Judul : pilgrimage of the heart yoga
link : pilgrimage of the heart yoga
pilgrimage of the heart yoga
male speaker: good afternoon. it's my pleasure, privilege,and honor to welcome to the googleplex radhanath swami, arenowned vedic scholar, bhakti yoga teacher, and an author. i first came across radhanathswami in a burning man video.
pilgrimage of the heart yoga , believe it or not, hedoes get around. and in that video, he said astatement that a stuck with me for a very long time. and that statementwas, everybody
is looking for happiness. but to find your happiness, youdon't need to change your externalities. all you need to do is to changeyour consciousness. and the second time i cameacross radhanath swami was at the wanderlust festivalat lake tahoe. so i told you, hedoes get around. and he was there with moby andziggy marley, and he was give a talk on environmentalism.
and at that time, he gave me acopy of his book, "the journey home, an autobiography ofan american swami." and it's an extraordinarystory in this book of adventure, of loveand mysticism. and in this book he talksabout, i read with fascination, of how a young mancalled richard slavin from the suburbs of chicago,a little hippie-- he did have long hair backthen, should-length hair, believe me--
left on a trip around the world,seeking something, something that is callingout to him. and he went on this tripthrough europe, western europe, eastern europe, centralasia through iran, afghanistan, pakistan, andfinally found himself meditating in a cave inthe indian himalayas. and along the way, he lost allof his possessions and his diaries at least five times,sometimes just washed away by the river ganges.
and yet, when you read thisbook, you'll be struck by how striking is his recallof minute details, going back 20, 30 years. and through this journey thathe documents in the book-- you can get a copy of thebook at the back-- radhanath swami discovered thatthe fundamental problems in life are really caused bywhat he calls the frailties of human nature, and that thereis a path to happiness, and that there is a path to solvingworld problems that
entails what he calls shiftingyour consciousness. and to talk about that more,please help me welcome to googleplex, once again,radhanath swami. radhanath swami:[chanting in sanskrit] it is my great pleasureand honor to be with all of you today. this company, google, startedin a small way not long ago. and it's come to a level whereit practically influences, in every aspect of life, almosteveryone on earth.
i have observed thisas i travel around. even little swamis like me,when i come to speak to somewhere, almost everyonesays i googled you before i came. not to speak of buying thingsfor the household or making investments. such a great power of influenceyour company has on so many lives throughoutthe world. i'd like to begin by speakingsomething about networking
from the perspectiveof nature. just a few days ago, i took awalk with one of my very dear friends to a redwood forest. have you been to muir woods? every year i go with one of mydear friends while i'm in this area to the muir woods, justto get away from everything and the beauty of nature. and there, some of the largestand greatest trees on the entire planet have been standingfor hundreds or even
thousands of years old. and as you're walking along thelittle pathways, the bark of the trees is so thick, andthere's so many such trees hardly any sun comes down,because it's blocked by all the leaves and branches. and footsteps are kind ofabsorbed in this thick bark. so it's a very mysticalsilence. and as we were walking, we cameto one of the largest trees in the forest.
there was a group of chinesetourists in a circle around a park ranger. and i happened to stand justbehind the tourists to hear what he was saying. he was about to tell what hesaid the underground secret of the redwood trees. now an american coming fromthe 1960s, i still have an inclination to hear undergroundsecrets. and he asked a question.
he began by telling how thesetrees in this forest have stood over hundreds or thousandsof years through massive snow storms, windstorms,and devastating earthquakes, and yet they keepgrowing bigger and higher and higher and higher. now for most trees to havestrength, they need roots that go very, very deep. but the redwood trees, theirroots do not grow very deep, and they're in an areawith very loose soil.
and it's a hilly region. how do they withstand thesestorms and earthquakes and keep growing? and then he paused for about aminute so that we could all ponder this question. how do they survive? and as i was pondering, i wasthinking of all the storms that come in life, individually,collectively, socially, nationally,internationally.
then he revealed the secret. the roots of the redwood tree,they grow outward underground, reaching for the roots ofother redwood trees. and as soon as they come incontact with each other, they intertwine and make permanentbond between them. they're interlocked. this means that one tree islocked in its root system with another tree on one sideand on another side with other trees.
and the trees that are on theother side of the trees that they're interlocked with areinterlocked with other trees. and the little baby trees, theirlittle tiny roots, these big ancient giants wrap theirroots around them. in this way, practicallyevery tree in the forest is connected. their unity is their strength. even through storms, winds,and earthquakes, they hold each other up and keep growingand growing and growing.
this is nature's lessonof networking. united we stand. divided we fall. in our lives, our heart islike where our roots are. and when the roots of ourcare, our concern, our affection actually connectwith each other, we can develop such incrediblestrength. even when the storms come-- thestorm of temptation, the storm of fear, the storm ofreversals and challenges--
we can hold each other strong. and this is very much aspiritual principle. there's a very beautiful versein the "bhagavad gita." when i first heard this, i thought,this is what i've always been looking for. you see, i was born in a jewishfamily near chicago. and in my life, i had a naturalinclination towards spirituality. but i saw so much hate anddivision in the name of a
loving god. this was extremelydisturbing to me. either i have to reject thewhole concept altogether, or is there something deeper,something that actually is there, in an essence, thatunites us and awakens real character and real love,something common? i believed in that essence,and i was seeking that essence. this is written about in thislittle book i wrote.
i hitchhiked from london througheurope through the middle east, travelled throughindia, studying various religions under variousmasters, trying to find that essence. and a particular verse in the"bhagavad gita," when i heard it, i was thinking, yes. this is what the world needs. this is what i need. would you like tohear that verse?
in sanskrit, [speaking sanskrit] real wisdom, it is defined notby how much data we collect within our brains. real wisdom is not howmany degrees we have. real wisdom is not how manyfollowers we have. it is to the extent we havethe capacity to see every living being withequal vision. whether one is man or woman,black, white, red, yellow, or brown, whether one is from theeast or the west, whether one
is a christian or a jew or amuslim or hindu a jain or a buddhist or a zoroastrianor a sikh or an agnostic or an atheist. the "gita" goes so far to say,whether one is a human or an elephant or a cw ora dog or a cat. wherever there is life,it is sacred. life is sacred. when we understand how our ownlife is sacred, we will understand that sacredness andrespect it wherever we
experience life, in every tree,in every plant, in every living being. and then the "gita" goeson to explain, what is the nature of life? [speaking sanskrit] that the conscious force that'sseeing through the eyes and hearing through the earsand tasting through the tongue, touching through theflesh, thinking through the brain, loving throughthe heart, that
living force is divine. it is sat chit ananda, eternal,full of knowledge, and full of bliss. it's indestructible. the body is constantlychanging. the mind is constantlychanging. the witness of these changes isconstant, and that witness is our true self. that means it cannot be cutinto pieces by any weapon.
it can't be moistenedby water. it cannot be burned by fire. and it does not diewith the body. according to the "gita,"the body is like a car or motor vehicle. some drive mercedes, bmws. some drive fords. some drive volvos. some drive hondas or toyotas.
and some drive hindustaniambassadors. according to how much money wehave and according to the choices we make, we get aparticular type of car. the "gita" explains similarly,according to the choices we make and according to what we'veinvested in, in what is called karma, for every actionthere is an equal reaction, we get a particular type of body. and there are so many differentvarieties of bodies. and there are so many differentdifferences,
differences in the waysreligions describe things, their languages, their rituals,differences in habits and cultures, in ways of life,in physical appearances. but to understand the unitywithin diversity is the secret of actually finding peace andbeing an instrument of peace within this word. that atman, or thatliving force, that soul, is the true self. and at the time of death,according to the "gita," when
this car of the body is nolonger suitable to us, we go into another car, according tothe choices and the desires we have created in this life. human life is very special,because we have such a vast capacity of free will. you'll never see a cow jumpingon rabbits and devouring them, and you'll never see a tigergrazing on grass. because they are programmed-- you people are the best computerpeople in the planet,
so you'll understandit better than me-- with a particularconsciousness. but a human being hassuch free will. we could be saints. we could be serial killers. we could be envious. we could be everyone'swell-wisher. we could be respectful andself-controlled, or we could be completely wildand impolite.
but with that power free choicecomes responsibility. the bible says, as ye sow,so shall ye reap. in the vedic text, this iscalled the laws of karma. for every action, there's anequal corresponding reaction. but the soul, the atman, isbeyond all these things. but when the atman, due to theahamkar, or the false ego, identifies with this temporarybody and this mind, instead of understanding i am in my body,when we think i am this body, i am observing life throughthis mind, i am this mind,
there's a big difference. if we identify with it andforget our true nature, then we're deeply affected by everysituation that comes to us. yoga means to reconnect. and interestingly, the latinword religio, which is the root of religion, meansto bind back. they really meanthe same thing. they don't mean just to be aparticular sectarian group that feels that ihave knowledge
and nobody else does. religion actually means toreconnect with our own essential self and with thegrace of god and to be an instrument of that gracein whatever we do. and when we make that connectionwith ourself to understand our own eternal,pure, loving nature, then we can actually see it in everyonein a dormant state, and then even nature, ourenvironment, our ecology. when we're in harmony withour self, we'll be in
harmony with nature. we'll be in harmonywith each other. i write about thisin the book. in 1971, i got a very wonderfullesson from an event that we might see every few dayssomething like this, but we don't really takeit seriously. the bible said, seekand ye shall find. if we're really seeking wisdom,it's amazing where we'll find it.
we'll find it everywhere. i was sitting on the bankthe river ganges. it was the summer, very hot,probably 110 degrees fahrenheit. and nobody else wasthere at the time. it was actually at prayag, theplace where the kumbh mela takes place. i was just at kumbh mela. and the day i bathed in the samespot, according to the
government 35 millionpeople bathed. 35 million humans bathed inthat place on that day. but in 1971, when i was sittingthere, i was the only one around. a hawk was flying overhead. this hawk was hovering lowerand lower and lower till he was just a few metersabove me. i looked up at him. he had brown, what, and kindof gold feathers, with his
wings expanded, and extremelysharp claws. and its beak was curved downand pointed very sharp, and yellow eyes that seemed to beunblinkingly gazing at me as he was coming lower andlower and lower. so naturally, i was thinking,maybe he's hungry. maybe i'm his food. suddenly, he dove right intothe water and went underwater a little. and there was a skirmish.
and about 30 seconds later, heemerged from the water with the flapping fishin its claws. that fish was abouta foot long. and it was really bewildered. it was just a few yardsin front of me. and i looked into theeyes of that fish. he or she-- i couldn't tell. and i don't want to call it, soi'll just call him he, just
for conventional purposes. that fish looked so disorientedand bewildered. and i was thinking, he wasprobably just going about his day like every other day,swimming upstream, swimming downstream, maybe withfamily, friends, looking for food, playing. did not expect that at the leastexpected moment it would be a ripped out ofits complacency by the hawk of destiny.
and i was thinking how manypeople i know, how many people i hear about. very much like that fish,they're just going about their days, and all of a suddenthey're diagnosed with a terminal disease, or they'rebetrayed by a loved one, or they get in an accident, orthere's an earthquake that devastates everythingaround them. it happens every day. no one expects it.
that hawk of destiny is kind offlying over everyone's head and could come down to get us. and i was thinking how weshouldn't be complacent. we should make priorities inour life of what really is sacred, what reallyis important. i remember martin lutherking speaking. he said, if you do not have anideal you're willing to die for, you have nothing meaningfulto live for. do we have that ideal?
moments pass, and we're justso preoccupied with superficialities. how much time do we reallyinvest in trying to discover what's really meaningfuland important in life? and then i reflected how if thatfish was swimming deeper, the hawk could not reach it. and similarly, if ourfulfillment, if our pleasure and meaning in life is deep,then whatever happens in this ever-changing world cannotreally disturb what we have
achieved within ourselves andcannot alter the integrity and the character inwhich we live. this is a beautiful building. but how many of us are thinkinghow wonderful the foundation is? the foundation, like theroots of those redwood trees, cannot be seen. it's something deeper than whatthe eyes can perceive. but yet, the integrity of thebuilding is completely
dependent on the strengthof the foundation. the bible tells likethis, build your house on solid rock. then any storm thatcomes will not-- it may disturb it, but it's justa temporary disturbance. but if you build your house onshifting sand, then when the storm comes everythingcrumbles. how much are we really takingseriously developing the foundation of our lives, adeep inner fulfillment?
in 1971, i lived with motherteresa for some time. and i remember she saidsomething to me that was quite profound. and it was the same thing i washearing from so many great sages in the himalayas, that thegreatest problem in this world is hunger, not hungerof the stomach, hunger of the heart. what is the one thing thatnourishes the heart? love.
it's the most essentialneed for all of us, to love and to be loved. if we have everything else butnot that, there will be no fulfillment to the heart. and if we have that, whetherwe have everything else or nothing else, there's aninner fulfillment. because fulfillment it's not theever-fleeting experiences that come before our eyes orthat we touch with our skin. those things are fleeting.
or even fame and prestige, theycome and go in the mind. fulfillment is a thingof the heart, to and the origin, the universalprinciple of all these great spiritual paths is tothe origin of that love is within us. it is our inherent nature. in the theistic paths, it isto experience the infinite love of god, who has many names,who has appeared in this world in many times in manyforms to feel that love
and to love. and the "bhagavad purana" tellsthat when we experience that love and we reciprocatewith that love, it's like watering the root of a tree. when there is love of god, itnaturally extends to every living being, just as wateringthe root of a tree that water extends to every leaf,every flower, every branch, every twig. it doesn't discriminate.
it's natural. according to the yogaprinciples, it is that spiritual experience that isthe deepest fulfillment. and when we find that deepfulfillment within ourselves, then the ever-changing worldand all the challenges that come cannot disturb it. the hawk of faith cannot go deepif the fish are swimming in a safe place. but if our happiness and ourpurpose and our meaning in
life is based on all theseever-changing, superficial conditions, at any momentit could be changed. ralph waldo emerson, he saidthe reason why our society lacks unity and lies broken andin heaps is because man has lost connection withhimself or herself. this is a transcendentaluniversal principle, to actually connect to that essenceof who we really are. if a person has chronic boils,boils are extremely painful, and you have to let them gothrough their natural course.
i've had many in my life. we have to treat the symptoms. we put salve on it. we treat that boil ina particular way. but if the cause of the boilsis a disease in the blood, unless we treat that, thenthere will just be continuous-- we treat one, we make it better,and another comes. some years ago, i was sittingin the new delhi airport.
i had just taken a pilgrimage ofseveral thousand people for about two weeks in a placecalled vrindavan, and i was really tired. i was waiting for a flight toget back to where i live in mumbai, and i was really happyto kind of just be alone waiting for the flight. and then somebody came up tome and said, the union minister of the government ofindia for the environment wants to speak to you.
so i said, ok. and she came up, andshe challenged me. she said, what are you swamisand yogis doing for the environment? the rivers are polluted. the oceans are polluted. the ground is polluted. the air is polluted. and you're just sitting aroundchanting your mantras and
meditating and doing yourpujas, your rituals? what are you doing? we need action. so that was a challenge. it's kind of like a storm. it's like an earthquake,actually. very powerful lady. and she stared at me, waitingfor an answer, because she really cared.
she really cared aboutthe environment. and i remember responding byusing the same example. when we're covered with boils,we do have to treat the symptomatic problem. but if the cause is a diseasein the blood, we have to treat that. what is the cause for all ofthis crime and all this hatred and hypocrisy in thename of religion? what is the problem with thegreed on wall street that's
actually creating such a destabilization in our own economy? what is the problem in indiaamong politicians who for bribes are willingto compromise and let the people suffer? and what is actuallythe reason why there's all this pollution? it's a pollution withinthe human heart. when our heart is polluted,through our words and through
our actions and through thedecisions we make, we're going to pollute the world. because what's in is expressedthrough what we do and say. we have to address, we have toeducate people how to live in harmony with ourself, how tolive in harmony with each other, how to live in harmonywith god, and how to live in harmony with nature, and today's world now, it hascome to a point with all of our incredible science and ourincredible technology and the
unbelievable development ofindustry and the armies and the weapons and the bombs andthe incredible power of communication. if we don't use these thingswith the right attitude, with the right motives we have thepower to really cause serious destruction. the purpose of religion, thepurpose of spirituality, the purpose of yoga isvery simple. it's not a sectarian idea.
it's to clean the pollutionin our hearts. transformation, transformationof arrogance into humility, transformation of greed,toxic greed that can never be satisfied. being a millionaire,being a billionaire cannot satisfy the heart. that's the way greed is. it's like a fire. the more you feed it,the hotter it burns.
and selfishness, transformingselfishness into a desire to selflessly or unselfishlyserve others. hate into love. envy into rejoicing oversomebody else's good fortune. and actually connecting,connecting to a grace, an energy that is within all of usin everything, that brings out that love thatis within us. so i told this lady that we'retrying to do our part. and you're doing your part, andwe should work together.
because if we don't clean upthe internal state of human consciousness, even if youclean every river, every ocean, all the air, and all theground, as long as that selfish egoistic greed is there,they're just going to pollute it all over again. and she smiled and said, yes,we must work together. this is the potential of thoseinterlocking roots of the redwood forest. we all have our differences.
some of us are accountants. some of us are softwareengineers. some of us are managers. some of us are politicians,farmers, scientists, technologists. in a human body, every partof the body has a unique function, but they're notfighting with each other. it's not that the brainsays to the kidneys, i'm better that you.
you do what i say. and it's not the liver thattells the heart that you can't do what i can do. and the heart doesn't tell theeyes you are low class. every part of the body has itsown color, its own shape, its own function, but they all worktogether for the sake of the whole body. and only when that's thereis there health. when we can see beneath theexternal, superficial
differences that we all havewith each other and we actually understand the essenceof who we really are beneath, as divine, eternal,all-loving beings, then we can recognize how we're allconnected and how every one of us we could respect each otherfor what we contribute, like the parts of the body. i may not be able todo what you can do. you could probablydo what i do. just recently, i spoke at thehsbc bank headquarters in
london, and therewas 900 bankers. i was supposed tospeak to them. that was the event. and i actually looked out atthem and started laughing. even now i'm laughing justthinking about it. and i had to just be honest. i said, i don't know why youasked me to speak to you. you're one of the greatest banksin the whole world, and you're among the greatestbankers in the whole world.
there were all these departmentheads and ceos and everything there. and i said, and you're askingme to speak to you? i have not had a bank accountand have not signed a check since 1969. they looked at me like i wasan alien from a distant universe, like howdo you survive? now i can't say to all of youthat i have never looked at google, because everyone has tolook at google, even people
without bank accounts. you see, whatever our strengthsand weaknesses may be, cultured humanity is whenwe honor and respect what a person can contribute, insteadof judging people according to what i have and what you don'thave, what i can do and what you can't do, where i'm fromand where you're not from, what religion i'm from andwhat you're not from. real love manifestsas compassion. real love manifests as havingcompassion with equal vision.
of course we have todiscriminate, but not an egoistic way. it's not that you go up to atiger and embrace it because we are one. that's foolishness. well, for most ofus it would be. we keep a distance. i was speaking last night. i lived in the himalayan jungleswith one yogi, and he
taught me that the leopardsand the snakes and the panthers, they're all around. you're sleeping undertrees in the jungle. and whether you're awake orasleep, they have greater power than you. if you feel that you are betterthan them, or if you have any fear of them,they will kill you. but if you see the sacredness oflife and honor and respect that, don't go startpetting the cobras.
give them their space, andthey'll give you your space. and believe it or not,it really works. but you know what i found? that it's much more difficultto do that with humans. because humans have reallycomplicated egos. animals are predictable. but that is our potential, andthat is how we could actually make a real differencewithin this world in whatever we're doing.
i am just so happy, sograteful i have this opportunity to be with all ofyou and to share what i have learned from my beloved guru,srila prabhupada, and from all my experiences in life. thank you very much. audience: do you differentiatebetween dogma and spirituality? and where do youdraw the line? and the second question is,you talk about us being
greedy, having negativeenergy. and the question i have is, anythoughts on why we were created that wayto begin with? why be created ill and thenbe commanded to be well? radhanath swami: can you saythat last question clearer? audience: why were we createdill, and then we're commanded to be well? radhanath swami: [chuckles] thank you.
there could be many definitionsof dogma. but essentially, whateverreligious or spiritual rituals or beliefs we have are reallymeant to be an aid to transform our hearts. just like, for example,you want to send a letter to someone. of course, these days this isnot a very relevant example. in the old days, when i grew up,we used to have envelopes. and we put the address on theenvelope, and we put the stamp
of the envelope, andthen we'd send it. nobody cares aboutthe envelope. they want to see the content ofwhat's inside the envelope. so our aspirations, ourgoodness, our will to be purified, our will to lovegod, our will to be an instrument of god's grace inthis world, that's what meditation is for. that's what ritual is for. it's a form in whichwe can communicate.
when we identify our religionwith the envelope and we don't really concern ourself withthe content of what is our character, what are we askingfor, what are we offering, what are we giving-- in spiritual life, the envelopeof whatever external forms may be there, it's for thepurpose of giving love and receiving love. but if the content in ourheart is envy or ego, arrogance, and that's what we'reusing the envelope of
our religious rituals for,that's not religion at all. then it becomes a very emptymisused form of dogma. that's one way toexplain that. as far as the second question,we are not created ill. the atman, the living forcewithin us is perfect. it is a part of god. as we said, it is eternal, fullof knowledge and full of bliss, beyond death,beyond birth. but we have free willwithin this world.
and according to the choices wemake, it not only creates a reaction, but it also creates aninternal inclination toward doing the same thing again. a crude example, most ofus are not born with an unbearable craving tosmoke cigarettes. you make the choice. it's not that people's shovecigarettes in your mouth. of course, people could be allaround you smoking, and you're inhaling it.
but you make a choiceat a certain time to smoke the cigarette. and as far as i have heard, thefirst couple cigarettes people smoke, usually theydon't like it at all. they're like [coughing]. but it's kind ofcool to do it. the movie stars do it, andmy idols do it, so i'm going to do it. and as you make that choice,the inclination to smoke
another one becomes moreand more and more. so we become habituated bythe choices we make. similarly, when we do good forothers, doing good for others is addicting. when we criticize other people,every time we choose to criticize someone, we becomemore habituated to respond to a situationthrough criticism. this is the laws of karma. whatever choices we make, notonly does it create reactions
as far as what comes to us inthis world, but it creates inclinations within us. so the greed and the arroganceand the envy and even the cruelties of this world, as wellas the goodness and the compassion and the forgiveness,these inclinations we have are verymuch due to how we have programmed ourself, byhow we have chosen to act in the past. and the present moment is howwe're programming the way we
experience and see the world forthe future, what is going to be our inclinations. you see, you can't change whatwe've done in the past. but whatever comes as areaction, we have the free will how we're goingto respond. if something negative comes andwe choose to respond in a positive way, then we arecreating positive karma. and not only that, but we willhave a greater inclination. there's a native american indianexample, which i think
very suitably addresses thisquestion, that there are two dogs within each of us. there's a good dog, andthere's a bad dog. the good dog represents ourdivine nature, forgiveness, humility, kindness, responsibleself-control, decency in how wedo our business. i know some of the wealthiestpeople. they earn their money withintegrity, and they spend it with compassion.
and they're as competitiveas anybody could be and successful as anybody can be,but they built on this foundation of love. you see, this bad dog, envyand anger and hatred and vengeance and greed andselfishness, and then the good dog is there, which isour good character. and they're both trying todemand our attention. i think we all havethat experience. for some people, that baddog really barks loud.
[barking] and the good dog,[whimpering]. which dog is goingto control us? which dog is going to barkthe loudest within us? it's the one we chooseto feed. real culture, real humanity isto learn the art in every situation, even if it'schallenging, to feed the good dog within us and neglectthe bad dog. we are inherently good.
we are inherently godly. to reorient ourself to our truenature, it's the greatest need for fulfillment within ourown lives, and it's the greatest need withinthe world. within our tradition, we chantthese mantras, or the beautiful sweet names of god. and the purpose of that issimply like a mirror. when you look in amirror, you're supposed to see yourself.
but when it's covered withdust, you see dust. when we clean the mirror ofthe heart through these beautiful spiritual practices,then we see the beauty of the love of our true nature, and wecould reflect that love in whatever we do. i'm so grateful. thank you so very, very much.
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