TV Channel

Hari Om, everybody. Thank you for listening to my lecture. I am very happy in this beautiful surrounding here, in this beautiful seminar in Véb, Hungary, to speak a little about Āyurvedic concepts. Swāmījī gave the topic for this seminar: Maṇipūra Chakra, digestion, and all that it has to do with food and nutrition. We have all these beautiful lectures where Swāmījī explains exactly how it works. We also had a nice lecture from Sādhvī Umā Purījī about the Sat Kriyās. We have all these interesting and inspiring cooking classes. And now, please allow me to speak a little bit about Āyurvedic concepts and tastes. In Āyurveda, we have this concept of the six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. It is a little bit unusual, but the whole digestion and way of eating is based on these six tastes. When we see chocolate, we know from experience that it is sweet. But the tastes, in fact, start when the food comes into contact with the tongue. In that moment, information is sent to the brain. According to the six tastes, the brain exactly knows what type of food is coming now—is it fat, protein, or carbohydrate? In the same moment, the brain sends information for other functions of the body: how many secretions we have to produce to digest it properly. A few days ago, I was reading in an Āyurvedic book from a very famous Dr. Vaidya. He said the healthiest food can become the deadliest if you cannot digest it properly. This seems to me a very strong formulation, but if you think further, it is true. When we eat something not according to our digestive capacity, not in the right amount, and not in the right consistency—if we eat something that is not of the right quantity or quality—then we will harm our body. Why? Because it doesn’t make a problem if you do it once or twice, but if it becomes a habit and you do not eat properly, all your body channels become obstructed. These obstructions take shelter exactly where the body is weakest. That means the organ which is in connection with that body part gets weaker and weaker, and the whole system starts to deteriorate. On the other hand, if we eat really good food which makes us healthy and happy, it also emphasizes not only our physical condition but also our mental condition. In Āyurveda, it is not a simple framework for how one should be and can be. We have to understand our own prakṛti, our own nature. Our own nature is also connected to our talents, and this often has an expression in our profession. Also, this is an indicator about our type of food and our quantity of food. Everybody’s cells get information through all that we are eating and doing. Often, it happens that we get some habits which, in a certain period of time, we think are normal, but they are not. For instance, sweet also has a satisfying quality. So when we have a lot of stress, it often happens that we need something sweet because it’s satisfying. It’s not only the type of sweet we eat, but also the amount. So in this mental condition, sweetness is necessary; otherwise, we cannot be balanced. The question is, why are we not balanced, and why are we so exhausted that we need so much of this sweet? Maybe the reason is that we overdo some things. Any type of stress can cause this problem—not only in work, but also if you have a life situation which does not satisfy you, or you have so many duties that you cannot find time for yourself, for your personal things which you love to do. So the question behind this is, how can we balance, and how can we come to the regularity which allows us to live a balanced life? We all know why we are here. We are practicing the system of Yoga in Daily Life. We have so many aspects in this system. It’s not only the step-by-step physical movements; it’s the self-inquiry meditation. It is also the awareness toward nature. The awareness towards nature also includes vegetarianism, helping, doing good things, building up good relations with each other. Swāmījī is training us very much in this field, and one of the most important tools, I think, is the self-inquiry meditation. If we really practice this step by step, we really learn how we are and what our nature is. Also, this high knowledge, which we get through these books, is in the field of our chakras. I practiced a few weeks ago with my class, Level 6. We all know how beautiful this is, how much information we get about ourselves when we go into this chakra and observe ourselves. So, very soon we find out these very important questions: how we are, why we are, and with this, who we are. Swāmījī gave it all into our hands. I was listening to Umāpurī’s lectures; she said we have to do it. Nobody can do it except ourselves. Another thing is about food; we speak about food, we come back to the food, and the taste and the nutrition. When we get out of balance, it must have a reason. Out of balance is not only that we eat too much and suffer from obesity. Out of balance can also be emaciation, so being too weak, physically and mentally. So again, with the help of our self-inquiry meditation, we observe our nature, our prakṛti, and all our abilities and qualities. Maybe we also get a picture of how we would like to be, and especially how we could be. And what really makes us happy? If we are like we imagine ourselves in this situation, and in this moment when we really have a clear picture of ourselves, we become self-confident. In this moment, we also start to eat the proper food because we don’t want to get weak from eating too much or too little. We want to be perfect. Swāmījī always gives us this example, and he is like an architect of our... because he sees how we are and how we could be. We could go more into the details; we could speak a lot about all the tastes and the foods. What I also would like to say, I was forgetting before, I wanted to tell you about the six tastes which are experienced on the tongue. With this experience, the brain gives information to the body. But there is also more information that could happen. One is the direct contact. The second is when we eat food and we digest it. After digestion, it has a different quality. It is called vīrya. That means the food, the tastes, can turn into hot or into cold. Therefore, we say food is heating or cooling. And the whole food can also have an effect on the whole body after the whole digestion is finished. This is called vipāka. If we go further, not only speak about food, but also medicine and some gemstones, they also have an effect on the body. This is not scientifically proven, but it has an effect, like gemstones. Or, for instance, in India, one serves food on banana leaves, and one found out this is anti-toxic. Or if a snake bites and we get another poison which balances or removes the toxic effect... It’s not scientifically proven, but it definitely helps, we know that. So some food items have an effect through taste, some through vīrya, some through vipāka, and some through prabhāva. But the most important thing is that we put much focus on fresh food. That does not only mean to eat raw, because raw food could also emaciate and make one weak if it is eaten by people who do not have good digestive power. All the energy which is needed for digestion goes away from the work of the other organs. So for strong people with good digestive power, they can eat raw food as much as they like. For all others, it is better to eat fresh but cooked food. For people who are already weakened due to all these obstructions of the body channels, how should they reduce their weight and come into balance again? Āyurveda also offers here a diet which is called Lāṅgana. That means eating very, very light food. But the meal should always consist of six tastes, also sweet. It doesn’t mean that only in grains and in vegetables is the sweet taste; there are also carbohydrates in some vegetables. So we can learn more about the whole variety of food items which exist in the world, especially in our region. And observe ourselves: how much we eat, and why do we need this and that? The taste, the feeling for a special type of taste, indicates also a type of need in the body which tries to help to balance. When we have a strong desire for sweets, we need to balance our vāta doṣa. Or salty could also be. And if we have a need for pungent things, that means the body likes to get rid of the slimy obstructions, which are called āma. This sounds very scientific and complicated, but it is not. It is not as complicated as it seems now. The only thing we have to do is to come to a certain regularity in our life. When we learn to eat in the right amount at the right time, always at the same time, we very soon experience our feelings for our need of food. Even if we have a fasting day, like today, Thursday—some have Monday—we skip one meal. But this should be done every Thursday or every Monday, not once Monday, once Tuesday... It should come to a regularity. Then the system gets used to it and relaxes. And in this, when it is relaxed, or we are relaxed, we can follow easily, and we can take more focus on the type of food we are eating. We should cook fresh food every day. And Āyurvedic food should always consist of all six tastes in one meal. That means sweet is all types of grains, and of course sugar, but only a little amount, a pinch. We always salt our food. When we eat salad and herbs, we have all the bitter parts, and also it’s astringent. What type of taste did I forget? Pungent with pepper. We should also look for food that gives us enough protein. This can be with milk, but not too much, because this obstructs the body channels again. The best would be that we implement daily one glass of buttermilk, self-made buttermilk at lunchtime, takra. This can be spiced with ginger, with cumin, with pepper, with salt, whatever. And this is very easy to do. You can take two or three spoons of fresh yogurt, put water inside—let’s say one-third yogurt and three-fourths water—and some spices. Mix it well and drink it along with your lunch. Thank you very much for listening. Hari Om. What? What do you remember? And some are also... Thank you. So this is a habit. There was one Svāmī, very famous, you know that. His name was Svāmī Dayānanda Sarasvatī. Svāmī Dayānanda Sarasvatī wrote many books and was great in Vedic culture, Vedānta, and the pure teachings of the Vedas and Upaniṣads. He called them Ārya, the Ārya societies. In Europe, the word Ārya was, after the Second World War, not so dear to many people because some political leaders were using the word Ārya and the swastika. The swastika is a symbol of the sun. In the very beginning, the swastika was just like a sun ray, a circle, and there were sun rays, and so they developed this swastika. Swastika means the sun. And svāsthya means health. This is a mantra, like an Om. In very ancient times, Om was written a little differently. And there is one book from Subramaniam Svāmī. Śrī Śrī... So swastik means good luck. But if you don’t use it properly, it can bring bad luck. There were two kinds of people living at the bank of the river Sarasvatī, and then Induvelī. This Induvelī, from the Induvelī, became Hindu. And there were the families, two brothers—they said two families—one moved towards Europe and one moved towards the East. And they all were studying, believing in the Vedic Dharma, the Vedas’ natural religion. So some moved to Europe, this side, and some that side, and that’s why they are all Ārya. Now, Ārya means not racism, not a duality. Though in the Vedas they said Āryas are they who have humbleness, kindness, knowledge, spirituality, the best in society, the best behavior, the best person—not criminal, not fighting, not warlike like this. So, Ārya means the good persons. And we are all very good. Is there someone who says, "I’m not good?" No, we are all very good. It means when you said, "I’m good," it means you said you are Ārya. So don’t utilize this word for that wartime, Second World War times. And that is in the Vedic culture. So, Svāmī Dayānanda Sarasvatī tried many, many things. There are beautiful stories about him. Only one thing, which was, I think, not good, or maybe was good, was that he was very straightforward. So, this story I will tell you after. Remind me. People asked him, "Can one live without dress in the mountains, in the ice?" He said yes, then he gives an example. You go in very cold weather with minus degrees, walking in the snow. You have warm dress, you have gloves, shoes, this, that, everything, you have cap, but this part of the skin is not covered, why? Because you are not covering all the time, it is used to all climates, so similarly you can train everything. So, train, practice is important. There is a... now they are discovering some mushroom which the Chinese are now utilizing very much. And it is banned. No one should, because it will die out. When humans find something which is good, they don’t take only a little, they try to take everything. In our Alpine mountains, in these Alpine mountains, there is one kind of rose. It’s called Alpen rose. And this is strictly prohibited. They are protected. You cannot pluck it and take it away, or the flower called edelweiss, no? That is protected. So similarly, those good things are protected. But, if you eat that half centimeter of that mushroom, for five days, you need not eat, and you can sit without clothes on the snow, sweating. Sweating, so I was thinking I should go and search for it. Then there’s no problem with the cooking. So what we read, some yogīs were sitting in the snow with no dress. There must be something. And that is, in this mother nature, there is something. There are some roots; you eat a little, and then you have no hunger for days and days. And your body is recharging the prāṇa from the air. So this is the science of cooking. That’s called Pakṣaśāstra. Many are searching now in the dictionaries: where is, which is, a Pakṣaśāstra? Five days ago, someone asked me, "Can you tell me the book if it’s printed, Pakṣaśāstra?" I said, you need not go to search; we have in Europe every country. Now you have given a different name. We say Pakṣaśāstra. And you say, "Grandmother’s kitchen." Rozumis? Understand me? That’s it. Our grandmother’s kitchen is our chemistry shop, what we call our apotheke. No, the grandmother’s kitchen is the best medicine, best cooking, best spices. So, those people who are here above 79 years, or 85 years, or 90 years old, these people who are here, above 75 and so, still have the strength. They have willpower because they were eating from the grandmother’s kitchen, the Pakṣaśāstra, the science of Pakṣaśāstra. And here these young kids, still they have mother’s milk on their lips. They are about 30 to 40 years old, and they are going like this: "Gurudev, I am ill. What can I do? I have pain here, I have pain here, I have a problem here. The computer, we don’t understand." Because we did not utilize the Pakṣaśāstra knowledge, therefore, the bright future, happy future, healthy future, harmonious future, and peace and sustainable development for this world is that humans should learn to cook properly, according to the Pakṣaśāstra, Vedic science, or Āyurveda science. It is to know the spices, the herbs, and the qualities of the food from the different gardens, as a vegetable. Don’t be the victim of so many illnesses because you eat only one thing, and you don’t know how healthy that animal was. The many animals are mentally completely destroyed, and that people eat meat. No problem, you have psychic problems, emotional problems. So what you eat, like that you are. So learn, learn, learn. So this all will control and supply the nutrition as prāṇa energy to our maṇipūra cakra. And the maṇipūra cakra is steering our life. It depends on the Maṇipūra Chakra, our concentration, our consciousness, our intellect, our intelligence, everything from here. Cooking is so tasteful. Vegetarian food is so tasteful that you will forget these dead animals’ bodies. The dead animals are being eaten by the vultures. So that’s why the people who go to India, once they taste Indian food, when they come back, they don’t forget it. When you taste Indian food once, then you say, "Oh, how good it is." When you eat Indian vegetarian food, you always have a good smell from your mouth—not only from your mouth, but from your armpits. Jenny Myzin, in hot summer, who is nourishing only meat and alcohol and beers, and especially with Hungarian garlics, standing in the bus like this, height 1.97 meters high, and you are a small one standing there in a crowded bus. You get aroma. Then those girls said, "I will never see any man anymore." Because ladies are the Lakṣmīs. They like purity. They like purity, but the man is a Viṣṇu. He likes the divinities. And when there is the divine, there is no more wine. Because everything is so fine: vegetarian, nice food, milk. So, Āyurveda is the knowledge of life. It is the science of life. So, Āyurveda is how to live, and then, yoga is how to die. Yeah? So, the art of dying. The art of dying means that you die with self-realization, without suffering. Mokṣa. Divine. That is, how to go back was easy to come, but now how will we go back to that, our origin? Therefore, practice, practice... slowly, slowly. Mahāprabhujī kī Karatā, Mahāprabhujī kī Karatā... He Kevalam Vā Dheere Dheere Chāl, Gagana Gara Charaṇam This is a spiritual lecture about Yoga in the Indian tradition. Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavānam. So, you want to drink very nice chai with milk, or you want to drink nice coffee with milk. You know what coffee is, and you know what milk is, and you know tea or chai and milk too. Now, sugar is coming. You put sugar inside. It’s tasteful because we like sugar. Oh, how nice is coffee with good milk, and on it, nice some cream, what they call melons or what they call cappuccino. And someone serves you a lemon with it. And you put some drops of the lemon inside. Now, what happened to coffee or tea? The milk is spoiled. That is the example, a very correct example. Without knowing the nature of those spices, if you put them in the vegetable, it has no more nutrition inside. Everything changes, the chemicals. Therefore, you know what the vegetable is, and you know you are cooking at home. But without knowledge of the spices and which kind of fat, oil, butter, or ghee you utilize, that we should know. All right, today is finished. This evening we will have our webcast again. Wish you all the best. Dīp Nand Bhagavān, Devīśvara Mahādeva, Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān, Sanātana Dharma, Om Śānti. Tiṣam Tiṣam.