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The Foundation of Practice: Health, Discipline, and Sattva

A discourse on health, discipline, and foundational yoga practice.

"Practice means at home, not only here. Here, you are merely learning."

"Spirituality is automatically present when you feel physically well."

Swami Ji addresses a gathering, emphasizing that consistent daily practice at home is essential for health, which is the prerequisite for spirituality. He explains how physical vikāra (illness) and tamas guṇa lead to mental afflictions, and prescribes a strict routine of cleansing kriyās, prāṇāyāma, and āsana. He urges practitioners, especially teachers, to become examples of a sattvic lifestyle, covering diet (āhār), recreation (vihār), behavior (ācār), and thought (vicār).

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

I wish to revisit a crucial point for our lives, one that requires serious reconsideration. This serious rethinking reveals that many of us do not resemble yoga practitioners. Yoga is practiced worldwide, often with great seriousness. Yet, perhaps only 30% of you are regular practitioners. The remaining 70%, who are not regular in practice, become victims of various physical problems and illnesses. We possess a wonderful, complete scientific system where nothing is missing. So why do we have problems? The answer is simple: you do not practice. Practice means at home, not only here. Here, you are merely learning. Practicing for only one week is of no help; it must be a continuous, daily process. I can point to many people: look at the body of a true practitioner. Then I can bring another person near you—perhaps even a yoga teacher—and you can see their body is different because they are not a practitioner. Therefore, we must change entirely. To practice yoga seriously in daily life, you must practice at home for the sake of your health. Spirituality comes afterward. Spirituality is automatically present when you feel physically well. Our bodies are full of vikāra and tamas guṇa. When vikāra and tamas guṇa are present, you are not a yogī. Vikāra means illness; it is dead energy. Vikāra refers to those energies in the body that cause illness. It is the nature of the body to create vikāras. It is the nature of the body to produce the three qualities: tāmasic, rājasic, and sāttvic. For tāmasic guṇa, you need not support anything; it grows on its own. For rajas guṇa, you must support it somewhat. But for sattva guṇa, you have to work a great deal. We must become sāttvic. Where there is a sāttvic body, there is no vikāra. Vikāra exists in the mind as well. When the body is unhealthy and full of vikāra, then thoughts are also full of vikāra. When thoughts are full of vikāra, the activities of the indriyas (senses) become full of vikāra—negative activities. When the mind is full of vikāras and negative thoughts, the buddhi (intellect) becomes dull. This means vikāra has entered the buddhi. When the intellect is afflicted by vikāra, your pure knowledge is affected; it becomes covered, like the sun obscured by clouds or fog. Your reality is covered by those vikāras and negative qualities. Therefore, there is nothing else to be done but to practice yoga. There is no other way to purify the body so thoroughly. Do not think this is only about having or not having extra kilos; that is a different matter. Continue practicing every day, and seasonally practice Śaṅkha Prakṣālana, Kun̄jal Kriyā, Netī Kriyā, and Prāṇāyāma. You will have no health problems. So why not begin again this year? Let us jump into the new year full of discipline and a healthy program. The food we eat is also full of tamas guṇa and rajas guṇa. The same food can be prepared in a different way to become sattvic food. Of course, we should avoid all kinds of eggs, meat, alcohol, and so on. But you must also learn how to cook. I estimate 85% of the people sitting here do not know how to cook. You have lost the knowledge of cooking and developed wrong tastes. This means 95% do not know how to eat, and 100% do not know when to eat. This is our problem. I see two sides: should I think commercially, or in a healthy way? We have healthy food cooked here, for which there is a small queue. But at the bakery, which is not good, there is a crowd because of the sugary things. I understand it is good for them commercially, but I can tell you it is not healthy for you. I am in the middle; I am for you, and I am for others too. Whom should I support? I will support both. Supporting you means advising you to avoid such eating. Supporting them means encouraging them to make healthier items—healthy salads, sprouts, seeds like methī—so you can have healthy options. Are both sides supported? Therefore, why don't we think of our health today? For those who have not done Śaṅkha Prakṣālana this year before winter comes, please raise your hands. Thank you. Now, can those who are not practitioners of yoga in daily life raise their hands? How can you be a practitioner if you have not completed your fourth Śaṅkha Prakṣālana this year? There are still 35 days left. Those who have not practiced should do so before the year ends. Instead of eating Christmas bakery goods, eat nice Śaṅkha Prakṣālana khichrī. Hurry and do it before Christmas Day. You can eat Christmas bakery; there is nothing wrong, but can you keep the limitation? A request to parents: kindly, during lectures, if possible, remove three- or four-year-old children from the lecture hall. I should not have to repeat this every time. Thank you. Now, regarding Śaṅkha Prakṣālana: we had a session last weekend in Klagenfurt where a complication occurred due to a participant's mistake, not the leader's. The person was hospitalized for a few hours. The case was this: the person takes hormonal tablets for the thyroid gland and forgot to take them. Also, many Europeans think, "Don’t eat salt," but avoiding salt completely is not good. You need a little salt. Many people are so fanatical they do not eat salt, leading to a lack of potassium. Do not be fanatical. Salt is good; you need a little, of course not 100 grams. About 10 grams is sufficient if you eat a lot. For those doing Śaṅkha Prakṣālana who are on medication—for hormones, blood pressure, diabetes, or other conditions—you must take your medicine two hours before the practice to avoid complications. Please always do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana with an expert teacher nominated by me or Yoga In Daily Life. Practice always under the guidance of an expert I have nominated. If you have done it a little, you might manage alone, but it is not recommended. Practice Śaṅkha Prakṣālana four times a year, every third month. Every week, on Saturday or Monday morning, do Kun̄jal Kriyā because on weekends we tend to eat a little more. With eating, we have difficulties. Mahāprabhujī said that to eat little and forgive little is difficult for many people. Therefore, Kun̄jal Kriyā on Monday is very good. Do Netī almost every day, only in the morning. Do Agni Śara Kriyā every day. Do Uḍḍīyāna Bandha every day. And for five minutes, do Kapāla Bhāti or Bhastrikā Prāṇāyāma every day. This program is essential. Then add your regular āsanas and prāṇāyāma. So, to summarize: five minutes of Bhastrikā daily; two to three minutes of Agni Śara Kriyā daily; Netī daily; Kun̄jal Kriyā every Monday; Śaṅkha Prakṣālana every third month; and āsana and prāṇāyāma for a minimum of half an hour to one and a half hours daily. I am waiting until next year, the end of November or beginning of December, to see in this hall faces filled with immense energy—active, positive, and sattvic energy. Eat whatever you like, except meat, eggs, fish, and so on. But ensure you can digest it 100%. Digestion here means not that you are hungry again after a few hours, but that your body absorbs all the necessary nutrition from your food. I suggest you begin again, seriously practicing Yoga in Daily Life. You people must become examples. Most here are teachers. What is the condition of the teachers? I do not wish to offend, but if I asked the teachers to stand, the picture might not be so good. So, better you remain seated. Yoga teachers, you must become examples again. Think: when you first came to yoga, you did not come because of Swāmījī. When you first saw me, you likely thought, "My God, who is that?" Then slowly you thought, "Oh, not bad." Ask yourself: what was your initial motivation for coming to yoga? How much do you feel that motivation has been fulfilled and realized? Why did you come? Good health is the first reason. We are not physically immortal; we know we will die one day. Thanks to God we do not know when, where, or how. We hope our death will be quick and without suffering. But you know, those who are lazy, full of tamas guṇa and illnesses, are like a black car transferring a dead body in a wooden box—a coffin. If you live in a lazy body, you live lifelong in a coffin. A lazy, undisciplined, angry body is a dead body, and you are inside it. Therefore, wash out tamas guṇa. Wash out vikāra. We do not want vikāra; we want ācāra and vicāra. Ācāra means behavior. If you remember, for the last four years I have constantly given you four points. Are you thinking about what I tell you? Do you change your life accordingly? No. If you had changed, you would look different, and I would not receive such long letters of complaint, three or four pages. I am used to listening to complaints. When one day I do not get a complaint letter, I feel bored and wonder what happened. But no sun sets without some complaints—toward themselves, toward others, and even toward me. Do not think I sit here holy. Many do not act accordingly when alone. Yes, yes... This is a vikāra, a mental vikāra. These are mental vikāras. Jesus was crucified by this. This is the crucifixion of Jesus. Kṛṣṇa was also struck by this. Rāma also suffered because of people's mental vikāras. Do you think everything is okay for all of you sitting here? No. How many times do you change your thoughts? "Why is Swāmījī doing this? Why doesn't he do that? Why does he speak like that? Why can he not speak like this? Why does he support this person and not me? Why does he eat like that? Why does he walk like that? Why can't I sit near him like Arjun Purī?" Of course, only one Arjuna was for Kṛṣṇa. You can also try. Learn the language, then sit here and translate. I would be happy if you could sit here, but you must become worthy. Every day: complain, complain, complain. And every answer I give, I must think fifty-one times over whether to say yes or no. Even if I would like to say no, I sometimes say yes. If I would gladly say no, I might have to say yes as a form of self-protection. Can you imagine? I am not lying. During Christmas and Dīvālī, holy times, this is the condition from many of you. This is the condition of the Master. So, I have told you constantly over the last few years: four things. Āhār, vihār, ācār, vicār. Āhār is diet. Vihār is where to go and where not to go. Vicār is what to think. Ācār is behavior. It is a hard life. To be a human is beautiful, but it is also hard. We are in this school to become perfect; it is a school of perfection. Therefore, you must purify yourself and begin to practice again. Finally, wake up. We are stuck in tāmas guṇas: coffee, jam, biscuit, chocolate. You keep putting them in. This is an endless garbage. Your stomach becomes a waste bin. When you shower in the morning and look at your dimensions before dressing, you say, "Oh my God, I have so many kilos." Do not blame the scale or your clothes. Blame the overweight. The problem is you are not forced to have extra kilos. Check what you eat per day and what kind of food it is. Please eat healthy. Bread is good, butter is good, cheese is good, cake is good, chocolate is good—but with limitation. Eat fruits and make sprouts at home. Eat salads and healthy things. I suggest you should do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana. For those with individual problems, they should consult a doctor—preferably a yoga doctor. For example, we can ask our Dr. Martin to advise who should absolutely not do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana. Then, what is the alternative? There are many things. In Āyurveda, there is Sonāmukhī. Every fourth night, you take Sonāmukhī; it functions like Śaṅkha Prakṣālana. Or in allopathic medicine in Europe, they use bitter salt. Every fourth night, take half or a full teaspoon (ask a doctor) in the evening, and in the morning you will have an effect like Śaṅkha Prakṣālana. But these are only for those who cannot do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana due to physical complications. You can do Netī, and then we will not have problems with the nose, sniffing, or flu. You are a yogī. How do you look now? I am surprised you do not look like yogīs. After 33 years in Czechoslovakia, I saw one yogī, Turjānand, come here. Do you know why he is a good yogī? Thanks to his wife. Yes, if his wife were not a very good and careful cook... If she did not cook, poor her. And if he did not make many compromises, he would not be like that. I wish all you men such a wife—full of tolerance, compromise, and understanding. It is not easy for her, but like Aṅka. Look: many of you are sitting inside with caps and jackets. Look at him—he has nothing on. He is nearly 75, or how old are you? 65. He is seriously practicing. He is an example. His body does not have those vikāras. When the body has no vikāra, the mind has no vikāra. So, if you are only thinking, "I am the supreme," okay, what will you do with your supremacy? Go home and sit. Tell your wife, "I am supreme." She will say, "Okay, go and work." What is my main concern? That your health condition should be perfect. Especially in the Czech Republic, certain insurance companies will support you; you will pay less for life insurance if you practice every day. What good news. In America, there are insurance companies where you pay only half if you are a yoga practitioner. In America, when a man is very rude to his wife or a wife to her husband, the court may order one year of attending yoga classes. They must bring one year of attendance records from a yoga teacher. This is not a joke; it was reported three times in Austrian newspapers. That is why I am speaking according to the newspapers. In Germany, if you practice under trained yoga teachers, insurance covers certain costs. So you have a double benefit: financial and good health. Then why not begin to practice yourself before teaching others? So, again, let us make a saṅkalpa (resolve) that in six months, by summer, my body will have a yogic appearance and be perfectly healthy. You can do it. It depends on you. You should throw away the coffin of your dead body—that is, laziness and tamas guṇa.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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