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This is a particularly interesting story for the people of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland—how the door to Yoga was opened in their lives. At the end of 1972 and the beginning of 1973, I received a telephone call in Austria. A gentleman was coming to see me from Czechoslovakia. I had no idea what or where Czechoslovakia was. One day, around 11 o'clock in the morning, a Czech gentleman appeared. He spoke with me, saying he represented a certain yoga club and would like to invite me. They had received advice from India, from some Swāmīs, that they should invite me. I said, "Okay, give me an invitation." He had one. On the 3rd of March 1973, I traveled to Czechoslovakia by train. Of course, my Austrian devotees said, "Oh God, where are you going? Prabhupāda, where are you going? It’s a communist country. They will not let you come back." And was it true? They didn't let me go back. I said communists are very good. In my birthplace, there was one politician fighting, a pro-communist. We were little school children, so we also said we were pro-communist. So how is the karma linking? They told me it wasn't good, and this and that, and maybe they wouldn't let me in. But it was a good surprise. [Interjection from an attendee, aged 92:] We went down to the dairy, where there was a milkmaid who could speak English. She conveyed my request to visit the Czechoslovak Republic and live there for a longer time. I cherish the memories of traveling first to Germany and then to Austria to meet Swamiji and to be able to convey my request, my invitation, though I couldn’t speak English. So we had to go down to the milk shop. The milkmaid translated my humble request to invite Swāmījī to Czechoslovakia. A year after we met in Vienna, we welcomed him here in the Republic, in Ostrava, where he actually started with his exercises and with his knowledge and method. It was interesting, and since then I have participated in a number of lectures and visits to various places in Slovakia and South Moravia, where we practiced yoga until my old age, when I was a good student. Over the years, yoga was taught and practiced. Together with Dr. Šedivý from Opava, we have been faithful and have been working together with Swāmījī for all these years. The Subject of Health Now, the subject of our seminar is health. Yesterday, I spoke about subtle energy, which affects our psychic being—the emotional problem. It could be business, your car, your garden, your house, friends, wife, husband, children, mother, father, or your pride, expectations, your image, which you have, your own image, etc. There are many things. In life, sometimes comes a point where you get disappointment. It can be business, anything, your friends. If it is connected to your pride, your ego, your expectations, your ambitions, then a certain shock reflects quickly on your body. Sometimes you can’t stand up from your bed. Your legs have no balance. You get diarrhea, maybe. You get a headache, restlessness, anxiety, sleeplessness, heart problems, liver problems, skin problems. Many things can happen where you put more concentration on that particular part. So one negative message can paralyze you. That is the psychic reflecting on the body. We have to learn to stand above name and fame. You should study very carefully and read several times the twelfth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, which is about bhakti yoga. Bhakti is also towards yourself. If you don’t love yourself, you will not love God. And to love yourself means not proudly, but acknowledging your mistakes and wanting to correct yourself. That is love for yourself. You made a mistake, and someone said you must excuse, and you say, "No, no, in no case." The Austrian and the German say, "It is not my coffee, no, it does not come into the question." It means you don’t love yourself. To say sorry, you don’t lose anything. But you win strength, and you feel free. After a few years, you will be sorry otherwise, that you could have said sorry. That means you love yourself, you adore yourself. All spiritual work, meditation, prayers—this is to our Self. "Merciful Lord, free me from my sin." Our Bhakti Gyanānanda sang yesterday beautifully: "O my Lord, please do not mind or notice my mistakes. Please don’t look at me, don’t notice my mistakes. You look at everyone the same way. Pious or sinner, both are equal for you, Lord. If you wish, you can free me from my sin, my mistakes." This is a prayer to you. This is because you feel that you are caught, and you want to free yourself now. So if you don’t love yourself, you can’t love God. And if you love God only occasionally, that is called social. So many people only go because of social life to the church, especially on Sunday. All women go to church, and men wait for them at the beer pub. When you love yourself, then you will digest it, stay above. That’s why we call it the lotus flower. You will know. That is why we speak of the lotus flower. "O Lord, if I live in this world, a lotus in the water." Lotos na vodě, which is above the water. And that lotus grows in muddy water. This dirty, muddy water is saṁsāra. We can’t run away from saṃsāra. We are in this saṃsāra of māyā. We have to live in the middle of it. You pull out the lotus flower, then it will not last long; it will die. So when God gave us this life to develop, to learn, then we have to come to this dirty, muddy saṃsāra and keep your roots deep in it. But even the stem of the lotus is not touched by water. You know that there are very fine hair needles. So it keeps water away, and the roots get oxygen through the stem. So you live in the saṃsāra like a stem of the lotus and stay above. Māna, apamāna—name and fame. Friend and enemy, sukha and duḥkha—happiness and unhappiness. Those bhaktas are above, O Arjuna. They are dear to me. When you are affected by this, then... On a visit in India, we said, "What should we do? He has broken my knees." A father says, when the son has done a lot of mistakes, drugs, and this and that, then everyone says, "Look at your son, look at your son." The father says, "He broke my knees." Or your son or daughter dies. Daughter, don’t make mistakes. I told only the son makes mistakes. No, no, the son makes mistakes, so the girls, you are saved. But it doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl. When they go to the kuśaṅga, and the parents are good, socially aware, and educated, then they feel ashamed. Now, the young people say, "What is a shame? There is nothing." So the old culture is walking with a stick. How long will we walk now? If we could have given this to our children, culture would be alive. Nothing is heavier for a father than to carry the dead body of his own child. And nothing is as painful for a mother as to hear the child died. But you have to stay above that. This is the treatment: my son, my grandson, my grand-grandson, my grandmother, my grand-grandmother, my father. This attachment will or can cause you a lot of psychic problems, and that can paralyze you physically: heart attack, kidney problems, digestive problems, muscle problems—many, many things. So, family love is love, not attachment. But you have to love all. The time should come in your life that you are not attached to anyone. There was a time in Czechoslovakia, so I would attest to these few people: Lajos and František, Lelita and Milínsky. Now I have all of you, but I said, "No, only this one." Then I am not a swāmī. No, I am neither a mummy. Okay? A sannyāsī is above. Svatantra, a person looks upon everyone equally. "If you wish, you can liberate me." One piece of iron is a nail on the altar. And the second piece of iron is a knife at a butcher’s house. Both are iron. One is worshipped, and we pray to it. One day, Gurudev touched this bale. It is very precious because when he is gone, there will be no more touch. Then you can make an auction: "This was touched by Jesus." The Pope will say, "Bring it here, it belongs to the Vatican." This was touched by Kṛṣṇa. Oh God! The holy things from Mahāprabhujī. You know, Gurujī’s car is in the big hall in the samādhi. I put it there, and it will be as a Gurujī’s museum. Many cars were produced by that company. But that car became the car in which Gurudev was traveling. And people go and make praṇām. So he is there, but this only can feel and think like that, and to keep those who have the love and value of that love. If you understand that, that is universal love. So, one piece of iron is on the pūjā, and one piece of iron is at the butcher’s house, who is killing many animals every day with this knife. And there is a stone called Pāras. Pāras guṇ ava guṇ nahī dekhe—that Pāras doesn’t see good quality or bad quality. Kañcana karatakharo—Pāras makes both of these iron pieces gold. That’s called santbhāva, that is having a Swami life successful. Many of you would like to become a swāmī. Think over it ten times. It’s not easy. Because you have to love all. You have to give a beautiful satsaṅg. And your own family member is very ill. And you said, "No, I have to go because my child is very ill." That’s very good, no problem. But which child? How many millions of children are ill in the world? So, where is your samdṛṣṭi bhāva? So, my dear ones, good and bad happen constantly in the world. It may directly attack you, but you stay above, then you will not suffer, like a lotus. "Let me live in the water. If I have to live in this world like a lotus in water." Then you are not searching here and there. Do not try to cross the lotus with the rose, and do not try to cross the rose with the cactus. That’s it. So when you understand the love of Guru Deva and the love of the Supreme, you become a lotus. And that lotus has got the title of Krishna’s eye, Vishnu’s eye. How did it get this name? One of the names of Viṣṇu is Kamala Nāyana, meaning his eyes are like the buds of a lotus. Because he made a saṅkalpa, an anuṣṭhāna, to offer on the Śiva Liṅga one thousand and eight lotuses. And he did very hard tapasyā, Viṣṇu. At the end of his saṅkalpa, he was reciting the thousand names of Lord Śiva. And then it’s only ten more left. You never know when God will come and examine you, test you. Viṣṇu was very happy. His saṅkalpa, his sādhanā, is going to be successful now. Śiva is pleased with me. And he was giving flowers, singing the name of Śiva, and Viṣṇu was so happy. How happy he was? Yes, Shiva thought. Vishnu is getting ego now, and he should know how hard it is to fulfill the saṅkalpa. It is very easy: "I will be dying today. I will be dying." After some time, I will say goodbye. So he is divya darśī, he knows. So even the temptation, the goddess has a temptation. It doesn’t matter who; all holy saints whom we worship today like God had a temptation. Even Jesus, it is the last temptation of Jesus. But why not? Shiva knew that Vishnu would be successful. But I want to test how strong his will is. So he was making Abhiṣeka and giving him a lotus flower. And Śiva took one flower away, and Viṣṇu didn’t notice. And Shiva was standing behind, smiling. And what would we say? Viṣṇu notiert—one lotus flower is missing. It’s very... Nervous? I had a thousand eight. And what happened? How is it possible one is missing? My saṅkalpa will not be successful. My sādhanā. So, my dear, what you have given words, what you have taken part in, don’t miss it. Janam dukhpayee, otherwise, life after life you will suffer. Vishnu was surprised and sad. And I can’t get up from my āsana because in one āsana sitting, I have to make this pūjā. No one should touch your āsana. Do not get up. And what are we doing? Kṛyānusthāna. Sitting. Gurū deep. Gurū deep... Hot. I will open the window. Where is tapasyā? Endure. Endure the situation. Endure the pain. With your positive energy and positive thinking, pain will disappear. But Vishnu stopped, saying, "Where is my 8,008th lotus?" And Shiva said, while standing behind, the sound came from heaven. "Vishnu, your eyes are so beautiful, but you are missing one lotus. Offer your one eye, then your sādhanā will be fulfilled." Vishnu didn’t take time to think over. He was praying and raised his hands up. "Lord, give me some weapon," and he got one beautiful, very sharp arrow. And he wanted to take out his eyeball, and Shiva held it. "Viṣṇu, your sādhanā is fulfilled. You are successful. From today onwards, your name will be Kamal Nayan. Your eyes will be like a lotus bud." And when we say Kamal Nayan, it’s God Kṛṣṇa. So, to remain on that point of bhakti, love, devotion, whatever it is, that is a human’s work. Don’t change always. Pāras guṇa ava guṇa nahī deke, kañca nakarathā kharo, Prabhujī, mīrī ava guṇa citta nādharo. So our physical pain, physical difficulties also depend on our psychic condition. And so, especially today, our dear Hemlata prepared a few exercises, and she is going to talk about the pain in three parts of the body: ankle joints, knees, and hip joints. She is, you know, everybody very well. She is a well, well teacher, a very good teacher. She is teaching physiotherapy, and she herself is also a very good physiotherapist. We are happy to have her in our group as a yoga teacher also, and the best anatomical knowledge is held by the physiotherapists. Doctors also have them, but very soon they forget the medicines. That’s why after an operation, the doctor sends them to the physiotherapist. So, I will give our dear Hemlata. So, welcome. [Hemlata’s Lecture on Joints and Balance] I would like to explain the importance of all three main joints of our leg, and what difficult duty our joints have to fulfill. I will start very low, on our lowest joint we have. I mean, it’s very far away from our head, our toes. So it’s important that we do not neglect the duty of the movements of our toes. All day we are standing, walking, and jumping on our feet, and the joints and muscles of our toes have a very important duty to support our leg, or to make it possible that we can move as we can move. If you look at your foot, there are many bones which are responsible for keeping the balance when we are standing on one leg, making it possible for us to stand on one leg. So, if you would like, for a short time, just to stand up and just to stand on one leg... If you just can do it, so if you put your weight on, let’s say, on our right leg and you bend your left leg so that you just have to balance on one leg, then just feel how much your toes have to do to keep this balance? You need not film others, only her and the demonstrator. Especially your big toes. If you did not have your big toes, it would be very difficult to keep your balance on one leg. Could you feel it? So if you make any asanas on one leg and you put your second foot, like somebody is doing it, on your right foot, then you are a little bit... cheating. So you try to divide the balance. So you can try again, or you could sit down for a short while. I will explain a little bit more, and then we will try again. So we have our toes, most of the time in our shoes, closed, and we can see that in our brain—not we can see, but it is evidence-based—that in our brain, the trail of the movement for the toes has got lost when you are not moving. So, this Sarvahitā āsana, with bending and extending the toes, is a very simple āsana from the first part. It is very, very important for standing, for going, and for having healthy, not just ankle joints, but also knees and hips. So it is the basis of your stability. Because, as they are always in one position, we do not even notice that they are not moving, that they are in one position. And so, from sarvahitāsana, the basic simple exercise for the exercise of the fingers on the feet, their bending and tensioning, is a very important exercise not only for the fingers themselves, but for all joints of the foot, not only for the ankles, but also for the knees and so on, and in general for the overall ability to maintain balance. So, you know, in sarvahitā āsanas, when you are doing the movement with your toes, if you extend your toes, it’s also important to move them in abduction. And many of us, you can, if you have time in a break, you can try if it is possible for you to put your big toes on the side. Many are not able to do this anymore. But you have the joint, you have the muscle, you have the nerve; it’s just not used, and so it is sleeping. This possibility is sleeping in your brain. But this muscle is on the inside of your leg. It is important to train because it is responsible, together with other muscles, for keeping a good, correct, physiologic shape of your foot. And many people have this situation, that the big toe is moving inside like that, more and more. And that the inner side of your foot is moving towards the... it’s getting flat. The next important joint is the ankle joint here, which is responsible for lifting your leg. You move it upwards and your foot downwards, and also moving inwards and outwards, and this we need in every step. We need these movements when we are going, running, jumping, so all day we need these movements. And in between your joints, you have, so to say, the proprio, very sensitive proprioceptor. And they are telling you, when you are standing like this or standing on one leg, you don’t have to look to your foot to know how to take, in which position you will take your foot. You know it, you feel it because of your receptive capacity. So, you know, now I have—if there is on the floor some stone, you can manage it very quickly because you get the input from the ankle joint, from the scope receptor. Pardon me, I have the nerve and the receptors that immediately tell us in what position the leg is and give us the signals. So, for example, when we step on a stone, we immediately know in what position the leg is, and we are immediately able to handle it, to react to it. And when you get older, and this means up to 30, latest, up to 30, the capacity of the proprioceptors is going down. So the input from your legs doesn’t go so quickly to your brain. You can’t manage it so quickly. No, and when you are already aging, when you are already older, which is from 30 and later, the speed, the capacity of the receptors decreases. That means you are not able to react so quickly. Stones or other floors that you can react quickly. But it is... It can be, if you do it by yourself, rather dangerous. So, our asanas in Yoga in Daily Life, where you have to stand on one leg, you don’t need any disc. You can train it with these asanas, and this is perfect and has the same results. So it’s important, and we have it in all steps of yoga in daily life, important for ankle joints but also for our knees. They have the same proprioceptive capacity to do āsanas, not just where you have the flexibility or where you... promote the flexibility of these joints, but also to train this proprioceptive capacity. So, we can try now. We can do it in practice. If you again, please stand up. So, in the first part of Sarvahitā āsanas, we have this preparation, standing on one leg, we can start with this. So it’s important that you feel the contact of your foot, foot sole, with the floor in a proper way. And if you concentrate on one point, which is not moving, two or three meters in front of you. And then you put your weight on your right leg, and lift up and bend your left leg. And put your knee toward your chest. And now, feel the work of your foot and of your knee. And do not try just to manage it with your toes. They should be long, not like this, but long. Okay, so then you can feel the better work of your foot. And then, if you come back again, we can do it with the other leg. Leg, and you can feel. If you have, almost all of us are different in our capacity of your right and your left leg, so try it with the other side. You can try on the other side and feel. Most of us, it goes differently on the right and on the left. So, feel how it goes on which side, and it’s good if you keep your body straight. It is important that you keep your body straight, so you could put a bottle on your head, and it should not fall on one side. And your knee should not be straight; it should be slightly bent so that it also has to work. And the knee should not be completely stretched; the knee should be slightly bent, so that we have the opportunity to balance there, to maintain the balance. In the second part, we have the Haṁsāsana. First, you learn this, and in the second part, we have āsanas where we put a lot of weight on one leg. In the third part, we have again a step higher, the Haṁsāsana. So again, put your weight on your right leg, or on this leg you want to start. And then the left leg, we don’t put forward, but we put backward. You can feel a stretch in your thigh muscles on the left side. And then put your arm upwards, and then slowly your face, your eyes should look in front, and while you are moving forwards and upwards, the leg goes backwards and upwards. So, and your leg pulls your arm backwards. And you’re not looking downwards. This one is not diving in the water, but flying in the sky. And then you take off. And we can do it with the other leg also. And important is that you should not pull with your hand your foot to your pelvis, but backwards. It’s like an arch. So here I’m going upwards and forward, and my leg is going backwards and also upwards. So it’s like this, and then we can go back again. You can also feel it’s very good for our hip joint. It’s stretching the thigh muscles in front, and this āsana is stretching our whole back. It also is good for our self-confidence and to feel our whole body. It is strengthening our whole body. And we have in the fifth step, we have in the fifth lecture, we have the Ekpāt Praṇām Āsan. So again, put your weight on one leg. Now, put the sole of your other foot on the thigh. And your knee should move as far as possible to the back side. And then you put your palms towards your chest. So it’s difficult to talk into. And then slowly move in this position forward, and it’s better if the knee is not completely stretched, and then slowly come up again, and then put your arm upwards and slowly down. And then try to do it on your other leg. It is loose. In three minutes, loose. Slowly come forward, and try to keep your back very long. And then upward again, and slowly. Your arms, and one last āsana. It’s not also for our knee and foot, and to get to train our balance, ligaments, yes, to strengthen the ligaments. Because the problem in our ankle joint, ankle joint and knee, is that it is mainly held by... the ligaments, and we need strong muscles to protect our joints. And Tāḍāsana is a very good āsana. So, especially if somebody has problems with standing on one leg, or if it’s too dangerous because they’re too weak, we can train with Tāḍāsana, because in Tāḍāsana we have two legs, but also a very small support, because we are standing on our toes. So we are standing with our feet closer together. And then, deep inhale, and with exhaling, across your fingers. Arms should turn downwards. We inhale and try to put our arms as far back as possible. And then activate your stomach muscles to protect your lower back, and then lift up your heels and stand on the side of your big toe, and slowly come down with the hands on your head. We do it four times more, and let you feel your breathing rhythm and do it accordingly. To your breathing, and your breathing should be a little deeper than normal. And you can feel that your foot and your whole body have to be held by the muscles around your ankle joint, especially the ankle joint and foot, and on the heels. So we can make a variation of this Tāḍāsana. When you first put your foot, your forefoot upwards, and just stand on your heels, you can put your arms upwards, and now you can go some, you can do some steps around your knees. In this position, your knees have to be stretched. It’s not possible in another way. And then, put your lower foot again and put your arms. So, thank you. Very much now we’ve strengthened all our muscles around svaly na našich chodidlech, and with this we will stop our lecture. It is in a different place, so there will be a lecture and everything is there. So we will not be here then. Tomorrow morning we will be again here. Your accommodation is good? Very nice. Better than in Střílká? No one dares to say anything. [Swamiji Concludes] So the exercises which are designed in Yoga in Daily Life have been well thought out, especially for our anatomy, body anatomy. The, what we call the joints, the ligaments, muscles, nerves, and the posture of the body. The physiotherapists have practical experience. Every day is their job. So if you feel a little problem with your knee or hip joints or ankle joints, you should practice those exercises which are targeted for this problem in the yoga and daily life. People who do too heavy, extreme stretching and twisting of the body, that’s not healthy for your body. It’s bad for your ego for a while, okay. Body likes gentle care. You are very gentle. The body is gentle. Your emotions are very gentle. Your thoughts are very gentle. Everything is very gentle. Your saṅkalpa is very strong, at least something. So, I wish you a very good appetite. Enjoy your lunch and see the beautiful city of Ostrava. Now, it’s much better. For years, the air was an open chimney from the iron factories and coal mines. Now, it’s a little better. See you in the evening. All the best.