Breaking Trail

Society has become so radicalized, racially oriented, ‘us’ versus ‘them’. We are in dire need of absolute truth, an absolute platform to stand on, that can lead us in a direction of unity and true respect. The truth is that we all have different roles to fill in this world. We all have an equal intrinsic value as spirit souls - but just like in a car, every part of a car is not equal. They have different roles to play for the optimal function of the entire system, that ultimately is meant to make spiritual growth possible.

Highlights:

• The different roles of male & female
• An absolute perspective to end conflict
• Team spirit is the greatest enemy of mankind
• Going beyond ‘we’ and ‘them’
• Blind faith versus blind scepticism
• True knowledge & education is necessary
• We need an absolute vision, not temporary vision
• Being open minded, accepting what we can digest at this point in time

Recorded on April 26.

“Your diet is not only what you eat. It's what you watch, what you listen to, what you read, the people you hang around… be mindful of the things you put into your body emotionally, spiritually, and physically.” What do we ‘eat’ with our consciousness? Which mode of material nature, or which influence, do we let ourselves be affected by? And what is the result?

In the second part of our discussion on the psychological influences that control us, we dive into a more practical discussion on how to affect how we are being influenced. And how we can live a life directed towards cultivating the mode of goodness. The modes of passion and ignorance will always lead us into hurt and suffering, but mode of goodness can lift us up and lead us to a sincere search for the absolute truth. The mode of goodness brings light and wisdom, peace, harmony and deep insights into our lives. And by the principles of the yoga lifestyle we can place ourselves under the mode of goodness. Proper diet, lifestyle and good association can help us to invite the mode of goodness into our lives.

It’s up to us, and the choices we make. Remember: we can make this change in our lives - the change that is worth making.

Highlights:

• (1:34) About the 'light and fast' trend when going into nature
• (10:58) Everything material is in one of the three material modes, but goodness is the best choice
• (21:13) Why less is often more
• (33:55) The basis in any spiritual process is accepting a higher authority
• (47:14) The importance of association; if you hang around criminals, you become a criminal
• (59:29) Make a change somewhere, start something different
• (1:24:19) "Be mindful of the things you put into your body; emotionally, spiritually and physically"

Recorded on April 12, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/13

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Have you ever heard about three modes of material nature? Probably not, because most of the western people do not even know about its existence and influence upon us. Sattva-guna - mode of goodness, Raja-guna - mode of passion and Tama-guna - mode of ignorance — these are three different forces of material nature, that are influencing us every day. The food that we eat, the way that we interact with others, our likes and dislikes, our tendencies and desires are all under influence of these three modes of nature. Sometimes we are under the influence of the mode of goodness, sometimes passion takes over and sometimes ignorance creeps into our life. But can have a control over the influence of these modes upon ourselves.

By learning about the characteristics of each mode of nature you will be able to find out which mode is currently covering you and work against its negative influence. The knowledge of yoga is not only giving us complete information on this subject of three gunas, but it is also giving us solution how to get out from their clutches.

Highlights:

• (5:08) All livings entities have intelligence
• (11:23) The 3 modes of material nature - goodness, passion, and ignorance. If we know how we are being influenced, we can do something about it.
• (37:34) How do we use our intelligence? The purpose is to acquire knowledge.
• (46:33) We don't know what it's gonna take for any individual, including ourselves, to change things in our life; story of Ruben's friend
• (56:38) 4 principles to bring us into the mode of goodness
• (1:13:26) If you have real knowledge, you know the escape route

Recorded on April 5, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/12

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Did you know that stress is recognized as the #1 proxy killer disease today? The American Medical Association has noted that stress is the basic cause of more than 60% of all human illness and disease.

Statistics are cruel: 77 percent of people experience stress that affects their physical health. 73 percent of people have stress that impacts their mental health. And about 33 percent of people report feeling extreme stress and 32% said they had had suicidal thoughts and feelings because of stress.

In many cases depression and anxiety follow the longterm stress. Anger and violence caused by stress fructify in uncontrolled attacks and school shootings like recent Boulder massacre, that shows how destructive the stress and constant pressure can be.

Unfortunately we cannot change the stressful world around us, BUT we can find a secret spot where there is a shelter (even in the eye of the storm). With the process of meditation originating from the yoga tradition we can dive deeper - like into the depth of the ocean where there is always peace and balance - even if there is a storm or Tsunami on the surface, divers are safe and peaceful in the depth. So if we will dive deep enough into meditation, even big problems of life will become just like a blip on the radar. But it is up to us if we want to try, if we want to take this step.

Highlights:

Recorded on March 29, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/11

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Why is it that bad things happen to seemingly good people? Can I change my destiny, or am I predestined to follow a certain path in life? What did Jesus mean when he said “As you sow, so shall you reap”? In today’s episode, we look closer at karma, destiny, and the role of our free will.

You’ll first hear Balakhilya give a thorough explanation of the term ‘Karma’. Then we look closer at a misunderstanding that many people have; namely that we voluntarily choose to be born in a certain life situation, and that we do that do learn certain lessons. We speak about a truly compassionate person will use the idea of karma is the most beneficial way, teaching people how to live to not experience future suffering. Like Balakhilya says, “Real compassion is a condition of the heart”.

You’ll hear about how Balakhilya himself was a vegetarian, but used to serve meat stakes to customers in a restaurant - not seeing how everyone related to the meat (killing the animal, transporting it, serving eat, etc) gets equal future suffering, or karma for such activities. We discuss how we can make progress in life, which actually means going beyond both bad and good karma. Getting off the wheel of birth and death is the aim.

We also talk about how one can make progress toward changing one’s life, and the necessity of actually purifying the heart to make that possible.

Highlights:

• (05:32) Karma means action; what goes around, comes around
• (10:12) Why bad things may happen to innocent people
• (20:56) The connection between karma and food; Balakhilya shares his story of serving meat at a restaurant
• (33:19) Change may be hard, but how to make it happen?
• (42:26) Both good and bad karma are undesirable
• (58:04) The solution that purifies the heart, not only removes karma
• (1:26:08) If you want the achieve the benefit, you've got to desire to know the truth

Recorded on February 15, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/10

Maybe you are already interested in making a spiritual journey, or maybe you are feeling stressed and would just like to improve your physical and mental situation? In whichever case, meditation is the method by which we can approach a more harmonious life. Less worry, more happy. But there are also huge misunderstandings regarding meditation, that we will investigate in today’s talk. You’ll learn all the ‘How’s and ‘Why’s of meditation, so that you can apply these techniques in your own life and reap all the material, psychological, and spiritual benefits.

Highlights:

• (06:05) Mantras are not material sounds, they come from the spiritual world and therefore comes with spiritual power
• (10:42) The goal is not just to be peaceful, but to be purified of contamination—uncovering our natural qualities.
• (41:54) Meditation with Gauranga pranayama, the highest form of pranayama
• (1:01:31) Is a conscious effort required on our part, or do we just relax?
• (1:07:01) Japa yoga meditation class. This type of meditation uses beads to help engage our all our senses in the meditation, thus making it easier to focus on the mantras.
• (1:24:16) Sankirtan, a group meditation where we sing the mantras together

Recorded on March 22, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/9

Have you ever wondered what ‘life’ actually is? Still today, modern science has no clear idea of what ‘life’ means. Actually, life and matter are two completely different energies. Life is always alive, and matter is always dead. In today’s episode we look closer at the difference between matter and life, something that gives us the opportunity to truly understand questions such as “How can I truly feel alive?”. Understanding life itself also provides a solid foundation for coming to know who we are, and what our life is really for.

In our talk we speak about how a robot hitchhiked across Canada, the dangers of artificial intelligence, and how we can develop tolerance toward the imperfect situation we’re in in this world. Balakhilya explains how what we are actually looking for to feel life, is love (and we are constantly looking for more extreme ways to prove ourselves externally, to prove that we are worth something). We end the discussion by talking about how meditation can bring us back to life.

Highlights:

Recorded on March 15, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/8

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In today’s world, so many things pass as ‘spiritual’. But what does real spirituality actually mean, and what is the result of engaging in psychedelics, kundalini yoga, or thinking ‘I am everything’? In today’s talk we start off by discussing something Balakhilya’s dad told him in regards to intoxication, namely ‘If you don’t start anything you don’t have to quit’. Actually, all bona-fide spiritual processes teach refraining from intoxication as a prerequisite for spiritual development.

We speak about what can be the result of using psychedelics, how kundalini yoga can help us experience our true spiritual nature, and how we inherently and eternally need a loving relationship. From there Balakhilya explains the 2 ways to acquire knowledge, how self-satisfaction is the solution to the environmental crisis, and the path to get the ultimate, natural ‘high’. You’ll also hear Balakhilya explain the meaning of the mantras we are using and why we use those.

Highlights:

• (3:10) If you don’t start something, you never have to quit
• (8:27) Taking drugs doesn’t open spiritual doors
• (14:47) The difference between physical, mental and spiritual
• (35:50) Descending process and Bhakti yoga, approaching big nature - respect the mountain and the mountain may allow you to summit
• (44:00) Drugs to escape unhappiness: negation of the negative. Problem is a lack of real love.
• (55:00) Start by learning from our faults and bad habits, can't start perfect.
• (1:12:00) 'We worry about how we should leave a better planet for our kids, but we don't worry about leaving better kids for the planet'
• (1:21:51) About the famous surfer who had a massive wipeout, ending up with 11 hours a day rehab just to surf again

Recorded on March 8, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/7

Health and vitality — who doesn’t want to have good health? We all do. So let’s talk about how to balance our bodies and minds simply through our food and lifestyle choices. It’s actually simple and easy to start a healthy lifestyle. The ancient Vedic wisdom gives us amazing insights into how the body actually works, and how we can live our lives to achieve real balance and vitality. It’s possible for us all. Balakhilya explains this and more in this podcast. Tune in to find out more about vegetarian food, the body as a machine, organic food, mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing and more.

• (4:18) Ayurveda — The number 1 health system
• (8:42) Balakhilya's healthy life story (being a vegetarian)
• (20:21) Food and diet, stress, physical & mental health, exercise, walking and nature
• (40:40) Nature's timer — When to exercise, meditate, work and sleep? And what happens when we don't follow this system?
• (54:57) Balakhilya's daily routines
• (1:04:40) Good health — for what?
• (1:07:18) «Simple living, high thinking». We can't start with perfection

Recorded on March 1, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/6

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Death can be the most painful and scary experience we face in our life. It can be the death of family members, friends, lovers or even our pets. And it also brings with it a lot of fear, especially of our own death, which is always there lurking in the back of our minds. Still, about 70% of us have never had a conversation about death. Can you imagine? And 60% of us would want to have such a conversation.

• (1:47) We deny the reality of death because we want to be comfortable
• (12:50) If we don't know who we are, we stumble around in the darkness
• (21:34) Balakhilya's experiences of death when he was a hunter
• (26:16) About the documentary 'Surviving Death'
• (38:24) Quotes from the Bhagavad-gita about death
• (55:00) How to help a person in a dog body
• (1:02:11) How Balakhilya's parents left this world
• (1:24:24) If you know the truth, death has no sting

Recorded on February 22, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/5