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There is an āsana exercise called body warming. When we do it a little quicker, it becomes like exercise; that is called yoga vyāyam. Vyāyam means exercise. Then, when we do slow and counter postures, it is called dynamic movements. That comes between vyāyam and postures. But then comes the posture, which remains for a certain time in a particular pose; that is called āsana. If there is difficulty, then we try to remain in that posture, but we are still striving for perfection. That is called stretching. So, body warming, dynamic movements, and stretching constitute yoga vyāyam. The posture itself is the mudrā. Āsanas, prānāyāmas, bandhas, and mudrās. After that comes dhāraṇā, dhyāna, samādhi. If we practice yoga systematically according to ancient yogic literature, there is not too much written, because too much theory confuses you again and interferes in the practice of postures. Every āsana, meaning posture, influences our meridians and develops a lot of energy, which we are bringing to the chakras. The prānāyāma breath technique coordinates with our very fine nerves. We say there are 72,000 nāḍīs, nerves in the human body, and they are around the whole body like a network. Our consciousness, which keeps us alert and aware, flows through the nerves. When some nerves are damaged or die, that part of the body becomes senseless; no sensation is received. We have got five jñāna-indriyas and five karma-indriyas, the senses. Five senses of knowledge receive from the outer world: whatever we learn from birth till now through these five senses—our eyesight, the visions, the hearing, the smelling, the taste, and the skin—this gives us information. All five senses depend on our nerve systems, the fine, fine nerves, and for that prānāyāma is given. Prānāyāma, the exercise of prāṇas, the breath. According to Rājayoga, there are only three prānāyāmas: pūrak, rechak, and kumbhak—inhalation, exhalation, and retention of the breath, either outside (bāhyakumbhak) or inside (antarkumbhak). So only three prānāyāmas: inhale, exhale, or stop on a retention of the breath. But then, according to Haṭha Yoga or other yogic techniques, it is called prānāyāma, vyāyāma, nāḍī śodhana, anuloma viloma, chandrabhedana, sūryabhedana, kapālabhāti, vastrika, ujjāyī, etc. There are many different techniques, means of how to inhale, how to exhale, and how long we shall retain the breath. These are different exercises for the well-being of our body and our mind. Nāḍī Śodhana is the purification of the nerves. If we see according to the anatomy of Western medicine, we cannot clean our nerves, and it is impossible that we blow air into the nerves. If we get an injection and there is some air in the injection, it can also damage our brain. So breath cannot enter into the nerves; if it enters, it will be the end of life. What do we mean here then by nāḍī śodhana? How do we clean? Through our exercises, breath exercises, we supply to the body, in the form of oxygen, the prāṇa śakti. Oxygen is not prāṇa, but prāṇa is mixed in. In exercise, it is the best quality of the oxygen, the fine quality that is coming, the prāṇa in the body. There were questions about the reflexes. Jones is the station, like a junction where the branches are going, or energy spreads in the world. The meridians are different, each having a particular reason and being responsible for that part, and the chakras, which have the major role in the body. So the prāṇa needs very much discipline and purity. To keep spirituality is like taking care that we do not get infections, and infections are very easy to get. Similarly, to maintain our spirituality, we need immense discipline. Spirituality means purity. Spirituality does not mean that whole day you sit and meditate and say, "Oh, there is a very spiritual person." I would say you are a lazy person. Whole day sitting, only meditating, sleeping—who will work then? So spirituality does not mean that we are praying and sitting and meditating the whole day. We should do both. "Yoga karmasu kauśalam"—our yoga practice will be successful through doing something. Of course, there is a time for meditation, because meditation is the key to success. And without discipline, meditation cannot be done. So, it is said, self-discipline is the key to success. This spirituality also comes through words, through companions or societies, where to sit, what to speak, what not to speak. Many, many things support this spirituality from outside to maintain the inside. Therefore, eating: some said we are eating for living; we are not living for eating. So we understand what is the nourishment, how much prāṇa, the positive energy, is in our food. We had a prayer before eating here on the pūrṇimā sādhanā pūrṇimā when... There is enough food, it is everywhere, enough for all our contentment. Anna pūrṇā is the Divine Mother. It is that Divine Mother which supplies the food to each and every entity, from the very tiny ant to the elephant. Every creature finds its food according to its nature. That Goddess, see, whom we call Annapurnā, and there is a mountain in the Himālaya and a temple dedicated to Mother Annapurnā. So when you come to Nepal, between Nepal and India, there is, near Everest, Annapurna, beautiful, beautiful hills, mountains, high Himalaya. Anna, for us humans, means grains, seeds, because life, the soul, is in the seeds. It grows from the seeds. Then we can transplant some branches also. If we cut it and put it in earth, it will give the roots and grow. But the main thing is the seed. Sometimes people ask questions: what was the first, the egg or the bird? Or what was the first, the father or the mother? So neither egg nor the bird, but first was that cosmic consciousness, the light, we call Swayambhū. That is the creator, Ajanma. Ajanma means not born, and that which is Ajanma also will not die. Who is not born will not die. So it is not born, but it is here. And that is our Ātmā, not Jīvātmā. The Jīvātmā is a reflection only from the Ātmā side. So, jīvā, the soul, is not ātmā; the soul is individual. Therefore, I think it is also said in the Bible: do not throw away the bread. To throw away the bread is a sin. It means food; do not destroy the food, and take only as much as you think is good for you. So we do not eat because it is tasty, but we should eat for good health, prāṇa, and limitation. The world is disbalanced. There are some countries, there are some people, they are overeating. And the hospitals—how much food is destroyed in the hospital? And if you are not properly ill, then go to the hospital for something and stay one week there, you will come out ill. The food in the hospital is very, very unhealthy. They talk about health, but the doctors are not able to give the instruction to the hospitals to make healthy food. So do not throw away the bread, do not throw away the food, because food is God. That food is our life, and so in every religion, if you come to the religion, food is holy. We take a prasāda. When we take the food in our hands, we should clean our hands. We should clean our mouth. It is said, how many words, good or bad, you were talking, you also polluted your mouth. And how many hands were touching where? How much? So, did you clean your hands before coming to the dining table? Did you clean your mouth? Did you feel in the heart that you are going to have your food, which is saving your life? When you got the food or are taking the food, do you feel that finally God made it available, that I now have access to my nourishment? How thankful we are when we see the food or get it in the hand. It is the holy, it is the divine, it is the prasād. Then we say the prayer. Then after prayer, everybody or everyone begins to eat. So prayer was not here. Somebody took it, standing and eating and talking. This buffet system developed in the last few decades; otherwise, food was served. You sit and are served, and they say, "Please enjoy your food." The buffet system is coming from the animals' table: they put the grass in the feeder and leave it. Goats or the sheep or the cows go out, and wherever it is possible, they go and take and eat. So this buffet system is not appropriate for humans or for spirituality. But to save time, we just go and take it. For humans, it is respect on both sides. We respect, we are the host, and they are the guest. So the duty of the host is to say, "Please come and take your food." And guests should not run and take it. Take a little. You can have twice. But some people, they take the plate in their hand and feel so much inside, the other one does not have. Again, last year I was in Fiji, and we had a buffet and a yoga retreat. So they made nice food at the buffet. And many people, they went and took some particular food. There was a lot of that, and others did not have any more than that. So the host is giving to the guest and then requests, "Please eat, please begin." There is a difference between the animals and humans. So again then we come to the other step. Do I know what I eat, and do I chew my food or not? The good quality food, the healthy food, is that as long as you chew that much, the taste and aroma develops in the mouth. More tasty, and that food also gives more good prāṇa energy in the body. The fast food, the junk food—why did the junk get a fast food name? If you chew longer, try, you will feel vomiting. You will have a, you will feel not good smell. So quickly bite two, three times and swallow it. That is fast. We do not know what we put inside. Our stomach says, "Oh, but you give me, how I live?" So that is why there is a difference between human and animal. We eat and speak less. Otherwise, you are eating and talking for so many years, and you know how you are, and it may be that some spider is inside now, falling. You do not see it, or flies. So God itself is that food on a poor night, and that is why it is in monasteries. You may see the Christian monasteries, or Buddhist monasteries, or Hindu monasteries, where the monks get in the bowl the food, and they sit with mauna, with silence. Take this food that is purity. After that, either you clean yourself, your plate, or the different, and go and clean your hands and clean your mouth, and then come and talk to the friends. But do not get up till others have not finished. This is another principle: remain seated until all are finished. Others did not finish because they were talking too much. So, to remain is a respect to others. If you stand up and go, the other one will say, "Okay, I finished also." So, these are the rules. Not because of a law or a force, but it is a courtesy towards our neighbors who are sitting beside us and eating. Still, you did not finish completely. Your mouth is full of rice, and you come and talk to your friends, "How are you? Sorry, it is good." Now all your rice grains are falling on the other side. So when you go to the Gurudwara, the temple, the Sikh temple, or when someone is reading the holy book, the Rāmāyaṇa, they have a cloth like this and are reading. While reading or speaking, we are also spitting something, and it should not touch the holy book. In the holy book of the Guru Granth, which is the holy book of the Sikh religion, it is written, "Guru Granth Ko Janiye"—know the book of the Gurudev who wrote. Guru Granth Ko Janiye, it is the embodiment of Gurudev himself. In whose heart there is that truth, a desire to know, they will get this in that book. And that is why when they are reading, they hold like this. Many, many, you will see going out to the Sikh temple here. Here, there are many gurudwaras, and they go and see. They do not let you go in without covering your head. It is a sign of respect, a very big respect. In America, you cannot go to any kitchen without covering your head. Maybe here also, the law in Britain, I do not know. We had a retreat in America, near Washington DC, in Virginia. We hired one retreat place, and they had one kitchen, and we ordered the food from a vegetarian restaurant, but no one was allowed to go in the kitchen, though there were a few organizers, and they said we could come, said, "No, you cannot enter the door of the kitchen, you stay where the—" The window is where only they will be served who have a certificate and are allowed. Here, this is a cook and has all kinds of certificates, that they are not ill, that there is no tuberculosis or something like this. So strict rules are there. So why cannot we follow this for the sake of our health, for the sake of our spirituality? Then you get up and say, "Thank you, God. Thank you for giving this." You may say bread. Mostly we say bread because it is a grain. So before starting, we say thank you. And after, we also say thank you, and we purify our, at least our body physically, our hands, our mouth; then we can speak. So these are the rules of the spiritual seekers. These are the principles. So Patañjali, the great yogī, who wrote and modified yoga into four parts: Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, Rāja yoga, and Jñāna yoga. And he said, "Atha Yoga Anuśāsanam." Now, yoga begins with discipline. Atha means now, not tomorrow, just now. Atha Yoga Anuśāsanam. So we said begin with that discipline, and one who has a discipline is a disciple. So there are two kinds of disciples. I tell them three kinds of. One is called a flower, a beautiful blossom. That is the beauty of the spiritual aspirants. The second is called a follower, who follows the instructions of the teacher or the master and practices in life. And the third one is called a follower. It will fall over. It will not remain forever. We will say, "This is too much for me. I do not want it. It is okay." So many things need discipline to be developed. We do not need those kinds of yoga exercises, postures like in the circus. The artist in the circus is much better than many yoga practitioners. But through the torturing of the body, forcing of the body, we will not get liberation. We will not have that God consciousness; that will be more difficult for us. So postures which we cannot do, do not do them. Your body does not allow it. Your body does not like that. We have to respect our body. Our body is a holy body, and this body is the only chance in this life. You can change many things, but you cannot change the body. We cannot buy this body anywhere. And we cannot borrow to someone, and we are not sure if we will get in the next life again the body, which is the human body. So maybe God or Mother Nature, or who does not matter who or how, we got this part only, the channel. In yogic philosophy, in Sanātana Dharma, Vedic or Hindu, we call there are 8.4 million different kinds of creatures that make one cycle of birth, and out of 8.4 million, one is the human. And as a human is the human, there is no racism, does not matter if it is a black skin or the white skin or yellow skin, that does not matter. A human is a human, whether born in Japan, Tibet, China, Africa, here in Europe, or Central Asia. All are only one, that is a human. And they found the first human race began somewhere higher in the mountains, the place what we call now Tibet, under the China territory. So it is wrong to divide humanity in racism. And that is a problem which created the Lord. So if we humans cannot love other humans, how are we going to love other creatures? This body we should try to keep comfortable, healthy, and keep long. This is the most precious jewel, or diamond, which you have, is our body. And our body, if it is healthy, then the real body. Again, someone says health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health. But we can do many, many techniques, yet one day will come that we will fail to be healthy, because this is again in the nature. Somehow, the body has to go. So it is a big test for us, a big task for us, to endure and understand the change of the body. What is changing in our body every day, every hour, every minute, every second? Something is changing, and that will not revise again. It will not come back. We have to accept our age, and then we have to also respect Mother Nature, that certain organs in the body are exhausted. Now, some doctors try to change it in the workshop, so-called the operation theater, but still, God made it pleasant, comfortable, and easier, but it will not be given again. So our body, but we can support our body in a certain way. The process will be slow only if we are aware of our body, what we eat, how we eat, how much we eat, what we drink, what we inhale, and where we are spending our time. In which way can we support this, our divine holy body? Then it will delay our rapidly changing the age, and the time will come when we have to go. So these are the main principles of yoga. So this was, we were talking about our body. The one sister told today, when I was speaking about graph, and she gave me this also, this one explanation: the meridians, meridian in the body, the centers, energy centers, chakras, channels. So, our body is very dear to us; we do not want to die. Death does not matter in any case, at any price. We do not want to die, but it is not in our hands. It is like that. You have rented your house. Now the agreement is finished, so you should move out. If you do not move out, then the police will come and take you away. So this body is not forever for us, but as long as we have it, we are happy. We are thankful to whoever gave this body, God, Mother Nature, whatever you call it, and that we can use this body in a good way to help each other and other creatures. They are innocent creatures. They do not know. Maybe they are going through their karma, or however it is. We can support. We understand. But still, we are human. We are not perfect. Still, God is perfect. We do our best not to make a mistake, but mistakes again can happen. And for that we pray, we accept, and we try to walk on that divine path where great saints, great wise people, they achieve their highest level of consciousness. Otherwise it is said, "Khānā, Pīnā, Bhognā, Paśubhiḥ Param Sujan." O human, eating, drinking, and creating children, even animals are also very active. So if we are doing only this much, then it is very different. So we understand what is the Supreme, who we are, and why we are suffering. The cause of every suffering is fear. And out of this fear, we lost our peace. So our peace is covered by that, the darkness of the shadow of fear. So there is no peace. About existence. Many things, many things, many things. Illness, family, this problem, that problem, that everywhere. The most fearful creature is a human. Mostly restless is a human. Mostly unhappy is human. Mostly ill is human. Mostly a trouble creator is the human. Then how can we say that we are human, divine, and holy? But in the world, there are more good people and fewer, or maybe not good, people. But still, how can we judge? Everyone is fighting for something they think is right. They think it is their right. So where is our right? We do not know. The best is to know thyself and follow. If we do not, then follow the rules and instructions that we got from our parents. The Upaniṣads, you should all read the Upaniṣads. Vedas, if you cannot get the Upaniṣads, then the Bhagavad Gītā, the Rāmāyaṇa. The Upanishads say, "Mātṛ deva bhava." The first God is the mother. "Pitṛ deva bhava," then father. If you cannot respect and know what my mother and father mean. They said, "What have you done for us?" Nothing, this is okay. They have done nothing for you, but at least they gave you birth, this human body. Be thankful. If we lost our respect to the parents, and now such kind of parents are they, did they? Got a child, but they do not know how to educate a child, so the world is going more and more down. When an American Indian said, "When the last tree will be chipped off and the last fish will die, oh man, then you will realize that you cannot eat your dollars."