevant, because bhakti is completely transcendental.
31:03so don't get into a mental state of trying to make all big adjustments stay where you are it's okay but listen be in sādhu-saṅga and hear deeply and you'll get prema, and so that answers your question and then in relation to your question the other meaning is stay in that place where the Hari-kathā is so if the Hari-kathā moves somewhere else move there If Goswami, go there.
31:38So there are two ways you can interpret the sthāne sthitāḥ. So one is trying to be as much as possible in pure Vaiṣṇava saṅga. And the other is that the power of Hari-kathā is such that one's material upādhis and situation is not relevant, actually. It's not part of the equation. It's part of Māyā, actually.
32:01Part of the upādhis of Māyā. So it's not necessary to make any adjustment in that regard, but be dedicated to hearing Hari-kathā.
