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Part 1: A Message for World Peace Day I would like to offer a glimpse into the nature of peace in the world. Following this, we will have a practice, and today, on the occasion of World Peace Day, we will also plant a peace tree. Wherever I go in the world, in some park or public place with the permission of the authorities—and today we are in this community center—we plant a beautiful tree. Our dear brother Mark has been working very hard this morning, digging nicely. We call for the tree, and its name for this International Day of Peace is Mahāprabhudīp Karatā. So, congratulations to all of you for Peace Day. Our message always goes to the United Nations. From our organization, we have three organizations registered with the UN's Department of NGOs. One is the USA Yoga in Daily Life system; "Yoga in Daily Life USA" is an NGO with ECOSOC status. We have a special status, and the members, the board directors, have observer rights. So, wherever there are gatherings or events, our board members observe how the program is conducted, or if there is any conflict, and that report goes there. The second is in Australia; the system Yoga in Daily Life Australia is also registered in the index of the United Nations ECOSOC. Then we have one very large organization, also registered from the beautiful country Austria, based in Vienna. As you know, nearly every third or fourth year, Vienna is declared the best city in every aspect for environment, peace, and so on. From there, we have an organization called the Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda World Peace Council. Today we celebrate this World Peace Council, which also has a special status. We know the United Nations is the umbrella over all nations. It was actually established with a foundation for spirituality, for religions, for harmony among religions and spiritualities, to protect humanity and lead it in a positive, good way—what they now call society and sustainability. They had an aim to achieve 13 points by 2015, but it has been prolonged until 2025. A very important point among them is water: water protection and water harvesting, rain water harvesting. In this, our Yoga in Daily Life, through the Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda World Peace Council, received the highest recognition for how we implemented water harvesting in Rajasthan, in the desert. It's unbelievable how beautiful it became; it's like a water reservoir. There were rare birds before, but now there are so many; it's like a rainforest. It took us about 13 to 15 years, with five years just to build the dams. That is beautiful. Other goals include education, combating child labor, protecting the environment and forests. These are the goals given by the United Nations, and they decided to also seek the help of NGOs. So today is World Peace Day, and I wish all of you, my dear ones—including myself—that we live in peace. Great people have great thoughts and feelings. There, Mahātma Gāndhījī said: "There is no way to peace; peace is the way." Peace and charity begin in one's own home, and peace begins in one's own heart. Also, some philosopher said: "As long as the slaughterhouse exists, there will also be war." People have always struggled for peace and harmony. Now, in the whole world, through information technology—what we call television or media, electronic media especially—information about peace is given. For peace, we have to add something to our life. You need not give, but to take something. And what is that? Take that understanding that you will not be angry. So you quit the anger and you accept peace. Quit the greed. Accept it, take it; what we call helping hands have more value than folded hands. So, kindness, generosity, giving, and helping—these are the ways to develop ourselves. To lead ourselves to peace means everywhere will be peace. Where there is action, there is a reaction. And where there is reaction, there will again be the action. But someone has to stop this action and reaction. So when there will be no more reaction, there will be no action again. We begin this with our own home, first with your partner, your husband, your wife, then with your own children. How is your family situation now? In the last few decades, we see the youth have lost the way to peace and harmony because they did not get guidance. Then, there is peace and harmony with the neighbor. Nowadays, it is like this: you live in one building, and your neighbor is just next door, but you don't know how he is inside, how it is. They only say, "Goodbye, hello," till your door. Maybe mistakenly, the door is open, and you see two or three meters in, that’s all. So there is no harmony. We have to create understanding with our neighbors. Our neighbor is our family. Like you have two bedrooms in your own flat, in that building you have two flats. But they are your family; they are neighbors. Love your neighbor. That’s it. Love your neighbor. After that, our whole society works for our village to make it beautiful, clean, and peaceful, to provide education for the children, to develop the village for the children, and to give land, reserving land for their playing. As much as the children will play, that much harmony and understanding will be there. So, good games, good playing for children, that brings peace. When one will begins to do, then we expand our function, our work, to the whole district. And the whole district becomes a model for the country. So, from the district we go to the province, and after that to the country, and then to the world, and further. This is called a work which is called the grassroots project. Many understand, or many don’t understand. Maybe you don't know this word they are using, mostly used by Indians. Indians create so many words which are not in English, but then they make them and they say, "Yes, of course, these are English words." "Grassroots" is an English word, but what does that mean? This is a very, very important and very powerful word or slogan: the grassroots project. And that’s why the Indians, when they come from other countries to America, in no time they become very rich and they buy a house. And the Americans who were here many years, 100–200 years ago, but still they can’t buy one flat. Why? People ask me many times, what is some magic with Indians? They are coming, they have only been here for five years, and they already have a house. And we are under 50 years here, or five generations, we don’t have our own house. Why? How does India manage this? They are not stealing, they are not smuggling, but they know how. So, you know how they do, and they are comfortable, and their children are very brilliant in studying and everything. So that’s called a grassroots project. So, for world peace, we have a grassroots project, or any activities, or any organization you begin, that is called grassroots. Now, what does that mean? You know many, no? So, there is a grass, and for two years it did not rain. Everything dried up, and all the trees died. But the root of the grass, as soon as water drops come, begins to grow again. This is number one. Number two, you take one root of the grass and put it in your garden. After a few months, you will see how much grass has spread in your garden. It is like a carpet on the grass. That is called the grass root. This grass is called Dhruva, Dhruva, and this is in India very, very important and holy and symbolic also. When you make an earth-breaking ceremony for your house and then you put a foundation stone, it is according to Vāstu Śāstra, according to the energy, success, etc. So they put something under the stone, the foundation stone. And there is one made out of silver, a male and female snake, small. The snake is the symbol of holding our earth. The snake is in the ocean and balances our earth. Similarly, balance is our family life, our house, etc. There, they put something more, but I will take only grass. So they put one, this grass root, a few, under that stone. And then they are concreting, and this and that, etc. So, this symbol is that in my house, in this house, my family should grow like a grass root is growing. So, it means you will have children, healthy children, good children, and they will also have children, and so your family will grow like a grass root. And that is also the peace, a grassroots peace project. Then the human will realize, yes, nothing is impossible. Everything is possible, so we need peace for the trees also. When they are bombarding with bombs and bullets and like this, the whole of nature is trembling. It’s fear. The trees have fear, and birds, they fly away. Their eggs, their babies in the nest. The whole of nature, all wildlife, is restless, frightened, full of fear. And human, of course. So peace needs the forest, peace needs the water, peace needs the wildlife, and peace also needs humans. But where is the peace? How to come there? There is no way to peace. It is a jungle. Then where is the peace? The path to peace begins from our own heart. So we shall begin behaving with peace and harmony, and that is the idea, the thought of the wise people of India in their Upaniṣads, in their holy books. And in the philosophy, therefore it is said, Gandhijī said, "Non-violence"—it’s called, we call in India—"ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ." Ahiṃsā Paramo Dharma. Non-violence is the highest principle. That’s it. And so today is a peace day. Please, if you can, bring the thoughts to the others, and give, feed with some seeds, the birds, and may plant some one tree somewhere in the forest as a peace. And prayer today, if you are praying to God, let peace be in my heart, and peace be in everyone’s heart, and in the whole world. So, every time in India, we chant Oṃ and we say it three times: peace, peace, peace. Asato mā sadgamaya. Lead us from unreality to the reality. Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya. Lead us from the darkness of ignorance to the light of wisdom. Mṛtyormā Amṛtaṁ Gamaya. Lead us from mortality to immortality. Sarveṣām svastir bhavatu. All be happy and healthy. Sarveṣām maṅgalam bhavatu. Harmony should be everywhere. Sarveṣām śāntir bhavatu. Peace be everywhere. Sarveṣām pūrṇam bhavatu. All may be happy and have everything. Loka samasthā sukhino bhavantu. The whole world should be happy, healthy, and prosperous. Oṁ tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭi-vardhanam, urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt. Oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ. Merciful Lord, lead us to immortality, to health, to peace, and to completeness. We pray to thee, O Lord. And so is the message of the peaceful. So yoga, the yoga in daily life, is a path to nonviolence and peace. And today is Nonviolence and Peace Day. So, congratulations, and I wish you all the best and bless you for peace, harmony, understanding, and love. Now, after this peace message, we shall today have some program for all of you. What to do every day when you have little time? If you can practice yoga for two hours every day, that would be the best. And sometimes people say, "I have no time." So I can give you the time, but then you should not waste that time. So, time, there are some, in some way there is no time. Time is made by humans, not by God. And that humans are counting the time, days, etc., etc. Otherwise, there is no time. God, as you call it, is non-violence and this, it is called without or beyond time and space. But we here count the time, so okay, we count. Now, there are 24 hours, which we know from sunrise to sunrise: 24 hours. If you have to fly somewhere and go, and the journey is 25 days—oh, sorry, hours—how long is it? Three days or one week, you need to relax to get rid of this tiredness and jet lag from a twenty-four-hour journey. Part 2: The Gift of Time and a Capsule Program For the last twenty-five years, I have been troubled, so that is why I know what it means. Well, you have twenty-four hours. I give you time; please take it carefully. Eight hours for sleeping. Now, who is the luckiest person here in this hall who has eight hours of deep, sound sleep every day? But I give you the time: eight hours. Now you still have sixteen hours, so eight hours for your work. Your company, or any other company where you are employed, will see our economy blossoming if you work eight hours honestly. Who is working eight hours at work, in the office, always going here and there and talking for eight hours? Telephoning and telephoning, and this and that. Now, many companies don’t allow telephones, newspapers, and so on. But eight hours working—sixteen hours. Eight hours we still have. When you fly from here to England, London, then the best aeroplane takes time, eight hours, to bring you there. And you are so tired. How many times do you look at your watch, and how many times do you look out the window? How much time is still left to fly? Boring, boring. Eight hours. Now, from these eight hours, I give you two hours for shopping. Every day, nobody is shopping. But I give you a little walk for this, and for drinking coffee somewhere, or ice cream or something, and shopping. Two hours have gone. And one hour, or one and a half hours, is for your cooking, and one hour for eating with the whole family together. Who is cooking today? Everyone brings the junk food and puts it in the microwave. And who has the time to eat together? The children say, "No, I will go there." And I said, I will go there. I will eat this. I will be there. But still, so two and a half hours is for you for cooking, cleaning, ironing, etc. So, from the shopping, cooking, and eating, let’s say that counts for three hours. One hour for your children to sit together, or with your wife, talk, this, that, whatever you do. Very good, two hours left. What are you doing with these two hours? I was very generous. I gave you more time than you could imagine, but still, two hours. What are you doing for that? So I gave you today two hours, free. Now you should take it, gratis, and practice every day for your good health, for your peace of mind, for your physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. All your tensions and workaholic tension will disappear. You will be the happiest person. So in twenty-four hours, it is so much time I give you. You can’t imagine. So time we have, but we don’t have the willpower to do something. Don’t say that you don’t have time. A person who is smoking is a smoker. How busy he or she is, in the office or anywhere, they will find the time to smoke a cigarette. From where did you get that time? So if you take ten minutes to smoke one cigarette, and you are smoking eight cigarettes a day, how many hours is that? That’s it. So, one hour and ten minutes, if you can dedicate for your other divine way, for your health, and do the yoga. So, my dear, we have time. Only we are lazy, and we don’t have the willpower to do this thing. Well, I will give you some exercise today. Morning, do it in half an hour, but not every day or as a shortcut. For five days, you should do the exercises properly, for one and a half or two hours. Best is morning; get up before day begins. There you can do peacefully. When you come to your kitchen, to the coffee machine, forget it. Then you have coffee, and then you have breakfast, and then you have telephone, and then you have to work, and so the best time is in the morning. So we do one little program, good? Yeah, this is what they call, there is one word, again the Indians have created one word. So this is a capsule program. That’s it. My God, Indians are always creating something. You know, an Indian will never sit somewhere lazily. Capsule program, I said, Mike. When they told me, I said, "I’m living now forty-five, forty-six years in the Western countries." Capsule program? So I will give you today one capsule, okay? The capsule program. So in this capsule are all kinds of vitamins, this, this, and antibiotics, that, that, everything is in this. You don’t need to eat long and long. Just swallow water, finished. It’s gone there. It will function, everything. It’s a capsule program. So we will now have a capsule program. So please take your yoga mat and spread it. You can come here, this side, close to me. So lie down on your back, head to my side, hands beside the body, palms slightly open and facing half towards the ceiling, half towards your body. Relax the whole body, close your eyes, and feel your whole body from the toes to the top of the head. Head, just let it fall, your body on the ground. Withdraw thyself from the external world and be aware of this hall where we are practicing. Gently close your eyes, and once take a deep inhale and exhale, and then relax the whole body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. Relax the whole, no tensions at all, physically or mentally, from the toes to the top of the head, from the top of the head to the toes. Relax your shoulders and neck, relax your face muscles, your eyelids, eyebrows. Relax your elbows, ankle joints, toes, knees, hip joints. The fingers, palm, wrist, lower arm, and elbow. No imagination, no tension, no expectations. Make thyself completely free. Be one with thyself. Feel your breath. Do not change the breath rhythm. Let it flow as natural as it is. Just be aware. During inhalation, the trunk of the body expands, and during exhalation, it contracts. And now, slowly, deep inhale and slowly exhale. And feel your whole body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head, the whole body. Feel each and every limb of the body. Inhale, extrovert, be aware of your being here in this hall. And slowly bring your feet together, and while inhaling, raise your hands up above the head on the ground. Interlock the fingers, turn the palms to the other side, and stretch your whole body. Pose towards the body and heels outside. Stretch and relax, bring the hands parallel to the body. Inhale and raise the hands up, interlock the fingers, palms above the head, toes towards the body, heels stretching out. Don’t make a bridge under your back; press your back on the ground. Exhale, inhale again, interlock your fingers, and roll your body to the left and to the right. Hold your body to the left, very in the middle, and bend your knees. Hold your knees, hold your knees, hold your body left. Give a massage to your back; it will remove all the tensions from the muscles, from the back, from the shoulders. Very good. Stretch your legs. While inhaling, bend your right knee and hold your knee with both hands. Hold your knee. Hold your knee. And press your knees towards the body. Raise your head and touch your nose to your knee. Slowly come back. Stretch the knee. Bend the knee. Lift. Exhale. Press the knee towards the body and head up. Touch your nose to the knee. Inhale and head down. Exhale and stretch the knee. One, the right knee, you press the knee towards the body and head, raise up to near the nose, touching your knee, and slowly bring the head down, and then the knee. Very good. Slightly turn to the left side, and sit up. Sit in Vajrāsana, and we will. Do the Marjari, cat pose, you know all, yes. One, look to the stomach, stretch your back up like a hill, like a mountain, look to your stomach. 3. Inhale, look up, and drop your back down, hanging. Exhale, looking to the stomach, back up, stretching. Looking up, inhale, drop your stomach, completely relaxed. Again, exhale, look to the stomach, and stretch your back up. And while inhaling, stand up on the knees, hands up, and sit down. Once more, one, exhale, two, inhale, three, four, five, six, seven, nine, up, stand on the knee and sit. Stand up, interlock the fingers, stretch the hands up, rise on the toes, Tāḍāsana, and go fifty steps on your yoga mat, on the toes. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50. 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63. From the heels. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. Perfect. Now, either to this side or that side. Look to this side, everybody. With your legs also. Yes. Now legs apart, as far as you can. Okay? Hands up above the head, interlock the fingers, and turn the palms upward toward the ceiling. Inhale deep, exhale, and bend toward the left. Exhale and feel the stretching of the side muscles from the right side. Inhale in the middle, exhale to the right, as comfortably as you can. Inhale, exhale to the left, exhale to the right, inhale, and hands down, exhale. One, stretch your hand sidewards. Two, go left side down. Three, five, six, seven, hands down. One sidewards, two left, three middle, four hands down. One sidewards, to the right, two, three, four, together, turn to my side. One hand and exhale, bend forward slowly, slowly, move your shoulders like this, and move down as far as you can. You can touch your toes, or your ankle joints, or your calf muscles, touch your knees, inhale and come up, one, two, three, take your seat, Khaṭu Praṇām. First you will do the round, one round, okay, second, one, Go ahead, now you. So you will follow her. One, your head on the ground. Three, four, five, six, seven, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, forty-nine, forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, forty-nine, forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five, forty-six. 47, 49, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 47, 49, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 6, 7. Sit with the closed eyes, one round more. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 6, 7. Sit with the closed eyes, one round more. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. 6, 7, 7. Sit with the eyes closed, one round more. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 6, 7, 7,... 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 6. 17, 18, 19, 20, 1, 25, 26, sit in another posture, prasūkāsana, padmāsana, or as comfortable as you like. Place these two fingers at the center of the eyebrows, and the thumb from the side. Slightly press the left and right nostrils. Inhale and exhale through the left nostril ten times, a little deeper than normal breath. 10. Place the hand on the knee and observe your breath, knowing that you are inhaling and knowing that you are exhaling. Then place both fingers from the right hand at the eyebrow center, and with the ring finger, close the left nostril and ten times deeply inhale and exhale through the right. 10 rounds. Place your hand at the knee. No concentration, no imagination, no expectation. Just relax. Deep inhale, and three times we will chant Oṁ. Deep inhale, and exhale, and inhale. Close your fingers. Close your fists. Open your... Palms, close your fists, open your palms, fold the palms and rub the palms, then place the palms on the face, open your eyes. And slowly move the hands on the yoga mat. Bend forward slowly, slowly. Touch your forehead to the ground and feel the blood circulation towards the head, face, and muscles. All the jñānendriyas are getting more energy and blood. Slowly, with the help of the hands, come up.