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Healthy way of fasting

The human body is a wondrous coach for spiritual journey. The full moon is a spiritually potent time for purification through disciplined fasting, which cleanses physical impurities and strengthens willpower. This body is pulled by the ten wild horses of the senses. The intellect acts as the reins and the mind as the driver to control them. When the light of knowledge is lit within this coach, the king—the soul—is realized. Viveka, the discerning advisor, uses the arrow of the guru's word to destroy negative passions. This vehicle can contain entire universes in consciousness, leading to inner harmony and bliss.

"These ten horses are wild. And can you imagine the ten wild horses pulling one coach?"

"Jñān kī bhattī ratme lagāī. So, the light of knowledge we light it in this coach."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Śrī Śrī Dev Purīṣā Mahādevakī, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavānakī, Satya Sanātan Dharmakī. Good evening to everyone. Welcome. Today is a beautiful day. First of all, it is the full moon. Especially for spiritual aspirants who are doing kriyānushṭhāna or sādhanā, for them it is a very important day. According to spirituality and nature, the connection with nature, Bhagavān Krishna said that He enters into the vegetation through the moonlight. Not only do we feel the beautiful radiance or the light of the moon, but other creatures do as well. The foxes, deer, rabbits, bears, and others also like to see. It is eye-catching because the light is so pleasant to our eyes. Therefore, the moonlight is a very pleasant feeling on our skin, and as it is, there is great spiritual feeling and spiritual development. The light of the moon is like honey, and the light of the moon is the fragrance of all beautiful flowers. Those blossoms which open in the night and early morning, when you smell the fresh open blossoms, have a beautiful, pleasant smell. Therefore, the moon is not only for us as a spiritual influence, but for the whole vegetation. The moon is balancing our earth. The earth rotates around the sun and is balanced by the moon. And that’s why the moon is also increasing and decreasing. There are many stories about moonlight. And the moon is representing completeness, pūrṇa. And pūrṇa means complete, full. And it is said that the mantra that Brahman, the Supreme, is pūrṇa, complete. And what comes from the Brahman is also complete. And when we take out something from this complete, it is also complete. This mantra, Pūrṇamadaḥ, Pūrṇamadaḥ. So today, especially the spiritual practitioners, spiritual aspirants, they are fasting. Why do we fast? Because on the fasting day, there is a purification in the body. From the health point of view, if you don’t eat for a few hours and your stomach is empty, then the digestive fire eats the things from the body. Especially what we call the fat. And in the body, there are many, many vikāras, impurities, and many cells, dead cells, lying in the body. And if these cells remain stuck somewhere, which we cannot purify through the apāna prāṇa, or through sweating, it’s also apāna. Anything that is rejecting from the body is called apāna. But still, when we do not take care of our diet and movements, then the body begins to gain kilos, less muscles and more fat. And when the fat is developing in the body more, then you become more lazy. That’s called tamas guṇa. And tamas guṇa is a drowsiness, a slipperiness. And laziness develops. That body in a particular place begins to collect the fat, and those toxins we couldn’t reduce from the body, they collect together. And that is one of the, from many factors, because one of the correct factors is where the cancer is developing. We have to purify our body through air, through water, through proper diet, movements, and fasting. So the best inner purification of the body is through fasting. But fasting is not for days and days. Of course you will realize if you don’t eat for one week. Only liquid and vegetables, some fruits except bananas and potatoes, no dairy products. Then in one week, definitely you will lose three kilos. And in 15 days, you will lose 6 to 7 kilos. So through this Falaharī diet, you lose the kilos quickly. But as soon as you stop, then the condition of your body, after a few days, not weeks, a few days, it’s like you have a very nice bean, and in the evening you soak it in water. That time, in the morning, this bean will have more than double the size, and that’s very harmful for the body. So you should know how to fast, and you should know how to end the fasting. This can only happen if you have knowledge of food and cooking. If you can’t cook properly, God cannot help you too. So you have to learn cooking. It is good for your bright future, good for your economy, and for your health. You must learn cooking. Otherwise, one day the world will collapse, and many, many bad thoughts will come because you cannot cook, and if you can’t cook, then you can’t eat properly. Do not depend on someone. So, the first priority for yoga in daily life practice is to learn cooking and teach the children also how to cook. From childhood, you should learn. Nothing is easier than cooking. But in your condition, you are very, very poor. Sometimes I feel so much pity, thinking how poor you are that you can’t cook. If you think that you are rich and go every day eating outside, that is using your wealth or Lakṣmī in the wrong way. You do something bad to your body. That’s called self-punishment. So that self-punishment, if you can’t cook properly and you can’t eat properly, then, there are two big sins we are doing. One very big sin is self-murder, suicide. And the second is that you can’t take care of your body, abusing drugs, alcohol, and not eating properly. So when somebody is committing suicide, it may take only a few minutes or something, I don’t know, I have no idea, I have no experience. But the other one is torturing the whole life. Therefore, it is a sin to torture your body. Supply something good. So your saṅkalpa should be cooking. And cooking is not only that. That means that you put beans and potatoes and carrots in the hot water and take out the salt and butter on it. That is not cooking. That means you are just filling the stomach, not nutrition. It has to be proper nutrition and proper spices. Without proper spices, the food will not have a good effect on you. Ready-made, packed food put into the microwaves and so on is not so healthy, so fasting is the first place for our health. Now, there also you should know, if you are underweight, don’t fast. If you have low blood pressure, don’t fast. And if you are dizzy or you are taking certain medicines, then there is no fasting. So this you should know. Some people, when they are fasting, get a headache. Then don’t fast. Pregnant women should not fast. And children until 20 years should not fast. We said, when children are eating and they wash their hands, and as soon as their hands are dry, the children are hungry again. So we call in Rajasthani, "Nicely, as soon as hands dry, children are hungry." Because that’s growing, and bones and everything require it, so that’s a healthy way of fasting. If you begin falahārī, then keep discipline, and no temptations and no compromises. Today, I had a kind of test for you. How many will say, even for the pizza or the spaghetti, "I’m fasting, so I will take it and keep it in my room and eat it after"? So I was surprised how you were enjoying, but about 50 people, they fasted. So you see, it tells of inner discipline and understanding. Fasting means not starving. The body is the temple of our ātmā. Temple of our soul. Our soul is pure. Ātmā is divine. It needs discipline and purity. So, without asking, you know every time tomorrow that I’m fasting. No salty things, and no grains. Best is only water, and that day also no coffee and tea. But if you feel a little weaker, take your coffee or chai, some fruit juice, or best is coconut water. First thing is, first place is the health. We don’t want to become ill, and we don’t want to die. And we don’t want to take care of the food. What do you expect? So it is our body that we should respect and take care of. That’s very important. Second, fasting develops the willpower to keep our principles. And when unnecessarily all the fat and everything is digested, the body feels happy and spiritual energy awakens. The full moon is not only in the sky, but the full moon is within you too. The moon has a strong influence on our Earth. All the waves in the ocean, the hurricanes in the ocean, the wind, and earthquakes are all moved by the moon. That is emotion, so the moon is standing near to the ocean as emotion, and the same emotion, the same full moon, we have. It’s not easy to control. Emotion means we are in the motion. And now, how are you going to control your motion? Like a big ship in the middle of the ocean and very high waves, now we are in these high waves of this motion, and we are in, so it’s emotion. How is your intellect as a captain in such big waves? If he can maintain to survive, so moon is the emotion. And this helps us very much, so today is fasting. And tomorrow is eating slowly, slowly. Second, I explained yesterday. The day of the sisters and brothers, Rakṣā Bandhan. Rakṣā means protection, and bandhan is to tie. Tie in the promise of the brothers and sisters. That promise you should never forget. Even if it takes our life, we keep our word. So, symbolically, they tie the rakhi on the wrist. That rakhi also means protection. So, as long as between the sister and brothers, especially for the youth, if in their consciousness is awareness of brotherhood and sisterhood, many stupid things will stop. There will be peace. Youth is the light of tomorrow. Youth is the future of tomorrow. And which direction the youth will go, in that direction the country will go. So these are cultural festivals. And so these are cultural festivals which have some meaning in it. There are also sometimes stupid festivals, or jsou i hloupé svátky. So the humans are taking the mask of the animals and screaming and playing like animals. That is the past life’s demonstration in this life. So still there’s a quality of the past life. So we got a beautiful human body, and this body is really very, very great. This body will not be given always. We are fortunate that we have this body. So Holy Gurujī is writing one beautiful bhajan, "Our Sadgurudev Madhavānandajī Sādvāyī Ajabrat Hamārā." O my brothers, sādhus, we are all sādhu. Sādhu means simplicity, simple living, higher thinking. Sādhu means simple. Sādhu means making sādhanā, practice, and sādhu means above all test. That’s very important. So you are doing sādhanā. You are very simple living and higher thinking. And you have no longing for some taste. It doesn’t matter if you get ice cream or the sour lemon juice. Both are equal. Maybe the lemons are more healthy than ice cream. But the tongue is spoiled, and therefore, it’s difficult to control the tongue. Sādhava yajabrat hamārā bēṭā bāram bārā. O my brothers, sādhus. Ajab. Ajab means wondrous, marvellous. So, this body is very wonderful. Wonderful means full of wonders. So this body is very important. Sādhava yajabratamārā bhētā bārambhārā, in which I said many times, in human body. Rat means coach. Baggi, a horse car. So this is a horse car. This coach is pulled by ten horses. These are the ten indriyas: five jñāna indriyas and five karma indriyas. You know all from our past seminars? What is indriya? Senses. So, for example, our test senses. Let’s call it svādindriya. It gives the knowledge of the test: bitter, salt, sweet, etc. So we are all experts in this. Our Svādhi Indriya is very active. Other indriyas will become a little weak, but svādhi indriyas will be more active until the last day. One is dying and lying in the hospital. Don’t want to eat this junk food. The most unhealthy food in the world is hospital food. So you said you want to eat something? No, I don’t want to eat. Now, what is rejecting? But especially, Svādendriya is rejecting. Swadendriya says it’s better to die than to eat such junk. Lifelong, I was torturing my body because of my tongue. I was a slave of my taste. I will not eat anything. Then they come, "Today we have ice cream." Before giving an answer, yes or no, the mouth is full of saliva. And leaves are moving. Okay, a little bit. That is the indriya, that is the temptation. So these are ten indriyas: five karmendriyas, five jñānendriyas. They are pulling, they are pulling this our coach here and there. It is these ten indriyas that are governing you. Taking you from here to there, and this and that, going to holidays. Anyway, your indriyas are taking you there. Yes. These ten horses are wild. And can you imagine the ten wild horses along a pooling of one coach? What will be the condition of that coach? They are wild. They don’t like each other. So one runs this side, one tries to run the other side. Coach is destroyed, damaged. Therefore, we have to control this. So it is said, these ten horses, wild horses, horse power—we used to say horse power—they are tied by one rope, what they call in English, the rein ring of the buddhi. Only this buddhi can control them. Buddhi kī lagām lagāī hakat manuṣyāra, and now the mind becomes governor. And the mind is now very careful. Very alert. Now he is holding this line, buddhi. So even our buddhi is under the influence and control of our mind. Buddhi can become selfish. Buddhi can change many, many opinions. We said that this buddhi can become stupid, but buddhi, if it has control by viveka, then buddhi is good. So these ten horses pulling my coach, and buddhi is this rein? And now, the driver or coachman is the mind. Now the mind is governing, so the mind controls the indriyas. Therefore, mind is sometimes in some way also said to be an indriya. z indriji. If mind is the king of all. A pokud se bavíme o indriyā, tak mysl. Therefore, be careful of your mind. Das ghoda cheli sratmi ajab chala chalapara, and what a run of the horse is beautiful to see, the movement. They are controlled by buddhi and taken care by mind, and very good road, and you are sitting inside. It’s a beautiful feeling. And if the horse is going there and the gyro stops, then in the coach you are sitting like this. Please, can you move the coach? He said, "Yes, but the horses are stuck." So you have heat inside, and you can’t do anything. Chance, intellect, and mind. That lets these indriyās go in the right direction, very smoothly and comfortably. Yes, sunset is there. In the cosmos is darkness. So jñān kī bhattī ratme lagāī. So, the light of knowledge we light it in this koch. Anhad bhaja ujara. Anhad. Sorry. Anhad means without border. Anhad is without borders. So beautiful light inside. Endless. Nekonečné. My whole koch is illuminated. That’s called enlightenment. You know? Enlightenment. Then you are enlightened. Now we are outlighted. Outside is a light, but inside is dark. Can you imagine what Jīvā is doing there? Suffering whole life in darkness. So, jñāna is the knowledge. As soon as the light of the jñāna is there, endless light is there. Self-realization, yes, yeah, of course. When you are self-realized, you can’t speak anything; silent, because whatever you speak is duality. Then you have to put yourself to the second party or second person, so sometimes no answer is a very clear answer. So you are enlightened. I am proud of you. Whoever has more, that is great. Who has less, it’s not that much. Take an example. There are 10 kilos, and there is 1 kilo. And we put on the scale, which will go down ten kilos, and ten kilos are more or less. That’s why you are great, so you are on earth, and I’m lost, little. I’m lifted like this, sitting here up. So don’t ask why Swāmījī is sitting so high. That’s it. Answer is good. So, beautiful light in the coach. And who is inside? Rājā Ātmā. The king, the ātmā. That king is sitting inside. That ātmā is cetan. It’s not sleeping. You know, we sang a bhajan last week. You know, we sang a bhajan last week. So, chetan is ātmā. Chetan, to je ātmā. So, when you are inwardly awakened into the knowledge of self-realization, samādhi, then you know ātmā. So, in each and every entity, that king is sitting in them. But few can realize or come close to that king. Many times, you know, that your king’s name is this and that. But one day he comes to a small village, and nobody has ever seen his photo. And he said, "I’m the king." All the villages will gather together and catch him and put him in the basement, and take the horses and go to the palace of the king, 300 kilometers far, that someone is coming. As a king, imitating you, and there they say, but the king went to that village again, ran the horses back, poor horses. But until then, the king was tortured in the basement. They said, "You are the king." He said, "Not anymore. Please free me, then you will know." What is the thing, so that the ātmā is sitting within and we didn’t realize? We didn’t acknowledge, and the ātmā, this jīvātmā, is suffering inside. Wait, which punishment will you get? It will not be too late. Therefore, immediately begin the practice. "Nid" means itself, "chetan" means awakened, conscious. Nirākāra, nirākār, without form, so that ātmā is within us, nij chetan nirākārā. jān kī batī ratme lagāī, anad bhayā ujārā. Rājā ātmā, bēṭā ratmāī, nij chetan nirākārā sādavai, ajib ratamārā. Oh, my brother, this coach is beautiful, wondrous. But again and again, I like to sit in this coach. Can you imagine yourself as a little mouse somewhere? Even at night, he’s not in peace. All night, some birds are me. Where are you at, mouse? Every creature has a very hard life. Humans have also, but it is their own mistake. Therefore, the king is not alone in that coach. He is clever enough. He has his very best secretary or advisor. Viveka is with that Ātmā, the king. Vivek Mantrī Rehe Satme Anubhav Karadvichāra, that Viveka is explaining the experiences of life. The experiences of spirituality. The experiences of the journey. How will it be? How it is? How was it? He gives all the reports to the ātmā, the viveka. The cream of the buddhi is viveka. So when buddhi is enlightened, it becomes viveka. That’s why Siddhartha, when he got enlightenment, was known as a buddha. And that’s why Siddhartha, when he attained enlightenment, was still known as a Buddha. So, Viveka Mantrī Rehe Satme Anubhavakaratā Vicāra. Āgam Nigam kī selkinī nay pāyā kast nigarā. And with this, I was traveling Agam Nigam, from where we can’t describe what in the universe that is. Even we are not able to describe. Far away and near, traveled through the whole universe. There was no discomfort even for one second. Freely you traveled into the universe because everything was under control. And they should also not suffer. We don’t control them. That we have to harmonize everything, and that’s what we call yoga. Yoga means harmony and balance. And so we speak about that, that yoga means harmony and balance. Kāma, krodha, mada, lobha, moha, lutat, he, rat, sāra. Kāma, krodha, mada, lobha, moha. These five will make a robbery and take away everything from your coach. They are looking for a chance to attack. Kāma means passion. Krodha means anger. Mada means pride. Lobha means greed, and moha means attachment. These are running beside, and they keep their eyes. Looted herat sara, they will try to steal everything. Guru Śabda kā tīra lagāyā, bhāgata bhāga gayā hatyārā. But that Viveka, he shoots the arrow, and all these bandits disappear. What kind of arrow? Guru-śabda, guru-vākya. That arrow is guru-vākya. So the words of education from the wise person’s speech go into our heart like an arrow. It destroys all negative qualities and destroys all the negative qualities of the property. Irkya Tum Jano Amara, Mere Satguru Mar Irkya Tum Jano Amara, Mere Satguru Mar. The arrow of the Guruvākhya removed all the negative qualities: kāma, krodha, mada, lobha, moha, ahaṅkāra. In this koch, Chaudha lok, ikiso brahmāṇḍ, sakal ratme pasara. Chaudha lok, seven worlds, seven worlds, which are within and two thousand, sorry, 2,500 lokas that yogīs’ consciousness can reach. Till 2,100 sun systems. 14 people, 200 Brahmins, Ratmas, Sakalpasaras, all have themselves enough comfortable space in my coach. My chetanā. They can easily fit into that vehicle of mine, into that carriage of mine, into my chetanā. Anahat bhaja bhaje ratme ghurat napa tanagara. And what a beautiful... in this coach is so nice music inside. That’s called Nāḍī Yoga. Listen inside. What are you listening outside? Outside is a noise. Inside is nice. That’s it. Śrī Pūjya Bhagavān Dīp Nārāyaṇ Ved Batāyā Sāra Holī Gurujī said, "Now, universally worshiped Bhagavān Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī." He gave me all the secret knowledge of this coach. I enjoyed this coach. Kočáře raduji. I feel happy, free. And liberated. Osvobozený. Ānand. Ānand hī ānand. Bliss and bliss. How nice. Jak krásné. Abha Hama Guru Charan Sukha, Abha Hama Guru Charan Sukha Paya. Sagar Lera Samaya, Sagar Lera Samaya. Abha Guru Sharana Sukhapaya, Abha Hama Satguruva Amrita Jalabharasaya, Nagata Amrita Nirav. Sar Chowk Bhajan: Abham Guru Nirbhayane chal paya, Abhahama Dusharanasahegu, Dhammalochalakara Parasahe. So sabhādhiya sarvānāmeśa sabhānāśegu Sāgaradeva samāśegu. Sāgara nairā samaya, Sāgara nairā samaya. Suśaraṇa eka gamaya, Urbina bheda. Sāga bheda kheda sab mita gayā, Sāga bheda kheda sab mita gayā. Urbichā ba Śrī Mādhava Nanda Ānanda. Shri Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva, Dharma Samrāṭ Satguru Swami Madhavānandajī Bhagavān, Satya Sanātan Dharma. Om Śānti Sarvah.

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:

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