Who Are You, Really?

00:38Hi, everyone. I'm Dr.

00:39Michele Burklund, and this is Untold Medicine.

00:41And today we have a guest, Stephen Knapp.

00:45Stephen Knapp has written books on

00:48Vedic culture, eastern philosophy and spirituality.

00:51Stephen has studied the major Vedic texts of India and

00:54practiced yoga and eastern teachings for over 40 years.

00:59He's traveled extensively throughout India and

01:01has authored over 50 well received books

01:04on Vedic culture and spiritual philosophy.

01:07Today he continues to write books,

01:09articles, and give lectures at various venues.

01:13Welcome, Stephen.

01:14I'm excited to have you today.

01:16Namaste.

01:17Thank you for being...inviting me

01:22To get started...

01:23I wanted you to tell me a little bit about

01:25your background and how you went into studying Vedic culture

01:29and how you went so deeply into it.

01:32So tell us a little bit about

01:33your story of how you found it.

01:35Well, I guess you could say it all started when

01:38I was about seven years old, because I distinctly remember

01:41one time, of course there was many times.

01:44But I was laying in my bed as a child,

01:47seven years old, wondering, how did I get here?

01:52How did I get here?

01:54Not just here in this world, but

01:56how did I get this particular body?

01:58Why didn't I get my neighbor's

02:00body, Jack's body, or Dean's body?

02:03But if I got into that body,

02:06that means I would have his parents.

02:11If I had his parents, maybe I'm

02:13in a better position right now.

02:15Maybe my parents aren't so bad.

02:18But that was talk about how weird I was as a kid.

02:21Those were the kind of questions I was asking.

02:23How did I get here in this body?

02:24Why didn't I get into somebody else's body?

02:26Because I already had a feeling and a

02:29perception that I was more than this body.

02:33I was simply a person, a spirit soul that

02:38got injected, you might say, into this particular body.

02:42But now that I'm in this body,

02:44why do we have to feed it?

02:46Why is it so vulnerable?

02:48You don't breathe for 10 seconds

02:49and you almost die or something.

02:52Or you feed it, and then you've got to take it to the

02:55bathroom, and you got to make sure it gets so much rest.

02:58And all this other stuff, it

03:01just didn't seem natural to me.

03:03I mean, I don't know where I came from before

03:05this level of existence, but this level of existence in

03:09this particular body was not suitable for me.

03:12It wasn't comfortable.

03:13I've never been comfortable in this particular body.

03:16I've never been comfortable in this

03:17particular world, for that matter.

03:19I mean, you get used to it after a while.

03:21But the question still remains, how did I get here?

03:25Where did I come from?

03:26Where am I going, and where should I be going?

03:31In other words, is there a purpose behind all this?

03:34So these were the kind of questions I had.

03:36And of course, being raised a Christian, sometimes you'd ask

03:39people these questions and they didn't have the answer, or

03:42they would say, don't worry, if God meant for us

03:45to know, he would supply the answers.

03:47Well, I want the answers.

03:50I want to know anyway.

03:53You get involved in so many different things

03:55in school and stuff as you're growing up.

03:57But then I was a musician in my late teenage

04:01years, and some of us would get together, some of

04:05us more avant-garde musicians, would get together and wonder, okay,

04:09where do we fit into this world?

04:10And that kicked off that original questioning that I

04:14had was that maybe it's time I should put

04:18my guitar down for a little bit and actually

04:21try to investigate, what am I doing here?

04:24What am I supposed to be doing here?

04:26What's the purpose of all this to begin with?

04:30So that's what I did.

04:31I put my guitar down for a little while, and

04:33I just started looking around, and I guess you could

04:36say I conducted my own comparative religion class where I

04:39studied everything, everything I could get my hands on.

04:42Of course, born and raised a Christian, I figured,

04:44well, might as well start with the Bible.

04:46So I studied the Bible from cover

04:48to cover, read the whole thing.

04:50It took me a whole year to do

04:51that because it's not always the easiest reading.

04:56And I could see where it's got a

04:57lot of wisdom, it's got a lot of

05:00moralistic principles that it teaches, that it presents.

05:04But it still didn't give me the answers as to who

05:08am I as a spiritual being and how to recognize the

05:12existence of God in all creatures and things like that.

05:18So I started looking around.

05:21I checked out Judaism, Egyptology, magic, tarot,

05:27I ching, Eastern mysticism, Buddhism, practically everything.

05:35And then gradually, I had a friend of mine

05:37that was also into this kind of thing.

05:39We'd have these conversations about the

05:41topic that we're speaking about now.

05:43And he went to Toronto.

05:45We are originally from Michigan in a small town

05:47of Buchanan in the southwestern corner of the state.

05:52So he went to Toronto and met some

05:54Hare Krishna devotees on the streets,

05:57and they gave him a little pamphlet of the books they had.

05:59Back then, they only had about six books.

06:02They got a whole bunch of books now.

06:05So he brought that back, and we were going over

06:08this pamphlet, and he was saying, yeah, there's this book.

06:11And, yeah, I'm interested in this one.

06:13This is easy journey to other planets.

06:15And this one here, I said, what's this one?

06:18He said, this is like the Hindu

06:20Bible, and it was the Bhagavad Gita.

06:24So I said, that's what I want,

06:26because that's what I was looking for.

06:27That's what I was studying.

06:29What are the different cultural presentations

06:32on who and what is God?

06:34Who are we?

06:36What is our spiritual identity and so forth?

06:39How we got here, where we should be going?

06:42And so I said, that's what I want.

06:45So I got this... sent for the Bhagavad Gita,

06:48which was a little blue edition at the time,

06:52an abridged edition of what they came out with

06:54later, and by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

06:59And so once I got that, I looked into it and

07:02started reading it and told me all about what is karma?

07:06What is the soul, what is reincarnation, who or

07:10what is God, how we got here, where we're

07:13going, where we should be going, answered all the

07:15questions, the essential questions I had.

07:17Because the interesting thing, too, is in the Upanishads,

07:19there's a verse that says, until you begin to

07:22ask these questions, you're not even a human being,

07:25because that is the purpose of life, is to

07:27ask these questions and no questions...

07:30That's one of the things that I really

07:32was attracted to about the vedic culture, is

07:34that no question is out of bounds.

07:37Because in some religions, if you ask too

07:38many questions, you're considered a doubting Thomas, or

07:42you lack faith or something like that.

07:44But in the Vedic tradition, it's

07:46all based on questions and answers.

07:49And practically speaking, if you have a

07:51question, it's practically already been answered somewhere.

07:54You just have to find out where it is.

07:56So whether you take the Upanishads, the

07:58Vedanta Sutras, the itihasas, like the Ramayana,

08:01the Mahabharat, and Bhagavad Gita.

08:04Bhagavad Gita is just one chapter of the

08:06Mahabharata, or even further into the Puranas.

08:09It's all based on questions and then answers.

08:13And you can ask practically any question you want.

08:17And through that process, you begin to find out what

08:21is the purpose of life, who or what you are.

08:26Not only that, but it's not just answers, but it's

08:29also the process of yoga that they give you, which

08:33gives you the means by which you can spiritualize your

08:37consciousness so that you actually perceive what the answers mean

08:43and perceive your own identity as a spiritual being, which

08:47is more important than just having the philosophy but it's

08:50when knowledge becomes realized.

08:53Knowledge, or gyana, becomes vigyana,

08:55as they say in Sanskrit.

08:57And this is the difference.

08:58So once I got this Bhagavad Gita, then all

09:01I knew is, I want more of this.

09:04Whatever it is, I want more of it,

09:06because these are the answers I'm looking for.

09:08So then I got into the Upanishads and Manusmriti

09:12and whatever I could get my hands on.

09:15And it was like the one last piece

09:19of the puzzle that I was putting together,

09:21because I could see all this knowledge from

09:23all the studying, all the different cultures.

09:25It's all connected, it's all related.

09:28It all presents various aspects of

09:32what is the spiritual truth.

09:34But this was like the final piece of

09:36the puzzle, which put it all together.

09:38So this is what I really

09:40wanted and continued to pursue.

09:42And then gradually I decided, maybe it's time

09:47I should give up music and take this

09:50spiritual process a little more seriously.

09:53When was it?

09:54So then I started going to temples back in 1972

09:58and started to learn temple etiquette and rituals and seeing

10:04them, at least, and getting used to it, especially the

10:10vegetarianism, which I adopted at that time as well.

10:14I had three things that happened.

10:16I had a book called the Shri Ishopanishad

10:20which explained that one should not kill animals

10:25just to satisfy the taste of the tongue.

10:27Then I had a vegetarian friend who said, yeah,

10:30it's not so difficult to be a vegetarian.

10:32And then the other thing was,

10:33I never liked eating meat anyway.

10:35I didn't care for it.

10:36I didn't like the cruelty that was behind it.

10:39So all of these three things came together, and

10:42I decided, okay, I'm going to be a vegetarian.

10:45I remember I was just starting

10:48to move out of the house.

10:50I'd already lived out of the house for a while,

10:52but I started to move out of the house, and

10:53my mother was saying, oh, you're going to be vegetarian.

10:56So now what am I supposed to make for you?

10:58I said, anything without meat, that's all.

11:01It's not so difficult.

11:02But then shortly after that, I moved out

11:05and practically never lived at home again, except

11:09for very short periods of time.

11:11And so then when I started going to

11:13the temple, they had these massive vegetarian feasts.

11:18That was a whole ’nother trip.

11:20It was like all this delicious food that was

11:24indian based, indian based recipes, but without meat or

11:29any cruelty in it or anything like that.

11:32And, boy, that opened up a whole

11:34’nother door of spirituality for me.

11:42I was still attached to music,

11:43but gradually giving it up.

11:45And so then I finally joined the ashram in 1975.

11:50And then I started getting serious about studying

11:54the process of developing a spiritual connection between

12:00myself and God and all other beings.

12:07I went on with this for about ten years, until

12:111986, I think it was 1985 or 86, when I

12:17decided, you know, I want to try to explain this

12:21process and this knowledge to others, mostly westerners.

12:26I was mostly interested in explaining this to

12:28other westerners, because as many westerners are, when

12:31they see something that they feel is great,

12:33they want to share it with others.

12:34And so that was very typical of me.

12:37And so I came out with my first book at

12:39the time, which was The Secret Teachings of the Vedas.

12:43And what I did was, I tried to make a

12:47point, okay, this is the way that it's presented.

12:51This idea is presented in the

12:53vedic literature in such a way.

12:55Then I would come up with the references.

12:58So in that way, I tried to let the vedic literature

13:01speak as much for itself as possible, because a lot of

13:05new age books, they come out with all this theory, all

13:09these great revelations, but where is it coming from?

13:14They don't give any references to

13:15where it's coming from or anything.

13:16So I wanted to do the exact opposite with that.

13:18I wanted to show that this is where it's coming from.

13:21And basically you could see that the roots of

13:24many of the new age philosophies and ideas were

13:27basically established well within the vedic doctrine.

13:32That's pretty much how I stuck with that process,

13:37presenting an idea, an explanation, and then the references.

13:40Where in the vedic literature this is explained

13:43even more thoroughly than what I was presenting.

13:47And it developed into a bit of a cottage industry.

13:51I remember one time, this was back in the

13:56early nineties, and I got a phone call,

13:59phone call from somebody saying, do you have the

14:03secret teachings of the Vedas for sale?

14:07I says, yes, I do.

14:08What's the wholesale price?

14:09Well, it's $6.72 or whatever it was back then.

14:12Okay, can you send that to us? Yeah. Okay.

14:15What's your company name and address?

14:18We're Amazon.

14:20I'm going like, Amazon?

14:22What the hell is Amazon?

14:26But yeah, sure, I can send it to you.

14:28And so they would order one copy, then they

14:31would order another copy, then another copy, and I'm

14:34going like, wow, this is starting to change things.

14:40It just kind of developed where I wrote one

14:43book, another book, another book, and the vedic prophecies

14:47was another book that came out later on.

14:51And then what was it?

14:52How the universe was created, basically the vedic

14:55version of the creation of the universe.

14:57How everything comes together, how the spiritual

15:00energy is condensed in a way, which

15:02becomes material energy, that kind of thing.

15:06And then basically, I came out with another

15:08book called Proof of Vedic Culture's global existence,

15:12where I came out with a book that

15:14explained the evidence that you can see in

15:16other cultures from all over the world, where

15:20its influence from the vedic tradition can be

15:24recognized with the proper understanding, the proper knowledge.

15:28And I didn't think anybody would

15:30be that interested in that book.

15:32And I have to admit, it's been one of

15:35the dumbest decisions I ever made to think like

15:40that, because it became one of my most popular

15:43books, especially amongst other Indians and even academics, whether

15:48they agree with it all or not.

15:50But to propose the ideas that in this tradition

15:58or in that tradition, you can see that this

16:01is coming from the vedic literature, the vedic tradition,

16:05and presented in this way, in this particular text,

16:10whether it was from Cambodia, you know, even Africa.

16:18Some of the african traditions are very similar.

16:20So you could once again see, on a whole

16:22different level, the connections from the various cultures from

16:26around the world and how they're all intertwined, and

16:30they have a basic root or similarity that can

16:33be connected with the vedic tradition itself.

16:36So once that book came out, it did become one of

16:40my better selling books, which was much to my surprise.

16:43And it also opened the doors for me to become

16:50more accepted in India, where I was getting invitations, invitations

16:55to accept a speaking engagement in a conference.

17:00Or even once I got there, different organizations would set

17:06up lecture tours for a month, maybe at a time.

17:12I remember one lecture tour I did, and it was one of

17:17my more recent ones, when I was starting to get a little

17:19older, and people were wondering if I could do it.

17:22But for a month, I did something like 92

17:27lectures at 70 different organizations, all within 30 days.

17:32And even then, some of the people were saying,

17:35yeah, we weren't sure if you could handle it

17:38at your age, I think anybody handling that, yeah,

17:44it was about three lectures every day, plus oftentimes

17:49an evening program at somebody's house.

17:54And I had usually maybe one day off a week.

18:00But, yeah, I made it through,

18:02and it was an amazing experience.

18:05I met a lot of people, a lot

18:07of people, and impressed a lot of people.

18:10And I was also impressed with them.

18:15But anyway, that was part of a series of

18:18events that opened up only because of that one

18:20book, proof of vedic culture's global existence.

18:23And then I came out with other books after that.

18:25Now I've got over 50 books that

18:27are available, and they're still selling.

18:31And even though I've slowed down quite a bit.

18:34I have to admit that I'll be quite frank about it.

18:37I don't do as much writing and

18:38I don't do as much traveling.

18:40I mean, I have to admit

18:41I don't care for airplanes anymore.

18:43I don't care for airports anymore.

18:46And it's one of those things I can do without.

18:49And I reach a stage of life where, if

18:51it's not fun anymore, should I really do it?

18:55So I've slowed down quite a bit in that regard.

18:58But still, I do some podcasts like this once in

19:02a while, and I'm still very active in other ways.

19:07And people still write to me about my

19:10books and ask questions and things like that.

19:13So that's pretty much how it got started.

19:15And then, of course, the other part of it is

19:18once I was in the ashram back in 75, I

19:22got initiated by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1976, and

19:30got a spiritual name called Sri Nandanandana, which can be

19:35a tongue twister for some people.

19:37But basically what it means is it's

19:40a very confidential name of Lord Krishna.

19:43It means Sri, or the beautiful Nanda, which

19:47means Nanda Maharaj, which is Krishna's father.

19:52And nandana means the son of or the son

19:57of Maharaj nanda, the beautiful son of Maharaj Nanda.

20:00And of course, at the end of that,

20:01we always say Das, which means servant.

20:04So I'm the servant of that particular person,

20:07which is another name of Lord Krishna.

20:10And then I became very involved in the process

20:13of Bhakti yoga and studied that very carefully, came

20:19out with a few books on that.

20:20Those books are doing well, too, surprisingly, because

20:23I wrote those books primarily for people that

20:25are interested in Bhakti yoga itself.

20:27And I don't know who's buying them, but some of

20:35my better books are those particular books on Bhakti yoga.

20:39And so now I've kind of gone

20:43through the know, studied Bhagavad Gita very

20:47carefully, studied the puranas very carefully.

20:50And now I'm entering into a new phase of

20:53Bhakti Yoga, which is called Raganuga Bhakti, which is

20:56a different level of Bhakti yoga itself.

20:59Not everybody's ready for that, but it's

21:04what I'm very much happy with right

21:07now and studying that very carefully.

21:10And so that's pretty much how

21:13I've all evolved in this process.

21:17And once in a while, I'll still do a lecture

21:20here and there, maybe at one of the local temples

21:22and stuff, and I'm pretty satisfied with doing it.

21:26I've reached a point of inner contentment where

21:29I'm happy with the work I've done.

21:33I was also the president of what organization

21:37called the Vedic Friends association for 15 years,

21:41and that was able to also break down

21:45some barriers in acceptability, especially to western people

21:52that are interested in vedic culture.

21:56But I've given that the presidency over to somebody else now

22:00and let them do it so I can take more of

22:02a background role in that and considered one of the elders.

22:06So that's interesting.

22:11I've pretty much come to this point now, and

22:14I'm pretty happy with what I've done, of what

22:15I've accomplished, how many books I've gotten out.

22:17And I can honestly say that I'm glad I wrote many

22:20of the books when I did, because my consciousness is on

22:27a different level now, and I probably would not be that

22:32interested in writing many of the books I used to.

22:34For example, proof of vedic culture's global existence

22:38is one book that I'm very proud of.

22:40I'm glad I did it when I did.

22:42And I came out with another book similar to

22:45that, with additional information called Mysteries of the ancient

22:48vedic empire, which took it up to a whole

22:51'nother level, which is more, I guess you could

22:54say, more academically oriented, with a lot of footnotes,

22:58a lot of references, stuff like that.

23:01But at this point in time, I'm

23:03hardly even interested in that topic anymore.

23:06So I'm glad I did it when I did, and now

23:09it's onward and upward to other things and other aspects of

23:13the spiritual tradition of vedic culture and Bhakti yoga.

23:17So that's pretty much in a nutshell

23:21what my background is and my development.

23:25Yeah, it's quite a journey.

23:27And I think all of your books have power, and

23:31that energy will always be there and everybody will find

23:34them who needs them at the right time, too.

23:38You put that out there, and I hope, like with this podcast,

23:42too, introducing more people to these books and how I found you

23:46and how it spoke to me, and I just found your book,

23:49and I'm like, oh my God, this is amazing.

23:51And it really speaks to me on a level I can understand,

23:55but it gives all these great references and I can dig and

23:58go deeper, like if I want to, based on that.

24:03There's a lot of amazing energy there where

24:06you built the foundation and the people have

24:09the opportunity to find them, too.

24:11Yeah, thank you very much.

24:13And that's exactly what I tried to do, is present

24:16the information in a way where you can go deeper.

24:20For example, I've got one book here called, well, two

24:24books called the power of Bhagavad Gita, which, for those

24:30people that want to look into Bhagavad Gita, this is

24:33a book that kind of gives an overview of it

24:35and what you can get out of it.

24:37And so if a person wants to think about

24:40getting into reading Bhagavad Gita, and I suggest

24:43Bhagavad Gita for everybody, you can also read this and

24:46get something more out of it.

24:48And then there's another one called, these are

24:51smaller books because, like, even the one you

24:56got, I think you told me you had

24:58the soul, our understanding of our real identity.

25:00Got it here. Yes.

25:02Got it there.

25:03It's something I wanted to present in a simplified way

25:07and in a short book, so that people don't feel

25:11encumbered with, like 300, 400 pages of something.

25:15Even though I got plenty of those books, too, I wanted

25:18to write something that was short and to the point.

25:21And this other book here is the power of

25:24the Maha-Mantra called what's so special about channing

25:27Hare Krishna, which is also a very powerful mantra

25:31in this day and age, and recommended as an

25:34easy process for spiritual upliftment.

25:36And that's the thing about this age of, well,

25:39it's kali yuga, because people don't have the time.

25:43They barely have the interest in delving deeply

25:47into genuine spiritual knowledge and developing the process

25:53for developing their own spiritual realizations.

25:56So you want to give them something

25:58in a way that they can accept

26:01easily, quickly, and without difficulty in understanding.

26:05And that's one thing I don't do, is I

26:09don't use a lot of Sanskrit in my books.

26:13There are some books you can get, and

26:14they use a lot of Sanskrit and everything.

26:16But I found that for some westerners, especially if

26:21you use too much Sanskrit, they get confused about

26:24the meaning of it or what the purport of

26:28the topic is when there's too much sanskrit words

26:33being used, and then they'll put the book down.

26:36And the point of it is, you don't know if

26:38they're going to pick the book back up again.

26:40So I try to keep it simplified in a way,

26:44and I don't use too much Sanskrit or anything like

26:46that, so that people can simply keep reading it and

26:50get as much out of it as they can without

26:52being encumbered by phrases, language, or even words that is

26:59going to make them stumble or get confused about anything.

27:04Yeah.

27:04And I think it's great.

27:05You apply a lot of real world examples inside your

27:09book, too, or to have it kind of think in

27:11a different way and then cite different sources.

27:14I feel like that helps me too.

27:15And then, yeah, giving people the opportunity, if they want

27:17to go deeper, then they can, but they get the

27:20knowledge and they get the feeling and the essence from

27:23this, which you've done a good job with. Thank you.

27:27Thank you very much.

27:29I have some intense questions for you,

27:31but that's also about this podcast and

27:34going deeper, that's the Purpose.

27:35So the next one is based on your

27:38wisdom that you've acquired throughout your journey.

27:40How do you view the purpose of

27:43life and the reason for suffering?

27:46Okay, that's a two part question.

27:50The first part of the question is the purpose of life.

27:54And I can pretty much summarize that up in

27:56the vedic culture, being the culture of Sanātana Dharma

28:00Sanskrit sanatana means that which is eternal.

28:06Now, eternally means what we do eternally, but

28:12also means our identity as what is eternal.

28:15What is our eternal identity?

28:18Dharma means, there's multiple meanings of dharma.

28:22Dharma also means duty.

28:24Duty to pursue in this life.

28:28What is our eternal duty.

28:29Sanātana Dharma, our eternal duty is basically to find out

28:35who and what we really are as spiritual beings.

28:40Dharma, the root word of dharma, is also dhri

28:43Also means balance.

28:46To reach a stage of life where we understand who and

28:49what we are and can become balanced in that identity and

28:55how we act in this material world for the benefit of

28:59ourselves, but also for the benefit of others.

29:02And so that we can attain that

29:05knowledge which lets us understand what is

29:09our connection with the supreme being.

29:12We're spirit, soul, or Atma, as it's called.

29:15And all Yoga is meant to connect us with the Paramātmā .

29:20Paramātmā means the supersoul.

29:23Supersoul Atma

29:25Paramātmā

29:26And so the connection is part of the duty of life.

29:31Part of the Sanātana Dharma is to establish that

29:34connection and understand who and what is God, what

29:37is our connection and how we not only understand

29:40that, but how then we act on that level.

29:43It's one thing to have the answers, but it's

29:45another thing to realize the answers and then act

29:49on that level so that we attain the proper

29:52balance, the proper attitude towards others, and so on.

29:58Now, suffering, what is the purpose of suffering?

30:00Well, unfortunately, there's three types of sufferings

30:04that are explained in the vedic literature.

30:08That is the Adhibhautik , Adhidaivik and Ādhyātmik.

30:12Ādhyātmik means the suffering which

30:15comes from simply having a body.

30:17You can't ignore it.

30:19That suffering can be toothaches, headaches,

30:23aches, and pains in the body,

30:25or more serious diseases, which happens.

30:28It happens because anything material breaks down.

30:32It goes through six phases.

30:34First of all, birth or creation, growth,

30:38sustenance, deterioration, disease or deterioration in the

30:44sense it begins to fade away or

30:46break down, and then finally death.

30:48Anything material goes through those six

30:51changes, including the material body.

30:54And part of that phase is disease.

30:57You get disease.

30:59The other part of the suffering goes from

31:02Adhidaivik which are natural disasters we've had lately,

31:08a severe winter in crossing over America.

31:12That's something nature gives.

31:14You can't expect a smooth ride all the time.

31:17We want a smooth ride, no doubt about it,

31:20and we're always hoping for a smooth ride.

31:23But then nature comes along and just

31:25crushes our hopes in that regard.

31:27Sometimes, whether it's through vicious winters, hot

31:31summers, drought, other floods, we're having all

31:36this rain come across now.

31:38It's like we're getting hammered

31:40by mother Nature these days.

31:42So it's basically the purpose of that is to

31:47let you know this is not your real home.

31:50It never is your real home.

31:52It never was, never will be your real home.

31:55We have to deal with it as best we can.

31:58But the idea is to search out where we really belong.

32:03And in that regard, we're like fish out of water.

32:06We're spiritual beings in the material world.

32:10Do we belong in this material world? No.

32:13How long does it take before we understand that?

32:16Well, a lot of suffering sometimes.

32:18Or sometimes you're born with

32:20that inquisitiveness, like that.

32:23The other third thing that

32:25I was mentioning is Adhibhautik

32:29The Adhibhautik suffering is sufferings caused by other

32:33living entities, whether it's other people, whether it's

32:37criminals, whether it's your neighbor's barking dog, whether

32:41it's biting insects or things like that.

32:44These are the three types of

32:46sufferings that never go away.

32:48And so sometimes people resort to whatever means necessary

32:52to decrease their suffering, whether it's intoxication, whether it's

32:59maybe getting involved in sports, or whatever it is

33:02to get their mind off the suffering.

33:04So, in many ways, and I don't mean to

33:06be a bringdown about this, but the vedic literature

33:08also explains that many times the freedom from suffering

33:13is simply the forgetfulness, the temporary forgetfulness of the

33:18constant bombardment of suffering that we have to endure.

33:22Of course, the more spiritual you become, the more you're fixed

33:26in the reality of who and what you really are.

33:30And I've often said that suffering only exists within

33:34the illusion, only the illusion that you're this body.

33:38And the whole goal of life is to make,

33:40satisfy and make happy, the mind and the senses,

33:45which is an uphill battle, quite honestly.

33:47So you have to look at yourself from a spiritual

33:51point of view, from the realistic or the reality point

33:54of view, so that you can begin to understand who

33:57and what you really are and how to actually attain

34:00real happiness, real happiness from within, not based on the

34:05externals around you, which are constantly changing and constantly giving

34:10you sources of frustration and problems.

34:14So the more inward you go, the more spiritually you

34:17go, the more free you become from all that.

34:20So it's like a fish being out of water.

34:24You can't do anything for a fish

34:26but bring it back to the water.

34:28Then it's going to be happy to some degree.

34:32And it's the same thing with us.

34:34We can be happy to some degree in this

34:37material world, but we'll never be fully satisfied, fully

34:40happy, until we reach once again our spiritual identity

34:44and regain access to the spiritual dimension, which is

34:49the whole purpose of yoga.

34:51So suffering has the...

34:55It's supposed to give you the impetus

34:58to understand and question your existence.

35:02Why am I suffering?

35:03Why am I going through this?

35:05Why is life so difficult?

35:06It's another way of asking, wait a minute. Who am I?

35:10What am I doing, and how did I get here?

35:12It all goes back to that.

35:14So this is really the purpose of suffering.

35:17But once again, to overcome suffering, we have to

35:22do more than simply resort to the forgetfulness of

35:24it or the intoxication, which is called the river.

35:30Visiting the river of forgetfulness.

35:32You have to do more than that.

35:33You have to go inward and actually

35:35understand your spiritual identity and go into

35:38the world of reality, spiritual reality, to

35:42actually understand who and what you are.

35:44Why am I here?

35:46Who or what brought me here?

35:49And how do I get out, really?

35:52How do I develop myself in a spiritual way where I

35:55can return to the spiritual world and take up real residence,

36:00where things go on in a continually loving basis.

36:05That's one thing we're all looking for.

36:07That's the nature of the spirit soul.

36:09We all want to love.

36:10We all want to love and be loved, but we can

36:14find maybe a glimpse of that in the material world.

36:16But even then, it's very difficult.

36:19It's hard to find someone who truly loves you.

36:22It's hard to find someone that you can truly love.

36:24And the problem with that, too,

36:26is that sometimes it ends prematurely.

36:29The person dies or I die, and then we're

36:32forced to look for another situation or whatever.

36:35I mean, is that fair or not?

36:37Well, it can seem like it's unfair.

36:39But it goes back to the two things.

36:42Suffering is meant to give you a lesson as

36:44to why you should look for your real home.

36:49It also gives you the impetus to

36:52ask, how did I get here?

36:54And why am I going through this?

36:56And if I'm going through this, how do I get out?

36:59That was Buddha's question, too.

37:01He saw there's so much suffering in

37:03the world, he decided, wait a minute.

37:05How do I get out of this?

37:07How did I get here?

37:08But how do I get out?

37:09So this is one of the things that is the

37:13basis of any very philosophical religion or culture, is to

37:18begin to understand, how did I get here?

37:21Where am I going?

37:22Where should I be going, and how do I accomplish that?

37:26So this is the next step.

37:28If you can understand the purpose of suffering, then

37:31you can also begin to understand there's a purpose

37:34that, don't think God created this creation without a

37:37means of getting out of here.

37:39That would be completely unfair.

37:41But the point of Sanātana Dharma, the point of

37:45yoga, is to regain and create or spiritualize your

37:51consciousness so that you can begin to perceive the

37:54spiritual dimension which exists all around you.

37:57It's like a radio.

37:58There's so many radio waves all around us.

38:01Do we see them? No.

38:03Do we taste them? No.

38:05Can we feel them? No.

38:06You have to have the right receiver, and then

38:10with the right receiver, a radio or cell phone.

38:13These days, there's so many things you

38:15can do with those radio waves.

38:17So it's not a question of whether they exist or not.

38:20It's a question of how you utilize them

38:22and how you can gain access to them.

38:24The spiritual dimension is the same way.

38:26It's a matter of how you develop yourself into

38:28being a receiver of understanding and perceiving all that

38:33spiritual dimension, all the different levels of spirituality that

38:36exist all around us all the time.

38:39And we're a part of that.

38:41But we need to develop ourselves so

38:43we can dive back into that dimension.

38:46And then we don't take suffering, we don't take

38:50disease, we don't take all the problems of life

38:53in the same way as we did before, because

38:56we rise up to another dimension.

38:58And as we rise up to

38:59that spiritual dimension, everything looks different.

39:02It makes all the difference in the world

39:05just by rising up to that level.

39:07And that's really part of

39:10the purpose of human existence.

39:13The animals can't do that so well.

39:15They're pretty satisfied with just getting enough

39:17to eat or things like that.

39:20Human nature is that, yeah, sure, we got to have

39:23enough to eat, but there's more to life than that.

39:26We need to understand how to accomplish that.

39:29And that's what the vedic literature is all about.

39:31It explains it from so many different levels.

39:33Anybody can plug into it on any

39:35level they want and proceed from there.

39:39So whatever your background is,

39:41it's perfectly all right.

39:43It doesn't matter.

39:44You can use whatever background you have and begin

39:47to plug into the vedic culture in whatever way

39:50is most suitable for you to begin your progress

39:54in understanding your spiritual dimension and how the spiritual

39:57dimension exists all around us.

40:00It's only a matter of spiritualizing our

40:01consciousness so we can perceive it and

40:03enter into that level of reality.

40:08Yeah, extremely well said.

40:10I think you touched on every point and truly

40:13explained that in a way that I understood too.

40:16I mean, just the real purpose of suffering and how it can,

40:22in a way, be a gift to go deeper in a lot

40:24of ways, although most people won't ever see that at the time.

40:27That'll come a lot later.

40:29Yeah, sometimes it's difficult, because when you're in the

40:31middle of suffering, it's hard to question, well, what

40:34am I supposed to learn from this?

40:37But that's what it is.

40:38Human life is like a classroom, and the suffering is

40:41like a class to motivate you or kick you in

40:43your butt, so to speak, to begin to question, okay,

40:48obviously, I'm not fitting into this world as much as

40:51I'd like to or much as I thought I would.

40:53Where am I supposed to go?

40:54Where am I supposed to fit in?

40:58Because if nobody ever suffered, why

41:00would anybody question their existence?

41:03Why would anybody question, well, how did I get

41:05this body, or whatever the case may be?

41:09So it's supposed to give you that motivation to

41:13question your existence and why am I suffering?

41:17And like I said, according to the vedic literature,

41:20until you ask those basic questions, you haven't even

41:23come up to being a human being yet.

41:26So this is what the purpose of this whole process

41:30of life is all about, is to get you to

41:32come up to the level of being discontent, being discontent,

41:37to the point where you can reach a spiritual dimension,

41:41where you can become content and happy with what your

41:45situation is, knowing full well that just studying this literature,

41:51studying this culture, and participating in the process of vedic

41:55wisdom, you begin to reach a stage of being balanced,

42:00being content, being happy with it, knowing that you're also

42:04making your way out of here, hopefully, once and for

42:08all.

42:09And I don't mean to say that material life

42:11is a real drag all the way around, because

42:13there's plenty of reasons to be happy with it.

42:15There's plenty of good people that

42:17we want to interact with.

42:18There's plenty of nice things that take place, but

42:21at the same time, it doesn't fully satisfy us

42:25on the deepest level, because what really satisfies us

42:29in any degree is whatever aspect of spiritual existence

42:35we can approach and we can develop.

42:37What do we appreciate about each other

42:40is our loving and contributory aspect.

42:46And that comes from the motivation of the spirit soul.

42:49The soul itself exists with that attitude of being loving,

42:53wanting to be loved, and wanting to help others.

42:57That's the nature of the soul.

42:58So the more we come to that nature, the more

43:01we become happy with what we are, with what our

43:06position is, and with our interactions with others.

43:08Without that, who needs material life at all if

43:14it's just filled with suffering without learning from it?

43:19So that's really the point of

43:20it, at least from that aspect.

43:22I mean, there's many more things that could be

43:24said, but we'll let it go at that.

43:26I know, I'm sure.

43:28Yeah, we could probably talk all day just on that

43:30one subject, or probably for a week or longer.

43:34So for the next question.

43:36I've always gone really deep on this question as

43:39a physician and throughout the years, too, and I'm

43:42interested to hear your viewpoint on it.

43:46How do you view illness in

43:47the body from a spiritual perspective?

43:50I think this is a really powerful question on what is

43:54the body and what does illness really mean in it?

44:01Yeah, there's two ways of looking at that.

44:04First of all, many times illness comes from bad

44:09habits, bad diet, the things we put into us.

44:14Maybe a bad atmosphere that we're

44:17working in, which creates negativity.

44:20Maybe we create a bad attitude.

44:24These things all tend to create negativity within the

44:29subtle body, or even the physical body, where we

44:35might smoke cigarettes or something, knowing full well and

44:38having been advised that smoking cigarettes might not be

44:41the best thing for you.

44:43Well, I know, and I'm going to

44:45give it up, but not right now.

44:48Or the fact that I can't give it up.

44:50I'm just too addicted to it.

44:52And then gradually we get

44:53cancer or something like that.

44:55And, oh, man, I knew.

44:56I knew this was going to happen.

44:58I shouldn't have done that.

44:59I should have changed my habits

45:00or should have changed my way.

45:02So these kind of things are illnesses of

45:05the body, which can sometimes be cured by

45:09changing our habits, changing our diet, maybe adding

45:13supplements, exercise, fresh air, things like that.

45:18But sometimes they can first be picked

45:22up or noticed within the subtle body.

45:25The vedic literature explains the subtle body

45:27as the mind, intelligence, and false ego.

45:31And yet it considers the false ego as an element.

45:35The false ego is an element which creates forgetfulness

45:38of our true identity as a spiritual being.

45:41And that's part of the process of

45:42yoga, is to overcome this false ego.

45:45But the mind and intelligence is

45:47also considered two subtle elements.

45:49Which make up the subtle body

45:52which the soul also resides in.

45:55When you have bad attitudes.

45:57One thing is that I remember reading where it was

46:01explained cancer was a person's manifestation of their desire to

46:10get out of this situation, to get out of this

46:12body, to get out of the material world.

46:15And so sometimes there might be

46:18a slight attitude of negativity.

46:21Which then creates symptoms in the body which actually

46:26assist us, although we may not want it that

46:30way, but actually assist us in accommodating the attitude

46:34we've developed by getting out of this body altogether.

46:37And cancer may be one of those ways of doing that.

46:42Cancer also may simply be bad

46:45habits, bad diet, things like that.

46:49But bad desires and bad attitude can

46:52also cultivate within the subtle body.

46:55To then manifest in the physical body, which then creates

46:59problems that we often have to try to overcome.

47:02Sometimes we can overcome the symptoms of disease

47:08by adjusting our attitude along with our diet,

47:12taking proper medication and things like that.

47:15With a proper attitude, we may

47:18be able to overcome these things.

47:19But sometimes, even with a proper attitude,

47:22we still suffer diseases in the body.

47:25Now, the second point of it is

47:28that also may be caused by karma.

47:32Karma is the secondary aspect

47:36of the manifestation of diseases.

47:39Karma usually means action, which develops

47:45into a reaction, like smoking cigarettes.

47:50What is the karma of smoking cigarettes? Well, cancer.

47:53Okay, there's a reaction to the action.

47:55But also karma can be when

47:59you associate it with reincarnation.

48:01And you can't get a proper understanding of

48:03reincarnation without the understanding the law of karma.

48:06Karma may be something from previous lives

48:11that we carry into this life.

48:13Like the fear of drowning, the fear of fire

48:17may be caused by something that happened in a

48:20previous life that we carry into this life.

48:24Or maybe there's something that we

48:26did in a previous life.

48:28Which causes reactions that we have

48:31to suffer in this life.

48:33And it could be the loss of a job.

48:36Maybe a car accident is a part of our

48:39karmic reaction we have to suffer or a disease.

48:43Now, when the disease is because of karma,

48:47then it may not be as simple as

48:50taking medication or changing a diet.

48:53To be free of that, you may have to go deeper.

48:57There's some mantras that can change one's karma.

49:02There's the practice of spirituality can also change

49:06one's karma, which also creates a freedom from

49:11disease or a lessening of the disease.

49:13Now, in the Brahma Samhita, it's explained that

49:18when one engages in spiritual yoga, or like

49:22bhakti yoga explained specifically, that process itself eats

49:28up karmic reactions like fire eats up wood.

49:33So in that regard, if we take up the

49:35process of spiritual advancement, spiritual cultivation, whatever we were

49:43meant to have, maybe like a broken leg, becomes

49:47minimized to maybe a stubbed toe or something like

49:51that, something that was extreme, becomes reduced to something

49:55minor, and it also can act that way.

49:58As far as disease goes as well, if the karma

50:02is too strong, then of course it's going to take

50:05a lot of work spiritually and a lot of chanting

50:09of mantras and stuff to have much of an effect.

50:13And I have to admit one thing.

50:16If I have karma to work out, I'd rather work

50:19it out in this life than to carry it with

50:22me into another life where I have to work it

50:25out all over again in another existence.

50:28That's just my preference.

50:30Nobody else has to follow that, but

50:32that's what I would prefer to do.

50:34And so if I'm suffering in this life, or if I

50:37have to die a particular way in this life because of

50:41my karma, I'd rather work it out knowing full well that

50:46whatever I'm doing is because of some previous action that I'm

50:51suffering from, that I don't have to carry with me in

50:54any new existence or next existence in another lifetime.

51:01So there's different ways of looking at that.

51:03But in essence, that's basically how some disease

51:08is explained within the body as manifesting from

51:14bad habits, subtle attitudes, or from previous karma.

51:22Depending on that, it will depend on how

51:24you want to work at trying to resolve

51:27the disease that you're suffering from.

51:31I think maybe some of other people's battles, too.

51:34Is identifying the origin of it, too, or

51:38figuring out where it could come from.

51:41Yeah, some people use hypnosis as one

51:45of those means of understanding where their

51:48problems, where their disease, or maybe sometimes

51:51to where their fears have come from.

51:53And some people have used that and

51:55have been rather successful as well.

51:57So there's different processes that

51:59can help in that regard.

52:01Yeah.

52:02And I think the next question is going to tie

52:03in really well, because from your book, prayers, mantras, and gayatris

52:11could you share a prayer or a mantra that could

52:14be powerful from those healing with illness?

52:17So people who are listening today that are suffering

52:19from an illness or condition, and they want to

52:21go down this route, or they're trying to figure

52:24out how it all ties in in their life.

52:27What's something you would share with them?

52:30Yeah, I can give you a few mantras, actually.

52:33I mean, of course, my book, prayers, mantras

52:35and Gayatrias has got, what is it?

52:38Something like 650 pages of mantras, prayers and gayatris

52:43that can be used for so many different purposes.

52:45But the famous Sri Gayatri mantra is very

52:50well known and the translation of this Sri

52:54Gayatri is very important and well known Gayatri

52:56mantra because it's chanted silently in the mind.

53:00Of course, I'm going to give it to you

53:02verbally, but it's chanted three times a day, morning

53:06at noon and then in the evening.

53:09And the translation is, Om, let us meditate on

53:14that worshipable effulgence of the divine sun.

53:18Savitri creator of the earth, heaven and

53:22ether, and who enthuses our meditation.

53:29So enthusing our meditation also means uplifting our subtle

53:34body and our subtle mind in that regard.

53:37And we all worship the sun because without the

53:41sun there wouldn't be anything, let's face it.

53:44But the sun also nourishes the body.

53:46In fact, I've heard it said from the

53:49process of ayurveda that morning sun can give.

53:54If you expose yourself to the morning

53:56sun, you can get all the vitamins

53:59you need for nourishment from that process.

54:03I don't limit myself to that specifically, but it's

54:07one of the things that I've heard that said.

54:09But the famous gayatri mantra goes,

54:11Om bhur bhuvaha svah tat savitur varenyam

54:16bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo nah prachodayat

54:21So that's the main gayatri mantra that

54:25many people throughout India and throughout the

54:28world chant when they say that.

54:30Now there's another mantra that is called the

54:33Maha Mrityunjaya mantra to Lord Shiva, and this

54:38is for removing ailments, ill health and fear.

54:43Now, the translation is we worship the three eyed one,

54:47which is Lord Shiva, who is fragrant and who nourishes

54:52well all beings and grants liberation, just as the cucumber

54:58is severed from bondage to the creeper.

55:01In other words, if you want to use

55:03the cucumber for recipes, nourishment or whatever, you

55:08got to chop it away from the creeper.

55:10So in the same way, this mantra helps grant liberation

55:15from fear and illness, just as the cucumber is chopped

55:19away from the creeper, the vine, to become useful.

55:24So this mantra goes, Om Triyambakam Yajamahe

55:28Sugandhim Pushti Vardhanam

55:32Urvarukamiva Bandhanat Mrityor Mukshiya Mamritat

55:42I knew a person who had cancer and he

55:46would chant this mantra over and over again for

55:48maybe an hour or two every day.

55:50And he gives credit to this mantra

55:53for his cancer going into remission.

55:56So this is also a very interesting mantra.

56:00I'll just say it one more time.

56:02Om Triyambakam Yajamahe

56:04Sugandhim Pushti Vardhanam

56:06Urvarukamiva Bandhanat Mrityor Mukshiya Mamritat

56:13And many of the gayatri mantras are all

56:15dedicated to one of the vedic divinities.

56:18So this is to Lord Shiva.

56:19There's another one here.

56:21Now this is, of course, another very well known mantra,

56:26and it simply means, may all be happy, may all

56:32be free from disabilities, may all look for the good

56:37in others, and may none suffer from sorrows.

56:42So this goes, Sarve Bhavantu Sukinah, Sarve Santu Nirmayaah,

56:45Sarve Bhadrani Pasyantu, Ma kaschid-Dukha-Bhag-Bhavet

56:57So that's also another one that they often

56:59chant in, say, different rituals and things like

57:02that to bring about auspiciousness and the good

57:06feeling in yourself, towards ourselves and towards others.

57:09So this is also very helpful.

57:13Another one of the main mantras

57:15that has to be explained.

57:17And that's what I wrote that one book

57:19on chanting the power of the Maha mantra.

57:23This is simply, everybody knows this one.

57:25Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

57:29Hare Rama,

57:29Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

57:32And one can chant it or sing it or whatever, but

57:35I have a friend of mine and she says that in

57:37the morning when she gets up, she may not be feeling

57:40that well, she may be lacking energy or whatever.

57:43But after chanting this mantra for an hour or

57:45so every morning, after that, her whole day changes.

57:49She feels more enthusiasm, more energy, more lightheartedness

57:55and a connection, of course, with the divine,

57:58which is the ultimate purpose of that particular

58:00Hare KrIshna Mantra is to create within us

58:03an awakening of our own spirituality, our own

58:07spiritual identity, and what is our connection with

58:10the divine, the supreme spiritual being.

58:13So these are all very important and very

58:17useful and very easy mantras to chant.

58:23I highly recommend them and I use them

58:25in my own spiritual practice every morning, my

58:27own sadhana, and they definitely help me.

58:31They make a big difference in my life.

58:33So I'm sure it can do the same for your viewers

58:36and everybody else who comes in contact with them too.

58:39Yeah.

58:40Thank you for sharing.

58:41I can fill them even when you're

58:43speaking them at that moment too.

58:46I think there's real power.

58:47So I think that's a lot of great

58:49resources for the people who are listening.

58:52And if our readers want to start with one of

58:57your books, and I know this is probably a hard

58:59question to answer, if they want to dig in more

59:03and start learning, what would you advise would be the

59:07first book for them to start reading your book?

59:11Well, it depends on how deep they want to go,

59:13if they want to go in a simplified way.

59:16There's one here called yoga and meditation.

59:19Their real purpose and how to get started.

59:22Of course, the one you mentioned, the soul understanding

59:26our real spiritual identity, is another one, which is

59:31easy to read and not very long.

59:33So that's a good one to get started with.

59:36And you can get deeper into that.

59:37Then there's other ones that I've got called,

59:40one called the secret teachings of the vedas.

59:43And of course, you can go on my website, which is

59:46www.stephen-knapp.com, and you can look over

59:56the books that I've got on my front page.

59:58Just scroll down a little bit, and all

60:0050 books are listed, and you can decide

60:02which one might be best for you.

60:04And I've got another one.

60:05Now, this is a deeper book.

60:08What is this?

60:09This is like 400 pages, one of my long books.

60:13But this is called Bhakti Yoga, the Easy Path

60:17of Devotional Yoga, subtitled from the depths of illusion

60:21to making contact with God, and explains you the

60:24details of how Bhakti Yoga works and the step

60:28by step process in being able to follow that.

60:31But that's another book that's a little deeper.

60:33I have another book called the Bhakti Yoga Handbook,

60:36which is a little simpler and especially meant for

60:39those that want to practice Bhakti Yoga at home.

60:41But this one, Bhakti Yoga, will definitely explain all the

60:45intricacies and the step by step process of engaging in

60:49Bhakti Yoga, which is one of the easiest forms of

60:52yoga in this day and Age of Kali Yuga.

60:54So that's why I present that.

60:58But otherwise, there's so many different levels that

61:04you can get started on, and any of

61:05my books can help you do that.

61:07So hopefully that'll help out.

61:09Yeah, I think that's a lot of great information, and

61:11we'll be sure to put your website on the description.

61:14So wherever this video is, people can find

61:17it easy and take a look for themselves

61:19as well, see what resonates with them.

61:23So the last question we have today, which I

61:25think is pretty important just because especially in America,

61:28what yoga is today and how it's very commercialized.

61:32And it can be very confusing when you

61:34say that word or what it really means.

61:38So how do you feel about the yoga movement of today?

61:41And what do you think the real purpose is of yoga?

61:46Well, in a way, I think any progress in

61:50yoga is a good thing, and any form of

61:54advocating yoga is also a good thing.

61:59And in some ways, it can be used as a

62:01secular means of simply developing the body and the mind

62:05in doing the exercises and things like that.

62:09But it's a step by step process.

62:12The yoga that we see today is primarily Hatha yoga.

62:15Hatha yoga is basically the first step in Yoga, in

62:19preparing the body for what is actually meant to be

62:22long periods of deep meditation, so that the energy flows

62:27nicely through the body, so that you can sit for

62:31long periods of time, if necessary, to meditate.

62:34And meditation itself is as it's described in

62:38some places, where it's a matter of extending

62:42the gap between one thought and another.

62:46Because in that gap of vacancy of the mind, one

62:52becomes able to get a glimpse of your true spiritual

62:56identity without all the internal conversation always disrupting your focus

63:04on who and what you really are.

63:06Because the mind is like that.

63:08Mind is considered the center of the senses.

63:10So you've got all these senses coming at

63:13you, whether it's feeling, hearing, seeing, smelling, touching.

63:19All these different things are constantly coming

63:21at you, and the mind is always

63:22interpreting it, oh, this is agreeable.

63:24Oh, that's not so agreeable.

63:25And then the intelligence kicks in and said, well,

63:27how can I get more of what is agreeable

63:29and avoid more of what is not agreeable?

63:34So this is how the mind is always acting.

63:37So you want to quiet the mind.

63:39And Yoga and breathing exercises, Pranayam is a means of

63:45assisting yourself to quiet the mind and be able to

63:49be less disturbed by the externals so that you can

63:53go more inward and then gradually understand what you really

63:58are as a spiritual being, and what is your connection

64:02with the supreme spirit, the super soul within you, or

64:06Bhagavan, the external aspect of God himself, and what is

64:14your relationship with God in this regard, and then how

64:17to act on that relationship.

64:20So Yoga is meant to bring yourself up to a

64:23level where you can begin to focus on that and

64:27meditate on it, and then eventually, even if you're able

64:32to, which is very hard to do in this day

64:33and age, reach a state of Samādhi.

64:36Samādhi means a constant flow of continual thought

64:42on the supreme object of meditation, which, of

64:45course, is the supreme spirit or God.

64:48And the more you meditate on God, the more you reach

64:51God, the more you can reach God in your next existence.

64:54The Bhagavad Gita explains that that which occupies the

64:59consciousness of a person at the time of death

65:02is where he takes up his next life.

65:06So the whole point of meditation is to reach

65:09the point of Samādhi, where you're constantly thinking of

65:12your ultimate goal, which is how to reach God,

65:16how to enter into the spiritual dimension, where you

65:19no longer come back to this material world.

65:22You've become spiritualized enough, where you no longer

65:26are interested in the material world anymore.

65:28You're no longer interested in

65:29satisfying the mind and senses.

65:31You're only interested in acquiring

65:34that which satisfies the soul.

65:36And as you reach that more and more and deeper

65:39and deeper, then that's the level of consciousness you develop.

65:44So that as you give up the body, you attain

65:49a particular level of consciousness and focus Samādhi, so that

65:53you are simply focused on the ultimate goal of life,

65:57which is to reach God in the spiritual dimension.

66:00That's really what Yoga is meant for.

66:03And we have different types of yoga

66:05that all help you do that.

66:06We have bhakti yoga, which is yoga of

66:10love and devotion towards the supreme being.

66:12We have karma yoga, yoga of action,

66:16Gyana yoga, yoga of knowledge and meditation.

66:22And we have Rāja yoga, or Ashtanga yoga, which is

66:25the ultimate goal of meditation, the meditative process, simply sitting

66:32and avoiding the senses, the sensory dictation that we always

66:37have, and being able to avoid that.

66:40Whereas Rāja yoga is based on emptying

66:44the mind of the sensory activities so

66:48that you can focus on the supreme.

66:52Bhakti yoga or even Mantra yoga is

66:55a process where we don't empty the

66:57mind, but we fill the mind with

67:00transcendental knowledge, transcendental activity, mental activity.

67:06In focusing on the pastimes of Krishna,

67:10the loving aspect of Krishna, the personality

67:13of Krishna, these kind of things.

67:15And we fill the mind with the transcendental

67:18sound vibration of the Hare Krishna mantra or

67:21other mantras, so that we can absorb ourselves

67:25in that which is much easier.

67:27It's much easier to fill the mind

67:29with transcendence than it is to empty

67:31the mind, to hopefully perceive transcendence.

67:36So this is the goal.

67:38And the point of this process in this day and

67:41age in Kali Yuga, is to fill the mind with that

67:44which is our ultimate object of meditation, rather than trying

67:47to relieve our mind of any sensory activity, so that

67:51we can focus on the ultimate object of meditation.

67:54Just meditate on it.

67:56Just chant Hare Krishna.

67:57Krishna is in his name.

67:58So just chant Hare Krishna.

67:59Just meditate on the puranas, especially the Bhagavat-purana

68:03which describes Krishna's pastimes and his activities and his

68:08different avatars, so that you're automatically focused on him

68:12without any, what should I say?

68:14Unnecessary austerity or difficulty or tapasya or practice,

68:22and just get to the point of it.

68:24Focus on Krishna, focus on the supreme Being.

68:27Everything is solved, simple as that.

68:30So that may sound easier than it

68:33is, but that's how you get started.

68:35And that's practically, as I've said in this kali yuga,

68:40it is the recommended process for this age.

68:45Yeah.

68:45And it seems as though everything is a building block.

68:48So starting at whatever stage in yoga and going

68:51to reach that point of clearing the mind.

68:56And that's a beautiful thing about the vedic process.

68:58Whatever level you want to investigate, it's all open.

69:01There's nothing that is said to be contradictory.

69:07There's nothing said to be unapproachable.

69:11You follow whatever process that works for you,

69:14because we're not dealing with just one lifetime.

69:19I mean, I know some of the monotheistic

69:20religions believe in, you got just one lifetime

69:22and you're going to heaven or hell.

69:24But in the vedic culture, that's not the system.

69:27The system is, we've already

69:28been through many lifetimes.

69:30We can take as many lifetimes as we

69:32need to investigate whatever part of the process

69:35of spiritualizing our lives that we want.

69:37It's recommended, of course, that if you want

69:40to speed things up, there are certain things

69:42that you can do and certain processes to

69:44follow, but it's completely up to you.

69:47So you're not restricted in that sense, as in, say,

69:52some other religions that might impose that on you.

69:55So that's one of the things I

69:56also like about the vedic culture. Yeah.

69:59It seems that as much as you want to question

70:01it, it has answers, and you can kind of start

70:04anywhere you want and you can find the information.

70:07Right.

70:09Well, thank you so much for coming

70:12today and sharing all of your knowledge.

70:14I feel like we could pretty much talk about each one

70:16of those subjects all day long, and maybe you, again, to

70:20go a little deeper just on one of those subjects.

70:22But thank you for your time today, and

70:24it was super amazing to get all of

70:26your wisdom and knowledge on vedic culture.

70:29Okay, well, thank you very much for having me

70:31and Namaste and Jai Shri Krishna, thank you very much.