Transcription
Dharma is the way we used our freedom to think and to act in the past. The karma was not created for us out of nothing. We are responsible for it. If I got myself into a hole, I am responsible for getting out of the hole and then moving ahead. So that doesn't interact with the power of thought. What we get in life is a mix of our destiny and our free will actions. It's like you were dealt a hand of cards. Now you have to play with that hand. But how you play is all up to you.
[Music]
I'd like to welcome to the show Swami Mukananda. How you doing, Swami?
Namaste, Alex. Delighted to join you today and uh looking forward.
How did you find me?
I found you on the thing called YouTube. Uh, I've been admiring your work from a distance for a while and uh I reached out to you because I thought that your voice and your energy and what you're trying to do for the world would help my audience and hopefully, in my small way, extend what you're doing to possibly a different audience than you usually get. So I hope I can be of service.
Yeah. No, but actually, you made a mistake. Your show is called Next Level Show and today you've called the old level soul out here. Hopefully, the old level soul will help us new level souls to get up.
Try my best. So, Swami, my first question to you is, how would you define spirituality in today's modern world?
I define spirituality as having four aspects to it. First is self-awareness skills, where we understand who we are, what my values are, and what my higher goal is. That's the first dimension of spirituality. And the second dimension is universal awareness skills, where I understand my interconnectedness with all of creation and the laws of the universe that apply to me and to others, and my relevance to all of creation. And the third dimension of spirituality is self-mastery skills: your ability to keep your lower self in check and govern your life with your higher self. And the fourth dimension is professional mastery skills, where whatever your talents, your education, or your qualifications, you can utilize them to make a difference in this world, to serve others with. So spirituality is an inner journey, and it is at the essence of all the religious traditions of the world.
Let me ask you, because this is a question I get asked quite often. Is there a reason why we must walk the spiritual journey alone? Meaning, at the end of the day, we have to discover our own path and not be with anyone else. You know, because you hear of these stories of the yogis sitting in a cave for 40 years by themselves, or these great masters who walk the path, they walk them very often by themselves, and then they bring in groups of people to help and teach. Just curious.
That's right. External things can help us in this journey. But truly, spirituality is a journey within ourselves. So it is utilizing our inner resources, which is the mind and the intellect, to go within, to ornament our personality with virtues, to contemplate deeply on the meaning of things, and to focus on elevating the state of our mind. To achieve all these, various spiritualists, yogis, sages, they went into isolation so that the hum of the external world could be blocked out, and they could achieve the intensity that would bring about success in the spiritual path.
Interesting. Okay. Well, then let me ask you this. How can one balance material success with spiritual success? It seems to be counterintuitive in many ways.
Material success, if it is devoid of spiritual success, it can be a formula for disaster because we get so much, and it does not fulfill the quest within. The kind of happiness that our soul is seeking is never satiated by material success, no matter how much fame one may get, how much wealth one may get. Just yesterday, I was speaking to a billionaire, and he was telling me, "Pran, I got it all, and I found no happiness." And that is what took me on this spiritual path. Because spirituality puts it all in perspective, that ultimately, what do I truly want? And is this success that I'm looking for? What is the meaning and purpose of it in my life? Spirituality enables us to handle the vicissitudes. Today, one may get a lot of success and acclaim. The very next day, one may encounter adversities and maybe even defeat. To be able to take all these in stride and just carry on. So you may notice spiritual personalities that they are able to retain their inspiration at the same level irrespective of circumstances. If you take a look at the lives of the great sages in history, they did not have it easy. They had their share of challenges and difficulties, and yet they had the mind control to remain completely inspired and to not allow their happiness to be affected. What allowed it was their ability to disconnect from the outside. Which means that no matter what the circumstances, my mind is in my hands, and I can harbor in it the thoughts that I choose. And those who mastered this ability needed no keys from the outside. So spiritual success is the one that really counts in life because material success will all be left behind one day. Spiritual success is an eternal one. However, to tie both these together, once we start succeeding to some extent spiritually, then we want to share those successes with others. And when we don't find satisfaction merely in our own journey, we want to use whatever we have discovered to make a difference in others' lives. And that is where the material talents, abilities, position, or eminence can all be utilized in an attitude of service.
Beautiful answer, my friend. That's a beautiful answer. I hope that does get into somebody's mind, if you will. It plants that seed, if you will. Um, now, are there some practical methods or techniques you can recommend for individuals beginning their spiritual journey?
One of the ways to practice spirituality in the beginning is what you just mentioned, which is go into isolation. It doesn't require withdrawing into a cave or residing in the mountains. But let's say you build some time in your daily routine where you shut off the entire world and then use it to go into yourself. So the first thing to do is to develop self-awareness. Watch your thoughts. What is it that troubles me? Bring perspective to your life. Where am I today? I've been running, running, running. And where do I really wish to go? So self-awareness enables us to realize our shortcomings and the gap between where we are and where we wish to be. The second, I would suggest, is gather wisdom. In the earlier days, people would refer to sacred books, to holy texts, to gather wisdom. If they had spiritual mentors, they would reach out to them. Nowadays, we have a guru called YouTube. So, but feed your intellect with good wisdom. And a third tool, which of course is so popular, is a tool called meditation, which trains, helps us train our mind, helps us develop self-discipline, helps us practice to keep the higher self in charge. Beyond all these three is a tool which I consider to be more powerful, and that is, in my tradition, we call it *tapasya*. *Tapasya* is contemplation. If you take one piece of wisdom and contemplate deeply over it, it just creates a transformation. Now, for example, we all know anger is a bad thing. But when the provocation comes, we find we ourselves succumbing to it. And then later on, there's regret. Why didn't I say that? He is 20 years my elder. Why didn't I have more tolerance? In the moment, we forgot the knowledge, and the moment knowledge was forgotten, it became useless. So to benefit from wisdom, we need to keep it in our conscious awareness always. In fact, there's a verse in Sanskrit which says, "The moment a human being forgets the distinction between right and wrong, the human falls to the level of an animal." The mistakes are made. So constant awareness of that knowledge requires practice. All the talents and abilities we developed physically was a consequence of physical practice. But mental practice is 100x more beneficial, and most people are not tapping into mental practice. Mental practice is to bring a thought to yourself again and again and again until the neural networks get developed, and it becomes natural and automatic to you.
Beautiful. Now, what advice would you give to those struggling with self-doubt or with lack of purpose in their life?
I would keep these two things separate. Self-doubt, should I address that one first? Self-doubt is coming because of lack of self-knowledge. Most people don't have the self-knowledge. They are identifying the self with the body. The body is a bag of chemicals, and with all the benefits of modern science, the danger is of reductionist thinking, which science has failed to avoid. And that is why the scientific temper makes us think, "I'm this set of organs in a bag of flesh, blood, and bones called the body. That's all I am." So the consequence of thinking like that is then, "I am so tiny. I'm limited. I've got all these infirmities," and there is self-doubt. And if we could understand our spiritual nature, that is the soul nature, then we would discover that, "Oh my God, I have got this huge powerhouse within me that is waiting to be tapped into." So awareness, it was. I have heard this humorous story of a Native American in Oklahoma, who won a Rolls-Royce, and he brought it to his village. And when he would drive in the village, he was a very friendly soul. So he would turn to the left and speak to people on the main road, and then turn to the right, and sometimes turn all the way around. And yet, his car never had an accident. And the reason for this was that he never actually turned the ignition key. He had two horses pulling his Rolls. It had a 98 horsepower engine inside when he was unaware of it. So lack of awareness is leading to sadness. And then, the other aspect of it, with lack of purpose in life. Lack of purpose, I think, is very important. Real happiness in life comes from discovering a higher purpose beyond ourselves and aligning with it. It is the happiness that needs nothing from the outside. The people are chasing pleasures in material objects. They get the objects that gratify their senses, but the thirst continues. It is like a fire that is burning, and you're seeking to quench it by putting fuel onto it. In Sanskrit, we have a quote: "These desires will never be fulfilled by their satiation. They will only get further inflamed." So this is the pursuit of happiness in material things. Whereas happiness lies within us, and one key to discovering it is finding that higher purpose in your life. In the Western culture, Martin Luther King Jr. put it so well when he said, "If you have not found the purpose you are willing to die for, your life is not worth living." So to somebody who's looking for purpose in life, I would say, cultivate faith in the benevolence of the universe. This universe is so astonishing, from the tiniest hedge-bone to the biggest galaxy, and there's a miracle in every atom of creation. So let's have faith that I have come into being as a prospect of creation for a higher purpose, to discover my purpose. Let me keep on enhancing my knowledge. Let me ponder over the bigger questions in life: Who am I? What is why is all this in this world? And it's possible that quest for knowledge will lead us to the higher purpose.
Beautiful, my friend. Now, I wanted to kind of dive into your book, "The Power of Thoughts," because it is something that really touches me because, as I've discovered in my path, the power of thoughts is very, very powerful. So, from your point of view, can you explain the concept of the power of thoughts from a spiritual perspective and how it influences our lives?
External circumstances, only a small aspect of them are under our control. What we have complete control over is our thoughts. Now, this is an internally generated resource. We are mass-producing 60,000 of them every day. The only problem is that the quality is appalling, and the quantity is uncontrolled. These thoughts are making us unhappy. So many people have a problem of compulsive negative thinking, where they have these thoughts that come uninvited, that rob them of their happiness, that are unproductive, and they realize that they can't, they are kind of victims to these negative thoughts. So in the book, I have started off by explaining that, look, thoughts are directly linked to your happiness. If you want to be a happier person, just change your thoughts. That's all that's needed. Now, for example, one person came back home, a newly married husband, and told his wife, "Today is the best day in my life." And his wife said, "What happened?" He said, "I had a road accident, and my BMW has got smashed." She said, "What? I knew how attached you were. Your BMW got smashed, and you say it's the best day in your life?" He said, "You know, I am alive. I only had a little scratch on my small finger. So what of the BMW? It'll get replaced." Now, it's a question of the thoughts that he kept in his mind. He could have as well kept negative thoughts and said, "This is the worst day." But merely by choosing the right thoughts, he is a happy person. Likewise, thoughts determine our effectiveness at work, and they also impact the environment. We don't realize it. Now, again, with all respects to the scientific perspective, there's a huge debate going on on the nature of thoughts itself. What are thoughts? And most scientists have reached the conclusion that they are merely electrochemical impulses in the neurons of our brain. So they have reduced them to electrical chemical energy. However, spiritualists hold a different view, and they say that thoughts are subtle forms of energy. The actions going on in our brain are only reflective of the thought. But to conclude that thoughts are merely this is like hearing the roar of a lion and saying that a lion is the roar. The lion is the source of the roar. So there are subtler forms of energy, and thought energy is material energy, but subtler than last ones. If we can tap into it, we just get access to a completely wonderful dimension of our life. So it starts off by realizing that I am not my thought. Now, the problem is that so many people are so enmeshed in their thoughts that when the thoughts are negative, they think, "I am negative." When the thoughts are depressed, they think, "I'm in a bad mood." Whereas, if they could create a gap, they would see that, "Oh, my mind is playing mischief. If my mind is creating negative thoughts, I will choose not to associate with them." This is called mindfulness in the Western tradition, you know, where you start watching your thought. And it's called witness consciousness in my tradition, where you become a witness to your thoughts, and they immediately lose their hold, their venom. And then you can decide, "Okay, I will now do intentional thinking. I will not let thinking happen to me. I will make thinking happen." Then we open up that potential.
Yes. Right. So, Mike, so that's all beautiful. I love everything you've said. Um, can you explain though the concept of negative bias? Because in many ways, aren't we as human beings programmed from generational to think negatively as a survival mechanism? Why we always look at the negative? There could be a thousand negatives or a thousand positives, but if you get a thousand great reviews, but the negative review is the one you look at, it's kind of pre-built in us unless you do many of the things that you're saying, which is become conscious of it and aware of it. Is that fair to say?
Very correct, Alex. Negativity bias is the vulnerability of all of us in the human body because it's the way we have been physiologically programmed, and like you said, that it is coming from generations. Now, take a look at a fish in the sea. It has got positive stimuli, food that it could eat, and it's got negative stimuli, the big fish coming to eat it. If it misses the negative, life is over, pretty much. If it misses the positive, there will be many more chances. So nature programmed it to have this negativity bias, you know. So, like for example, I have noticed this of myself as well. When I take a walk, and all of a sudden, I cross a house where a dog barks unexpectedly, and I see this physiological response arising, which I have to put it down, a response of fear, you know. But that is the way we've been hardwired, that you have to suppress it. So the negativity bias comes naturally to us. But to work against it is the freedom that we possess as human beings. We have our feet on the earth and the head in the heavens. We are the only creatures who are able to hold our spine erect. And so we have this lower instinct, and we have the higher aspirations that tell us, you know, you need to be better. So that freedom of thought needs to be exercised. Initially, it may be a little difficult, as the mind wants to keep its grip. But once we start denying the mind, we realize that all we need to do is a little positive reframing. The glass may be half empty, but it's also half full. And when we do it again and again and again, then that neural pathway gets tested, where from a negative thinker, we become a positive thinker. So in every situation, the positivity then comes as second nature.
Now, you mentioned neural pathways. Can you talk a little bit about neuroplasticity, which I think is really relevant to what you're talking about?
Neuroplasticity is a facility we have where we can retrain our brain. So the brain is endowed with this ability that when a certain action is repeated, or certain patterns of thoughts are repeated, the neurons are fired up to facilitate that thought or that action. And repeating of the pattern trains the brain to create networks or circuits that make that work easier in the future. So if, for example, I kept on thinking, "What will happen in the future? What will happen in this future?" I became a compulsive worrier. Now, somebody comes and says, "I am a compulsive worrier. What do I do?" I say, "You know, that's because you practiced it so much." So the fact is locked in those circuits. But neuroplasticity gives us the ability that you look, there is infinite potential if we are willing to have to put in the right practice. We have the freedom to change our circuitry completely. I was reading about William James. He was the father of American philosophy, and he struggled with depression for a major portion of his life, and that put him in touch with his ability to change things. And one of his strongest principles he enunciated was that no matter what the condition, we have the freedom to choose our thoughts, and to utilize that freedom is very important.
Now, how does the process, how does the law of attraction or manifestation relate to the power of thought? Because this is, those are two words that are thrown around, those concepts of the law of attraction and manifestation. What, how does that relate to the power of thought and creating our own reality?
The universe is designed to bring the soul to the next level. That next level, no pun intended. Everything in the universe is encouraging the soul to move ahead, and our growth is directly correlated to the nature of our thoughts, for which means that I am where my thoughts are. If my thoughts are dismal and abject, that means spiritually I'm still bogged down. And if my thoughts have become noble and sublime and selfless, that means I have achieved a measure of success. So our thoughts' elevation is reflective of the elevation of our soul, and the whole universe is conniving for it. So when in our thoughts, we start harboring positive aspirations that are in accordance with what the universe wants, our own unfoldment, etc., the universe responds by creating conditions, providing opportunities where we can find fulfillment for our aspirations, for the service, the work that we seek to do, or for opportunities of growth. So these things come about, and the unlocking happens when we create those aspiring thoughts, and then the universe responds. But law of attraction becomes misunderstood when we say, "Okay, I just thought I should have a car. I should have a car." And the universe responded with a car. The universe could as well respond with a key. Why are you answering these desires?
[Laughter]
So then, can you explain then what the law of attraction truly is and what is the misunderstanding of it?
Law of attraction needs to be understood in its position with respect to the purpose of whole of creation. So when we have that perspective that this is a benevolent universe, and if I wish to go to the next level, the universe will definitely respond with opportunity. So let me hold the flame of aspiration strongly within myself. Now, the misunderstanding is that I use this law to attract worldly things to myself. Literally, it is possible the universe may respond. There is a thing called beginner's luck, where, you know, the universe says, "Okay, you are trying a little bit of mind management. Let me encourage you on the path by giving you a lollipop so that you practice it further." And then the same practice of law of attraction, you'll reach a dead end and realize there's more to it. I need to tweak my sense of purpose and look at things from a bigger perspective, and then the journey will become more fulfilling. So those questions are then left to the universe, which desires it will fulfill as per the law of attraction, and which it will not.
Well, let me ask you this. With the power of thought, do we have the ability to control our own reality based on our thoughts? If we believe that the reality that we're in is the dharma, is the illusion, as the aborigines call it, the dream that we are constantly almost being able to manipulate our own reality based on the power of our own thoughts?
There is an objective reality and there is a subjective reality. The objective reality is the world as it is. So if there is a flower, let's say in my hand, that it is a flower, I cannot transform it into a butterfly merely by thinking. Correct? But I can paint my subjective reality. I can choose to see it as an obnoxious object. I can choose to see it as the king of flowers. I can choose to see it as a dimension of the divine. So as we progress on the spiritual path, our subjective reality just keeps on glowing. It's like it goes to higher and higher levels. And realize fears are those who actually see the divine everywhere. So that is where the journey would take us, where our subjective reality would say the whole world is one with the divine.
Well, maybe I would rephrase it. Do our thoughts bring us what we think about? So if we think of negative, negative, negative, negative things are attracted to us. If we think positive, positive, positive, positive things are attracted to us. Is that a fair statement?
That is a fair statement. We are, when we are, let's say, when I'm harboring sinful thoughts, that attracts a bad destiny to me. Now, people may say, "This person became a victim of circumstances," but actually, he or she attracted those circumstances because of the sinful thought that nature gave a rope to having ourselves because of the thoughts that we had. So it is true that by thoughts, we do attract circumstances to ourselves, not on a one-to-one correspondence because that's not the purpose of creation, but in a manner that would be instructive to us. Sometimes creation wants us, allows us to make mistakes so that we learn.
So then what part does karma play in that? Because if karmic situations are brought into our lives for our lessons or are part of our quote-unquote soul plan, then how do our power of thought interact with that? We're getting deeper now. We're getting a little bit more complicated. Okay.
Yes. Dharma is the way we used our freedom to think and to act in the past. So karma was not created for us out of nothing. It is the way we used our free will in the past, and we are responsible for it. If I got myself into a hole, I am responsible for getting out of the hole and then moving ahead. So that doesn't interact with the thought, the power of thought, because if something negative comes to us karmically, and we're thinking positive thoughts, those are two separate things. Correct?
Right. So if you want to go into greater detail out here, Alex, let me take you a little deeper out here. Karma has got three parts to it. So every soul has got three karmas attached. The technical terms, and I'll give their explanations, is *sanchita karma*, *prarabdha karma*, and *kriyamana karma*. So what is *sanchita karma*? It is the stockpile of our karmas of endless lifetimes. That everything we did, you can say, "I don't remember," but creation says, "You did it. You are responsible for it. It is there in your account." And every time we are sent into the world, one aspect of the *sanchita karma* is taken out and given to us. Look, this portion of your doings, you have to bear with in this life. So that becomes our destiny, or *prarabdha karma*, that is fixed. You cannot change it. That is what determined which part of the world we'll be born in, who our parents will be, etc.
Mhm.
But at every moment, we have a free will, and actions that we perform with our free will are called *kriyamana karma*. So what we get in life is a mix of our destiny and our free will actions. It's like you were dealt a hand of cards. Now you have to play with that hand. But how you play is all up to you.
And there was three. What was the third?
So the first was your stockpile of endless lifetimes. Yes. Right. And then what you got out of it in this life, that became your destiny. That is the second one. Okay. Got it. And the third one is your.
And then what's the third one?
Free will. Third one is with your free will, whatever you're doing.
I've never heard it explained like that. That really is good. So then the power of your thoughts kind of are the free will aspect of it? Is the power the free.
See, by your destiny, you may be a compulsive pessimist or a hardcore optimist. A hardcore optimist could mess it all up in the present by repeatedly choosing to bring negative thoughts. Yeah. So we could, whatever we have come with in this world, we could build on it, or we could bring ourselves down. That's the choice that we make with our thoughts. So the destiny will put those thoughts in our mind, but we can always twist it, and then we become negative or positive thinkers.
And just to dive in a little deeper into karma, because I find it so fascinating, and it is a concept that is discussed so often, and many times incorrectly. When the soul decides to incarnate, this is their bank account of karma that they have to deal with. And you don't deal with all of the karma in one lifetime. It could be spread apart, depending on what that is. Now, you don't have to reincarnate, as I've been told before. If you choose to come down here again, because there is free will, this is what you want to actually clean up in your bank account as a soul for your own evolution. Is that correct?
To some extent. Only thing is, I am not convinced that the choice is in our hand, and I am not convinced that we have the freedom what to choose and what to not to choose. If I had the choice, why would I ever come in this world, you know, with all the mess around? So this choice is made by the universe, that you need to go down. You are not there as yet. You need to work more on your evolutionary journey. And likewise, what we need to work on in this life is also not determined by the soul. It is determined by creation, that these are the lessons, because the soul is in ignorance. The soul is unaware. If the soul had to decide, it may make wrong decisions. "I need to have a great destiny in Las Vegas." The creation says, "No."
Yes.
I will say no. Many people would say that they would want that kind of destiny.
So how do you utilize the power of thought to have a deeper connection with the divine, to enhance our spiritual experience and journey?
The connection with the divine is always with the mind. We could be in a holy place. We could be in a house of worship. We could be putting on sacred marks and holy clothes and be no closer to the divine. Ultimately, it is the mind, and the mind alone, which counts. That is why all the great sages, they always said that, look, it's not a matter of what you say with your mouth. The prayers that you are uttering, they are all helpful, but what really counts is the mind. So the closer our mind connects with the divine, the closer we find ourselves to the divine. And there are tools and techniques to bring our mind closer. For example, we have various forms of yoga. So yoga, in the Western world, has become understood as a form of physical postures for good health. But truly, that is a superficial understanding. It was the third limb of an eightfold system called Ashtanga Yoga. And then there is Jnana Yoga, the yoga of knowledge. And there's Karma Yoga, the yoga of action. And then there's Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of love. But that is the one that I practice, where you use this emotion of love to connect with the divine.
Beautiful. Now, can you discuss the concept of, and please forgive me, *sankalpa*, or the intention setting, related to the power of thought?
The intention is what spirituality is about. We may be doing so many things, but the divine peeps inside and says, "What is your intention?" Are you doing it for material reward? Are you doing it because of the acclaim that you hope you will receive? Are you doing it for self-fulfillment? Or are you doing it for My pleasure? So on the spiritual journey, we have to keep on refining our intention, which initially was all about self-seeking, maybe gratification of the senses, and then maybe security, and so on. So to the extent to which we can purify our intention, to that extent we have become spiritual. So it would apply to every activity that we do. Now, we have a technique called Karma Yoga. It's very interesting. Karma Yoga means that you do your work, you do your actions, and still remain in union with the divine. So yoga means union with the divine. That union of the individual consciousness with the divine supreme consciousness, that union is yoga, and there are systems of achieving that union. And one of them is Karma Yoga, which says you do your works, but you stay in union with the divine. Now, how would that be? It would happen when the intention behind every work becomes one of offering the fruits to the divine. "Whatever I'm doing is for the pleasure of the divine." When that intention becomes constant and incessant, then one would be called a yogi. So one to be spiritual, one doesn't have to withdraw into a monastery. The sacred book of my tradition, the Bhagavad Gita, it says to carry on with all your works. You may be an administrator, you may be a king, you may be a business person, or whatever. You carry on with all your works, but keep on changing the intention until, alongside with working, your mind is constantly in remembrance of the divine. Then the intention would be selfless.
Can you discuss the role of affirmations and visualizations in regards to harnessing the power of thought?
These are powerful tools. So, I first, let me start off with affirmations. Affirmations is a tool that programs our subconscious. So the thoughts are arising from the mind, which means the mind is like the factory of the thought. Now, if we want to have better thoughts, we want to have a better mind. This mind has got two aspects. One is the conscious aspect, the conscious mind, and the second is the subconscious mind, which is a major portion of it, but of which we are not aware, as most of our attitudes, our habitual patterns are all coming from the subconscious. When we wish to improve our thoughts, we'd like to make the subconscious our friend, and to do that, we use these affirmations, which means with our conscious mind, we keep on repeating a message which goes into the subconscious and thereby programs it. So, for example, as a schooler, in school, when I had to go before the audience and speak, they used to start experiencing nervousness, and then I would speak to myself, "Don't get nervous, don't get nervous, it's all right, everything is fine." Then I find the mind would get settled, and I would be able to do it. And now, when I studied mind management, they realized what I was doing was I was using this tool called affirmation. So that programs our subconscious. And the second one is visualization. This is even more powerful because a picture is worth how much? And that is why the pictures would impact our subconscious very deeply. And these two tools are very useful in our spiritual journey. That is why spiritual seekers worldwide have used affirmations in the form of prayers, in the form of chants, in the form of mantras, or simply taking holy names, sacred names. But even more is the visualization. And that is why the form of meditation which I teach is called *Dhyana* meditation. *Dhyana* meditation is a technique where we use the power of visualization to train our mind or to connect with the divine. So we have the five senses. These senses reside in the mind in the subtle form. That is why in your dream, with your eyes closed, you're still seeing, and still hearing, and still smelling. So the mind contains the five gross senses in the subtle form, and in this technique of visualization meditation, you use the subtle senses to create imagery to program life.
Beautiful. Beautiful. Now, the one thing that we all have problems with, and we've talked about it a little bit in this conversation, is negative thoughts and the monkey brain, the inner critic. Any techniques or advice that you could give people to silence that, transform that into something that would be helpful on their journey as opposed to something that brings them down?
Yes, Alex. In the book, I have referred to a three-step formula. The first is to become aware of these, dilute them. The second is substitution, and the third is sublimation. What is dilution? When you find these negative thoughts coming, you will become aware of these negative thoughts because of certain characteristics. First is, they come uninvited. You know, somebody said that my mind is just doesn't like to take breaks in the weekend. It goes into overtime. The second is that these thoughts are, they rob us of our happiness. They don't do anything good to us. And the third is that they are compulsive, that we don't want them, and yet we find they are coming. So when we find that such thoughts are coming, the first step now is to distance yourself from the thought. So realize that I am not the thought. My mind has created this. The mind, it's a monkey mind. It's going to create good thoughts and bad thoughts and everything. So I have no obligation to accept every thought which my mind offers. Dilute your distance yourself from the thought. And the moment we do that, we find that it loses its venom. You know, it's like birds flying in the air. Okay, they're going by. But the moment we adopt it, "Oh, I thought like this. My God, how come I thought this? I'm such a bad guy, and why can't I think better?" Now the thought has become stronger and stronger and stronger. So dilution is the first step. And the second is substitute it. Challenge the basis of the thought. For example, if it is a thought of fear, or if let's say it's a thought of unhappiness. "I have got, don't have it going well in my life." You challenge the basis of it. So why am I thinking like this? I have got this, this, this is going well in my life. So then replace the negative thought with a positive one. So we have to do it per force. And then the third step is sublimation, where you make it a repeated process until the neuroplasticity kicks in, and it becomes part of the flow of the mind, just like you have, because you just exert such happiness in the way you speak. The neuroplasticity has been working on you for many years.
I see. I don't know about that.
Now, my friend, I'm going to ask you a few questions I ask all of my guests. Um, what is your definition of living a fulfilled life?
Alex, to put it very simply, I consider a fulfilled life as one in which you do good, be good, and feel good. Ultimately, it's all about feeling good. We want to be happy. But the happiness we are seeking is coming when you're doing good. When you have the sense of purpose and you're investing, so when you're doing the best that you can, and in the process, we realize that doing the best I can is not so much a matter of my external skills. I need to work on myself. I need to, I can't be a fake. I need to actually improve myself. So the urge comes to be good, to be the best version of myself. So when we, in our life, make it our goal to do the best I can, to do the best, it's not that to do this much, just the best that I can, and then to try and be the best that I can. So, and one day, somebody cannot go from a sinner to a saint, but if I'm trying for my delta, I'm trying to be the best I can, and that is the way when we feel the best. So that is why the slogan I tell people is, "Do good, be good, and feel good."
Beautiful. Beautiful. What advice, if you had an opportunity to go back to your younger self as a little boy? What advice would you give him?
Why did you waste so many years pleasures, wasting time, and took so long to come to this wisdom? You were so foolish. But maybe, you know, I don't regret because it was a part of the journey. Of course, you have to make mistakes to know, have to fall, learn the art for better walking.
Fair enough. Uh, how do you define God?
How do I define? Ah, God is beyond all definitions because His universe is infinite. In my tradition, we have the multiverse theory. I said there is not the only universe. There are infinite universes, and all of them are one-fourth of the aspect of God's creation. And then there is all this universe consisting of 100 billion galaxies with each galaxy having 100 billion stars. Like this, there are infinite universes, which is one-fourth of God's creation. And then the three-fourths is the spiritual dimension. So the source of all creation is so infinite that all attempts at giving definitions would be like holding a torch up to the sun. But when people ask me this question, I say, let's keep it simple. God is He who has created this world. Now, all fights begin. "My God is big. Your God is big." It's all, it's a she. It's not a he. What are you saying? I worship God as a he and a she, as Krishna and Radha, as Rama and Sita, Shiva and Parvati. He's got both the dimensions.
Fair enough. And lastly, my friend, what is the ultimate purpose of life?
To develop selfless divine love. Now that you brought the word God into the conversation, to develop selfless divine love for God, which will lead to God realization. The moment we become God-realized, we will be out of this illusion, we will be illumined by that infinite divine knowledge, divine love, and divine bliss. That contact between the individual consciousness and infinite consciousness will happen at that stage of thought.
And Swami, where can people find out more about you, your amazing work, and where they can pick up this book, "The Power of Thoughts"?
Alex, I divide my time. I spend six months in my native country, which is India, and I travel to about 50 cities there. And for the rest of the six months, I travel all over the US, and I conduct week-long yoga, meditation, spiritual programs, workshops in about 20 cities of the US. In fact, tomorrow itself, I'm starting off my tour and will be here for six months. If anybody's in the US, say you're welcome to meet me in person. I also conduct many weekend retreats for people who want immersive experiences. My headquarters is in Dallas. It's a beautiful Radha Krishna temple where we have a week-long family camp in the month of July. And if somebody would like to reach me online, they could visit my website, which is jk yog, jk yog.org, and they'll get more information from there.
And my friend, do you have any parting messages for our audience?
Parting messages. Well, Alex, my parting message is, "Next Level Soul." I was so excited to see the topic. I'd like to congratulate you on this endeavor of yours. And to all those who follow you on this podcast, great job. Keep it going. It's a wonderful endeavor, my friend.
I appreciate you, Swami, for this conversation and for all the amazing work you do to awaken souls around the world, my friend. Thank you again.
Thank you so much, Alex. It was a pleasure meeting you online. I look forward to meeting you someday in person as well.
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