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Part 1: The Wisdom of Yoga: A Path to Unity and Well-being Today, we enter the cultural house of Liberus to listen to wisdom. Let me also welcome our honorable guests, the representatives of all the religious groups whom we invited for this evening. Allow me to introduce our dear guest to you. He came, and he acquired the title of Svāmī as a very young man. His master sent him to Europe to spread the message of Mahāprabhujī. Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda is a direct follower of Mahāprabhujī. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī was a great saint of India who is respected by all the people, and he tried to show people the unity of man and God. Visiting our country in the times of a very rigid materialism, to show people who wanted to see the room, the space for the development of spirituality. Paramahaṃsa Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānanda is the author of a system called Yoga in Daily Life. Mṛtyur māyām ṛtaṃ gamaya śānti śānti... Adoration to the cosmic light. Lead us from the unreality to reality, from the darkness to the light, and from the mortality to immortality. Peace, peace, peace. Dear brothers and sisters, good evening. I’m happy to see you all here in this beautiful cultural hall, where I have been in the past. And thank you for the invitation. And I thank the Lord that He gave me the opportunity to serve you with a few words from the wisdom of yoga. Yoga is well known throughout the world, and yoga is ancient wisdom. It is one of the oldest systems of human education. Yoga is the science of the body, mind, consciousness, and soul. To grant the human good health: physical, mental, social, and spiritual. To develop the human personality, to clean up all the obstacles from the spiritual path, and to achieve unity with God, with oneself, or oneness with the cosmic self. Yoga is very old, and we can’t say how old it is. It is not a part of some religion. It is not a philosophy. Nor is it dogma or just a theory, but it is the reality. It is a practical path, independent, universal, and for the benefit of mankind. The principles of yoga are to lead a happy life, a healthy life, a harmonious life, and to create love and understanding. These are not only the words, but the reality. It needs practice. It needs clear consciousness. It needs tolerance and understanding. We all know what we wish for in our life. But we do not know how it will be when it is realized. The mystery of human life is indescribable. Of course, the mystery of the whole universe and the mystery of all creatures which are existing on this globe, to understand the phenomenon of the human means to understand what God is, the Self. It will be hard to realize what God is, and yoga says God is everywhere. God is present everywhere; nowhere is. A space where there’s no God? I remember a little story. A small child came to one priest. And the priest, who liked children very much, touched the head of the child, who was about five or six years old, and asked him, "I give you two dollars, and tell me, where is God?" Where is God? The child looked to the priest and said, "Sir, excuse me, I give you five dollars and tell me where there is no God." Therefore, God is omniscient and omnipresent, and it is hard to understand God in that form. Therefore, from time to time, God is manifesting, incarnating, and helping us. He serves us. God incarnates for us. He comes to take away all the karmas. He comes to remove the darkness. May he have to suffer because of us. But He does because of us. He loves us. We are all children of God. The whole creation is the creation of one God, and one God is the creator of everything, one in all and all in one, not only humans, but all living beings. They are part of God; they are the essence of that reality. "Thou shalt not kill." Ahiṃsā paramodharma—the highest principle is ahiṃsā. It means not only towards humans, but to all living beings. This is the message of yoga. And this is the message of all holy incarnations. God is one. From time to time, he incarnates in different places. Acting according to the mentality, tradition, and culture. It’s like the same person having different dresses. To understand God, first we need to understand ourselves. So the first question towards the human is this. Ko’ham? Katam idam? Jātam ko? Ve kartā? Ase vidyate? Who am I? From where did I come? What is the purpose of my coming here into this world? What am I doing here? And where will I go again? Theoretically, probably we know, but practically we do not know. The past is gone, the future is not here. We are living, aware or unaware, about the present time. Yoga helps us to widen our consciousness in every direction, in the past, in the present, very clear and alert, aware, and the visions or the view about the future. At that time, the person becomes very humble, creative, and holy. "Holy" means complete. With the knowledge of that completeness, one then feels love for all in the heart. At that time, we can say God is love and love is God. And that is one form of God. The yogī says, the self-realized one says, or the enlightened one says, each and every human has their own relation to God in their own way. Some see God as love, some see God as light, some know God as a principle, some see God as an energy, some see God as a divine will, and some adore Him as a holy father. And some adore him as a natural principle, the beauty in nature. And some see God as a friend. Each and every one has a different relation to God. And they are right to have this relation. And our duty is this: to support their feelings, that they have their freedom and they realize God in that form. Nothing can be compared in this world for us to freedom. And the most terrible thing is dependency. Physical, mental, social, economic, and political freedom. God incarnates to free us. Liberation means freedom. So the freedom is very important, but what is happening with the humans? We are talking about humans, that humans, they are not free from themselves. They are not free from their own qualities, the habits. We are suffering because of our own qualities, our own habits. We are an obstacle on our own path, and that is the cause of suffering. Love, knowledge. Where there is knowledge or love, there is freedom. Where there is ignorance, there is dependency, and there is suffering. Therefore, we shall try in our life to be free. It’s very easy to become free from material things, but it’s very hard to be free from the inner feelings. To renounce something, to give up something, means not the material, but to renounce the inner feelings. Śāstras, hate, jealousy, complexes, greediness, many, many bad qualities, and that makes us suffer. In this universe, there are two kinds of forces; we call them Daivī Śakti and Āsurī Śakti. It means the negative habits, negative qualities. Let’s imagine ourselves as an individual phenomenon. It’s called, there is one whole universe, and within this whole universe is an individual universe. And in this cosmos, every individual phenomenon is moving freely. There is no power which can destroy this one. No one can influence, and no one can destroy. Everyone finds their way. Each and every living creature has one destination, and this destination is God. You may call it coming to heaven, becoming one with God, union with God, or one with cosmic light. That all have one destination, but the destiny is different, and destiny is caused by the individual. And according to the destiny, that individual, either physically or mentally, or in astral form, is moving through this space, space to space, through lights and darkness. It is a fluttering on the waves of time through the endless universe. Endless journey. Life began from one spot. And one is searching again for that spot to come back there. We are seekers. All of us are seekers. In many, many lives we are seeking, and in this life we are also searching, but as humans we got more complications. The desires increased, the searching increased. Someone is searching for money, someone is searching for a position, someone is searching. A partner, someone is searching for a nice dress, everyone is searching, searching, searching. What does it mean here to search for money, dress, these, that? It means we are searching for contentment or happiness. We call them yogīs. One of the attributes or principles of God is bliss, happiness. There is no unhappiness. There is completeness. And the individual, we are all the essence of that cosmic one. We are children of that one. And since we are the essence of that cosmic one, our reality is also happiness. And we are searching happiness, and we are searching happiness in two different ways. One is searching within oneself, and one is searching outside. The search within leads us to the calmness, relaxing contentment, and happiness. Searching outside leads us to the restlessness, tiredness, disappointment, therefore the happiness, the joy is not outside, but inside. If you would like to try out, you can do it. Meditate for two to three hours or sleep with meditation. Think of God’s name, however you believe, pray to God in your own words, and go to sleep. And sleep eight hours. When you get up in the morning, you will be relaxed, calm, refreshed, and happy. This means you are searching for happiness within you, and another thing, go to some club or somewhere for eight hours, only drinking and dancing and doing this. After eight hours, come home. You will not be so happy and relaxed; you will be exhausted. Therefore, it is said, in the material life, there is no happiness. Be human, know that we made a kind of comfort for us, and we need the comfort, but we should not be attached to this. Simple living and higher thinking. Whenever you see, whenever you see a picture of Jesus, the story of Jesus, how simple he lived. The life, and how high his thinking was. So, the reality, the happiness is in the wisdom, and not in the outer form. We are the seekers, day and night we are seeking happiness and contentment, and in this individual phenomenon, I used to say it’s just like a balloon, and this balloon is covered with different material. And that we may call the different energies or different bodies. The body of nourishment, the body of energy. The body, the body of emotion, the intellect, and so on. These are the five bodies, and within this is reality. And here I would like to give you an example. Take, for example, a glass. In the glass, there is water, and all of you see this water. There is nothing else, only liquid. And I also see, really, there is only liquid. Now I am going to drink this water, and I shall tell you something. What is sweet? What does it mean? It means inside is sugar, but I don’t see it. Someone who brought water put the solid piece of sugar inside. But due to the contact with the liquid, that solid form changed into the liquid form. And the person who put sugar inside thought, now, sugar and water are united, but they did not unite. It changed the form, not the reality. As long as the water is sweet, it means it is water and sugar. As long as sugar keeps its reality, its quality, it will exist as sugar. But sugar is in sugar. If you give me a piece of sugar, I will not say it is inside sugar, but then I will say the quantity. So, just to leave this physical body and think that one is united with God, it is not, maybe it’s not the reality. So in this phenomenon, there are three main principles. One is the dynamo, and two different energies, positive and negative. Now, when the dynamo is turning, we know it’s producing energy. If it doesn’t turn, it doesn’t produce energy. Now our ātmā is the dynamo. This is the dynamo, and this dynamo, as long as it doesn’t come in touch with the physical body, it doesn’t create karma. Now, what is karma? Karma means the actions. It doesn’t matter if they are positive or negative. Any kind of activity is in the Sanskrit language called karma. Inhaling, exhaling. What are you doing? I inhale. What are you doing? I am exhaling, so this is also a kriyā, the karma. Similarly, there are many karmas. Talking, walking, eating, and some are the natural functions which belong to the physical body: the heart beating, the circulation, the functions of the organs, the glands, all. Inhale, exhale, nourishment. This is a natural process. Besides this, what we do for the extra world, the external world, that could be positive or negative. Whatever you would like to do, you can only do through the physical body. After death, you can’t do anything. You are only the witness. You may see, but you can’t do anything. So, as soon as this soul, the ātmā, comes in contact with the physical body, the ātmā comes in contact with the physical body, manifesting in the physical body, manifesting in the physical body. The Kriya, the activities, begins. The Kriya, the activities, begins. Every action has a reaction, and every reaction has an action. So our life is based on action-reaction, action-reaction, a dynamical movement. Now, if our deeds are good, then they are producing the light. Let us say light, love, happiness, joy. That’s why it is said, "Love your neighbor," and for us, "Love your neighbor" means the whole creation. Love them, if not more, then at least that much, as much as you love yourself. Love means to give someone happiness, pleasantness, protection, service, and help. That is love. To support someone if they need it, and love is greater than prayer. The karmas, the service, is greater than the prayer. Let us say if you are praying, and you are in the middle of your prayer, and beside you some accident happens. Now what will you do? Will you continue your prayer and then help that person? Or will you stop and help the person first? Maybe. If you will not help, and first finish your prayer, it will be two things happening: either it is too late, or, a person is suffering very much. Therefore, we will stop praying first and help first, and then again pray. Why did we stop? Because we want to help. Why? Is the help more than the prayer? It seems, yes. Therefore, helping and serving are very important. And service with the heart. All the hospitals and many, many humanitarian institutions which began in the world began with religious groups, either some church organization, or temple organizations, or ashram organizations, humanitarian societies thinking of God. Because God also comes to serve us, so service means positive. Love is light. So, each positive thinking, each positive action, each positive word, it is illuminating our individual phenomena, and each negative thought, each negative word, and negative action is darkening our phenomena. Now, if a person has more negativity in life, then that phenomenon becomes darker and darker and... It means suffering, illnesses, unhappiness, all the many terrible things we can imagine that can happen to someone; it is due to negative karmas. And that one, when it departs from this world, goes to the darkness, what we may call hell. That is wandering in the darkness; that is suffering. And one who has only positive actions in life, we call a saint holy, who is praying for others, who is serving others in the name of God, and helping, telling others, is creating the light in the phenomenon. When life is filled with love and positive peace, the whole phenomenon is enlightened, and that we call an enlightened soul, that we call the enlightened one. At present, we are only lighted from outside, but from inside, perhaps not. There are still many dark spots existing, and that has to be removed. Now, sugar in sugar, water in water, gold in gold: quality unites. So when there is only light, only positiveness, then God is light, God is love, God is happiness. And when one is departing from this world, automatically this phenomenon, the light, reunites with the cosmic light. Yoga and daily life have got this system to make the human aware about their aim of life. To free them from their fear, free them from their negative and wrong thinking, free them from their narrow thinking, grant them happiness and health. Or, a professor said that health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health. So, the first thing for us now is health: a healthy body, a healthy mind, healthy thoughts, healthy creativity, healthy actions. And we tried many, many things to keep health. In humanity, you know that our medical science has made immense progress, but at the same time, many, many diseases have come up. I don’t think there are almost any less illness on this planet than in the past 80 years or in the century. Many, many hospitals are built. So we do not know if this is the only way to health. But at the same time, we should not deny medical aid. We are happy and thank God that we humans succeeded in finding this science, so that we can save life again. Today, it is possible that the person who is dying, you may save their life. And perhaps a hundred years ago, we couldn’t do it. But it is not the only way. There are many, many different ways to good health. And one of them is also yoga. Yoga says, harmonize yourself with nature. Mahāprabhujī said, "Do not go against nature, otherwise nature will take revenge." And what we did in the past 40 to 50 years is that we went against nature. The countries that they call rich in this world have destroyed the world. An American Indian, a Red Indian, said, "When the last tree is cut down and the last fish is dying, oh man, then you will realize that you cannot eat your dollars." And that is what we are doing. Therefore, the yogīs have always been aware of the ecological process to protect nature, healthy food, healthy thinking, and a healthy environment. So yoga is the way to perfect health. Now, mostly people think about themselves, and that is the mistake. When I think, what should I eat so that I am healthy? What should I wear so that I am healthy? How should I clean myself so that I am clean and healthy? How much vitamins, proteins? What should I take so that I am healthy? And the yogī says, "This is not right." Think! This healthy food, from where does it come? This healthy air, from where does it come? This pure water, from where does it come? Not from your room. Or from the table, but from the surrounding world. Therefore, don’t concentrate only on how you can lead your life healthily, but create a healthy world, a healthy surrounding. That’s very important. And if we continue this disaster in this world, we will see with our own eyes how we humans are suffering. Therefore, the yogī said, "Always live a vegetarian life, a healthy life, a natural life, and a life of movement." Movements are very important. And there are three different kinds of movements. One is the movement which is very extreme. And we know that each movement, no matter where, whether material, vegetation, we humans, or animals—any kind of movement consumes energy. And every movement creates the energy. The energy generator takes the diesel and creates the energy, but if it is one-sided too much, then the energy is so extreme. Movements that are too extreme are not appreciable. When you are exhausted, then it is not good for your body. The people who are running, jogging so long, then they just sit down or fall down. Then even if they don’t want to move their little fingers, why not? Because moving the little finger also requires energy, and that person has no energy left, and that is harmful for the body. Second, dynamical movement, equally loss of energy and gain of energy, which is regenerating the body—you feel warm, you feel... Light, that’s called dynamic movements, not extreme. But like āsanas, sarvāṅgāsana. Part 2: The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Daily Life The third principle is minimal movement for maximum energy gain. For example, a car may need eight liters of petrol for 100 kilometers, but if we could have a car that uses only a quarter liter for the same distance, it would be excellent. This is what the yogic postures, the āsanas, achieve. They give maximum energy and vitality, regenerating the organs while using minimal energy. Then comes prāṇāyāma. Breath is life, and life is breath. The first thing we did when we were born was inhale, and then everything happened. And what will we do last in life? We will exhale. Mahāprabhujīp Karatā Mahāprabhujīp Karatā He Kevalam. If we need only waves on the ocean, a wrong way of breathing can cause many psychic disorders: restlessness, nervousness, stress, sleeplessness, anxiety, and shortening of life. The right breathing can solve all these problems. The best treatment for stress, anxiety, and depression is the right breath technique, the yogic breath technique. Then comes relaxation, concentration, and meditation. This is what Yoga in Daily Life teaches. It teaches humans how to be healthy and how to create a healthy surrounding or environment. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but last weekend we had nearly 1,800 people all living here in this complex, in this student hospital, and you could hardly notice that there were so many people. If it were some other group, tons of gallons of alcohol would flow, many windows and bottles would be broken, and many other things. You would know something had happened. But the yogīs were disciplined; we are aware of that. Our neighbors—love your neighbor. We had a meeting at the playground, and when so many people came, we used loudspeakers. We tried to keep them so low that we wouldn’t disturb the neighbors. And though the festival could have gone on, we knew there was something, but yogīs were disciplined. We are aware of our neighbors—love your neighbor. We had a meeting at the playground, and when so many people came, we used loudspeakers. We tried to put them so low that we don’t disturb the neighbors. And though the festival could have gone throughout the whole night, we knew that we are very near to the houses here where families are living. So, correctly, at 9:30, we stopped all loudspeakers. It creates a beautiful, wonderful, peaceful atmosphere. And we need this. We need a healthy environment. Yoga is the way to God. Yoga is not a part of any religion, but you may say all religions are part of yoga. Prayer, meditation, belief, adoration, love, help, protection, respect—these are the principles of yoga. And those religions, in ancient times and at present, which preach these principles, are attached, united to yoga. Yoga is not a political thing, not some kind of fanaticism. It is the way to God, it is the way to oneself, it is the way to each and everyone’s heart, and the way to health. Dear friends, I can tell you that yoga is something divine, and it doesn’t matter which God you believe in, which language you speak, or if you don’t believe in God; still, practice yoga. So, yoga in daily life means to use yoga for everything. Those who lead a vegetarian life and practice yoga will have forever good memory. You know some of our leaders in India, political leaders, perhaps you know Mr. Gandhi, and you know about Nehru. Do you know what Nehru used to do? Every day, no matter where he was, before going to meetings, for ten minutes he would stand on his head. There is one very respected old politician in India now, who worked together with Mahatma Gandhi. His name is Morarji Desai, and I think he is approaching 100 years now, but his memory, his words, his movements are so brilliant. And this is thanks to nourishment and movement. It is said movement is also nourishment. Thinking is also nourishment. Mahātmā Gandhi said, "Physically I can fast, but mentally I can’t fast. My mental tonic is my prayer." So prayer is your spiritual tonic. Those who have a lot of work and have very important positions and responsibilities in society need more attention and concentration, and they should practice yoga in daily life. If not more, then at least 15 minutes; if 15 minutes is too much, then 10 minutes; and if 10 minutes is too much, then 5 minutes; and if 5 minutes is too much, then 1 minute; and if 1 minute is too much, then half a minute; and if that is too much, then God knows. There is a half-minute exercise which gives you plenty of energy and vitality. There are exercises in Yoga in Daily Life which you can do in your office. You don’t need anything. Just stand near your chair and do this exercise for half a minute. It means, as if you are sitting comfortably on the chair, you just stand and go down to this position without a chair, and make yourself comfortable like this. Half a minute will be too long, and you will feel very good. So yoga is good for all: young, old, ill, healthy, employer, minister, saint, priest, Swami, for all, for the living body, and for the past soul. So, dear brothers and sisters, Yoga in Daily Life is well known in your country, and there are hundreds of teachers. In Liberec we also have many, many places with yoga classes. Please go and benefit. And thank you for listening. If I have told something which you don’t like, please forgive me and just forget it. It was wonderful to see you here. And I pray to Almighty Lord for your good health, prosperity, harmony, peace, and divine protection, with long life for you, for your town, country, and the whole world. Let us embrace together in the name of God. God bless you. Śānti, śānti. And due to the time, or lack of time, I will be short. And I hope that I will give an answer with which you will be satisfied. To understand your different feelings, but mostly here it means to understand or to know from where you came, why you came, and what is your real duty here. Do you fulfill all obligations? Are you doing right or wrong? And where will you go to know yourself? Then you will know what God is. On Educating Children Swāmījī, please tell something about the education and upbringing of children. How is it possible to bring up children in a yogic way? We have two books available, "Yoga and Children" in your language, published by the Olomouc Yoga Society, which are available here at this seminar, and everything is explained in detail. But in short, educate your children with two principles: your children don’t need money, but they need your wisdom. And your children don’t need only toys, but they need your love. We know, I know also, that you love your children, definitely. And definitely, you give wisdom to your children. But maybe that’s not enough. Children need this support, understanding. Children need both parents to be happy. And children should not be frightened with something. And children should be taught free thinking and tolerance. Children should not see criminal films. You know, every director does his best to produce a film in every direction: best quality, best technique, best light, best sound technique, good artists, and perfect techniques to show the acting: how to steal, how to smuggle, how to lie, how to hide, how to kill, how to escape perfectly, with perfect technique, is shown on television. And when the child sees this, what do we expect from it? With weapons and fighting, we cannot educate the children and create peace. And there is the main point. When the children see aggressive parents drinking, fighting, shouting, often, children are trembling; they go quietly into their room, close the door, take their toy like this, and lie down. That is horror. So it is said, to give birth to a child is not so difficult, probably, but to educate and know what responsibility you have towards this new life; that must be realized. And give them healthy food. Children have the same habit of eating what their parents eat and how their parents eat. And lifelong they will have the same taste and way of eating. So try to avoid, as much as you can, letting your children eat somewhere outside. But at home, it is cooked by their mother. Don’t act with anger, and whenever you can, explain to them. And still, if they don’t agree, it’s their karma. Those who do will get. So, sometimes we can only explain. Perhaps we should change the planet, like changing a car. It is not possible. It is said, charity begins at home. The first milestone begins with your first step. It doesn’t matter if you are a leader or not. Never think that you are nothing. You are much more than what you think. Every action and every word you do will have its meaning. When I came to Czechoslovakia, now the Czech and Slovak Republic, at that time, whenever I spoke about vegetarian and healthy food, people said, "What? Not to eat meat?" I tell you one story. Once I had a lecture in Ostrava, Vitkovich, and there, in the lecture, there were about 800 people. And from there, one of my pupils, who is about 20 to 25 years old, a boy named Man, he became vegetarian. And his grandmother, she was so much disappointed and afraid that this child will die, and how will he exist if he doesn’t eat meat? And when she heard that I am coming and giving a lecture, this ninety-five-year-old elderly lady came just to see how a vegetarian looks. And she was sitting backside on the chair, and she had all the time to sit like this, and always she moved her head like this. And her grandchild told me, my granny said, "It’s impossible that boy is a vegetarian." So it is a wrong imagination. And I couldn’t think that I would not be successful. I had no authority. I was and am a foreigner. You had another government, very restricted, many, many things, but I kept this principle: vegetarian. And the result of this is that today, in your country, thousands and thousands of people are leading a healthy life, a vegetarian life, and are aware about the environment. So never think that you can’t do anything. You can do many things. The main thing is this: have self-confidence, be sure about yourself, and do it. I tell you one little story. Some of my disciples told in Hamburg that she is working in an office, and they have a kitchen in that office. All employees get lunch. And she is vegetarian, and in that kitchen, there is no question of vegetables. No green. No green. Only red. And she had another colleague, also one lady, a young girl, strong, full of temperament, fighting for rights, emancipation, everything. And she asked her, "Why don’t you go with me to eat?" She said, "I don’t eat, I don’t like." My pupil was so afraid, uncertain, she doesn’t dare to say that she is a vegetarian and that she is practicing yoga. She thought she would lose her job. This is called abnormal thinking. Don’t hide. That lady said, "Oh, you are vegetarian? I would also like to be vegetarian. Let’s go to the kitchen and say we want to eat vegetarian." And the head of the kitchen said, "I am sorry, there is no green, only red." Without tomatoes, without red beets, only, you know what, she said, "I want to have equal rights. When they get meat, why do I not get vegetables? I will make a complaint." So the head of the cook and the head of that organization, or the factory, or whatever it is, then said, please do one thing: collect the signature. So, how many people would like to eat vegetarian? And the result? Sixty-five percent. People signed, "Yes, please, we would like to have healthy food without egg, fish, meat, chicken, pecan, chicken, kitten, nothing." And other people, 35%, also said, "Let us try." So now there is a minimum of meat and a maximum of healthy food. You don’t dare to act because self-confidence is missing. It is healthy, and it belongs to the spiritual and moral. Those who have not killed. Otherwise, we would not practice. Yoga changes the destiny. That’s why we are practicing. The prayer changes our destiny. Otherwise, why should we go to the church in prayer? So, men can change their destiny if they want. Nothing is impossible for a man. Where there is a will, there is a way, and self-discipline. In Prague, we have many, many yoga centers. And you can practice Yoga in Daily Life in every district. There are about 20 or 40 yoga teachers occupied. So the addresses and possibilities you can get from the organizers here, and throughout the whole Republic, you have possibilities to practice yoga nearly in every town, several days or several places. On Divine Incarnation and the Soul God does incarnate in many forms, and he has nothing against male or female. We had many, many divine mothers, we call. What do you think about the Holy Mother Mary? So God is gracious to all, equal to everybody. For reality, for the truth, there is no attribute, no duality of the attribute. Souls are multiplying and changing, because souls are like space. This hall where we are sitting has several hundreds or thousands of square meters. And now, if they decide to make little rooms, the same space is divided into several rooms. You remove the walls, and the space is space. It is an individual case. It depends on certain life circumstances: family, education, culture, profession, friends, health, and so on. And it is the best way to go gradually. Never be in a hurry. On Environmental Protection and Global Responsibility There is the same question as it was asked before about whether we can help our world not to be destroyed. We can help, and we must help. Catastrophes are not inevitable, which everyone expected. Shri Germain, and when India is endangered, who is not endangered? Everyone. And what you call rich countries, they destroyed their soil, and now they build the industries in the so-called developing countries, which are now destroying everything. They import from other countries, destroying coconut plants, pineapples, bananas, and so on. And of course, in India, there is unfortunately a lot of industry and pollution. And it is very hard to make Indians aware of this. They think this Western culture is something great: discos, dancing, whiskies, plastic, and so on. And also, you think in Czechoslovakia, what comes from America is perhaps beautiful. Of course, in America, everyone is very beautiful, but we should think. And Americans think what is in Europe is beautiful. Always in the neighbor’s plate, you see more. So, in undeveloped countries, the people are trying to develop everything now. Unfortunately, India is caught by this illness too. Although our government is working hard to protect, what they mean is very hard to see. I had a meeting in Pestiani about five or six years ago, and your health minister and education minister attended the program. It was about yoga and health, and many doctors and nurses were there. The minister asked me a question, "Swāmījī, is there any kind of solution or a solution towards the problem of alcoholism? If yoga has some solution for this?" I said yes, perfect, 100%. What is that? Don’t produce alcohol at all. No bamboo, no flute, no noise. That we can’t do, I said, because you require in your meeting. So, it’s very hard to say one way why the government allows other countries to build their chemical factories. You all know very well that a few years ago there was a great accident in India, where thousands of people lost their lives, and thousands became blind, and still people are suffering. So the millions of humans and animals were influenced by this accident in Bhopal, the middle part of India. And again, they started. So, it is very hard, but now yogīs are working very hard, and people who are aware of ecological protection are doing it. I’m very happy that in your country, many, many millions of people are interested in this project: healthy food and a healthy way of life. It doesn’t matter if they practice yoga or not, but they are aware of ecological problems. Don’t use too much washing powder for your dishes and for many, many things. And try to use natural material. And limit your requirements so the first milestone begins from you. On Suicide It’s unclear to me. What is your opinion if somebody voluntarily wants to leave this life? It’s not good. Suicide, you mean. I don’t understand the question exactly. What is your advice for normal life? If you commit suicide, if you get rid of the trauma, you are the lowest. You can’t help them. You create more problems for them. Police will come and search everything, and this and that, and they will be sad, and many, many things. You create more problems. So please don’t think of this. Cancel this program. Cancel this program. On Facing Difficulties and Negative Forces Several times, I’ve met some angry dogs. Yes. Several times, cobras. In your past regimen, often, your secret police was behind me and asking many questions. Often, or several times, I was also ill. Several times, people were angry. Twice or three times, there were slight car accidents that could have been very dangerous. So, in life, you experience negative forces. But not in that way, perhaps you think, that Mr. Dracula comes. No, not in that way. Because before he comes to me, five kilometers before, he dissolves. So, unfortunately, I can’t see him. On Paths to Truth Is there another way besides the way of yoga? Could be, but what is not yoga? This you should ask. That’s it. On Intelligence and Wisdom What is the relation between intelligence and wisdom? The intelligence is more towards common sense. The intelligence is the instrument to use the wisdom in the right way. On What Constitutes a Drug What is not a drug? Too much of everything is a drug. Food is also a drug. Give up eating, and you will see what happens. So, too much coffee is not good. But sometimes when you have to drink, do it. Black tea is like coffee. That’s also like that, so don’t drink too much. On Personal Diet and Upbringing Where did you eat meat for the last time? I think several lives ago. In the village where I was born, you can’t buy even an egg for it. It is not allowed to kill animals, and it is not allowed to cut green trees. And you are not allowed to bring alcohol inside. So, my parents were vegetarian, all my ancestors, as far as I know, were vegetarian, and I too. If, then, maybe unconsciously, I ate in the cherry somewhere, and for that, I pray to God to forgive. On Onion and Garlic Do onion and garlic prevent constipation? What is your opinion of onion and garlic? Too much may not be good. Garlic and onion could also be like a medicine. They have a good effect on the blood cells and the concentration too. If garlic and onion are fried in oil, then it has a negative influence. And if they are fried and too much or a little part is burning, that may also cause some disease. But too much is not good, too much eating garlic and going in the office, maybe. On Ego and Self-Respect The real ego begins there, where you think only you can do, you managed it, and when someone tries to argue, then you feel offended, or you feel aggressive, angry. There, ego is strong. But there is a natural ego, the will to lead life, to live life, and self-respect. Self-respect is not ego. Self-respect means to respect others. We are cleanly dressed. Respect others. If you have a beard and long hair, then after eating food, clean it properly. Don’t let hanging spaghetti and go somewhere. So, properly cleaning, it is called self-respect to other respect. Be punctual. So, this is not ego, but respect for others. It means to self, too. And if you think that you are an egoistic person, then, do one thing: yoga and dead life. Someone is showing me the watch. Sorry. One more, please. Oh, long one. There are several, so which one should I choose? These are typed. I’m surprised. Is there a typing machine here? Is this question from the yoga seminar participants? So, dear friends, thank you for listening, and I wish you good night, sweet sleep, and honey dreams. God bless you. Thank you.