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Oṁ Mahādevakī, Deveśvara Mahādevakī, Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavānakī, Satguru Svāmīmādhavānandajī Bhagavānakī, Satyasālatana Dharmakī, Jai Sabarīṣi Munī Mahātmā Okī. We spoke about prāṇāyāma yesterday. Prāṇāyāma has three types: Pūraka (inhalation), Rechaka (exhalation), and Kumbhaka (retention). Kumbhaka itself is of two kinds: Bāhya Kumbhaka (external retention) and Antara Kumbhaka (internal retention). One should not practice Kumbhaka unless one has practiced basic prāṇāyāma for five or six months. People have no time; they want to do everything at once. You can do it, but it will harm your lungs and respiratory system, and there will be no benefit. We must prepare our lungs, respiratory system, diaphragm, and our capacity for holding the breath, whether outside or inside. The prāṇāyāma we practice through inhalation and exhalation is extra, meant to support our lungs and the oxygen in the body. Our breath supplies oxygen, which is vital for the brain, blood, muscles, heart, and more. Thus, prāṇāyāma represents prāṇa. Prāṇāyāma means "āyāma"—exercise or regulation. Like āsanas are yoga Vyāyāma (yogic exercise), this Vyāyāma is for every joint, muscle, ligament, and tissue in the body, which are meant to be completely filled with prāṇa. When the flow of prāṇa—what we may call oxygen—into the body is insufficient, we cannot supply enough prāṇa to the whole system. This lack is a primary cause of aging and the many changes we experience in the body. Therefore, Vyāyāma (movement) is essential, but it must be proper. There are different postures or exercises that consume too much prāṇa and supply little to the body. You may demonstrate and say, "Oh, look how much I can twist my body," but do you know how much energy is needed to balance the muscles, joints, and movements? After certain postures, you come back breathing heavily. Yogāsana should be done in such a beautiful way that you do not need to breathe quickly; instead, it gives you more relaxation. That is the effect of proper prāṇa flow. The same prāṇa is present in different forms of nourishment. As we discussed yesterday, healthy food contains great prāṇa, especially fresh fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables. Alcohol kills and destroys our prāṇa. Some people are very strong and can resist its effects, but they do not realize they are slowly killing their prāṇa. Similarly, old food becomes tāmasic. In winter, in European climates, food may be okay for up to eight hours, but in hot summer, only two or three hours. Anything cooked and left for three, four, or five hours becomes tamasic. Not only that, it develops fungus inside, and you do not know how it harms you. Therefore, it is very important to cook your food and eat it immediately. A mother is the best example: she cooks, serves the first vegetable, and makes fresh chapatis. How warm and nice that food is! If a chapati is one day old, you can still give it to a cow or a dog, but for us, fresh food is essential. Now is a beautiful season. In the morning, take good yogurt or milk, add good cereal, then some fresh strawberries or different berries, and perhaps some leaves of tulsī or other herbs. That is so fresh and good for your body, blood, and everything. You will not feel unwell. Old food can give a feeling of nausea. So, this is the time to prepare living, fresh food—not alcohol, not beer, not cheese. Cheese is also tāmasic. Especially in Eastern Europe during the Soviet socialist era, vegetarians had little to eat, so bread, butter, and cheese became common. But day by day, the body grows, not in height but in width. So, cheese is not advisable, unless it is freshly made paneer. Seek food that contains prāṇa and gives freshness. If you eat fruits, you will not have heartburn or nausea. It feels fresh in the mouth and develops good smells. Someone sitting beside you will feel pleasure because fresh, good air comes from your mouth. But someone eating chocolates, wine, and other things and then talking to you—oh, God. How many people have problems with bad breath? Often, conflicts between husband and wife arise from two things: snoring and smell, leading them to design two bedrooms. Many people who come to our ashrams in India eat all fresh food with fine spices. Spices contain prāṇa; they must not be excessive, just gentle. These spices supply energy and strength to the glands. When they return to Europe, they have good feelings in the mouth for a few days, but then return to junk food, old bread, old cheese, and so on. Consuming food that is not fresh for too long is not good. If you maintain prāṇa, your life will be long. This is sāttvic food, which contains immense prāṇa. We supply prāṇa not only through breath but also through nourishment: solid food, liquid food, and fruits. Health cannot be bought with money, but you can develop it. It depends on you. Nowadays, one of the most terrible diseases is cancer. Four decades ago, very few people knew what it was; now it is everywhere. It is already in our system, but we can still kill those germs through good food. However, one thing is missing: we are very weak. We are slaves to our senses. It is said that in this body there are ten senses, and rare yogīs have controlled them. "Do ka ne ith bara, but two you cannot trust." These are the senses of gender and taste. It is our eating habit that kills us. If you want to become healthy again, with all bodily symptoms healthy, then do these two things: control your nourishment and practice yoga exercises—āsanas and prāṇāyāmas. It is not necessary to sit for 20, 8, or 5 hours. One and a half hours is enough: one hour for āsanas, half an hour for prāṇāyāma, one hour for meditation, and half an hour for relaxation. Your life will become completely different. Practice anytime; morning is more peaceful with fresher air, but practice whenever you have time. So, make a saṅkalpa today to heal all problems in the body, mental issues, and even family conflicts. Haṭha Yoga offers great techniques: Netī, Dhautī, Bastī, Naulī, Trāṭāk, and Kapālabhātī. These are the six techniques of Haṭha Yoga. There is also Pañcakarma in Āyurveda, which is different and very good, including Abhyaṅga (Āyurvedic massage) with various oils. For one massage, nearly half a liter of oil is used. This Āyurvedic massage is excellent, but 98% of people do not know about it because they have not studied systematically at an Āyurvedic institution for three or four years. Similarly, with yoga, it is very funny. Our Swami Vivekpuri and Anandi went to Rishikesh and saw a sign: "Yoga School, 35 hours training, and you get a yoga certificate. You are a yoga teacher." This is a joke. It is harmful to others and criminal. Yoga is not merely movement or āsanas; that is not yoga. Holding the nose and breathing is not yoga. Yoga is beyond the body and mind. These practices are for control, to repair your body and your path to reach yoga. This is prāṇa Haṭha Yoga. Haṭha Yoga is very good. Śaṅkha Prakṣālana and Bastī are different. Bastī involves taking water in and letting it out. Śaṅkha Prakṣālana involves moving the whole body, stimulating blood circulation, muscles, nerves, chakras, and even the heart and lungs intensely. It is a complete purification lasting a few hours. Do not hurry. Four times a year is enough for this. Netī, Dhautī, Trāṭāk, and Kapālabhātī should be done daily. And Naulī—if you want a good stomach and figure, learn Naulī. First practice Agnisāra, then progress to Naulī. All boys and girls, you may be growing stomachs, and that is okay. It is said, "A man without a stomach is a sky without stars." But it refers to a man who is ill and cannot discipline and clean his body. Practice Śaṅkha Prakṣālana in a group, do yoga practice in a group, prāṇāyāma in a group, meditation in a group, and satsaṅg in a group. It is most powerful. When a hundred people do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana together, we supply water from a big tank at the correct temperature with salt, using a big pipe with many taps. Everyone drinks, does exercises, drinks again. With many toilets, it is wonderful. So, get ready; in three days, we will all do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana, provided we have enough salt. Trāṭaka is a powerful technique. Patañjali said, "Yogaḥ citta vṛtti nirodhaḥ." To control the vṛttis (mental fluctuations), one of the best techniques is Trāṭaka. It means concentrating the mind on one point. When you think of the One, all your senses become calm and withdraw inward, becoming introverted. There is no fear. For example, look at an orange flag. Just observe the flag until I drink water. You will feel all restless thoughts automatically subside and merge into oneness. Thank you. This is the power of one-pointedness, like a candlelight in the dark. When three or four people sit around a table with one candle burning, they talk, and suddenly, they all look at the candle. It becomes very calm. That is the power point. Kapālabhātī prāṇāyāma primarily affects the head (kapāla means skull), especially the forehead and the sinuses around the eyebrows and below the eyes. Kapālabhātī cleans these areas, leaving you feeling very relaxed. Similarly, Naulī is the best. Do not give up. Practicing Naulī daily takes only a minute. In one and a half to three minutes, you can do Naulī three times, with relaxation in between. Naulī is the best of the best. Agnisāra Kriyā is also excellent. It is said that Agnisāra Kriyā and Naulī protect us mostly from cancer. Naulī helps, and Agnisāra helps burn all harmful germs in the body, keeping our intestines healthy. Our Jāṭharāgni, the digestive fire, is most powerful and capable of digesting everything. We put everything into one pot: coffee, ice cream, fruits, chocolate, rice, vegetables, and more. How strong is our intestinal system, this Jāṭharāgni, that it separates everything—vitamins to vitamins, proteins to proteins, blood to blood, hormones to hormones—directing prāṇa to the eyes, heart, kidneys, and liver? What kind of mechanism is in our intestine? It is unbelievable. To this day, no scientist can produce an intestine that can digest everything. There is plastic surgery where part of the intestine is replaced with a tube, but that tube does not produce hormones. The man-made world is imperfect; the God-made world is perfect. To this day, no scientist in the world can produce one drop of blood. Each of us has a different kind of blood, containing the lineage of our ancestors. In one tissue, generations exist. They found that Australian Aborigines originated from South India. How many hundreds of years have they lived there? That evidence remains in the blood. Which scientist can make blood unique for everyone? We cannot produce blood, but we can let it flow. That is easy; making blood is not. That is why it is said: "Banglā ajab banāh mahārāj, jisme Nārāyaṇa bole, jisme Nārāyaṇa bole." (This is a wondrous bungalow, O great king, in which Nārāyaṇa speaks, in which Nārāyaṇa speaks.) "Guru-bhuna-bhed kaun khole?" (But who can reveal the secret of that Nārāyaṇa, that God, without the Guru?) Similarly, no one can achieve that level of consciousness without Gurudev. One may reach some level of dreaming or nothingness through meditation, but not mokṣa. "Śrī Guru Ātmā Parama Maho Mā Ātmā Puruṣottama Sakal Jag Ke Yantra Jāmī Charāchar Kī Ātmā Prabhuchāra Charakī." Look, Śrī Guru Ātmā: Gurudev is the Ātmā. Gurudev is Ātmā, Paramātmā. He is Ātmā and Paramātmā. Śrī Guru is Ātmā and Paramātmā. He is Mahātmā, the great soul, dwelling in each and every entity. Those who do not know the Guru Tattva and declare themselves gurus—how can they say they are gurus? Who will worship them? If you did not worship your guru, how can you declare yourself a guru and expect worship? This has no roots; it will not grow, bear fruit, or have reality. Thus, what God has made is perfect. Within this perfect science is Gurudev, the master. That is why it is said: "Gurur Brahmā, Gurur Viṣṇu, Gurur Devo Maheśvara, Gurur Sākṣāt Parabrahma, Tasmai Śrī Guruve Namaha." Therefore: "Dhyānamūlaṁ Gurur Mūrtiḥ"—meditate on the form of Gurudev. "Pūjāmūlaṁ Guru Pādam"—worship the lotus feet of Gurudev. "Mantramūlam Guru Vākyam"—the words of Gurudev are our mahāmantra. "Guru Deva Mantrāya Guru Deva Sava Samuṅkāra Mahāmantra Mokṣa Mūlaṁ Gurur Kṛpā." When we receive the grace (kṛpā) of that Satguru, we attain mokṣa. But who is the Satguru? The Satguru is one connected to that Paramparā (lineage). As long as you are living, you may claim to be a Satguru, but no. The Satguru is one who has passed away and lives in his successor, who gives you the blessings of the Satguru. So, from sādguru to guru to guru—this is the paramparā. Haṭha Yoga is a most powerful technique. It is said even God adores the Haṭha Yogī. But a Haṭha Yogī has no moha (attachment), no desires, no rāga (attachment) and dveṣa (aversion). If one has rāga and dveṣa, they are not a Haṭha Yogī. So, try to become a Haṭha Yogī. Yoga has many branches and techniques; it is great and will lead us to the divine. You have all subjects to study. Which do you want? Do not give up, and you will be successful. When you are successful, you enjoy the fruits. When you finish one faculty, you get a job and enjoy your salary. If you do not pass the examination and have no diploma, you cannot enjoy. Gurudev gives the blessing of the diploma—the blessing of immortality. Prāṇāyāma is also part of Haṭha Yoga. Kapālabhātī is a prāṇāyāma. The six techniques are Netī, Dhautī, Bastī, Naulī, Trāṭak, and Kapālabhātī. Learn Haṭha Yoga; many diseases disappear through its practice. But āsanas are not Haṭha Yoga. Many are confused; everyone says they practice Haṭha Yoga, but they are not. They are just practicing postures. These postures somewhat belong to Rāja Yoga. In Rāja Yoga, āsana means sitting comfortably in one posture—steady, motionless, relaxed, and experiencing beautiful Ānanda (bliss). Fearless, without rāga, dveṣa, krodha (anger), kāma (desire), vṛttis (fluctuations), greed, or laziness—pure and crystal clear. That comes through Rāja Yoga and following Yama and Niyama, which Patañjali prescribed. By following Yama and Niyama, you become a saint. There are two kinds of scents: one in a bottle, like perfume, and the other is the holy scent. Which do you like? Both. So, prāṇāyāma is that science. All "game" (play/activity) comes from prāṇa. Prāṇa is a big game. You can put everything together, separate it, or destroy it. That is why we also say God is "Praṇ Nāṭ"—the Lord of my prāṇa, the Lord of my life. Only He can sustain my life; nobody else. Prāṇāyāma is the exercise of prāṇa. We will continue after and practice one technique of prāṇāyāma. All other dear ones, I wish you all the best. My dear ones, I wish you all the best.