Good eating
Our food choices, from potatoes to meat, are entangled with health, karma, and the difficulty of living purely in this age.
Potatoes are often unhealthy due to pesticides and chemicals absorbed into the earth, which can take over a decade to purify. Many oils, like refined or cottonseed oil, are harmful and contribute to disease. Modern wheat has excessive gluten. The widespread consumption of meat creates collective sin and karma, stemming from the breeding, selling, and torturing of animals. In this Kali Yuga, we are often forced or tricked into consuming animal products unknowingly, through items like bread or oil. Our weakness and greed, along with market forces making meat cheap, drive this. The solution is to seek organic, local produce like good olive oil, and to diversify our diet with grains, beans, and preserved vegetables instead of relying on potatoes and junk food. We must relearn ancestral preservation methods. Ultimately, some advanced beings show it is possible to live beyond physical food, drawing energy directly from the sun or divine sources.
"Sin is that which creatures, beautiful creatures, are there... torturing them, what they call halal, is a pain; the pain is the sin."
"When we innocently eat something, and then God will say, 'You also ate,' and I will say, 'No.'"
Filming location: Vép, Hungary
Up next
Dharma and Karma
Yoga is the eternal path to self-realization, a source of endless knowledge beyond mere postures. The universal Self, or light of God, dwells within all beings, yet we are blinded by illusion. Human life aims to return to this origin, guided by dharma and bound by karma. Education from parents teaches spiritual principles, while worldly knowledge is far from the divine light. Space and consciousness are balanced in perfect oneness through yoga. Our duty is to help others and all creatures, for harming them is harming the light within them. Purification comes through discipline, meditation, and sattvic food, awakening the dormant energies within.
"Yoga is like a forever milky cow. Every day it gives you new milk, fresh milk."
"If you see yourself in everyone, this is the first step of self-realization."
Filming location: Vancouver, Canada
Yoga in Daily Life - exercise program
Morning practice begins with relaxation, proceeds through āsanas, prāṇāyāma, and culminates in meditation.
Lie on the back, relax fully. Tense and release the right arm, then the left, each three times. Draw the right foot toward yourself, press the leg down, release; repeat left. Tense the entire body three times, then deep inhale and exhale. Inhale raising the right arm overhead, stretching the right heel; exhale lower; repeat twice. Raise both arms, bend knees; exhale rotate legs right, head left; inhale center; then switch sides. From the same position, exhale cross left hand to right palm twisting, inhale return; then switch sides. Roll onto the right side, join palms; inhale left hand up, exhale return; then switch sides. From bent knees, bend knees right, exhale left palm to right; inhale sweeping arms overhead while rolling to the other side. Lift pelvis vertebra by vertebra, lower three times. Raise the right leg, draw the knee to the chest; repeat left. Turn onto the stomach, lift torso and arms, lower; lift extended legs in Śalabha, lower, relax in tiger pose. Sit in Uttāna Praśṭhāsana with elbows held, head hanging; inhale lift torso parallel, exhale release; sway side to side. Kneel with a wide stance, sink the pelvis to each side. Stand, fix the gaze, draw the knee to the chest; practice Katupranām stepping forward, kneeling, crawling back. Relax in Ānanda Āsana, then sit for prāṇāyāma with full yogic breath; perform Nāḍī Śodhana: twenty breaths left nostril, then right, then a shorter round. Chant Om three times, rub palms over the eyes, and open the eyes.
"Always practice only to the extent that feels comfortable; never try to practice to the point of pain."
"With the inhalation, energy flows throughout the entire body. With the exhalation, the body cleanses itself, relaxes, and releases tension."
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
Yoga will remove suffering
Yoga is the original, simple science of union, not the myriad of modern imitations. It calms the mind and emotions, which positively affects the entire body. Wrong practice or half-knowledge causes suffering. Choose simple, accessible postures suitable for all ages, avoiding extremes. True yoga encompasses life's entire journey, beginning with the conscious conception of a child. Parents must purify their bodies, minds, and thoughts through harmonious living and specific diets to welcome a noble soul. This care continues after birth with loving protection, proper nourishment, and ceremonies like massaging the infant's chakras. The human birth is a crucial milestone for the soul to escape the cycle of rebirth by cultivating humility and kindness. The first spiritual practice is discerning the eternal truth from the impermanent world. Attachment is the primary obstacle, a persistent glue one must strive to rise above.
"Yoga is yoga."
"Brahma satya and jagat mithyā. The final truth is the Brahman. This world is not permanent."
Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic
Around the World - A Journey of Remembrance and Reverence
I recently traveled to pay respects at the samādhi of a revered female ascetic. She was the first female Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara in our tradition, renowned for memorizing sacred texts from a very young age and receiving a title for it. She had a large spiritual family of disciples managing various ashrams. We shared a good connection from past meetings at gatherings and when she visited our Guru. Upon learning of her passing, I journeyed through the night to attend the funeral procession in Ahmedabad, which culminated in her burial at a chosen site outside the city alongside other senior ascetics. It was a full 24-hour journey of remembrance.
"She was the first female Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara in our Akhāṛā."
"Her wish was to have her samādhi in Hargośālā."
Filming location: Jadan, Rajasthan, India
