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Good morning and many blessings to everyone. Good morning to all from the Adriatic coast in Croatia. And good evening to our dear brothers and sisters around the world who are in evening time. This retreat on the coast is very beautiful now—just the right temperature, just the right weather. It is very, very ideal for yoga practice. Mother Nature is truly blessed. It is autumn, so you can imagine how much nature offers us: so many varieties of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. The entire Adriatic coast abounds in medicinal herbs, exactly what Āyurveda prescribes. There are many good herbs here. What is special about this part of the world—what we call the Balkans—is that these mountains and fields are nicely protected. There are fewer pesticides, less human manipulation of nature. When you walk here through the hills and on the islands, you encounter untouched nature. People here still live in harmony with nature, harvesting many different kinds of herbs, berries, fruits, and nuts for the winter. And, of course, this is the territory of the king of olives, stretching through what was once ex-Yugoslavia, and also reaching into Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and beyond. Olive oil itself has many medicinal values. The setting for this retreat is a very large resort. Participants stay in nice bungalows with their families and children. The bungalows have kitchens so they can cook, and there is warm water, tea, and herbal teas. The food and management of this resort are also good; it offers bungalows and four-star hotel accommodations. The hotel beautifully provides very nice, healthy food. We receive two meals: a very rich breakfast and a very rich dinner. All of you are vegetarians, and there is a very big variety—many salads, olive oils. I like to always drink herbal tea, so I spoke about it and the people thought Swāmījī wanted to drink herbal tea. I cannot smell it, but it must be very good. This is why I tell you: all who are sitting here and many friends around the world have been here. Every year, in every seminar, we have so many participants—at least thousands of people. Especially here on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, the air and nourishment are wonderful, and of course in the Strilky Āśram it is divine. So we can only pray that God protects this nature—all these herbs, these environments, the people, and everything. It is not enough simply to hold a retreat somewhere; nature and the environment must also be in our favor. We yogīs are the symbol of peace. We wish to have peace, we live in peace, we work for peace, we create peace, and we are all messengers of peace. How many of us? Last weekend we were more than a thousand people here, and throughout the whole week there are about five or six hundred coming, going, and exchanging. Yet there is no complaint from the hotel side. What is the wonder? We do not create a lot of garbage. When fifty ordinary tourists come it is different. We have occupied nearly one kilometer of the beach coast, and this kilometer-long stretch covers about two or three hundred hectares of land, where only you, the yoga people, are present. The environment is beautiful. I observe from my window at six o’clock in the morning: the tent is illuminated for prayer, and it looks fantastic. Then at sunset, you see people sitting and meditating. At sunrise, you see people sitting and meditating. In the morning someone sits wrapped in a blanket because of the cool air, meditating. People walk, children play. It is very, very important for our children to experience this life with us. Therefore parents and children are happy together here. We are blessed ones to be able to be here. This is a glimpse, a picture of the retreat where we are. The management and local people are all very supportive. Tomorrow we will have a one‑day event, a two‑hour event. Two hours is actually quite long. Tomorrow is the Day of Non‑Violence, declared by the United Nations. From 10 to 12 we will share thoughts about non‑violence, and you will be part of that. It is very important that we carry such a message into the world: to live in peace, live in harmony, not to harm anyone, to show respect, and so on. I am very happy that we are here, and tomorrow at noon we will plant a peace tree—again a beautiful Adriatic olive tree, a very symbolic emblem of Croatia and the Adriatic part of the world. Olives are very important; you find them from Greece, Spain, Romania, Skopje, Macedonia, ex‑Yugoslavia, and Italy. This is olive territory, very good for our health. Now we will have a practice. I will speak about the technique called trāṭak, concentration. For the last four days I have been thinking, “Now I will speak about trāṭak,” and something comes between. I will speak about trāṭak and something comes between. But before that, we should sing one bhajana. I am happy. I am happy. I am happy. What do you know about that? That I am happy. This bhajana: Anohal Mere Satguru Maryati. Good, very good. So what do you know about me? How happy I am. What do you know about my being? Only I know how I feel, how I am, how happy I am. And so on. Okay, very short. Holy, Gurujī said, short and sweet. Yoga. Yoga is a very big subject. Yoga is the science of body, mind, consciousness, and soul. Yoga is a blessing of wisdom given by God Śiva. Often we use the name “Lord” in English. “Lord” is too little for God. It can be a landlord, a house‑lord, but God is more than that. Yet somehow, in the English language, people automatically use the name “Lord.” So for Śiva, for Kṛṣṇa, for Rāma, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, “Lord” is far too little. Of course, you can say the Lord of the entire universe—the universally worshipped Lord. Nevertheless, the blessing is given by Śiva. In all this, they are created to become successful in yoga. God Śiva, who is the founder of yoga, or the one through whom that blessing came—all this appeared—yet he himself is meditating. Most of the time he is one with his divine consciousness. That is why Śiva is known as a yogī, Param Yogeśvara. Param means the Supreme. Śiva has manifested many times. So when we speak of Śiva, which Yuga? Which Śiva? When he came, when he went again—we do not know many things. But a great deal of wisdom and information about yoga was given or bestowed to Pārvatī. She asked many questions; she had many questions. One day, there was a subject about Jīva and Śiva, Mokṣa, what one should do. At that time, the residence of Śiva was the entire Himālaya. Pārvatī—Parvat means mountains. She is the daughter of the mountain; her father was known as the king of the Himalayas, from the dynasty of the Himalayas. Śiva mostly resided on Mount Kailāśa, and that is why Mount Kailāśa is respected even now. Therefore, one of the names of God Śiva is Kailāśa Pati. “Pati” can mean God, husband, owner, and so on—it depends on the subject. Kailāśpati, the god of Kailāśa, resides there all the time. So one day, Śiva told Pārvatī, “I will give you this very secret knowledge of yoga.” But it is not for everyone. Because when it becomes the subject of everyone, it is misused. The essence is lost, quality is lost, originality is lost. And now his words have come true. How many people are running here and there with yoga? Every corner, every hotel, every resort is offering yoga practice. A one‑week seminar, a yoga seminar, and they come home with a yoga teacher certificate. That is Kālī Yuga. Now it has become like a polythene bag. You go to buy a few potatoes, half a kilo, and you bring them in a polythene bag. So now yoga has become polythene—polluted; it itself becomes a pollution. Unfortunately, eighty‑five percent of the people around the world who call themselves practicing or teaching yoga are practicing wrong, misguided. But you know, among the blind, the one‑eyed one is also a king. So you do not know; they do not know. They think this is yoga. Now, Haṭha Yoga is different. When you practice āsanas and prāṇāyāmas, you say you are practicing Haṭha Yoga. But who can tell you this is not Haṭha Yoga? Because nobody knows the classical meanings and the authentic meaning. The original literature on Ṣaṭkarma and Haṭha Yoga is lost. So therefore, Śiva said to Pārvatī, “I will give you this wisdom, but it is not for everyone, only for the rare.” He said, “Is there anybody listening?” So it is nobody else’s. And Śiva is telling the wisdom of yoga to Pārvatī. There was a little, nice waterfall and a nice pond, or a lake. And there was a fish, and the fish heard the words of God. She peacefully stayed, looking and looking and listening. When the lesson was finished—it was only half an hour or one hour. A person who understands needs only a little hint. And who does not understand? Even if you beat them with bamboo, they will not understand. You can explain and explain and explain. There is one girl in my kitchen here. This is the third time I have explained to her how to cut mango slices. I sent the sample. I called her and explained. Again, she destroyed everything. So this is how it is. A thirsty person will not throw water away; every drop he will use. So we must also be thirsty for wisdom. Those who are thirsty are called aspirants, sādhakas. They want to learn something, want to know exactly what. When you think your neighbor is against you and your neighbor is talking to someone on the telephone, you are drinking tea but your ear is pressed to the wall. From whatever they say, you imagine they are talking against you. Is it good for you or for them? That’s it. So it is called being hungry or thirsty for wisdom. The one who has that can receive this knowledge; otherwise, others cannot. It comes in one ear and goes out the other. Ūpar se bhare, nīche se jhare, Guru Mahārāj kyā kare? You fill water from the top, but down below there is a hole, and everything drips out. What should Gurudev do? Gurudev says, “Don’t do this,” but you are doing it. “Don’t criticize,” but you are criticizing. “Be friendly to everyone,” but you are not. There is no nationalism in what you are doing. Even in our group here, in one week, they made big problems for the hotel people. “I want this room, I want that room.” Afterwards I will tell you—it is not a subject for the webcast. So divine you are not, children. We have not even reached one milestone. We have no milestone; we have a mile‑rock to remove. So the fish was listening and feeling the presence of God. But God knew, of course. While knowing, he became like unknowing. Jānat hai, lekin anjānat banjate hai. Jānte hue bhī, anjānī ban jāte haiṁ. You know, but you play that you don’t know. It was a one‑hour or half‑hour lesson about yoga—the entire science, the essence of yoga, Haṭha Yoga, āsanas, prāṇāyāma, everything. When it finished, a fish jumped from the water, out and clicked and went in. Śiva looked gracefully. “Pārvatī, you told me there is no creature. Look at this fish.” Pārvatī was silent because she did not know. Śiva said, “Now this fish will die and will be born as a great ṛṣi.” And the fish died. That fish saw, came to the human body, and became a very great one called Matsya Ṛṣi. That means the fish, and he performed tapasyā in Matsyāsana. You know Matsyāsana? In cold water, he was in padmāsana, floating on the water. He prayed and gave the message further to other people. One day, after a few years or a few yugas, Pārvatī came to Śiva. She said, “My God, you put me in confusion. I don’t understand so many things.” He was like, “What?” She said, “You said, do this āsana, that āsana, this prāṇāyāma, that prāṇāyāma, this meditation—so many things. I am fasting and not fasting, kvalahari diet and no diet, all these things. Tell me something very simple.” So it is said in the Rāmāyaṇa that God Śiva replied: Umā, kaun nij anubhav apnā? Hari bhajan ek satya, jagat sab sapnā. Umā is Pārvatī. “Umā, kaun nij anubhav apnā?” I tell you my own experiences. After all this, the final judgement of my own experience: Hari Bhajane Ek Shakti. The ultimate truth is one. Meditate on God, your mantra. Jagat sab sapnā—this whole world is a dream; it will come and go. Only that truth will lead to that ultimate truth. Bhagavad Gītā, Bhagavad Gītā… Das Rakhi Jo Janam Janam Hari Das Rakhi Jo Śrī Dīpa Dayālaya Rājya Sunālī Jo Prabhu Dīpa Dayālaya Rājya Sunālī Jo Karakir Pada Bhagavān Kī Jai, Devī Śvarma Deva, Naram Samrāṭ, Sattva, Guru Svāmījī, Mādhavaṁ Jī, Bhagavān Kī Jai. And so, slowly, slowly, the science of yoga began to spread among the ṛṣis—what we call the holy saints, siddhas, devas—and gradually it developed into the whole world, reaching ordinary people as well. Now, as the population increased, of course, everyone has a different nature, everyone has different habits, every individual has different problems, and everyone has different desires. Everyone has different thoughts and opinions. According to those qualities—which kind of qualities one has—things are divided. So many, many different branches emerged. And Haṭha Yoga. All the practices except Bhakti Yoga are successful only when you go through Haṭha Yoga. If you have not mastered Haṭha Yoga, you have practiced nothing. And Haṭha Yoga does not mean these āsanas and prāṇāyāma. Haṭha Yoga is Netī, Dhautī, Naulī, Bastī, Trāṭak, and Kapālbhāti. These are the six kriyās. You have to practice these six kriyās for several years. Then, automatically, your psychic problems will go away. Because Haṭha Yoga doesn’t only purify your body; the psychic problems and mental problems will also be gone. There is a word used in Āyurveda: Kāyakalpa. Kāyakalpa means regeneration, regenerating of the body—that you become, or remain, youthful. There is no other way. Only a Haṭha Yogī can enjoy a long, long life, and a Bhakti Yogī can enjoy a long, long life full of diseases, eating a lot of prasāda and sweets and sitting and doing nothing—like all of you. None of you is practicing proper Haṭha Yoga. You should do proper Haṭha Yoga; then, in one year, you will know what you are. You will feel that within you a sunrise awakens—all your depressions, psychic problems, conflicts, everything will be gone. But you have to practice three hours a day, minimum. That is the minimum level. So you have to quit many of your bad habits, because we waste a lot of time in our bad habits. Working on oneself means that you are your own master. You are your own swāmī. You are your own doctor. You are a yogī. If you have not practiced Haṭha Yoga for ten years continuously, you have done nothing. But you are doing a few āsanas, sitting twenty minutes in meditation—and even then you are sleeping. And when two neighbors are meditating, the other one is also sleeping like this. Then both heads stick together. We are full of tamas guṇas, vikāra—so much vikāra we have. You know what vikāra is? Vikāra is more dirty than dirt. Vikāra is full of impurity and disease. And not only impurity and diseases; it is stinky. It smells so terrible that from one kilometer away you have to close the door. That is the vikāra inside. Mental vikāra is even more terrible. So we have to clean the vikāra—physical and mental. In one bhajan, Ācārya Rāmjī said, “When desires awaken in you, this is one of the most dangerous diseases, not healable in any life, because it is full of vikāra.” So all desires—when one desire comes, this is the message of vikāra, disease. You are ill. You are not a master of your desires. That’s it. So vikāra. Man me vikāru the vayaṅkār—this bhajan I will look into and translate for you perhaps. Sometimes what these holy saints say is direct, and sometimes we do not like to listen to it. That’s it. One person telephoned me and said, “Swāmījī, but I need a partner, and I can’t live alone.” I said, “Yes, you are very ill. You need a big operation with deep narcosis.” Anyway, day by day, vikāras: jealousy is a vikāra, anger is a vikāra, hate is a vikāra, being sad is a vikāra, many other desires are vikāras. This body is filled with all vikāras. We are a gunny bag. You know the garbage plastic black bag? It is full of garbage. When you carry it, you have to tighten it, and you carry it like this. So in the body, our body is full of vikāra, and that is why when a human dies, we immediately remove the body because it immediately creates a lot of bacteria and negative energy—vikāra. This vikāra you can reduce through Haṭha Yoga. So we will do a Haṭha Yoga seminar once, okay? Only Haṭha Yoga, no eating in that way. You will enjoy the eating, but not that which you think. So we will have all the time for Haṭha Yoga. You agree? Okay, Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavānakī. So next time we will talk about Trāṭaka. Again. Pono. Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaḥ, Sarve Santu Nirmāyāḥ, Sarve Bhadrāṇi Paśyantu, Mā Kaścid Duhkhabhāg Bhavet. Om Śānti, Śānti, Śānti. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān, Dev Purīṣa Mahādeva, Dharma Samrāṭ, Satguru Svāmī, Mādhavānandajī Bhagavān, Om.