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Part 1: Yoga in Daily Life and Self-Realization Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, mā kaścid duḥkha bhāgbhavet, śāntiḥ. Salutation to the cosmic light. Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent, His Divine Presence. Very good evening, dear brothers and sisters. I am very happy to be again in Brno. It is not my first visit; I think I have been here many, many, many times. Since 1973, I have been constantly visiting. I have many beautiful memories from the city of Brno, its surroundings, and the whole of what you called the previous Czechoslovakia and now the Czech Republic. There has always been a spiritual stream in the Czech Republic. Vždycky byly duchovní proudy, especially what you call mystic Prague. In ancient spirituality, the Czech people were very deeply connected with Indian spirituality. It is very close to Indian spirituality. As an example, I was told that in Prague there is a house that is more than 2,000 years old—maybe a little less, I do not remember—and on the door of the house and entrance is written: "We are only guests here. We are building here the castles." But we do not build anything where we will be permanent. That is a similar translation. "Permanent" means to be in Brahman, in the Supreme. I understood today the subject is "Yoga in Daily Life and Self-Realization." Is that? Well, this is a beautiful subject, and this is something that we should achieve. Therefore, I have some very concrete views about that, not only an opinion. Many times in my lectures, I have spoken about creation. In every culture, in every belief, there are different fairy tales, different stories. Something is authentic, and something is man-made stories. But of course, we are not judging anyone. There are two things: one we heard, another we experienced. Experiences are the reality; that is called the evidence. Evidence will never die. So, practical experiences. The spiritual science began from India, and they call it Sanātana Dharma. Sanātana Dharma means eternal religion. After that, another part of religion’s definition comes from different incarnations. In Sanātana Dharma, there is only one God. We do not say that it is our God and their God. Like here, people say it is a Hindu God, an Islam God, and a Christian God. This came after. There was only one, that is called eternal religion, governed by one Consciousness, that is called Brahman. That Brahman is the highest, only one, the God. You may call it the Holy Father, which has no form, but it is here. Another is called the space. The space which we see is endless. There are many, many universes involved in this space. In the Vedas, in the old scriptures, it is said: "Ananta brahmaṇ śāstra sūryaḥ"—endless universe and thousands of sun systems governed by one, that is called Brahman, that is called the God of the entire universe. And the same principle is governing different solar systems. And the same God is governing this individual one: Ātmā and Paramātmā. There is no difference. So the yogīs, those great seers who had knowledge of past, present, and future—meaning they could remember or see what was in the past, and they could see very clearly what will be tomorrow, like you are sitting in your car and driving and you see far ahead that another car is coming—so they could see everything. It is their message that this universe, which is endless, is like a mother’s body, the womb of the mother. And the universal consciousness, which is within this space, is called the embryo: Hiraṇya-Garbha, golden embryo, cosmic consciousness. And both are balanced, united, harmonized by one principle that is called yoga. So yoga is as old as the universe—not these postures and exercises, but the definition, the word yoga, and that is connected again with the cosmic power. So cosmos, cosmic consciousness, and cosmic power: these are three already. And within this, there is a call, the willpower. That is called the origin of everything. And so in the cosmic consciousness there is a desire, but not desires like we have desires. It is not that will, but we have that will. It is a supreme will. Svatá vůle. When you are grown up now, you would like to marry and multiply as children. Or, we put a seed in the ground; it will grow, sprout, and will multiply. The seed has to die in order to multiply. It means not in that form that is dying; it is dissolving the form and again manifesting. So that "ahaṁ bahusyām"—this was the message or the will of the cosmic self, not as a person, not as a physical body. There, through this cosmic energy, we call yoga māyā. Yoga is that which is balancing. Yoga is that which is harmonizing. And yoga is that which is uniting. But this Śakti, the energy, is different. So when these two come together, then something happens. So the first movement in the endless universe was sound. A vibration. Vibrace. That is called Aum. These three letters, joining past, present, and future: Sattva, rajas, tamas; the trinity: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśa, Śiva. There it is said, the svayaṁbhū, he created himself, and that is called the cosmic body. It is still not hands and legs, but that consciousness manifested out of itself. And within no time, this resonance spread into the endless universe. And out of these four elements, it begins to manifest: fire, air, water, and earth in this space. And then out of this resonance—how many billions of years did it take? It says thousands of different solar systems were created. And with that resonance, that vibration, qualities develop. And on this planet, we are part of that vibration. On this planet, the creator has created 8.4 million different creatures, divided into three categories: the creatures in water, on the earth, and in the space. Out of 8.4 million different creatures, one is the human. It does not matter if he is a European, African, Asian, or American. Human is a human. No difference. Maybe in the height and color, different, but for that trinity, there is no difference between humans, no racism. Problems began since humans began to make differences. Now, within us, the reality, the truth, the divine, the self, is that cosmic one. That is everlasting, that is immortal, that is unborn, and that will not die. And that is our self. Where we are sitting, once there was only ground. Far, far, there was no single house. Hundreds of kilometers: mountains, water, forest. That is all. And now it is developed here into a city, and we are sitting in this hall. Now, in reality, this hall does not exist here. This is a temporary wall; one day it will be dismantled, but the room cannot be dismantled. There is space. You can move a knife here a million times and take a magnified glass and look if there are scratches in this space. No scratches. Therefore, it is said, God Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Gītā also said: "Weapon cannot kill. Fire cannot burn. Water cannot wet. Air cannot dry, and this cannot take away." That is your identity. You are that Ātmā. And it is Ādiguru Śaṅkarācārya who said: "Ko’haṁ? Katham idaṁ jātaṁ? Ko vā kartasya vidyatā?" Who am I? From where did I come? What is the purpose of coming here? And where will I go? I am not this body, because the body is limited in time. I am not this mind. I am not this emotion, nor anger, nor hate. No father, no mother. I am the immortal one. That is your real self. But reality is different. We know that we are living beings. We know that God is within us as the immortal one. But still we do not know, and so then the science of yoga developed to get God realization or self-realization. Out of 8.4 million different creatures, one is the human, which has a very strong intellect. This human intellect can be trained, and this intellect needs education. If you are with a holy saint, you will become holy. If you are with football players, you will be a football player. If you are with skiers, you will become an ice skier. If you are with alcoholics, you will also become an alcoholic. And if you are with the terrorists—I do not think that you will be terrorists. As you do this, as you do that, what kind of society will you have? That color you will have. Aparāvidyā is knowledge about this world, and this education is what we are doing. God sent the humans here to live in peace, in harmony, in love. No God will be happy if we fight. God sent the humans as protectors, not as distractors, not as destroyers. And be sure, God loves His creation equally. It does not matter if it is a human or some other creature. Parents love their children equally. And therefore, anything we do wrong to other creatures, by cosmic law, for humans it is called sin. If we cause the pain, if we kill them, that is for human. By law, sin is sin. If we do some good things—protect them, feed them, love them, do not disturb them, let them be—then we have the opposite to sin. It is called pious. So we are then called a pious soul or a sinner soul. We are in the soul as an individual. The soul is individual, and the soul is not a reality. On the day when your consciousness will awake into the cosmic consciousness, your soul will dissolve. The soul is individual, but the ātmā is universal. So self-realization means the realization of the ātmā. As long as we are aware of the soul, we will experience pain, pleasure, happiness, unhappiness, and so on. Therefore, it is said to humans that human life is the last gate to get out of the cycle of rebirth and death. If you believe in rebirth or you do not believe, it does not change. There was a communist regime here, and these young kids, they do not know. If you tell it was like this here, some may not believe how nice it was or how bad it was. I am not commenting. But young children say, "I do not believe." Now, if you believe or not, that does not change. Similarly, whether you believe in reincarnation or not, that does not change. If you do not believe, it does not matter. In the next life, we will discuss again. It is a very interesting subject. Once I had a lecture in Austria, in Tyrol. It was in Innsbruck. Many people were there, and I spoke about reincarnation, and they said, "We do not believe. We came only now, first and last." After the lecture, someone asked a question: "What do you think about knowledge about past life? Do you think I think good?" When that person introduced another person: "This person is giving a meditation and leading you into a past life. Swamiji, what do you say about the regression or the way back?" So I said, "I will not lead you back; I will lead you forward." But you cannot imagine, in the interval, nearly all were standing near that man who is doing the techniques to go to the past life. And everyone wanted to do it. So I said, "Hey, you said you do not believe in reincarnation." He said, "Yeah, but I have interest. How does interest come?" So there is reincarnation. Reincarnation is a spiritual word. And in modern language, we have a different word for reincarnation. And for that, the whole world is trying very hard to realize. The biggest problem in the world is that which they want to solve: pollution. So the whole world is fighting, struggling to produce something, which is called recycling. Do you believe in recycling or not? Sleeping? Say something, yes or no. Do you believe in recycling? Then, where is the problem in believing in reincarnation? Recycling is a material world. Reincarnation is a cosmic cycle. It is the same. So we come and we go. That is it. And so our ancestors, they are looking above us. They are taking care of us. So we have a very nice technique in yoga and daily life. Morning, when you get up, three times ask yourself or say to yourself: "I am human." Now, what does it mean for you that you are human? What should humans do, and what should humans not do? That is self-protection. Then you are brushing your teeth, looking in the mirror—some look in the mirror, some do not look—and ask yourself: "What does it mean for me to be a human?" What value do you have to this human life? Very soon, in a few weeks, you will have very nice strawberries, some very nice fruits, good yogurt, cereals, and milk—healthy things. You enjoy your breakfast and tell: "What makes me human? What makes me the human? These two hands and two legs, monkeys also have. What makes me human? My qualities, my education, my qualities, my experiences, my behaviors." Then you drive your car or go by bus to work. You think: which qualities are they which declare me as a human? Which qualities make me human? What is the human quality, and how to develop them? And finally, when you begin to work, you ask yourself: "What is my mission in this life? To marry, have children, work whole life without rest, be ill? Go to doctors and die. Is this the mission of my life? No. The mission of our life is to become one with God. Get out of the cycle of rebirth and death. Self-realization. I am the ātmā, and I act as a human." Follow your dharma. Dharma towards your wife, your husband, your children, your colleagues, your country, and nature. But do not give up that concentration and aim that you have to come back to that God, where you become one with that. K ātmā, ke svrchovanému. This body has a nature. It has desires. It feels hungry, thirsty, hot, cold, healthy, unhealthy, and this is saṃsāra. This world is quarreling, but inside is peace and love. You love everyone, and that one is in your heart forever because that is a part of you. You cannot separate our thoughts, are separating our ideas, are separating, but our love cannot be separated. That is called love, divine love, God’s love. Part 2: The Path of Yoga in Daily Life What should we do now? We do one thing: try to live long so that you can realize in this life. And how to live long? Through healthy behavior, a healthy way of life. This means having healthy food and healthy movement. Yoga exercises are psychosomatic movements. Each posture influences your body, your psychic being, and your consciousness. It calms you down and gives you immense contentment, love, and happiness. This contentment is a universal quality, not a man-made one, and these universal qualities are within you. The love you are searching for is within you. The contentment you are searching for is within you. You are the middle point of the universe. Every kilometer is counted from you, for the whole space is one. Therefore, practicing yoga helps us to live long. It helps us to live, to a certain degree, healthy. I cannot say that those who practice yoga will never be ill. Illness is nature; both healthy and unhealthy states exist. But yogīs are more protected because they practice yoga and take disciplined food. This is the aim of human life, and that is the goal of human life: to understand that I am a human. What makes me human? Which qualities make me human? How to develop those qualities? And what is the mission of my life? For this, we shall work. God sent us here to be protectors: to protect the environment, to protect other creatures, and to protect human society. We should not fight. You know, weapons and wars never brought peace; they only brought a kind of hate and revenge. In many nations, blood is boiling in the fire of revenge to fight against others. Again, they want to fight. The practice of yoga will give us contentment, happiness, and peace. Therefore, yoga is the way to world peace. And yoga is the way to God. It is the path to God. Who are we? And how can we realize our true self? Through human life, by following human principles and doing your yoga in daily life. So with this, I wish you all the best. God bless you, and I wish that in this life you will get your realization—with one condition: if you will practice. Otherwise, you will say, "Swamijī said I will get realization. I don’t do anything, I will get it." He is not like that. So we have now a 20-minute interval, and after that, there will be some questions and a small meditation. Enjoy the interval. If you have questions, please write them down and immediately give them to the person who will be sitting here, and that person will give them to me to read so I can sort the questions. If you cannot stay longer, I wish you a very pleasant evening, a good night, and good health and happiness. Thank you. So, there are quite a few questions. Let us see what kind of questions are waiting for us. The first question: "What is your opinion about a vegan diet? How do you look at veganism?" Very good. Very good. Another question: "Lately, I often face helplessness, despair, and even tendencies to commit suicide in other people, and sometimes I myself cannot see the way in front of me. Dear Swamijī, I would like to ask about the possibility of how to face, how to cope, how to overcome this helplessness within myself or with others, this despair." Well, in this stressful modern civilization, the modern way of life has a very negative effect on human consciousness. But there is a way to come out of such a crisis. You should spend time with your friends. Speak more about life and work, and so on. Do not withdraw yourself. Read some good books which inspire you for a healthy way of life and for spirituality. Never think of suicide. It is said that one who commits suicide, their life and future life in the astral world are more complicated. The future life in the astral world is more complicated, more complex. There is also one question: "What happens after death?" Well, it is like this: you have to go through waves and experiences of your deeds in this life. It is called destiny. Destiny will lead you further in the direction in which your karmas will. And according to that, the next life will be given. According to those karmas, you also have to spend time in this space, in the astral form. All accounts of your life have to be settled there, and then you are released again to come to this mortal world. It is individual cases. Often two persons die at the same time through some accident, but their destiny does not let them go together. Immediately, they have a different way, and that is destiny. So our life after death will be according to what we are doing now. Mahāprabhujī said, "The past is gone. The present is here. Your future will be like your present life." So begin to think positively, understand. And give to everyone the feeling of happiness. Avoid any kind of negative activities. I did not ask myself how you can begin, but your yoga teacher will lead you. You can come any time, and you can have mantra initiation. So, ask your yoga teacher. Next question: "Do you know Mr. Iyengar, and is his attitude or his way of exercising similar to your way of exercising or to Yoga in Daily Life? Thank you, Jana." I have not met personally with Mr. Iyengar. I saw his book, Light on Yoga. And sometimes, some glimpses of his practice himself on some film. And he has schools also, like Yoga in Daily Life, schools around the world. Iyengar is a very practical person. He tried all exercises on himself, and he mastered these postures. I have great respect for him. Next: "Is the meaning and the aim of individual development to find the God within? And do you like dancing? Radim." What was the question? Is the meaning and the aim of developing each individual the finding of the God within? And if I like dancing? Yes, individual development is very important. It should be very gradual. For example, a small child walks slowly, learning. A grown one can run now. One who is running cannot tell the child, "Run with me." But the day will come that child will run too. So it is important step by step, as Yoga in Daily Life is doing, to develop and find what you call self-realization. Well, dancing—that is something with a different question. When I begin to dance, all stops and says, "Thank you." Next: "What is your strongest experience with yoga?" That I met you. What can be more beautiful than this? Without yoga, I would not have met you here today. Next: "Do you think the scientific theory of evolution, that humans developed from a one-cell organism and all this, is it correct or not?" Yes, of course. It was not like today’s in the beginning. It is a long process. So what the science is saying and finding has truth in it. Next: "Is it true that every person, every individual has his or her individual personal aim or the meaning of life, an individual mission? Is it true that everyone has got his or her own individual mission of life, or is this final mission the same for all of them, all of us?" Yes, every individual has different missions, different duties, different dharma in this life. But every individual has one mission collectively, and that is called self-realization, or to become free from rebirth and death. So, in life, something often happens that you try to avoid, but it comes again. It means that links to your dharma, and that dharma is your mission. What you began in your life—that you create a family—that became your mission. Or you developed something, invented something to give some comfort or some good things to others; that became your mission also. We are all individuals; everyone has a different mission. And it is our destiny that will lead to our individual mission. Next: "Swamijī, my question is again, why did God decide to create a world where there is suffering and so on? Why didn't He remain in peace, calm, without starting the creation? Thank you, Ondra." That I will ask Him next time when He has a consultation with me. Then I will ask Him, okay? Next: "Dear Swamijī, I would like to know how to purify from negative karmas." Negative karma, negative thinking, negative actions, negative words, and negative thoughts are like a darkness. They are poisoning oneself. Suppose in this hall it is very dark. We come in, we do not see anything. Then we put on light; immediately there is light, and we see all different objects. But that light was only one bulb. Then we put on another light. It is better. But for the camera, it was still not enough. So they put eight strong reflectors on me. It is my karma. Constantly, both eyes are connected to these reflectors, you know. So, now it is better light. Now they will put a stronger light. Again, it will be better. So it means, when you know that, consciously or unconsciously, there were some negative deeds, then through prayers, through helping others, through positive thinking, we can purify our negative karma. When we fall down, we should stand up. If we cannot stand up ourselves, we shall call someone who will help us to stand up. So prayers, positive thinking, and positive actions will liberate us from our negative karmas. It will enlighten our consciousness. Negative thinking means darkening your individual phenomenon. And positive thinking means illuminating your individual phenomenon. So begin right now. Next: "What is the best way to help a psychically ill person who is afraid to go to places where there are many people? She is even afraid to attend yoga classes. And the second question: how to learn how to make right decisions?" First, regarding the right decision: you wait, do not make a decision immediately, and use your heart and brain both together. Or ask the particular people who have knowledge of this subject if this decision would be correct. Or ask your grandparents; they will give you very good suggestions if it is something about life and emotions. They are more experienced than we are. So, an elderly person can give you good advice. And if you have no opportunity for this, or for everything that I told you, then say the mantra: "Nāhaṁ kartā. Prabhu dīpa kartā, Mahāprabhujī dīpa kartā," and you go and work. Then God takes upon Himself the destiny of the devotee. So meditate, wait. What was before that? How to help the mentally ill person who is afraid to go among people. Well, there are different levels, and therefore, in certain cases, we must take medical help. There is other help: they can, they should learn more and work more physically. Creative meditation, active meditation, not passive. So, āsanas are very good, prāṇāyāma is very good, some kind of sport, walking, painting, singing, music—which keeps them busy. That is all we can do, in prayer. The family members have to be more kind and more understanding. Next: "Is there any fast way or rapid way to get concentrated and to get above this worldly noise? Is there a quick way, or how to concentrate quickly and detach from this worldly bustle?" Next: "Do you practice every day, and how do you manage to practice even in your busy schedule, with all the traveling and so on?" It depends what you mean by practice. If you ask me about āsanas and prāṇāyāma, I cannot manage them every day. Why? Because of different times, jet lags. Hardly two weeks I stay in one place; nearly every weekend I am in another bed, and several times a year I am in other countries. But my practices are 24 hours. I am aware of my aim. I am aware of my spiritual master. And I practice my mantras, constantly repeating my mantras. And my service to you is my practice. I have, as in the beginning they said, been working very much for humanity to bring them to understanding and peace. Also, for the protection of the environment and the other creatures. And so there are many, many things which we are doing. So there is already an alarm that soon we will have to empty the hall. We will have a little meditation, so sit comfortably. Chant Oṁ once with me, all together. Deep inhale. Close your eyes. Relax your body and be comfortable. Withdraw yourself from the external world and be aware of your being here in this hall. Be aware of your being here, and just relax. Relax the whole body. Feel your whole body from the toes to the top of the head and from the top of the head to the toes. Time of inhalation, your body is inhaling the cosmic energy. And with exhalation, your body is exhaling all kinds of toxins. And you feel relaxed. Concentrate on your breath at the center of the chest. Feel the center of the chest. The in-going and out-coming breath touches the center of the chest. Relax. Just relax. Feel in your heart trust and respect for the holy consciousness. The breath which I am breathing is holy. Deep inhale. And feel the presence of the Divine and chant Oṁ three times. Deep inhale, or rub your palms. Place the palms on the face and open your eyes, I hope. Well, first of all, I would like to thank the organizers who made it possible for us to be here this evening. Thank you all, organizers, including Jarka and all other friends from Brno and the surrounding area. And also, many thanks to our Michael for his beautiful translation. And there is also one person who is translating very nicely for someone who cannot hear. And she is standing there, and she is with her hands translating everything, so we thank her also very much. Thank you.