“Yoga, expression of bliss!”

- Yoga, expression of bliss! sutra is 80th sutra, eight zero and in second chapter, 29th verse. Yama, niyama, asana pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, samadhyaha, ashtau angani.

In yesterday’s sutra, Patanjali was talking about the eight limbs which need to be practised. I think he's giving a revelation. Now he is describing all the eight limbs. Vivekananda translates this as: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi or the eight limbs of yoga. Swami Satchidananda translates as: “The eight limbs of yoga are yama - abstinence, niyama – observance, asana - posture, pranayama - breath control, pratyahara – sense withdrawal, dharana - concentration, dhyana - meditation, samadhi - contemplation or absorption of superconsciousness state.”

Swami Prabhavananda translates as: “Eight limbs of yoga are the various forms of abstention from evil doing - yama. The various observances - niyama, posture - asana, control of prana - pranayama, withdrawal of the mind from sense objects - pratyahara, concentration - dharana, meditation - dhyana and absorption in the atman - samadhi.”

I'll try to give my own experience on this Ashtanga. Yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi... Yama means... aligning your actions with your understandings. Please understand, first thing you need to do, whatever understandings you have about life, align them with your actions, or align your actions with those understandings.

I am giving you the practical technology, technique for this yama and niyama, all these practices. Please understand, not only I am giving you technical knowledge, I am giving you the technique also. Yama – aligning your actions with the understandings you have. First in the initial level, when you start the spiritual practice, the basic thing is align your actions… with the understanding you have about life, about Cosmos, about God, about world, about humanity. Align your actions... along with the understanding or in tune with the understanding, this is yama.

Then comes niyama – increase your understanding to the higher and higher level. Raise the level of your understandings about these basic truths, higher and higher. Through the right ideas. That is what is yama, nyama is all about. Saadhana and receiving the right knowledge, these are the niyama. Please understand. Yama means aligning all your actions with your understanding. Niyama means raising your understanding continuously. Third comes asana - preparing your bio memory for the intense spiritual experience and breakthrough in your consciousness. When the deeper strands of the DNA get awakened, when the non-mechanical parts of the brain is awakened, your body needs to hold that energy. The after and side effects of that, your body should be capable of holding it, it should be capable of radiating it.

In a balanced way. That is what I am doing actually, this 21- days. It's exactly what I'm doing. I'm making your body capable of radiating it. Now I am seeing slowly that too much of jumping, levitation everything is settling. But the experience is becoming more and more intense inside. Ramakrishna says very beautifully; when people gather for wedding, before the fest starts, there will be a lot of talk. Where did you buy this jewelry? Where did you buy these cloth? The bride is really decorated or this house is amazingly decorated. All kinds of things goes on.

And the moment people sit down for eating, more than 60% sound, noise reduces.The moment food is served, people start eating, almost 80% noise reduces. You only 20%, “serve this, get this rics, get ladoo, get buttermilk”. Only this noise is there … After the whole crowd starts eating, feast is going on, no noise is heard. Only the chip, chip, chip sound of the curd or the rice. Ramakrishna describes very beautifully in his own inimitable village Bengali style. Same way, see only first few days of levitation and samana and intense energy, too much jumping, rolling, doing angapradakshinam of whole chit sabha. Nothing is required (9:25) of. And too many reactions. It's not that now you stopped getting experience no, but the experience has become more intense. It is not shake.. moving your skin, it is moving your very consciousness. So it is settling with the system.

Asana is required to settle the experience with your system. Tremendous strength. If asana is not done you will take the spiritual experience for granted, master for granted. Asana will increase the ability and sensitivity to experience the inner joy continuously. I tell you, without asana, the conscious experience which you have, will be forgotten in your biomemory within few months. With asana it will stay there forever.

Then comes pranayama – blowing your kundalini. That is the literal meaning of pranayama. There are only two ways; either you blow it or I blow it. You yourself blowing your kundalini. There is a beautiful vedic siddha Avajar ( 11:11) in siddha tradition. She sings very beautifully ( Swamiji speaking tamil / sanskrit ) ( 11:23) – Means the fire which is in the root center, the kundalini – please show me the way of awakening that with the air – through the prana. Technology of awakening your bioenergy, purifying your biomemory is Pranayama.

Then pratyahara – withdrawing your awareness from too many objects. Withdrawal. That is what exactly pratyahara means. Dhaarana means – centering that awareness on one object. Dhaarana - centering... If your awareness is not centred on yourself, you will be continuously attacked by too many unnecessary fears. I am really telling you. I was really shocked when I started travelling in western countries to see the amount of fear they carry about the terror attacks. They say: orange alert, yellow alert, red alert. uuh...In Mumbai evening attack goes on some 200 people are dead. Next day morning that road is busy. Back to its business.

Every day somewhere, here or there, here or there, some blast goes on in Bharat. You will not see the regular life is disturbed. It's a one more news, that's all. I'm really shocked, when I saw in the western country how that terror attack creates fear. How the whole country shivers. The biggest problem for the terrorists is whatever they do the Bharatn consciousness is untouched. See as a country, we don't feel shaken. I have really seen so many people dropping from the meditation programs and registrations if there is some red alert, orange alert in western countries. Here uh Bangalore, some bomb blast will be going on and people regular... not a one person or two person will drop from coming to a class or session or satsang. We will not even know. Next day we may get the news.

These few cities are in a constant threat and attack. I think just, I don't know one year or two year, there was a serial bomb blast and fifty people died in Varanasi. Forty six or fifty people, near Sankat Mochan, Hanuman ( 15:03) temple. And even this Ganga Aarati. During Ganga Aarthi they killed people. They killed, put a bomb. No disturbance. Next day Ganga Aarti has started as usual. Not a single day the spiritual routine was broken. Next day in the same ghat Aarti goes on.

Dhaarana is responsible for fearlessness. Any dhaarana happens, the fear will lose its grip over you, Understand. Dhaarana is such a basic qualification for survival. Not only for enlightenment, very survival... Dhyaana means pure awareness – the restful awareness. Samadhi means, became consciousness. The awareness is settled in your biomemory and became consciousness is samadhi. So, Yama - aligning your actions and understandings, Nyama - raising the level of your understanding. Asana – preparing your body for the conscious breakthrough. Pranayama – awakening your kundalini shakti, bioenergy. Pratyahara - Withdrawing your awareness from too many outer world objects. Dharana - centering it on the inner awareness. Dhyana - restful awareness. Samadhi – pure consciousness.

Nobody, nobody, I can challenge, nobody except Patanjali is able to give such a logical, mathematical, scientific step-by-step method to enlightenment. Everybody after Patanjali are Patanjali’s followers. Whether it is Buddha or Shankara, anybody happened after Patanjali, directly or indirectly, Patanjali’s followers. There are some who are intelligent and courageous enough to declare Patanjali's name boldly and give the credit to him. There are some just plagiarism. Catching some krya, stealing some krya and nose blowing techniques from Patanjali and not giving credit to Patanjali. Marketing. Not paying royalty is okay, but at least giving credit.

Anyhow, anybody after Patanjali is follower of Patanjali... These eight limbs, please understand. These are eight parts, not eight steps. Eight part means, all eight should simultaneously happen in you. That is the method for enlightenment. I bless you all. Let you all achieve, experience, live, express and radiate the eternal bliss - Nithyananda, thank you.