The topic for the English Satsang on Sunday, 11th August, 2013 was ‘Are We Spiritual?.’
Following is the transcript of the Q & A between the audience and Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra and Smt. Hansaji Yogendra.
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Listen to the audio:
Q. What is the purpose of human life?
Dr. J: To live, I think, is the highest.
Smt. H: To live happily every moment, should be the purpose. They say, that is the highest level of surrender to God.
Q. My Dad asks me to read religious books. But I get bored reading them. What to do?
Dr. J: Read the books that he reads.
Smt. H: Watch what he reads. The point is, don’t read too much. Just half a page (everyday). I agree that these religious books are not colourful stories, but they are facts of life. They need pondering upon. So read just four lines or one paragraph but think on what you read. Analyse how you will put it into practice. That’s where you have to work hard. So try and read it like that then it will be very interesting.
Q. What is the definition of spirituality in yoga?
Dr. J: To live a life. I think that is the purpose of life.
Smt. H: The definition is ‘Yoga is a Way of Life.’ Excellence in work is yoga, concentration is yoga, balanced state of mind is yoga. So we have to achieve all that.
Q. I can’t relate to God in any form as I used to. Is it okay?
Dr. J: Yes, it is perfectly okay.
Smt. H: It is absolutely okay. Don’t pray to God. Work sincerely with a balanced mind and that automatically becomes a prayer. You accept happily every situation God has created for you and that’s the prayer.
Q. What is the most important thing in life?
Dr. J: I think to live is the most important thing. If we are about to die, nothing else is important.
Smt. H: Life is a gift given to us by God, we didn’t ask for that. So in life what should be more important? Enjoy that gift, enjoy your life.
Q. During meditation, should our breath be normal or should we take long breaths?
Dr. J: See, in Pranayama, you don’t have any special effort. You just attend to yourself and things will adjust.
Smt. H: Don’t mix these two things. Meditation means a totally relaxed state. Your mind is totally away from body. Your mind is only watching something, so we tell people to watch the breath, not to take long breaths, not to interfere with breath. As far as long breaths are concerned, these are called as Pranayama. You can’t do more than 30 rounds. Rather, start with 5-10 rounds. So that is a separate practice by itself.
Q. If despite of our best effort, we slip up in the practice of yoga and spirituality, are we not worthy of walking on this path?
Dr. J: Whatever happens, just accept it.
Smt. H: Failure, etc. is your interpretation. No work or action goes waste. Learn from your actions. You will automatically, unknowingly move ahead. They say that every human being is unknowingly progressing in his life. It is very natural. Once you burn your finger, naturally next time you will not burn it. Progress is a very natural phenomenon, so we just have to concentrate on living.
Satsang is an open meeting held every Sunday from 9:30 to 10:30 am at The Yoga Institute, Santacruz East, Mumbai. It involves an interesting presentation to the public, made by the students of the Teacher Training Course. Each week, a new presentation of a Yogic concept is made in a simple way through skits and decoration for the general public, followed by a short speech from our Gurus, Dr. Jayadeva and Smt. Hansaji Yogendra.