Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra
To listen to audio recordings of Talks on yoga by Dr. Jayadeva visit: www.chirbit.com/theyogainstitute
12th January 2013 – Sunday – Routines and Discipline
“In all activities in life, we do not appreciate the value of regularity and routines. We do things for a little while and we are tired. We pick it up again after a long time and in the meanwhile, not much good occurs. This is a defect in our personality. Those who are consistent, succeed. In the stories of great men and women, there are those who take up things and have followed them regularly. This applies in all areas. It is an attitude of the mind which naturally spills over in our activities. We want to improve but we don’t want to pay the price. The unfortunate result is that we don’t improve at all. The effort and sacrifice is not there. This is true in all activities. We have an old saying, ‘practice makes a man perfect’. But we don’t understand. We believe in doing things whenever we like, for pleasure. This is not the way things can be done if you want o have success. Success would require regularity and consistency for long. This is a simple rule. It applies to yoga also. Those who follow yoga systematically have gained much. Yogendraji was a weak boy when he was 15 or 16. The school teacher took interest in him and made him do exercise and made him do it regularly, every day in his own presence. Within a month, his health improved. Within three months he became a champion in the area where he lived. Later on he took up yoga and followed it up and as a result, he became a good student of yoga also. This is a very simple thing. Take up something which is good, be convinced that it is good for you and see that you do it regularly. If you do it for some time regularly, the result will come.”
13th January 2013 – Monday – Artha
14th January 2013 – Tuesday – Bhagavad Gita 6.13 – 6.14
“See we have two shlokas, the first one if you remember- ‘let him hold the trunk, head and neck straight and steady, gazing at the tip of his nose, without looking around’- was the standard instruction in learning our yogic practice in meditative postures. The basics are there; the trunk, head and neck have to be straight, steady and the gaze has to be on the tip of the nose without looking around. Actually there is nothing difficult here, except that to do it and do it for long. See these things are not done for a minute of two, it is done sometimes for hours and, to keep the body straight, steady, gazing at the tip of the nose -without looking around- is sometimes difficult. The other instruction is ‘serenity and fearlessness’ formed in the vow of celibacy. With mind control the vigilant yogi is premeditating on God and, having God as the supreme goal, was again the regular instruction. The mind has to be controlled and this vow of celibacy has to be maintained. The yogi sitting like that in meditation and having only God as the object, he attains the highest. The basic instructions are not new, the only point is that the Bhagwad Gita will progress. These are the points that will be emphasized. These are the basics. Now we can discuss what are the difficulties in carrying out the basics. I have read them out, you must have read also, so let us discuss.”
16th January 2013 – Thursday – Kama
“We will talk about emotions. They are a very powerful factor in our life. They just take charge and they keep on growing and we can’t handle them. Right at the start we have to be careful and see that they are given a direction and are in control. Getting angry, annoyed, all that are the symptoms, and we are justified. Opposite is of course, the yogic ideal of maintaining internal quiet and peace and not allowing these to affect us. It is hard. So we have to discuss whether we are able to face these emotions, whether we are able to control them, to what extent, and whether we succeeded. We have to help each other. As I said, emotions are common and they are very strong and they can change relationships- they affect us all the way. It is the outburst that comes and we justify. So let us think about emotions and how they affect us and to what extent we can manage them. So let us just share thoughts.”