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Practice yoga like a cosmic dance

A keynote address on wellness through sattvic living and non-violence.

"Violence is against wellness, and wellness is not violence." "Sattvic quality makes the person very happy, healthy, and balanced."

Swami Maheshwarananda delivers a talk at a conference, opening and closing with Sanskrit peace mantras. He defines wellness as non-violence, beginning with non-violence towards oneself through diet and lifestyle. He explains the Ayurvedic and yogic principles of the three guṇas (sattvic, rajasic, tamasic), advocating for fresh, sattvic food, mindful movement like Yoga in Daily Life, and positive thinking. He emphasizes that being human means being a protector, and connects these practices to holistic health and ultimate liberation.

Filming location: Czech Republic

First of all, I will chant the mantras. Lead us from unreality to reality. Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya. Lead us from the darkness to the light. Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ. May all be happy. Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ. May all be free from disease. Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu. May all see auspiciousness. Mā kaścid duḥkha bhāg bhavet. May none suffer sorrow. May we live in harmony and wellness. May the whole world be in peace. Om Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Peace, peace, peace. Salutations to the cosmic light, Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. In his divine presence, dear sisters and brothers, a very good morning. It is my privilege to be here today. The mayor of the city, the directors, the organizers—welcome to all. Thank you for inviting me. The subject is wellness. Before the speaker before me, he said wellness is against violence. So wellness is non-violence. Violence manifests in many different ways. First, we should not have violence towards ourselves. We should know that health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health. In many cases, the cause of illness is violence—that we do not follow the law of nature, the way of our eating. Some philosopher said, "We are not eating for living, or living for eating." Are we living only for eating? Or do we eat for living? Living means perfect health. Illness is not life; that is torturing oneself. So we should know what we eat. Then we should know what we actually eat. Dear sisters and brothers, in India, in the Indian scriptures, the Vedas, the ṛṣis and yogīs tell us first that whatever we do, we should repeat some mantra. A mantra is something which purifies the atmosphere. You may chant loudly or mentally. You know, also here, that before eating you pray. But many people have forgotten. We should, before having our meal, give thanks to the Almighty One. Then that food turns into the sattvic quality. According to Āyurveda, these are the two wings to fly: Yoga and Āyurveda. These are two wings for humans to lead a healthy life, fulfill the human birth, and come to the Supreme. You may call it heaven. So in Āyurveda, as well as in Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra, there are three principles: sāttvic, rājasic, and tāmasic. Sattvic is the pure, balanced quality. Rajasic is aggressive: anger, hate, jealousy, conflict, greed. These are the qualities of the rajas guṇa. Tamasic is laziness. If someone tells you something, you become angry. And it collects different diseases in our body. That's called dead nourishment. We should eat something which has life quality. Tamas guṇa is very bad. Tamas guṇa is old food. Do not eat something that you have cooked, let's say, eight hours before. Cooking today and eating tomorrow—this food has no more life. Even if we put it in the fridge, the quality is not there. Therefore, never eat what is cooked long ago. Love to your children and love to your partner. Prepare food every time, every meal time, fresh. If you cannot, do not eat. Drink fresh, good water. But do not poison your body with the tāmasic guṇas. Tamas guṇa? Well, in your countries, I do not know if I should say it or not: alcohol. I think you do not drink, but maybe many people are drinking here. The spices. The spices have tamas guṇa. But if we know how to cook and how to utilize, it becomes sattvic guṇa. Otherwise, rajas guṇa—when you eat rajasic guṇa, including tobacco, alcohol, old food, too many spices—then you are even angry in your office, angry with your colleagues, angry with your partner, angry with yourself. We are killing the healthy cells in our body. Sattvic food—the food which we call milk, nuts, good grains, fresh cooked vegetables, etc.—sattvic quality makes the person very happy, healthy, and balanced. So we should know what and how we should eat. We are all slaves of our tongue, but we should know that this taste, what we have tasted, is only till the throat. When we swallow, we do not know what the taste is. And therefore, that taste, which we like only for this mouth, for the gums and tongue, can be good and can be bad. Now, the sattvic way of living must not be only the food. The way of living is how I live: how much I sleep, how much I walk in the fresh air, and moving some movements. Our body needs everyday certain movements, and that's what we call yoga. Yoga in Daily Life is designed for good health for body, mind, and soul: physical health, mental health, social health, and spiritual health. So, yoga does not mean that you are going to do bodybuilding. It is okay; bodybuilding is good. Some people like the muscles. But you are torturing your body when you do too much bodybuilding; you are living in the Rājasika guṇa. But if you are just doing it for your wellness, for a good feeling, then it is okay. Do not go beyond your capacity. We call the practicing of yoga a cosmic dance, that you are in this space. You see, when the snow is falling, how light and how nice the snow is falling. Similarly, our thoughts, our feelings, our body. Every morning when we get up, we should say something. Say the name of your God, or your mother, or your father, or your child, your dear one. Second, say: "I am human." You see, this thinking will change our entire life into a positive and harmonious life. "I am human." Now, if I do something cruel, you will say, "Oh God, he is not human." So when we say "I am a human," we will avoid all kinds of violence, even violence towards yourself. What makes me human? What is the difference between humans and other creatures? We are born as protectors, not distractors. We should protect, we should love, we should forgive. Now is the time of Christmas. And I think we should remember not only for one day, but for our whole life. Jesus was born, and he said, "Forgive." So, how much we can forgive, that is very important. So, what does it mean for me to be a human? And what are the qualities of the human? That makes the life of the human complete, and it will make you very healthy and happy. And finally, we will come to liberation. So this food here, I have heard that it is prepared nicely. Mr. Skrall, Skrill... It is very difficult for me to speak the Czech language. Though I came here for the first time in 1973 and I know nearly all the villages of your country, I could not master the language. So: eating, movement, positive thinking. And if you cannot give good to others, then do not give them bad. So we send love to everyone. That kind of love is non-violence. So our conference began with this word that Mr. Director said. Violence is a way of what? Wellness? Against. Violence is against wellness, and wellness is not violence. Now, the quality of the food: when I came 40 years ago here, there was no question of organic food. Many times, we had to explain what is the violence—sorry—the organic food. And now we are searching for organic food. Still, in your country, the fruits and grains are still good. So the food which we are using now, with pesticides, that is not good. So we should know what we eat and how we eat. As is our food, so will be our body. Like that will be our mind, our behavior, and the condition of our health. So yoga will make you really, I can tell you, very happy and healthy. But not acrobatic yoga. It must not be that you are standing on the hands. In Slovakia, I had one disciple long ago, unfortunately passed away after 95 years. So he began to practice yoga, and he tried hand standing. He tried to stand hand standing for 40 minutes; he became unconscious, fell down, the ambulance came. The ambulance arrived, the doctor took him to the hospital, and the next day they asked him, "What did you do?" And he said, "Stand on your head." And the doctor said, "My dear friend, you should know that standing is with the legs, not the head." So it is not necessary that you do the headstand or handstand. It should be very gentle, very simple, but very scientific movements. Then your life will be one of the best, healthy, and happy. So, the yogic science that belongs to or makes this wellness system: a mantra is a positive and powerful word which comes out of our mouth. Dear sisters and brothers, I will not take more time. They are very expert in sitting, and they will give you more scientific, agreeable clearance. So, enjoy the day. I wish you a very successful conference from my side. I wish you all the best, and God bless you. I will close my talk with the mantra again. And again, I will close my speech with the mantra: "Om Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, mā kaścid duḥkha-bhāg bhavet. Om Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ." All be happy. All be healthy. All live in harmony. Peace, peace, peace. Thank you for giving time.

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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