TV Channel

Om te hee, śānti hee, śānti hee. Salutations to the cosmic light, Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. In his divine presence, a very nice, good evening, dear sisters and brothers. It is a beautiful day, and I feel very honored to be here in this holy temple. When I heard we would have a lecture in the church, I thought it would be in some hall. But when I saw this, I think the subject was called "Yoga for Body and Beyond." So it is fulfilled. The church is beyond. I do not know how old this church is, maybe some hundred years, three hundred. How many million people have been here praying? So, it is a great energy, vibration, presence of the Divine Spirit. Besides this, I am very happy to see you and welcome you. Yoga is not new. I have no doubt that you know what yoga is. In the last few years, yoga has become an international subject. It means, acknowledged by the United Nations, it means the World Day of Yoga, 21st June. Where the human is, there is yoga, and where the yoga is, there is a human. I have been traveling for the last 45 years around the world, to many countries and many islands, everywhere: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, that part also. And this part of Africa, so yoga is everywhere. Before also, many understand, many do not understand. So, for me, today's equation: are you first time coming to a yoga lecture, or you know from the past, or you are a practitioner? Is there anyone who is practicing everyday yoga, and at two, three years, if you do not mind, raise my hand up so that I will have it easier for me. Only one, two, three, four, five, that is all, six. The rest, do you have not heard? Yoga and practice, yes, you give me a hard time, yes, dear one. Well, yoga, the word yoga, this is the two alphabet, yoga. Yoga means union. Now, today we came together in yoga, meeting together. And yoga means a reunion. Yoga is a science of body, mind, consciousness, and soul. Yoga is a very ancient science for our physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. Yoga creates the harmony of body, mind, and soul. Yoga was designed by great saints ages ago for the well-being of humans, to protect themselves and protect others, other creatures, nature, everything. Yoga means union, harmonizing and balancing. This is three principles. There are three things. One is called the space that we know all. Endless. Endless beyond any borders. And we are not endless. Our knowledge is limited. So, the space, what we see is like a mother's body. So, the sky is the mother's body. Within this space is what is called consciousness. Consciousness is in the space, not the space in the consciousness. And this consciousness is like an embryo in the mother's body. And then the third principle is that of uniting, harmonizing, and balancing between space and consciousness. This is the three. Everything is coming from these three. So first is the Mother. First, God is the Mother. But now still there is no one born, but I am going to tell you. I am there now, and you are also with me there, where there is nothing. But we feel that the space, consciousness, and energy, that is all. That in Sanskrit word is called śūnyākāś, empty space, empty space. Now, there is something, what we call, "O Lord, Thy will will be seen." A thousand times spoken on this holy place. Does God have a wish? If God has a wish, then what about us? But that wish of God is different than normal wishes, which we think. I want to study, I want to finish my study, I want a good job, I want to have good partners, I want a house, I want this. This is our worldly imagining all the time. But that one wish is, it is said, but who said? So it is said that Cosmic Consciousness, "eko'haṁ bahu syāmī," I am one and now I will multiply. So the scriptures tell this, that is what I am telling. But who is there? There is nothing. But there is a tendency, there is something. And so it begins, a kind of vibration, the sound, nāda-rūpa-para-brahma. The resonance is that Supreme Consciousness. So Nāda, we in Vedas, Veda is one of the first scriptures written by humans, called Om. Om is vibration, the sound. From this vibration comes the light, a flame. Light represents the pure consciousness, the presence of God, the God which has no form, only light. So we light always, we have here the candle light, where there is a holy mass, there is a candle's light. We are having a light within us. Every creature living is a light. And from that come many, many suns, stars, moons, etc. So that is the beginning of the creation. I am one. I will multiply. The sound, the wish—the wish, "What I want? To multiply myself." The sound, the resonance, and manifestation. So that God has no mother and no father. It is He who has manifested Himself, just appeared. Then the creation begins. According to Yoga, there are 8.4 million different kinds of creatures. And out of these 8.4 million, 0.9, 0.99, one is the human. So, one is the human. So, as a human, there is no race. It does not matter if tall or small, or this or that. Human is a human. This is one. So, like this, there are 8.4 million different creatures coming and going, even the one-day fly. So, that is the creation, and out of them, one is the human. And humans have got that powerful tool, and that is called intellect. And intellect needs education. And what kind of education will we give? Which kind of culture, religion, way of living? Where this, etc., is a different... It is education which makes you the doctor, the surgeon. It is the education that makes you the... Teachers, professors, dean. It is the education, the politics, the education of the garden, fields, etc. So we need the knowledge, and humans have more capacity to understand, accept, and see everything. So, this is how the humans become and come, and then many, many coming, going, dies, again born, dies. If you believe that one is born back, then it is okay. If you do not believe that, it is okay. What is the reality? That will be as it is. It is after the death, if everything is... Finished, nothing is left. Then why do we go to the graveyard? In the beginning of November, in India, they also have a day for the ancestors. So there is, and that comes back in this way. Is that very... in short words, as a glimpse, I told. You know a little bit about this all, and there are many, many ways the soul is developing in the body, etc., etc. Now we are here. Well, someone said, "Health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health." So we are born. We are already old. Born, we are becoming old. In the mother's body, nine months old, we are already when we were born. So this age is coming, beginning counting, but health is life, and thanks to God that we are healthy. So health—without health, the body is nothing. Without health, there is nothing: physical health, mental health, social health, and spiritual health. Health, all this makes us balanced, perfect, and we can do something. Now, yoga has many, many different branches, and it is with different branches from the beginning of our health, movements, eating, healthy way of life, healthy way of thinking, till... Become one with God, with the endless universe, endless consciousness. Become one with that. So, from there to here and from here to there, there are many, many branches, many, many different techniques, and that belongs, comes to the yoga. So first is coming physical exercises. Now, these days have changed. Many, many physical exercises, Olympia is also there. And in the beginning, Olympia was only, began from where? It began in Greece, no? Who was it? Run away and came to the king, yes, that we were winner. It was a war, and so Olympia began from Greece. About we bringing the message was running many, many kilometers to come to the king, just said, "We are the winner." That time was... No telephones, and now he worked very hard. He tried very hard to come alive there to give the first message. And so now you see the Olympia, my God, all the champions, they are trying very, very hard. That is it. So, like this began many, many sports, many different kinds of movements. So there are some therapeutic movements, sports, walking, skiing, etc., many things. But the yoga exercises are completely different from all those sports. Sports is very good, there is no doubt. The sport needs discipline, and those champions, those sportsmen, they are practicing for hours and hours every day. If they neglect it for one week, it is hard for them. So in yoga, we call it Athayoga Anushāsanam. Yoga begins with a discipline. Anything we do, we should have a discipline. Anything we want to achieve, even our study, or work, or your company, your business, can be successful if you have that discipline. So, yoga, anuśāsanam, begins discipline, so you will think, okay, tomorrow I will also become disciplined. No, no, there is no tomorrow. Have you seen tomorrow? No. There are only two days. One was yesterday, and one is today. Tomorrow is nothing. We never see tomorrow. So then why do you say that tomorrow I will do it? Tomorrow, no, today. Okay? Sunrise, next day. I said, today is tomorrow. No, no, today is not tomorrow. Tomorrow is again with rise. So discipline just now. Decide just now. That is one of the best things, and you can be successful. Otherwise, it is gone. Tomorrow, but we think tomorrow, some guest will come, I cannot do it. They are for tomorrow. Someone has invited me for a picnic. So after that, I will do. So always, we are changing. Humans, we have a lot of, lot of excuses that you cannot become a champion. For the champion is not tomorrow, not today, but just now. Begin, make Śaṅkalpaya. If you are smoking and you want to give up, okay, then say, "Just now, finished." Oh, I have one pocket in my bag, and I will finish this, and then I will do it. You cannot. It is finished. That is immediate. That is all. Happens in our brain, in our mind, and in our heart, finished. That is a discipline. That is discipline, and that is called yoga. So not tomorrow, not today, but just now. Decide it. So, well, yoga was designed for good health. And in good health, there were different things. To gain physical health is not only movement and movement and the run. A healthy environment, a healthy atmosphere, healthy family relations, healthy social relations, healthy politics, a healthy government, a healthy country, peace, harmony, understanding, happiness, all are happy. That creates in our body such a joy, so our life will become more and more years. We will live longer, so all the time people did not know what is happening in London. After many, many days or weeks or months, you got a message, "Oh, in London there was a big flood." And now we know within no time, so we did not have any tension. We were happy, relaxed. And all the time, when the war began, they decided, sitting here in Edinburgh or in Glasgow, and said, "Okay, we finished the war." So they finished. But their soldiers were fighting somewhere else on the border of Holland, but there was no telephone. They are still fighting, still fighting, until the message went. It took one, two weeks; the war is finished. So that time we were lucky that we had no tensions. We were happy. And now we have information, so much information in our brain. My God, not thousand things, but million things—this, this, that, that... Everywhere, humans are threatened completely. Other animals, not so much. Yeah, your house pet is not exactly as nervous as you are. So, to get peace, a good environment, a good atmosphere for living, this is the first. Cause of good health: second, good thinking. Think always positive. If it is not positive, then try to make it positive. There should be no sorrow in your body, suddenly no shock. Think moment to moment. It will be after that. It is called nourishment. Eating is not only just to fill our stomach, but that kind of food which is healthy. Unfortunately, nowadays it is very hard to get organic food. I came to your country here in 1970. That time was now a question of organic food. Often people were saying, "What organic? Everything is organic." What do you think? And now everything is poison. Everything is a poison. So much pollution, so many pesticides, so many chemicals on our fruits, vegetables, grains. Even the milk is manipulated in dairy, everything, all, all. Even the air, we cannot breathe. Everything is human. We need this all. So it is said, someone, Gandhi said, "Mother Earth has enough for our need, but not for our greed." And one American Indian said, "When the last tree will be chopped off and the last fish will die," Oh man, then you will realize that you cannot eat your dollars. So the situation is, if you have any illness, or I have any illness, or your neighbor or your friend, the cause is we all create so much pollution. Cancer, cancer... Now, every third person has cancer, and before that time, there was no cancer like this. Maybe something, but even they did not know. Healthy food—it is not only that you eat to feed your belly, but food which has energy, that is it. Otherwise, our life becomes shorter and shorter and not healthy. So try to get organic food and eat organic, good food. We advise always vegetarian food, but here is maybe a little vegetarian. Well, water, what is so much polluted? Then movements, movements are also nourishment. Thinking is a nourishment. Society is a nourishment. Speaking is a nourishment, and no speaking is a nourishment. So, live in that situation in harmony, and then... Come the particular movements that are called yoga postures. And yoga postures, who practice yoga, will never be tired. And when you make a cycling or football or anything, at the end you said, "I managed." Ah! This does not happen in yoga. You manage, but you are still relaxed and happy. So this changes the body in such a way that all our tissues, all our organs, all our joints, and muscles, they all come into harmony and into the best positions. So yoga is called, first exercise is called body warming. This is dynamical movements, body warming. Then it comes body stretching slowly. And then come the postures. So, dynamic movements to warm the body, then stretching to get rid of the tension from the muscles and from the mind. And then you can sit in that posture or hold that posture a long time, so that it helps your body. And never, in real yoga exercises, never do something which is beyond your capacity. Do not twist your body too much. Well, the young kids, 15 years, 18 years, 20, 25, maybe 30 years, they are doing some postures, twisting a lot. But when they will be 60, they will be in trouble. And in 40 years, my dear, we are getting old now, because we grow till 40, and then we have to go back again slowly another 40. 80 years nowadays, 80 years, oh my God, very old, so. My dear, enjoy your life. 35 is the border. After 35, it is decreasing, decreasing, and it is decreasing so quickly. Suddenly we said, "Oh, hair is gray. Oh, this is hanging, that is hanging, my God." But a healthy person who does yoga... Is the best thing, then it is like this. What we did when we were born, when mother gave birth, what we did first? We inhaled. Then our lungs opened. We inhaled and exhaled breath. We inhaled first when we were born. And we will exhale, and we will not be able to inhale anymore. That is the life. When we die, we inhale time of the inhalation, birth, and we exhale time of the day. So our breath is so long, so long. So we shall try to keep our... Breath healthy, that we have good oxygen, good air, and that also we can manipulate the breath process. It is said that God has given you that many breaths you will have, and then you will die. Inhalation, exhalation is one, and it is counted. How long will you have this? And then you have no more credit. Finished. And credit is finished. You know how? You cannot say, "Please, God, can I have a few breaths more, that I can tell my husband where his things are?" No, it is finished. Like your computer, telephone, no money, you are talking, finished. Hello? Hello? Please, telephone, keep it, keep it. But there is no keeping, there is nothing similarly. Is your breath that? So from the one shore to another shore. That is our life, between our only waves going and coming, going and coming. So there are three different kinds of breath we have. Inhalation, retention, and exhalation. Those who breathe too quickly will die quickly. And you know who has the quickest breath, who dies quickly? A mouse. Then, therefore, the mouse does not have so long a life, and who is having the longest life? A turtle. So, their breath, you will see how long they can hold the breath, and slowly, slowly. And so, in yoga, it... It is said, if you want to prolong your breath, your life, you want to live long, you want to live long, healthy, you long—sorry—you want to live long, but like a young and not completely powerless, then do the prāṇāyāma exercise, breath. You will see all your system in the body, all your... Organs, all your glands, everything will function in such a way. Breath control, the breath healthy, and now the breath and the movement of the body coordinate together. So this is the exercise, physical exercise, then. The breath exercise, then comes the mental exercise, or concentration meditation, or relaxation. We need a relaxation. Thanks to God that he gave us something very, very good. We enjoy very much every day, and that is our sleep. Why did God give the sleep, because God knew, I think, that humans will not stop working. We humans are workaholic, like alcoholic, so we are workaholic. Some people, they work and they work and they work, so finally God said, "Finished, okay, fall down, sleep," sleeping so. Sleeping is very healthy for our brain, very healthy to relax all the tensions, so it is an anti-stress exercise. In yoga, so many—again, I am coming to the Olympic champions or the skier or many, many others—they practice yoga, and they... Have meditation, relaxation, sorry, mental exercises. The mind is a mighty body, is not so. So it is a mind which lets you win, it is the mind which guides you, it is a mind which makes you and gives you this strength. Mental concentration, mental balance. So, body. After the body is coming breath, the energy. Then comes the mind, then comes the emotion, then comes the intellect, and then comes the concentration, then comes awareness, and then we come to the intellect, and then after that, intellect. Become the beyond, and that is called the higher consciousness, the consciousness. So from the physical exercises, then comes beyond that. That means that humans analyze and understand, and a human can slow down everything through practicing of the yoga techniques, everything we can slow down, slow down,... slow down. When your car is moving too quick, then also the fuel you need more, and when the car is going smoothly with lower speed, the fuel will remain more and longer, so now we are going running, running... Everyone is running, and we are even now going running with the aeroplane. But ask, "Where are you going?" Everyone is going quickly. You came quickly here for the lecture; after that, you will go quickly home. All the time, quickly, quickly, morning, get up, work. Oh man, where will you want to go? Slow down a little bit, slow down, slow down. But it is, the whole world is like this. The humans have become so restless. When one horse runs, other horse... Do not want to stop, will also run, and then both horses, one after the other, the horse from itself wants to be quicker than the other horse. And similarly, when you have money, you are... We have thousands of dollars, pounds, and then you say, "No, I want to be a millionaire, a multimillionaire," and then you want to be a billionaire. What will you do with your money? What will you do when you were born? Feast was closed, and when we will die, palms will be open. Everything will remain. Here we go. What did you enjoy? So slow down, slow down. When you slow down, you will feel healthy, happy, balanced. You will enjoy life more. So again, this is in yoga. So the body needs the energy, the nourishment, the movements, the breath, the relaxation, the mind, the emotion, the awareness, the concentration, the intellect, the consciousness, and the higher consciousness. The unconscious, subconscious, and conscious. These are the three levels of consciousness we all experience every day. One is called awake. So we are now awakened. Second is sleep. We sleep. And third is the dream. So awakened, sleeping, and dreaming. Now, do you know how do you go from the awakened to the sleep? Yes, you know, I know, I will go and lie down and say, "Now I want to sleep," head on the pillow, and we are sleeping. But I want to know the which second, how from the awakened to... Sleep, where was the border? And then, which second? And how did you go to the dream? What kind of preparation did you do? How did you come out of your body? And suddenly, you were dreaming that you were in Glasgow, or you were in Paris, or you... We were in Tokyo so quickly. You have good friends in Tokyo, and you were there. And when the mosquito sticks, so quickly you awake. From Tokyo to here, how quickly you came back, how speedy. So these three levels of consciousness to master, that is the beginning. Now that you become a yogī, you are a yogī, and you have practiced yoga. So, from the physical body, what we do, these postures, we should have exercise today, but is there no place to do so? Yoga is for body and beyond. So tomorrow, I will come to the mind. What is the mind? What does the mind give us? How mighty is the mind, or how is the mind not? How does the mind torture us or not? Many times, people call about mind, mind, mind. So there is a mind, there is an intellect, and there is consciousness. These three have a combination: the mind, the intellect, and consciousness. So tomorrow we come to this point: how to master, then, and understand our self, that we can understand the mind or certain problems we have, how to understand or get rid of it, that kind of problem. I can tell you that nowadays stress creates that kind of illness called the depression, and depression we all know what is that. It can bring to the anxiety. Anxiety brings you the phobias or the other mental problems, schizophrenia. Why not? Because there is the mind playing with this, and the consciousness, awareness. So I would like to speak tomorrow more in detail. So, yoga for body and beyond. So today I told you, it is a glimpse of yoga. Then there are many, many Kriya Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jñāna Yoga, Rāja Yoga, Sahaja Yoga, Prāṇāyāma Yoga. Let us have many, many,... many Yoga, Yoga, Yoga. Yeah, there is a... I went to the... in Australia, and there was one yoga called the Eddingbara Yoga. No, yes, yes, really. And you will laugh, but I can tell you, nowadays they have also one you call Vinyāsa Yoga. Vine Yoga. My God, I have never heard of it in my life, not in any book. But Vine Yoga means you come to a yoga lecture or yoga practice. Good, very good. But like in an aeroplane, in first class or business class, about two decades ago, they would give to everyone in the aeroplane a tray with orange juice, apple juice, water, or wine, so they were offering. So in that yoga center, they give when they come. In they get wine, they drink, change their dress, they come to the exercise room and sit on the yoga mat. Then comes again one tree, and not so much, but something. Things now relax. So after alcohol, you are lying okay automatically. Then, after half an hour practicing or something, they sit together and talk, and they serve again the wine, wine yoga. Then they created another yoga called the naked yoga, and they said in India they practice this yoga. I never saw in India the naked? Yes, I was doing naked yoga when I was about two, three months old, and five, five months, or ten months old, or one year old. No, but how the people... there is a commercial analyzing, but seriously, yoga is for our body, for our good health and happiness, that as long as we live, we live happy and relaxed. And no computation in yoga, no challenges, just practice. You have to practice at least one and a half hours if you want, really. To be in great health, really good health in your life, then in the morning you have to get up earlier so that you do not take time away from anyone. Do postures, light postures, good postures, then a little breath, and then a little relaxation. Or what we call meditation, or you lie down and relax, you will see the whole day it will be so happy. Okay, begin with half an hour, but then you will find that it is so good, so good that you will practice. You will practice. So yoga, so mind. Mind is a mighty power. Our body, if our mental will is gone down, even if you are a bodybuilder, you cannot do anything. You are so down. So let us come to the mind tomorrow. Do we have tomorrow? Here, there are so many churches. You have good memory, thank you. Okay, anyhow, so let us say. Maybe you have some question, feel free to ask. Yes, does a very nice? It is, it when there is no question, it means there is no answer. I wish you something before I say goodbye: we concentrate or meditate a few minutes. A few minutes is very good, because I do not know what a few minutes can be. 90 minutes, okay. So we will see how long it is, but I will try to make it short. Make yourself comfortable. You are comfortable, but make more comfortable. Place your hands on the thighs, palms facing upward, and index finger and thumb touching together. Touching these two fingers is connecting to these two beautiful or powerful glands, the pineal and pituitary glands, and they are the mighty power to control our tensions, emotions, etc. Close your eyes. Withdraw thyself from the external world and be aware of your being here in this church. Relax. Take one deep inhale and exhale. Once more, deep inhale and exhale. Relax your elbows, relax your shoulders, relax your stomach muscles, just relax. Feel your body from the toes to the top of the head and from the top of the head to the toes, so that your body is relaxed and comfortable. Say to thyself, relax, relax,... my friend, just relax. Relax the whole body and feel the peace of mind, the peace of the mind. No tensions, no imaginations, no expectations. Only be aware of your being here, physically and mentally. I am happy. I am relaxed. And now, feel the breath. Do not change the breath rhythm. Just feel that. I know I am inhaling, and I know that I am exhaling. During the time of the inhalation, my trunk of the body is expanding, and during the time of the exhalation, it is contracting. Relax. Feel how pleasant it is to inhale and exhale. Relax. Feel your breath. Feel your body. Be aware of your being here will slowly become extrovert. We will chant Aum one time. You can chant Aum with us, then three times we will chant Peace, Śānti, Śānti, Śānti. Peace, Peace, Peace. So, once, inhale deep, exhale, inhale, Aum, Sha. Feel your body, feel your breath, be. Be aware of your being here in the church. Slowly move your fingers, close your fists, and open the palms. Close the fists, open the palms, and fold your palms. Rub your palms and place your hands on the face, open your eyes, and move your hands. Hari Om. So I wish you a very nice evening, and also, what you call, the good night will be very soon. Wish you a very happy, healthy, and long life. God bless you. Hari Om. Thank you.