Time

Person Speaking,

lower thirds/ text on screen

Dialogue

00:01:13:10

Narration

There was a time when men lived by the teachings of their ancestors, exploring the depths of their own souls through primordial techniques; they were immersed in the forces of nature, in perfect harmony with other beings and the power of creation.

Then came the Kalyiuga this dark present Era, and matter covered the spirit with its deceptive shadow.

Men lost touch with the meaning of life and sank into insecurity and bewilderment, following their ephemeral instincts.

This is the story of a response to the spiritual emptiness of the contemporary age, which has come to us out of the mists of time and has survived our material society because it was preserved as an antidote by the oral tradition taught by a master to his disciple, the same today as it was then.

00:02:11:01

Title

Naga the eternal yogi

00:02:18:03

Screen text

Kathora

Haryana, India

00:02:22:14

Narration

Ash is the material part of light. To cover oneself with it means to dress oneself with stars.

The yogi is the one who sees himself in the universe and the whole universe in himself.

00:02:47:18

Sarvan Puri

Naga Baba

The light that shines in yogis is like that of the sun, this light glows inside me
and sparkles constantly 24 hours a day.

I'm an ascetic and in the right condition I become a living Shiva.

To me this fullness sounds like the syllable aum aum aum.

00:03:05:06

Screen text

Sarvan Puri Ji

Naga Baba

00:03:20:05

Sarvan Puri

Naga Baba

Our spiritual practices benefit human beings, animals, plants, creation and climate inside this very earth. Inside all of us there is a bright spot, if we nourish it,it will always remain lit.

How?

Through our introspection, not only with yoga and pranayama, as is believed in the cities, where yoga is sold.

What is the origin of true spiritual love To enter in this mood?

The work of devotion, called Bhakti Yoga!

We have to find the divine
and invite it to live inside of us.

00:04:11:11

Sarvan Puri

Naga Baba

This is universal love, attractive, purely clear, and very emotional, is devotion itself. This love is devotion itself. To enter in this mood,
first we have to merge with our soul. But how ? We do it with rituals, offerings, mantras and by simply being together.

00:05:07:23

Sarvan Puri

Naga Baba

After a while, the truth will come as intuition and even if we don't know anything, through devotion and meditation, the mysteries of existence, will be naturally revealed.

00:05:26:16

Sarvan Puri

Naga Baba

In the light of the sun there is everything :

creation, preservation and destruction.

Light is energy! This is clear!

Light is energy, in the sun these three qualities permanently lit, are fused together. This gleam endlessly shines so bright,
that even in the darkness you will perceive it. I'm a sadhu, who travels with
a piece of the sun as my only baggage.

00:06:05:23

Narration

Sadhus, Babas, Yogis or just Ascetics have been present in India for thousands of years and a natural animist worship has existed since the pre-vedic era, long before Hinduism.

The Sadhus renounce the world, traditional family ties and social conventions and live moving from one end to the other in India. Their unplanned trip becomes an adventure and a spiritual tool of knowledge in which the Yogi, accompanied by special encounters, confronts himself with his own destiny.

The period of celebration of the Kumbh Mela festival, every three years, becomes the occasion to leave some time before it and to meet Gurus, friends and devotees on the road.

00:06:35:00

Screen text

Old Delhi

Haryana

00:07:18:07

Amba Bharti Ji

Naga Sanniyasini

temple admin

Ever since I was little,
I've had a spiritual attitude

and I've always desired to be a yogini.

I was not interested
in the materialistic society.

I became happy just by seeing a yogi. It's not that only men can be
a successful yogi.
It's a matter of spirit and service

to the ashram and to the people. If a woman is pure,
deep and strong,
she will have no problems

and she will be able to live a beautiful life.

If you desire a spiritual life
and an earthly one,
then you must make a choice as the body cannot be divided.

00:07:20:04

Screen text

Amba Bharti Ji

Naga Sanniyasini

temple admin

00:08:28:03

Narration

The example of Sadhus is the basis of the spiritual fabric that keeps alive the faith of million of devotees to this day.To try to understand the universal truth of life is the very nature of existence.

So by going deeper and deeper into himself, the ascetic tries to find answers to those questions which men have always asked themselves throughout time.

Why do time and space seem endless? What do we really need to be happy? Do desires, ambitions and disappointments come from our hearts or is it the society we live in that makes them seem thus?

Yoga is the vehicle used by ascetics for introspection but, unlike what is commonly believed in the West, it is not just a physical discipline. Rather, the static nature of meditation and asceticism seems to be even the opposite.

A Yogi is able to direct not only his own body, but also his understanding of reality, breaking through the illusory barriers of the mind and of its perception. In the ancient yoga, to enter the depths of our own being, first we have to purify the

spirit with a profound practice of cleansing the body.

00:09:55:03

Screen text

Sanatan Swami

Brahmachari

Ancient krya yoga teacher

00:10:45:16

Narration

Yoga means unity. It is the union of several devotional, sentimental, metaphysical and philosophical disciplines that help to break down one’s own limitations and thus to access the mysteries of the body and existence.

00:10:51:20

Screen text

Mount Abu

Wildlife Sanctuary

Rajastan

00:11:06:08

Narration

Moving away from the cities and returning where the cycle of life flows without any artifact, awakens a spiritual instinct in the human being.

A Yogi activates the mystic ardor in a cave, in the woods or in the mountains and, through contemplation, turns on an interior light that reduces thought and raises the spirit. This concept is expressed in the ancient Sanskrit name of the fire, tap, which when combined with the term asya, to increase, transforms itself in the archaic word tapasya, with which one defines the austerity of the Yogi, like wearing ashes every day or retiring to the hermitage.

The word, tapasya, tells us that igniting the inner fire for thousands of years has been the essence of the spiritualists who see the greatest truth in meditation immersed in nature.

Mother Nature is the most ancient guru and as a place of pilgrimage, she will always remain the most sacred place on the planet.

00:12:32:08

Screen text

Tulsi Giri Ji

Abu Mountain veteran Naga

living in the forest for 40 years

00:12:47:10

Tulsi Giri Ji

Abu Mountain veteran Naga

living in the forest for 40 years

Jungle.

Who lives in the jungle? The tiger

Who ? The tiger.
Do you understand ?
Men must find in themselves

the breath of a tiger to be able to live in the jungle. In the jungle there is peace, fulfillment and there are no obstacles to being introspective. It's very different from the city,

where if you want to meditate you can't do it

because it's impossible to be alone anywhere. Someone will always disturb you.
In the jungle your soul awakens.
This is why people come to visit us yogis. Only the truly motivated people will come

and not the superficial ones. It takes a lot of courage to live in the jungle. Even today, outside this ashram, there are bears, tigers and everything else. Most of all, here there is much bliss that in other places cannot be found. The city is good just to pass time. To do what ? To pass time! Yogis don’t need anything. What are they?

We live without comfort. Even though people give us goods, precious items and other things, we don't need them. We live in the forest constantly meditating in perfect physical shape. Nature itself chases us to give us its fruits.

We escape to the mountains because tapassya calls us,
and the vibration of our austerity echoes in the distance,
attracting thousands of devotees. Humanity,

humanity is a beggar, do you know that ? All of humanity is begging for God, kings, politicians, judges and ministers show their faith only by asking for success and riches.

Isn’t this true ?

Instead, we take the divine and sit together. If we realize the transcendent It is not to ask for or to receive something. What should we ask for ? What else might we need ? You don't have to look around to find the divine, it will come to you from the inside like the reflection in a mirror.When we have eaten God, we will find him inside. while outside there's nothing to be found. This is it.

00:15:56:23

Sarvan Puri

Naga Baba

When did you arrive ?

Have you always been here ?

00:16:02:24

Ganesh Giri

Disciple of Tulsi Giri

Yes, I live here and I meditate.

Where else should I go ?

00:16:08:04

Screen text

Ganesh Giri Ji

13 years old.

Disciple of Tulsi Giri

Live alone in a cave

for 4 years

00:16:08:24

Sarvan Puri

Naga Baba

Do you ever come in Haryana ?

00:16:11:08

Ganesh Giri

Disciple of Tulsi Giri

Haryana “Oriana” ? What is there to do there ?

I stay here alone in the jungle of Mount Abu.

I live in an ancient cave

00:16:22:12

Sarvan Puri

Naga Baba

A cave?

00:16:23:13

Ganesh Giri

A cave with
a statue of Dattamaraji inside.

00:16:25:24

Sarvan Puri

How big is this cave ?

00:16:27:13

Ganesh Giri

More or less from here to there.

00:16:30:09

Sarvan Puri

And how big is Datta’s statue ?

00:16:32:10

Ganesh Giri

Like this.

00:16:33:20

Sarvan Puri

How big is the Lingam ?

00:16:34:16

Ganesh Giri

The Lingam is this big.

00:16:37:09

Sarvan Puri

Is it made from Shilla rock ?

00:16:37:09

Ganesh Giri

Yes and it’s this big !

00:16:44:02

Sarvan Puri

Is it an old shelter ?

00:16:46:08

Ganesh Giri

It is a very ancient refuge.

00:16:48:17

Sarvan Puri

Who was in the cave when you arrived ?

00:16:50:08

Ganesh Giri

Nobody, I was the one who awakened the fire here.

00:16:53:22

Sarvan Puri

How long have you been here ?

00:16:55:23

Ganesh Giri

Four years have gone by.

00:17:00:10

Sarvan Puri

Instead I have been on a retreat in the Himalayas.

00:17:03:02

Ganesh Giri

For how long?

00:17:04:10

Sarvan Puri

For about 10... actually 12 years.

00:17:08:04

Ganesh Giri

Have you revived any sacred fire ?

00:17:09:22

Sarvan Puri

No, 'cause I was always on a pilgrimage and at that time I was younger than you.

00:17:17:23

Narration

With the consent of their parents and the law, some children in India are allowed to live with a spiritual teacher and to replace compulsory education with the ancient teachings of the oral tradition of yoga and tapasya.

With the apprenticeship to a Guru, the disciple increases his self-knowledge and shapes his character for future experiences. In the mystical world of magic spells, chants and rituals, by accessing ancient Sanskrit, the disciple can encounter the experience of yogis who lived thousands of years ago.

Sanskrit is considered the language of the Gods and views the body as a musical instrument derived from the aum, in which the voice is its note.

00:18:57:24

Narration

In this place, the gods are not worshiped, but instead, there are the tombs of the yogi who have triggered a stable vibrating force in time with their tapasya... The fruit of these men’s austerity does not stop with their death, but remains as a source of inspiration for future generations.

00:19:29:01

Narration

It all started when, in the last century, one yogi came to this desert land.

He looked for a cave, lit a sacred fire and remained there until his death.

00:19:43:20

Screen text

Siddnath Mahadev

Mandir Complex

Jodhpur district, Rajastan

00:19:49:13

Screen text

Bagambar Singh

Sanskrit teacher

Swami Narayan old devotee

00:19:48:15

Bagambar Singh

Sanskrit teacher

Swami Narajan Ji arrived here in 1922. Yes in '22.

He settled in the cave behind here and lit his sacred fire.

This great soul was always here as was his fire.

He was able to stay inside there and meditate

for 24 hours, even for 10, 15 days at a time, in the same yogic position of the urti mudra.

He had special powers
and he did miraculous things.

At times he would get upset with us because he needed to concentrate.

He said we disturbed him.
He had a strong, tough body.

We were all very good friends and on intimate terms.One day we devotees whispered to each other:

“It would be nice if the Baba chose a disciple.”

In that same moment he,
who almost never spoke, understood and said :

“My disciple will have to be without fingers and toes.”

00:20:48:23

Muneshwar Giri Ji

Siddnath Mandir Admin

Naga Baba

One day a Yogi came on foot from Nepal, who was missing some of his fingers and toes and by his own choice he did not speak. Narayan Swami recognized him as his own disciple and gave him the name Gori Shankar Giri, also called Nepali Baba or Nepali Dada, that is, Nepalese Saint Grandpa. In 1958, the Swami Narayan left his body here and his famous seat in the remote cave was inherited by my grandpa guru, Gori Shankar Giri.

He inexplicably managed to draw and trace decorations and inlays in the local marble, with the few fingers he had left.
He began in the cave and in the temple and in the end,

with the aid of many devotees, he made a beautiful mausoleum dedicated to his master.To honor the tapassya
of his Guru Swami Narayan,

he called this place Sidhnat, (love for the great will).

Today the name Sidhnat has become famous. When Gori Shankar Giri left his body
he was succeeded in this dynasty
by his disciple Rishi Giri ji, who was my guru. In 2008 my guru died.

A deep empathy is established between guru and disciple

and the experience in the spiritual research of the master merges in his apprentice.

To this day the ancient tradition
which began with my ancestors
is kept alive here as unconditional love. This love, able to really change things, is what is transmitted through our bodies and it is the only thing
which will endure forever.

For 17 years, I lived continuously with my guru, spontaneously serving his selfless work
based on the tradition of the common good, thus acquiring the essence

of yogic code of conduct.
This is why my guru
chose me as his heir.
Today since I hold this position, I have managed to achieve the dream of my guru’s guru :

to set up a school for orphans and outcasts, to whom we can also teach sanskrit.

This school will continue in memory of my gurus.

No matter what race, economic condition or country he comes from,

a child can come here to us and find a family.

I will give myself completely to preserve the bond of this temple with children

and I will fight so that in this area
there will never be another illiterate child.

This is my biggest wish.

00:21:01:22

Screen text

Muneshwar Giri Ji

Siddnath Mandir Admin

Naga Baba

00:23:49:05

Screen text

Siddhnat school and orphanage has 63 kids

The number is growing constantly

00:23:58:07

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Achalnat Mahadev Mandir

Jodhpur city center

Rajasthan

00:24:30:17

Pujari Giri Ji

Naga Baba

Disciple of Muneswar Giri Ji

I adore the Manghalarti, the morning ritual, the purest one because it is free from distractions.

It is a ritual directed to the supreme soul. At that time, nobody asks questions there are neither wife, nor children, neither factory, nor cell phones.

Sleep is the bite of death. To wake up after 4 a.m. destroys our devotion. I have to get up quickly ! Why ?

I have to decorate the temple
with my body, my mind
and my pure feeling.
I notice that only during festivities, everyone becomes devoted
causing crowded lines at the temples. That's not the point.

The important thing is
the quality of everyday feeling !

This is my life and what I believe.
We can offer the temple 10 jugs of water, perform many rituals, austerity, meditations
or pilgrimages around the world,
but until we get our ego to dissolve
by nourishing the divine,

we will not achieve anything.

Bigger than Rama
is the repetition of Rama’s name !

By understanding this,
we discover the value of self discipline.

Building temples is not enough,

with money in a moment
we can buy statues and the rest.

The daily repetition of "the name "is what differs from vile business.

The ritual itself is not the aim,
nor moving the fire here and there.

Personally, I feel closest to the divine when I clean the temple

because I use body, mind and heart. In this ecstasy there is a charm,
strong bliss.
Truthfully,

I draw my knowledge from this enthusiasm.

This work
holds all the truth.
There is no need to be literate. You have to live it !

Only in our lifetime can we discover what is inside of us so as not to remain entangled in the illusion

of matter that covers existence and
makes fun of us.

00:24:35:13

Screen text

Pujari Giri Ji

Naga Baba

Disciple of Muneswar Giri Ji

00:27:35:07

Screen text

Jodhpur

City of light

Rajasthan

00:27:51:07

Sadhu

it takes 2 or 3 hours to reach Gujarat.

00:27:56:04

Narration

The origin of yoga accompanies the thread of oral tradition and is lost in the mists of time traversing eras and societies. In India, it is said that at the beginning of this planet’s history, the earth was populated by seven couples of demi-gods called rishis, who were the ancestors of humanity.

From one of these couples, Atri and Anusuya, the first yogi, DattaTreja,was born on earth.

Dattatreya had in himself the three qualities that created the universe: creation, preservation and destruction. He was the first to practice the Adi Tapasyas: extreme techniques that, relying on the body and the senses, began the yogic culture.

The memory of Datta is very alive in the whole Indian continent and its 24 Gurus were: earth, water, fire, wind, space, the moon, the sun, the bird, the cobra, the wasp, the bee, honey, the elephant, the diamond, the moth, the fish, the right nostril, the eagle, children, the virgin, the archer, the spider, smaller organisms and the cockroach.

00:28:18:24

Screen text

Kuch desert

Gujarat

India – Pakistan border

00:28:49:22

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Bhavnath Mandir

Universal Love Temple

Girnar Gujarat

Dattatreya Mahraji birthplace

00:29:37:24

Narration

The Nagas, naked ascetics, are the custodians of the Adi Tapassyas and only a few extraordinary ones among them dedicate their lives to these forms and thus still keep alive the source of yogic culture.

00:29:51:09

Screen text

Muni Naga

Silent for 12 years

Naga Baba

00:29:54:07

Sarvan Puri

Silent yogis, never sitting ones or yogis who only eat fruits

keep on practicing these tapasyas that are the foundation of hatha yoga.

With them there is only the willpower taught by a Guru

nothing else than Datta Maharaj, one big united Aum.

00:30:25:15

Narration

The Urdwan is the tapasya of ascetics who decide, sometimes for a lifetime, not to lower one of their two arms anymore, holding in their fist a small lingam.

Their nails which are left free to grow, testify to the passing of time.

00:30:35:10

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Bhola Giri Temple

Vadodara, Gujarat

00:30:44:06

Bhola Giri Bapu

Naga Urdhwan Tapasri

I have been practicing this tapasya for 28 years. Tapasya is a very significant thing
and to succeed in it is grandiose.
Tapasya reveals the mysteries of the world. Austerity,

makes us understand life from within. Do you understand ?
The real outcome of this method
It is what creates a good omen.

The tapasya is protection that balances out the negative actions of society.
Yogis, Hatayogi,Tapashwari
and great Saints

enlightened themselves

and made the search for truth more understandable.

These austerities are for us the greatest offering.

Yoga is our medium.

How much tapasya did our ancestors do ?

A lot of tapasya !

Some even kept both arms raised for years.

We are the children of this ancestral dynasty,

and few of us, initiated in this oral tradition,

still bless this holy land with the urdhwan tapasya.

It is not for personal gain
it is a protection for this planet.

This example helps others
to overcome their limits with peace.

I will continue doing so during all my life until I leave the body. The interpretations of life and religions were invented by humanity, men and women. Our soul is the same as the one of God

and is the only divine thing,
while religion is like politics, a creation of man.

For us yogis, politics and religion are worth nothing.

Life is the divine soul
and the divine soul is life !

For us sadhus
the soul is identical in everyone

therefore, in the end,
all living beings are one.

00:30:50:07

Screen text

Bhola Giri Bapu

Naga Urdhwan Tapasri

00:35:16:04

Screen text

Varanasi

Holy city.

Uttar Pradesh

00:35:41:13

Narration

Behind every ancient place of pilgrimage and sacred city of India, there is a source linked to the austerity of ascetics who were among the first to observe the recurrence of celestial phenomena, such as the influence of the stars on the magnetism of water. So it happened that the yogis began to meet periodically in special places, leaving the remote caves in the mountains and forests where they lived and showing their tapasyas to the local people.

Today Varanasi still attracts thousands of devotees who purify themselves in the sacred waters and receive advice and blessings from ascetics. It is believed that in this extraordinary city on the Ganges, devotees can free their souls, burning the body at the end of their journey on earth.

00:36:52:20

Narration

The tapasya of Muny consists in refraining from speaking by putting under control the mind that is no longer obliged to turn thoughts into words.

In the silence of one’s voice, one hears the whisper of the interior mystical sound.

00:37:11:06

Filippo Gastaldi

Director

Where do you come from ?

From the Himalaya.

Do you come from Kedermath’s temple?

What do you wear up there? Don’t you feel cold?

Very, very cold!

Ah, you exercise! Is it the ash that gives you the power to resist the cold?

It is better than a blanket. It protects you,
it shields you.
Do you ever get sick?

Rarely.

Do you take any medicine? Natural remedies?

I mean do you pick medicinal herbs?

They are natural plants, wild mountain herbs.

How does the Sadana, your discipline, unfold from morning on?

You have burned yourself.

You have to stay close to the fire up in the glaciers

You offer to the fire.

How long are you going to do the tapasya of silence?

12 years in total, maybe more.

00:37:17:07

Screen text

Shanty Giri Ji

Naga Muni Tapasri

00:40:57:13

Narration

The tapasya of kareshwari consists in not sitting or lying down for at least 12 years and sometimes for a lifetime. This is possible thanks to the fruitful falari diet based on raw fruits and vegetables which, according to Ayurveda, lightens the body by stimulating blood circulation. Sometimes, the devotees help the ascetic by massaging his legs while he rests them one at a time.

00:41:24:06

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Gajanand Giri Ji

Naga Kareshwari Tapasri

Standing Baba for 15 years

00:41:32:17

Gajanand Giri Ji

Naga Kareshwari Tapasri

It is not just a matter of standing up !

You need the confidence

that with yoga you can light up strength, an ascending power.

Try it and you will see !

Within us there is a potential to be discovered.

With these tapasyas one acquires the fundamental

knowledge of the body.

For example, if I ate too much

or in a disorderly way,

my yoga would not be possible.

Willpower is the
most important thing to train,

because it is the power of the soul.

Therefore, willpower makes our soul even stronger and more perceptible.

If you eat less you are less sleepy.

I sleep a couple of hours per night.1or 2 hours because I'm not tired and I stay fit, perfect.

Any time, I enjoy it, ok, no problem, 24 hours, ready.

Everything I do comes from the soul, not from my hands but from my heart.

In this way I identify with the divine for a lifetime.

These practices are our first Dharma (cosmic law). What is our first Dharma?
These practices!
Through these actions the Dharma is spread out.
Without them, which Dharma would it be ?

If enlightenment with a strong willpower was beneficial only to me, what would be its utility ?

We cannot separate from other beings,
with introspection this becomes obvious. Through a yogi these principles become public, famous,
even majestic,
because they are pure and clean
clean and pure,
fundamental.
For each person, hindu, christian or muslim this should be

fundamental :
religion should be a service, a help.

Fire is a deity,
to whom I sacrifice and offer everything

anything, money, body,
time, mind and my entire soul.

I throw in the fire everything that has value. Consequently, this flame grows in me with a new power. The more clean things I offer, the more things come back as power. It does not work by offering our superficiality. So the fire is the allegory of sacrifice. This is the best way to understand it. Imagine to throw a ball that it bounces back. This is the same thing purity generates purity. But, if fire were only to burn wood, to make smoke and to call people because they see that we throw rice,

then it would be wrong, hypocrisy.
Honesty first
after you, fire.

00:44:35:17

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Prayag Sangam

The 3 holy river Junction

00:44:43:07

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Maha Kumbh Mela festival

Allahabad – Uttar Pradesh

00:44:47:00

Narration

Water has always been the spiritual element par excellence without which all rites are null.

Yogis discovered this place where three great mystic rivers of India converge: the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati, and their point of junction was called Prayag, primordial ritual. It is believed that every 12 years for a few hours, Amrit, the nectar of immortality, comes down here from the stars. If in the past, the Prayag was the exclusive theater of the practices andinitiations of the yogis, with the passing of time it has become the most important place of pilgrimage for the Hindus and the most massive party of our planet.

00:45:53:10

Screen text

Around 100 million people visited Prayag Sangam during the Kumbh Mela festival

00:45:58:19

Narration

The nectar present in the sacred waters purifies the spirit and the body from their compromise with actions and from the residue of karma, and because of this, millions of men and women rush here.

People of India believe that pilgrimage, purification and the ancient worship of yogis are the means to achieve enlightenment in this life, in order to escape from the cycle of rebirth.

00:46:35:18

Sarvan Puri

Naga Baba

This is Maha Kumbh Mela

00:46:54:19

Narration

The example of the yogis allows us to glimpse the potential of man, who in his essence is stripped of the superfluous, and seeks happiness by living together with those interested in sitting a while with him.

In the end, this is the primordial ritual meaning of Mela, which in Sanskrit means meeting.

00:47:22:11

Unga Giri

Naga Baba

Lord Shiva while rooming in the 3 worlds does not need anything,

and in every age he transforms all locations into a comfortable place.

As between father and son, a relationship is established, so a fusion occurs through the encounter between our soul and the supreme soul. So, automatically, through us,

others may have a vision of the divine.

Do you get it?
From down here it becomes possible to see it.

00:48:03:14

Screen text

Despite human nudity of any sort, including full or partial, is a criminal offense nowadays in India and causes criminal liability.

It is a mistery of indian faith how Nagas can alwais go anywhere naked.

00:48:27:15

Filippo Gastaldi

Director

What do you think about those naked Yogi ?

00:48:32:02

Baghat 1

We like them

00:48:33:12

Filippo Gastaldi

Director

Why do you like them?

Isn't it strange?

00:48:37:00

Baghat 1

They are saints, that's why we like them.

00:48:38:18

Baghat 2

They have renounced the material world,

they have renounced, they are renunciates.

To renounce
materialism, they chose to live from the inside.

00:48:47:08

Filippo Gastaldi

Director

Do you believe in them ?

00:48:48:07

Baghat 2

Yes!

They have no more attachments, they left material objects, comfort and family tenderness, they gave up everything.

00:48:56:12

Baghat 3

I learned from gurus
that all men are actually naked.
We are born naked and naked we leave, but in this modern society,
after a while, there seems to be the useless need to hide oneself.

You will leave the same way you arrived !

00:49:14:12

Filippo Gastaldi

Director

What do you think of these naked yogi covered with ashes ?

00:49:19:02

Baghat 4

They have become saints.

Saints

perfect men !

00:49:26:21

Harsh Vyas

The nagas are just transpartent

They are showing that we don't have any canvas in our soul

That's it!

They are transparent.

00:49:38:08

Jay Giri

Naga Baba

The ashes of a sacred fire collect the consciousness of the yogi who in this place practices austerity

and
to complete his service

he gives them to the devotees as an auspicious blessing.

Service!

00:50:27:04

Narration

A Naga is called Digambar, when his body is totally naked and strewn with ashes.

Dig-Ambara: dressed with sky.

Ash has extraordinary power as the starlight stored by firewood, dung and grass; it returns in a magic alchemical form when applied with the right mantric formula.

This is the most important feature of the Naga culture which is closely related to the phenomena of light, sun and moon.

Pranayana, meditation, bakty yoga and mudra asana are some techniques that are combined in the yogic exercise par excellence of the Nagas: the Chaby Krya which has the function of transforming sexual energy into a spiritual seed that pervades the entire body.

During the period of celebration, some yogis perform this exercise in its extreme, spectacular form.

00:51:44:23

Screen text

Ram Giri Ji

Naga Sridigambar

Chabi Krya Tapasri

00:51:49:04

Ram Giri Ji

Naga Sridigambar

Chabi Krya Tapasri

The infinite human desire will never be fulfilled.

To educate all the senses and organs of the body, we have a unique and bold technique
that does not come from traditional yoga
but from the ancestral culture of the Nagas who use senses and organs to access the milk of truth.

This old yogic technique turns drives and seed into nectar of knowledge.

The body is made of nerves, that we loosen. The significance of this exclusive technique is to reorganize imbalances and ardor naturally unleashed by sexual desire, that constantly distract us.

These techniques blend the senses and by moderating sexual urges, balance the other drives.

Since the excessive sexual arousal, anger, self centeredness and attachmentcreate confusion and suffering, a human being is no longer master of himself.

When anger fills us, we forget everything

and ride our wrath. Without regrets.
Where do these obtuse reactions come from ?

They come from this burning earth and this current dark age,

I am also restless,
and so are the disciples at my side.

Devotion in this material reality, has the shape of a woman,
in which form?
The form of femininity.

The origin of truth lies in the ability to reproduce a clone of the divine, by giving life to spiritual magic. Only thanks to her we are born and we can appreciate this life, as a divine fruit. We landed in this planet, conceived as an essence of god, but at the moment of birth, in that same instant, the symbiosis breaks down. The senses are born pristine,

but we immediately begin to poison them with bad food. Another technique to re-educate and redefine the senses, is to use an excellent nourishment that will influence our ideas and existence.

Keep the unhealthy and dark food away !

This is the Kumbh Mela.
In this devoted crowd there are those
who know that by trusting us,
any complication
or disease
contained into the mind or the body,
can be completely cured and dissolved
with our science.
Everyone turns around: it's time for devotion!

Humanity fought searching for God's nectar, but it's a research without sense
that repeats itself endlessly.
Man keeps chasing after happiness
but the teaching of tapasya

is that to find peace you have to fix senses and organs.

This is the meaning of Naga.
The virtues of humanity are small, arrogance is immense
Because everyone thinks for himself !

This fascinating
material reality
is a dangerous sea of seduction,

so beautiful that you want to dive in it dangerously. Those who swim in it as its lovers
will never be able to get out of it.
This is the game of the illusion of appearance

and wherever we are reality is dyed with the color of our interpretation!

00:56:44:24

Narration

In the Vedic-indian culture, life is punctuated by 17 initiations called Sanskar.

Birth is considered the first, while the initiation by Yogi-Sanniasy is the last and definitive one. You are born a disciple and your parents are the first gurus: with them a child can decide whether to become an ascetic or to serve the prosperity of the family.

When children grow up, parents themselves will have the chance to get away from material society and decide whether to spend time in nature close to a sacred fire, living in a poor, simple way.

If one or both spouses wish to enter into the society of yogis at the Kumbh Mela, they will be able to be initiated into the chosen monastic order or even into the legendary army of naga, after a period of service to a guru.

The initiation rite of the Nagas is the Vijayavhan Sanskar.

00:57:54:24

Narration

Vijayavhan Sanskar literally means "the glory of victory over the senses."

One accesses it accompanied by one’s own teacher, who introduces the new student to 4 other gurus, each of which will give the disciple tools for the new journey.

It is a crematory rite that merges with a rebirth: one returns as a newborn who, being pure, does not discriminate between men and their actions, but sees souls as all alike.

During the day 17 balls of wheat are prepared, a metaphor for the 17 initiations, which are offered to the river as a good omen for the family from which one separates oneself completely. In the same way, people separate themselves from their name, from material goods, from the duties of society and even from their clothes.

The Sanskar’s doors are opened every 3 years during the Kumbh Mela. The auspicious day is determined by accurate astrological calculations and it is one solar day before the "bath day.”

The naga’s Sanskar lasts a full day and it is open to everyone without distinction of sex or caste. The basis of this initiation ritual is the development of renunciation and physical endurance through which one demonstrates maturity by controlling the senses and the mind.

One is nude at any temperature, without food for 24 hours, cross-legged in collective meditation while obsessively reciting the mantra "Aum Nama Shiva."

At about 2 a.m., Mahmandaleswar Acharia, arrives. He is the guardian of the secret mantras, which are necessary for the introduction of the disciples into the army of nudes.

01:00:02:22

Screen text

Avadeshwananda Giri Ji Maharaji

Mamandaleswar Acharia of Juna Akhara

01:00:16:03

Baal Puri

Thana Pati of Avhan Akhara

Let me explain it to you

I heard it from the Gurus,

and I meditated and practiced it.

Digambar means naked without form, non-form,

Digambar, without a definite shape.

It is endless.

Do you know the Lingam ?

It has no limits

and it is the metaphor for the infinite.

It is a concept
that has neither beginning nor end,

it is inexhaustible. In our opinion, the infinite divine became visible on this planet.
Someone worships this non-form, the Lingam form.

For us the glory is the pure non-form. As the divine is naked, the guru is naked or dressed in all the universe, the same as Shiva.

On this planet, scattered all over,

The divine is worshiped, with infinite names and shapes,

but the receiver is the same one.

In this universe there is only one creative force. Responsible for all this world can be only one, not two and for us, it is the naked digambar.

Knowledge is essential like water, If you do not drink it, using only your mind you lose the path. Knowledge is water but with our company you can learn something like anywhere else.

The gurus are our vehicle to travel abroad. They show us the way but practice and willpower is up to you.

This oral tradition has been going on for thousands of years,
creating always new Sadhus.
At every Kumbh Mela 10,000 new Sadhus are made. Where do they came from? And how? It's a mystery

At each Kumbh Mela, every 3 years 10,000 new yogis are initiated between our 7 rows.

Add up the math
of how many come here.

How do they arrive?
Who teaches them the first steps ?

Nobody knows.
No one advertises here.

They arrive following their own instinct to become a Naga.

01:00:17:19

Screen text

Baal Puri

Thana Pati of Avhan Akhara

01:03:39:04

Narration

The Naga Sanyasi initiation is the completion of a process of at least 12 years with the guru. After reaching maturity, a yogi is ferried into a new life and can roam freely around India, deciding whether to carry out austerity and tapasyas or start new sacredfires and ashram, where he will have the right to form his own disciples.

01:04:06:06

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The bath day

01:04:45:09

Narration

The most ancient sources tell us that in the 6th century before Christ there were 13 groups of naked ascetics devoted to various forms of tapassya, who were descendants of the primordial rishis and the original Dattatreya Yogi.

At that time, sects, castes, dogmas and symbols had proliferated until they created 33 million gods. Action prevailed over meditation. Performing sacrifices and rituals in places of worship substituted for the form of a naked renunciant, covered with ashes, sitting in front of the fire in nature. Spirituality turned into religion, fueling social differences and becoming a political tool of conquest.

Centuries have passed in this context of separation from the ancient worship of the yogis and the infinite Dharma. According to oral tradition, around the 3rd century before Christ, one of the most important philosophers and spiritual masters ofmodern India, Adi Shankara, after he completed his apprenticeship with his guru as little more than a boy, walked the length and breadth of India, convincing kings and everyone else he met along the way, by his wise dialectical tournaments, that the soul present in all beings is equal to the creative soul, regardless of the different spiritual interpretations. He thus exhorted the true devotee to meditate on this truth. Adi Shankara reunited the last 10 lineages of naked ascetics still alive, in the first monastic order of the Indian continent ... He grouped together shamans, witches, ascetics, naked saints and spiritual people of the most ancient oral traditions, by organizing them into 52 paramilitary armed battalions, able to defend all religions and diversity. He fused all the ascetic knowledge and weaved them as real families into 4 gyms governed by a council of elders, thus giving rise to the Swami army called “the order of 10 names of Sanniasy” or “army of Naga”.

01:07:27:24

Narration

The primordial philosophy of ascetics revived by ADI Shankara is called “non- dualism philosophy."

Yogis consider themselves the temple of something that has no form and at the same time has all the forms, something that goes beyond themselves and survives the death of the body. This perception is possible only by merging together all the polarities, revealed here and now, beyond the cultural and religious differences, so that all beings are transformed into one great soul that is an extension of ourselves.

The acceptance of diversity as worship of totality is the greatest spiritual conquest for the naked Babas and the Army of Nagas represents this unity that finds its highest expression in Kumbh Mela.

01:09:04:22

Narration

The Nagas defeat the mind by controlling the senses to curb desires, making it stable and lightened by its projections. By transcending thoughts in the unbroken consciousness of the present, one acquires the freedom of the infinite existential flow.

Thus, in this state Sat Chit Ananda of truth, consciousness and bliss, one can access enlightenment.

The gurus who are allowed to talk about it say that liberation in life is nothing but emptying our mind of all that obscures it.

Those who succeed in this, reach the infinite and the eternal presence of this earth itself.

01:10:39:04

Screen text

From the 3rd century BC,

in order to defend all the Indian spiritual cultures,

The Naga army faced for hundreds of years the foreigner invasions

until the 17 century

with the beginning of the British domination.

In the 4th century BC, 2 of the 52 lineages

of the Dasnami Nagas founded the tibetan lama order.

His holiness Dalai Lama often attends Kumbh Mela.

In 1860 took place the first official registration

of the monastic order from the tribunal of the british colony (act n. 21, Lucnow).

At that time the estimated number of the Nagas was 500.000.

To day they are more than 5 millions.

01:10:39:04

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To all gurus, spiritual seekers and people of the planet

Aum Namo Narayan

(salutation to the sun that lives inside of you)

In loving memory of our friend Harsh Vyas