TV Channel

Salutations to the cosmic light, Lord of our heart, Omniscient and Omnipresent, Protector and Liberator, may He lead us from unreality to reality, from darkness to light, from mortality to immortality. May He bless us with good health, peace, harmony, and happiness. Adoration to the Cosmic Self. Dear brothers and sisters, good evening. I am happy to be here again in Maribor, and I remember my last lecture in this same hall. Thank you for the invitation. Our subject is health, and we are all looking for good health. One scientist said, "Health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health." We know this. Fortunately, in our modern world, there are thousands of possibilities to get healthy. The medical system has made immense progress, but at certain times there are individual cases, and we shall treat the individual cases. So we have here a holistic system of healing. We shall accept any kind of help from anywhere if it helps us. We should be able to accept any help from wherever it comes, if it helps us. When we need help, we don’t need arguments and discussions. Therefore, we say, look for something which can help our health. Yoga is one of the best ways to achieve good health. You know that in the last months there were many articles in different magazines, written by scientists who conducted research on yogic therapy. You know, or you will be surprised to know, that yoga has taken its place in the field of health again, as a primary therapy. But what does yoga really give us? Movements—we can make many different kinds of movements. Swimming, cycling, running, walking, and some kinds of sports we can do. But what is special in yoga? How does yoga always help in a better way? This is something mysterious. Many people don’t believe. But when they see the result, then they have to accept. I think I would like to tell you what is the special, the miracles, or the mysterious things in yoga which help everyone. I would like to tell you something about what yoga is, which in a mysterious, miraculous way helps everyone. The yoga system, which was developed for the benefit of mankind, is for their good health. And here begins now the mystery of yoga: that those holy saints who developed this system, with their blessing, gave it further to humans. You may believe in this, or you may not believe. There are many, many stories of how the blessing helps. I will come to some techniques. I will come to some practical parts, so that this evening, everyone should take something with them at home. Not only that you came and listened to the lecture, and that’s all. I will try to give everyone something which will help you. Let me tell you one example, whether you believe it or not. Belief doesn’t change reality. If you believe or you don’t believe, the sun is rising every day still. The story is like this, very simple. It’s about my Grand Master. He was a great holy incarnation. His name was Svayaṃbhū Devapurījī. He used to lead his life like all normal sādhus in India. And whatever he told came true. In many, many cases, some ill person came to him and asked him, "Master, please help me. I have this and this disease." And what did he do? He had no injections with him, and he had no tablets and medicines. He also didn’t prescribe any medicine. But he went to his fireplace, it’s called Dūni, and he took from the fireplace two fingers full of ash, it’s called Vibhūti. He gave it in his hand and said, "Mix it in water and drink it." Many academics will say, "Stupid, he just dirtied my hand with ashes." But you wouldn’t believe that person who took it, and the illness went away like a miracle, immediately. Not in three months or five months or in ten days. If there’s a miracle, then it should immediately happen. Now, what was in that ash? I also tried to take that ash and give it to someone. Nothing happened. I again took it slowly, carefully, and I told someone, "Take this ash." Yes, it didn’t help. I was ashamed of myself. Then I tried again for myself to take it. It helped a little bit. Now, what was there something special which helped? And that’s a blessing. What was the special thing that helped him? It was the blessing. I don’t know if you go to church or not, but when you go to church, at the entrance, there is holy water, and you take that water. Someone takes it in the mouth, someone makes a cross on the forehead. Why? There is a blessing inside, in the name of God, either Jesus, or on whose name the church is named or dedicated. Again, I took that ash in the name of Devapurījī, and I said, "Take this vibhūti from Śrī Devapurījī, it will help you," and it functioned. So yoga is that blessing coming from the holy saints. You can read more about Śrī Devapurījī in his book, Līlāmṛt, which you have in your language. It’s fantastic. When you read this book, you think it is a fairy tale, but Devapurījī has lived before, about 60 years, 50 years, 60 years ago. So in this way, dear friends, yoga is not only those movements, but it is given to us with the blessing. And the words of the great saints are always reality. It helps us in the first place because of their blessing. Maybe they lived 10,000 years ago. And you know, yoga is one of the most ancient systems. It’s not a part of some religion. When, then, all religions are a part of yoga. I will not go into this side too much. The yogīs meditated and they analyzed the whole being. They looked at animals or humans. They found that there is not only one physical body, but there are more bodies. And in order to treat some illness, you need to treat all the bodies, the five bodies. First is the body of nourishment, annamaya kośa. Second is called prāṇamaya kośa, the body of prāṇa energy. Third is called manomaya kośa, the mental body. And fourth is called vijñānamaya kośa, your intellectual body. The body of your intellect. And the fifth one is called ānandamaya kośa. The fifth is Ānandamaya Kośa, or the Causal Body. These five bodies are like one after another layer, and within that is your soul. Yoga means balance, to bring things into balance. If something is out of this balance, then things go wrong. So, you try to create the balance between all five bodies. Or I would say the physical body, your body, your mind, your emotion, your intellect, and your ambition. Something is wrong in one of these five points which I told you, and that’s why you are ill. Something is wrong in one of those five bodies, and that’s why you are sick. Yoga means healing for the whole being and personality, not just for one of those five bodies. Parallel to yoga, they developed a parallel medical system, one of the oldest, called Āyurveda. Ayurveda has similar treatment methods to yoga. Ayurveda divides all humans into three parts. They say there are three doṣas: Vāta, Pitta, and Kapha. And some of them have two active: Vāta, Pitta, or Kapha. Unless you realize this and treat them, you cannot get healthy. So, Ayurveda concentrates more on the nourishment. If you take the right nourishment, you can cure your disease. For example, you take some medicine. That is just the right nourishment for you, so that you can just control. Just control, perhaps, or cure also. But Ayurveda says take something natural, nourishment, but at the same time you should control your mental activities. When you go to the Ayurveda clinic for some kind of therapy, they don’t allow you to watch any television, no radios, no reading books, and at the right time, going to sleep and not talking too much. Don’t talk too much and control your thoughts. Try to think as little as you can. Now, watching television, listening to the radio, talking to other people, and thinking too much—what is this? In which category do you order these things? Not physically, mentally. That mind influences your emotions. And that emotion creates the tensions in your mind. And that tension can cause many kinds of diseases. So the yogī says, don’t run to the doctor for little, little things. First, try to cure yourself. And you know, the doctor will also tell you to change the way of your life and take this and this medicine. Now, here we would say that you change your diet and you exercise yoga. Yogic movements, yogic exercises, they are psychosomatic movements. They influence our body, and they influence our psyche. And the blessing of the Holy Saints—this is also done together with the exercise. In yoga, we say there are four types of health: physical health, mental health, social health, and spiritual health. If you are physically healthy, but mentally you are not healthy, that will not solve your problem. If you are mentally healthy but physically not, that also will not solve your problem. Or you are socially not healthy. It means using drugs, criminal activities. Stealing things, lazy, not working. Waiting for somebody to work for you. This is coming to the category of social health. No one would like you. Everyone would try to avoid you. When someone is drunk and taking too many drugs, lying in the street, that someone is drunk or drugged and is lying on the street or is doing some nonsense things, everyone is trying to change their way and call the police or ambulance to take them to the hospital. So, the first thing is that our social life should be healthy. When the social life is healthy, then your society is healthy. And society healthy means the country is healthy. So, in whichever direction people go, that direction will your country go. And spiritual health means tolerance. Tolerance is very, very important. Understanding. Every child says, "My mother is the best mother." Now, which mother is not the best mother? Every mother is a good mother. Everyone says our religion is the best religion. Now, which religion is not the best religion? Everyone says our culture is the best culture. So, which culture is not the best culture? All cultures are good, best. One philosopher said, "All cultures are good." But the best culture is agriculture. That we need all, and there is a point where we all come together, and that is the point where we all come together. Tolerance is very important. Those who have no tolerance are mentally ill. So, they are spiritually not healthy. Yoga in Daily Life, which you are practicing here in your country, in your town, in your city, which you call Yoga in Daily Life, is a scientifically proven system. It is utilized in thousands of centers in the world, especially in some rehabilitation centers. And not only physical exercises, but breathing exercises, and relaxation, and meditation, and repeating, practicing mantra, or listening to the mantras. You know the sound therapy? Sound therapy is a very powerful therapy. The sound can make you happy, sound can make you angry, sound can make you unhappy. Sound can make you sad. Sound can make you aggressive. Sound can make you fight, being against others. The sound, the words—if someone tells you, "I love you," you are happy. This sound makes you happy. I love you. And if someone tells you, "I hate you, ugly one." Excuse me to say something that will make you so angry. Whole night you can’t sleep. That bloody man told me, or that one told me, "I hate you, ugly one." That’s black magic, blackmail in your mind. You go in the bathroom and look, "Really, am I ugly?" Sound can change your complete feelings. In the same way is the sound of nature. Nature, you go in the forest: beautiful birds, flowers, trees, the wind. Or you go to the seaside, where you go to your seaside: beautiful sound of the sea and these crickets, the little animals. On the first day, you are agitated; it is too loud. But then you get harmonized with them. Similarly, there is music. Music has three qualities: sāttvic, rājasic, and tāmasic. Sāttvic, rājasic, and tāmasic. There is some kind of music that, when you hear it, makes you so sad you start crying. You become tired. You become tired. And you give up. You give up hope. There is another kind of music that is called rājasic. Which makes you hot, aggressive, moving, dancing. The music that warms you up, raises your temperature, you become aggressive, you dance, you jump. And the third one is sattvic. It makes you happy and relaxed. So, different instrument, different tune, different melody, different resonance, which influences our blood cells very strongly. Different instruments, different melodies, and different tonalities have a very strong influence on our blood vessels. And if it is some spiritual music, if there are spiritual songs, what you call bhajans or kīrtans, that is like a healing power. And very important is the environment. In which house you live, in which flat you are living, and what kind of environment is there, that will influence your health. First of all, the building where you live should be built according to the Vāstu Śāstra. Vastu Śāstra is the ancient way of building, or the architecture system. In Vāstu Śāstra, it is said that you have to put the balance inside the house. The windows should be of the same size. If you have them on two walls in the room, they should be the same size from one side to the other. If you take a scale, do you know what a scale is? An old system, there are two plates hanging. If you take a scale, on one side you put the weight, on the other side you put the weight. On one side you put the weight, and on the other side something for measuring, and this scale is balanced with one stick. Which is standing, that one which creates the balance, that is called the place of the Brahma in your house. When you go to your house today, find out the middle point of your house. Or the middle point of your living room. I don’t know how many hundred square meters you have. You find the middle point by counting all the ends of your house. You shouldn’t use that middle point for anything. Don’t cross, don’t walk on it. What to do? Either you put a water fountain there, or you put one big flower pot or some plants. You will feel an immediately different atmosphere in your flat. Immediately, things will change. There will be no more quarrelling between husband and wife. Make this experiment. I think that you are not quarrelling with your partner, and if you are doing this, then put something in there on the study term. The atmosphere will be different. In this way, we can harmonize the energy. Energy is very important. So, try to put some objects in your house, in your flat, in your room, which create and purify the energy. You know, now it’s very modern also, this ancient system becomes modern, the Feng Shui. They have many things which can harmonize the energy. That will affect your health in a positive way. Under your bed, you should put copper wires or a copper plate. Immediately, the sleeping quality will change and improve. So, go and try this, what I tell you. That’s yoga, and that’s what I call Yoga in Daily Life. Also, try to put your head in a particular direction. And test your energy in the room. Where is better energy? Put your bed there, if it is possible. If not possible, then put the copper plate under. The copper plate can be only 10 cm long and 10 cm wide. It is enough for it to be 10x10 cm in size. Or two or three copper wires under the bed. Or a spring that will change the energy. That is what we call Yoga in Daily Life. Second, we come to the nourishment. And you know, the best nourishment is a vegetarian life. In every aspect, from the viewpoint of health and from the viewpoint of ethical morals, that’s very important. You never know which animal was suffering from which kind of illness. And when you eat that, that influences your life. Further, it is your choice. In yoga and in Ayurveda, it is said that if you drink morning water, that will help you very much to improve your health condition. If you have problems with eyes, ears, nose, kidneys, with the heart, digestion, skin problems, joint problems, back aching, thyroid glands, or any glands, you drink water in the morning, and this problem will be solved. Best would be if you can get natural spring water. And if you have more problems and you would like to know the result quickly, then half a liter of warm water and put two lemons in it and drink it. For half an hour, don’t eat anything and don’t drink anything. And after that, for half an hour, you don’t eat or drink anything else. You will see a great improvement in your health. And if you have no health problem, then it is a very good prevention. So that’s for everyone to take home. Water—have you enough clean water, or just room temperature water? You should drink so much water that you say, "I can’t drink anymore," a quarter liter, half liter, or one liter. Second, we spoke last time, and this time also, about one kriyā that’s called Agnisāra Kriyā. Agnisāra Kriyā activates our solar plexus. It regulates the work of the pancreas and regulates the digestion system. This exercise takes only two to three minutes. You can do it in the bathroom or in your room, wherever you find a place. You can practice anywhere. It should be done only in the morning with an empty stomach, before drinking that water. Or, after half an hour, drinking water takes two minutes. It is said that those who practice Agnisāra Kriyā every day are protected from many diseases: sugar disease, especially sugar disease, blood pressure problems, skin problems, digestive problems, problems with heartburn, headache, and it is a great prevention against cancer. When it takes two minutes, why don’t you do it? If you are not able to dedicate two minutes for yourself, then you are really lazy. Discipline makes success. The key to success is your discipline. I should practice every day, every day. We are doing a thousand things in this world every day. Why should we not do something for ourselves for two minutes? Then, yoga exercises, postures. As you slowly do that, they become more effective. And as quickly and in a hurry you do it, the less effect it will have. You may perform only two postures, but with a relaxed body and mind. It is called Cosmic Dance. Your body is the temple of your soul, and your duty is to keep your body clean and healthy. Or practice Kaṭha Praṇām two or three rounds. Or whenever you feel very tired, when you come from work at home and you feel very tired, but you need some energy, you do Kaṭha Praṇām. Immediately you will have a lot of vitality. There are some people who have very low blood pressure, and they drink coffee and cola and some different things. For a little time, the pressure goes high and then again goes down. Coffee is the best to keep the blood pressure down. When you drink the coffee, for the first half an hour, your blood pressure will go up. Then the pressure will fall down again. I tried many times. Previously, whenever I used to drink coffee after I was so sleepy, in the beginning I was very tired and exhausted after drinking coffee. Then I had to do the Sarvāṅgāsana and headstand. Kaṭha Praṇām. And there is one more kriyā, it is called nauli kriyā. That is not so easy to do. You need perfect balance over your stomach muscles, and to have the balance on the stomach muscles is not easy. Many of us have problems with the stomach. They are not under our control, always growing. I’m so disappointed that my stomach muscles don’t follow me. One doesn’t dare to eat sometimes. Only from looking at the food, the stomach is growing. We know this problem. So, the Nauli Kriyā can solve this problem. Kaṭha Praṇām, Nauli Kriyā, Agnisāra Kriyā, and water drinking—these techniques I gave you today. After the interval, we will have the demonstration of the three kriyās. That one is Agnisāra, second is Nauli, and third is Kapālabhāti. And the fourth one is drinking water. The fifth technique I would like to give you, that everyone can do, is for some minutes: one minute, two minutes, three minutes, five minutes, as long as you have time, and that’s meditation. If you don’t practice meditation, then yoga exercises will not be successful. You have all instruments here. Loudspeaker, microphone, video camera, light arrangement, everything is here, but no electricity. Similarly, you have all kinds of exercises, but very importantly, what is missing here is meditation, and that we will do now, just a few minutes, not very long.