In plain words
The Viśuddha cakra is connected with the principle of space. Sound turns into speech only through the influence of this principle. Then the Ājñā cakra reveals the jīva's true principle itself. There the workings of the five prāṇas shine out as one. After that, the Sahasrāra. It shines as the support of all the centres and the final resting place of all the threads.
In the spine, at the place of the Anāhata cakra (the place from the 9th ring to the 12th ring), is the principle of the jīva. As it is said, ‘shining with a streak of lightning in the midst of the dark rain-cloud’, it dwells there like a flash of lightning. It is the very form of prajñā. ‘Prajñānaṃ brahma’: so it is the principle of Brahman itself. To progress on the path of yoga, control of the senses and the restraint of the movements of the citta are both absolutely necessary. But that is a victory very hard to win. A great many who met defeat in such an attempt are going about as atheists. The senses and the movements of the citta can be made to move along the right path, but controlling them is not a thing ordinary people can do. Śama, dama, uparati, titikṣā, śraddhā, samādhāna. Practising these six paths is not easy for people of the world.
What is spread about today as the practice of yoga is only bodily exercise. That is not yoga. It is a sādhana for health, that is all. It is only the care of the body made of the five elements. It is one way of putting right such instruments as the body, the Manas and the Buddhi, that is all. But to win the principle of the Ātma, you need the principle of Prema. The strings of the vīṇā sound the seven notes and give delight. The strings of prāṇa, through the notes of Prema, give the experience of the Ātma. None of those who have gained the experience of the Ātma ever set about learning the path of yoga. Words do not come to them to tell it to others. The very vision of Advaita is Jñāna. It is not possible to teach it and bring it into the experience of others.
A devotee went to his guru and prayed, ‘Graciously give me some teaching.’ He told him to repeat the mantra ‘Om Namo Nārāyaṇa’ and so be saved. The very moment the disciple set out, he called him back again: ‘When you do japa of the mantra, a shape is needed. For dhyāna a form is needed. Keep the form of Viṣṇu before you,’ he taught him. After that he called the disciple back again: ‘You must remember one single shape. A second must not come into the citta. Above all, the form of a monkey must not come at all. Be careful,’ he warned him. But when he began his japa and dhyāna, ‘I must not let that monkey form come. It is the guru's command,’ he told himself, and at that very moment the monkey form came and passed through his mind. The poor man was greatly distressed and tried to push that shape away. It was no use. So he went to the guru and asked him for an answer. The guru gave him the answer. ‘My good man! Viṣṇu means the One who pervades all. He is the very principle present in everyone, so whatever form comes, monkey, jackal or dog, see the form of Viṣṇu itself in them, and be made pure,’ he blessed him, and taught him Advaita.
Human life is as fleeting as a drop of water on the tip of a leaf. The body is an instrument. For the jīvas it is a chariot. If you take it down any road at all, it will soon break down. You must keep it moving along a path that holds no danger. For the health of the body you may take up the practices of yoga, but to gain divine vision, to attain Brahmānanda, for the realisation of the Ātma that is one without a second, the path of Prema alone is the best.