Swamiji TV

Other links



Video details

Protect Means Protect Yourself

Health and peace arise from understanding the body and mind. The intestine is the most sensitive organ, affected by environment, emotions, and diet; healing requires lifestyle change. For lung issues, avoid prāṇāyāma; gentle walking is better. In economic difficulty, keep your job; a new business must be essential, like food. Modern life creates imbalance through media and food, affecting new generations differently. Meditation tranquilizes brain waves. Focus on the Maṇipūra Chakra in the abdomen, not the head. Wear loose clothing, relax the stomach with breath, and dissolve mental tensions. Chakras hold energies affecting glands and intellect. We often cannot deny ourselves, creating subtle psychological discontent. Original meditation techniques, like precise kriyā with mantra and breath, neutralize these inner tensions. Regular practice releases stress and clarifies thought.

"Simply healing the intestine is not enough; we must change our way of life and diet."

"Meditation tranquilizes our brain waves. Even three minutes of meditation brings an immense release of mental stress and creates calm."

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

There are some questions, mostly for the doctors, concerning medical problems. One is about healing the intestines. The intestine is the most important organ of the whole body. It develops our body first, along with the spine, and then the other organs. You know anatomy better than I do. The intestine is the most sensitive organ. It can be affected by the environment, situations, emotional, social, and political difficulties, fears, eating habits, and allergies. So we should know what the problem is; then we can do something. Simply healing the intestine is not enough; we must change our way of life and diet. But first, we must understand the issue. There was another question about water in the lungs. A man has emphysema and lung problems. I would not recommend practicing prāṇāyāma in such a case. It is better to take walks along the bank of the Danube near the parliament in Budapest. All questions are good questions. No question is bad; it is simply a question. The answer is a good answer, definitely not a bad one, though it may not always be suitable. We all know about the economic crisis around the world, caused by humans. So there is a question: should I stay at my job or start my own business? My advice is to stay at your job. If you start your own business, it should be something without which people cannot exist. That is a good business. For example, selling food. The best business is to sell something like samosas near the Danube at eight in the morning, where people are going to work and want something to bite. Otherwise, all businesses are very slow now. From small shops to supermarkets, everyone is struggling. All kinds of businesses are merely surviving at present. Starting your own business requires a lot of work; there is no compromise on time. It is said that self-discipline is the key to success. If you are an employee, you may leave five minutes before the office closes. But if you are the owner, you will stay five minutes after closing time. That is the difference between an employee and an owner. Discipline is essential. Some were not here the last two days for their birthday. One of our brothers had a birthday on Friday but couldn't come then. Is he here? Yes, come here. The chocolate is waiting. All the best. Happy birthday. In this modern civilization, there is always a big question. At a United Nations conference about food—the only conference on the subject—an NGO was working on food for humans. I asked them, "Why not for animals too?" The Earth is designed for everyone. In India, we say, "Jo dīyā soī khilāyā." If God gave you life, He will also provide sustenance. "Kili ko kānā aur hathī ko sānā"—only God gives, a little grain to a sparrow and a hundred kilos to an elephant every day. You are not capable of providing; only God gives. God’s management is perfect, but we are disturbing it. That is the problem. Nowadays, there are many pesticides, and new diseases are emerging because of food. We must try to obtain more organic food. Food creates physical, mental, and emotional imbalances. It is not easy for the new generation to understand this. For them, many things have become normal. In every toy shop, children get plastic guns. Even in children’s films, there is always shooting. Whenever you turn on the television, there is mostly fighting, guns, and smuggling. The older generation, above 50 or 60, understands this should not be; it is only play. But children growing up with this think it is very normal to shoot someone. This has created very complicated situations. Generations have changed. I am not so old, but I see the fourth generation. Some of you sitting here represent the fourth generation of my disciples. Your great-grandparents were disciples, your grandparents were disciples, you are disciples, and now your children are disciples. That is why I have a grey beard—so much praying, you know? But for these children, it is just normal. Sixty years ago, it was not normal. Those of us above 70 simply cannot understand how the young generation acts and behaves, and they do not understand us. They ask, "Why should I be nice to others? Why should I say sorry?" They say, "A computer doesn’t say sorry. A computer doesn’t say, 'I am nice.'" This situation has created very complicated conditions in the human brain. It is said, "Protection is in protection." To protect others means to protect thyself. All this exists in the mental waves. When you are drunk, there are different mental waves; when the alcohol effect is gone, you return to a normal state of mind. Through food—both liquid and solid—through society, media, family life, and business life, we create the biggest fear of existence for ourselves. Now, meditation has become popular again worldwide. Many people practice yoga and meditation. Meditation tranquilizes our brain waves. Even three minutes of meditation brings an immense release of mental stress and creates calm. There was a question about intense times. When you get a shock—like wanting to cross the road and a car speeds toward you, making you think, "He will hit me"—that feeling immediately impacts your Maṇipūra Chakra. The Maṇipūra Chakra is the first to react. It is connected closely to the brain center because the middle point of our life is the Maṇipūra. Our life begins with the Maṇipūra. The brain, spine, intestines, organs, and limbs all develop afterward. In some way, the soul resides in the Maṇipūra. Like a queen bee, wherever it goes, all the bees follow. That Jīvātmā, which makes its nest or temple in the Maṇipūra, later reflects in the heart. So when something happens, we feel a kind of stone-like heat in our Maṇipūra, which immediately imbalances the digestive system and disturbs our glandular system. When you meditate, wear loose clothing so your stomach can freely expand and contract with the breath. No belt, no tight jeans; it should be very free. That is why our yoga dress is designed so the abdomen can move freely. The diaphragm presses on the spine and abdominal muscles, affecting the Maṇipūra Cakra. If one is very nervous, relax your stomach and feel the breath in the abdomen. Within no time, you will become relaxed. Many people have high blood pressure. To bring it down to a good level immediately, relax your abdomen. As soon as your navel begins to move freely with the expansion and contraction of the stomach, the diaphragm relaxes, the heartbeat becomes very normal, tension releases from the brain, and thoughts clear. It is like a bullet. The stomach region is like a bag of sand. If you shoot a gun at two sandbags, the bullet will not go through because the energy dissolves there. Similarly, in meditation, many people make the mistake of concentrating on the Ājñā Chakra, which creates more tension. Therefore, come down. If you are focused in the head, you have tensions, anger, and hate; you are directly engaged with your intellect. The thoughts of the intellect, whether positive or negative, need to be layered with the best quality to achieve clarity. This keeps the brain centers in tension and creates anxiety. But when you meditate downward, you become completely relaxed. So meditate and feel your stomach; relax the stomach muscles. Your elbows should be relaxed. Immediately, you are in an ocean of peace, and you realize within you the fountain of joy and the ocean of bliss. Lead a divine life. Just dissolve this little "I," the ego. There are different kinds of energies involved in our chakras, affecting our glandular systems. These energies can be positive or negative. The energy in the chakra joins with the energy in the glands, meaning it merges into the hormones. Hormones then transfer throughout the body to different indriyas (senses), which again imbalances our intellect. What we call buddhi becomes polluted because we are too weak to say no to ourselves. For example, someone may have a throat or stomach problem but still wants to eat ice cream—if not a whole cup, then two spoons. We cannot say no. Like Indians who see a nice samosa and good chai, they cannot say no. Similarly, you have your favorite dishes. I see here you have tea, coffee, sweets, and cakes. Whenever I walk by, it is overcrowded. That is why I say the food business is the best at present. You could have sold chestnuts (castagne) and potatoes. In this weather, with a coal oven, you could have sold at least five hundred kilograms of chestnuts and five hundred kilograms of potatoes. I would have been the first to buy. We cannot say no to ourselves easily. Even if we say no outwardly, psychologically we are not content. Everyone eats cream sneakily. There was honey cake, and a diabetic person goes there. Inside, there is a desire to eat, but they think, "I have diabetes, so I will not eat." But inside, there is sorrow. Psychologically, there is sadness. Even if you say, "No, I’m not sad. It’s okay," somewhere you are not content. This is a very gentle, very minor feeling, but it has a big effect on our health. During meditation, if you can focus on certain chakras and move through them, you can neutralize these imbalances. There is a bomb, and you inform the police. They bring a machine to neutralize it. Every chakra is like a bomb in the body. Meditation, especially self-inquiry meditation in yoga and daily life, can release these inner tensions. If you practice Kriyā Yoga, that is very good. But you must practice the original techniques exactly. Many who practice Kriya develop their own techniques and imaginations, which are not the originals. There was a time when there was a nice car in the Czech Republic called Škoda—a very good car that anyone could repair. There was a competition between Škoda and Trabant. Of course, the winner was Trabant. About ten years ago, there was a competition to see which car could reach the top of a mountain. All the big cars failed, but the Trabant went up proudly. If the Trabant had a minor issue, a person like Vasiṣṭha could carry it or pull it. The Škoda was a good car, no doubt, and still is. But the new Škoda models, like the Octavia, are beautiful and very good cars, yet they are not the same as the original. So it is with kriyā. The original kriyā you received targeted each of your chakras very gently. This kriyā is like neutralizing an active bomb. Specifically, chakras have certain hormones and energies, and through your kumbhaka (breath retention), breath, mantra, and mudras, you release the tension. Therefore, meditate morning and evening for at least 15 to 20 minutes. Repeat your mantra and feel the expansion and contraction of the abdominal muscles. Why the abdomen? Because it is the lowest part, meaning the whole stomach relaxes. When I go to the beach and ocean, I compare my stomach to the waves of the ocean. The ocean breathes like we do. It has nice waves, but there is also the tsunami in the Maṇipūra Chakra—that is fire. Sometimes waves take you out of your intellectual control. The mantra you have, the kriyā you practice, and self-inquiry meditation in daily life are among the best ways to release mental tension. Even many desires calm down. Uncontrolled desires and wishes that you cannot manage can be controlled and calmed through meditation because those wishes can never be fully fulfilled. This life is not forever, and therefore, nothing in it is forever. But beauty lies in feeling relaxed and happy inside. So meditate for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or an hour—as much time as you have. It is very, very good. Once, I was traveling on a train at the airport in Atlanta—a shuttle that takes you from one gate to another. A man was sitting in the back with his laptop on his lap, but he was meditating. I asked him later, "Were you meditating?" He said, "Yes, I tried to utilize these four minutes. When I meditate, things become very clear to me. I am capable of working more effectively." So meditation and self-inquiry are mostly about relaxing yourself. Then you will come to know thyself and learn how to control thyself. We have many different problems and tensions. There are few people in the world working against stress, but many more are working to create stress. It doesn’t matter whether it is television, newspapers, magazines, cars, or sports—everything makes you more aggressive and stronger. At the end, this body may only have a thousand watts, but if you plug it into ten thousand volts, it will fuse. Sometimes, what you call being burned out is our own mistake; we need not go there. So turn to meditation. Meditation is the best for us. Let us have a little meditation. Close your eyes. Everyone, including those on the webcast, meditate with us. Make yourself comfortable. Of course, you cannot change your clothes now, but you can loosen your belt or open some buttons. Take your mala in your hands so you can repeat your mantra. Try to sit straight. Relax your elbows. We will chant OM together three times. During the OM chanting, withdraw yourself from the external world and feel the peace. It is beautiful—minus five degrees, beautiful snow hanging. Everything is peaceful, but where we are sitting is warm. Take a deep inhale and exhale. Inhale into the stomach and exhale from the stomach. Now we will chant OM. Deep inhale. Exhale. OM. Inhale. Breathe. Relax your whole body. Feel your body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. Relax each and every limb. Relax your legs, hip joints, waist, and stomach. Feel and relax the whole trunk of the body. Relax your neck, jaw, and face muscles. Now bring your awareness to the breath. Let it flow naturally. Concentrate on the expansion and contraction of the stomach only. From the Maṇipūra Cakra, like waves going, relax. Put all your worries and thoughts into the Maṇipūra. Know that you are inhaling. Know that your stomach is expanding. Know that your whole body is relaxing. Do not store worries in the head; try to bring them toward the stomach, but do not keep them there. Now concentrate on Mahāprabhujī. Look into the Ājñā Chakra. You will definitely see thousands of rays. Now, take five deep inhales and exhales. Then we will send our prayers home three times. Place your palms on your face. Open your eyes.

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:

Email Notifications

You are welcome to subscribe to the Swamiji.tv Live Webcast announcements.

Contact Us

If you have any comments or technical problems with swamiji.tv website, please send us an email.

Download App

YouTube Channel