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Now, in this beautiful city of Prachatici, we will begin by practicing some āsanas. First, sit in Vajrāsana. We will perform Śaśāṅkāsana, which is very beneficial for the back muscles and spinal column, and it brings a feeling of happiness. Inhale slowly and come up. Then, exhaling slowly, bend forward and touch your forehead and hands to the ground. Feel the circulation throughout the whole body, especially towards the head, brain, and facial muscles. Now, slowly come up. Place your hands down. The next posture is Half Butterfly. Stretch your legs out. Place your left foot on your right thigh. Rest your left hand on your left knee. Raise your right hand up and bring it to your right knee. Move your left knee up and down. Now, raise your hand up and bend forward slowly. Hold your right toes and continue moving your left knee up and down like a butterfly. Raise your hand up, come up, and change legs. Place your right foot on your left thigh. Raise your left hand up, then bring it down to hold your left toes. Your right hand rests on your right knee. Bend forward as far as you can. Slowly raise your right hand, then your left hand up, and bring your hands down. Very good. Now, Full Butterfly. Hold your toes and move your knees like a butterfly. Inhale, exhale, and bend forward as far as possible. Keep moving your knees, then slowly come up. Perfect. Stretch both legs out. We will do boat rolling, which is excellent for the back muscles, thigh muscles, ligaments, and hamstrings. For boat rolling, raise your hands up, and as you go down, make a fist. Very good. Now, the other side, the other direction. Beautiful. Place your hands on your thighs. Now, sit in the prāṇāyāma position. Sit in a comfortable meditation posture. Sit straight and try to touch your knees to the ground. We will practice prāṇāyāma, nāḍī śodhana, with anuloma viloma. Using your right hand, touch your forehead with your index and middle fingers. Keep your neck straight. Close your right nostril with your right thumb. Inhale through your left nostril. Close your left nostril with your ring finger. Exhale through your right nostril. Inhale through the right nostril. Close the right nostril and exhale through the left nostril. Inhale through the left nostril, close the left nostril with the ring finger, and exhale through the right nostril. Inhale through the right nostril, close the right nostril, and exhale through the left nostril. Place your hands down. Assume Chin Mudrā. Sit in meditation posture. Relax your whole body. Close your eyes. Withdraw from the external world and relax completely. Be aware of your presence here in this hall. Relax. Feel the motionlessness of the body. Coordinate your breath and body together. Now, take a deep inhale, and we will chant Auṃ three times. Aum. Keep your eyes closed. Fold your hands together near your chest. Repeat after me. Rub your palms together. Place your palms on your face and open your eyes. Adieu. We shall now chant one kīrtan. I have joy, I have joy, I have joy. Start practicing yoga in daily life. In your heart and mind, it awakens peace and harmony, which bring happiness. Yoga is a science of the body, mind, and soul. Yoga in Daily Life is designed for human well-being: physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. So that humans become friends with nature and with all creatures, we must create love for every life. That is why yoga, or spirituality, is designed for humans to understand the life of other creatures. If we cannot make them feel comfort, health, and fearlessness, then there is no sense to human life. The Creator has made humans as protectors, not destructors. Human consciousness, human intellect, and the human mind must develop into peace and harmony. You know that a bird dares to sit on the body of a tiger or a lion. The birds are not afraid. But no bird will come and sit on a human shoulder, head, or hand. Why? Why can a bird sit on the head of an animal but not on a human? Because human energy is of a kind that even humans do not trust humans. You know, now there is a lot of protection, security, and many rules to protect humans from other humans. If humans cannot love each other, how will other creatures trust humans? There are great saints still existing, and there were great saints in the past, like our Grand Master Devpurījī. Every animal dared to come to him. Even very dangerous snakes would come and move over his body. We know from stories that the Holy Saint Francis of Assisi understood the language of animals. Birds and animals could come to him without fear. Why could birds sit on his hand or shoulder, and why not on ours? Because humans breathe thoughts. Antaḥkaraṇa: manas, buddhi, citta, ahaṅkāra—these are the four antaḥkaraṇas. Manas means mind, buddhi means intellect, citta means our consciousness, and ahaṅkāra means our pride. These four antaḥkaraṇas, which work within us, are not pure. We do not know what is going on in your mind, what is going on in your intellect, what is circling in your consciousness. And ahaṅkāra, the pride—we are always searching to be glorious, to be the winner. It doesn’t matter what activity you are doing: football, basketball, volleyball, running, swimming, skiing, riding, etc. What is in the mind of the champion? That I will be the successor; I will win; I will be the winner. This is a kind of feeling to come further alone and put others back. That is a hidden ego. Perhaps we can see it as a positive ego, but no champion will tell another, "I will run slowly, you go first." No one will say, "I will stand a little to the side from the goalkeeper, and you kick the ball into the goal." No one will do that. But normally, when we are sitting somewhere and there are eight chairs all occupied, and an elderly person or a lady comes, we will stand up and say, "Please come and sit." That is what we must develop in ourselves. To tell others, "You win it. You take the gold medal. I will be happy for you." Then, this kind of game will disappear. In animals, there is no competition. Animals have feelings; they can also be jealous, angry, and cruel. They have many different feelings. But human energy is not trustworthy. You never know what he is thinking. Thanks to God that others do not know what you are thinking. If everyone had the siddhi, the perfection, to understand others’ minds, oh God, there would be boxing here in this room. We all have different mind waves. Similarly, our thinking, our energy, and our aim—this we do not know. But animals know. That is it. Even if a dog is not very wild, a person who loves dogs will approach, and the dog will be friendly. But if a person goes with love, the dog will wag its tail, relax, come to smell you, and become your friend. Animals know our feelings more than others do. Thus, it is said that through the practice of yoga, there should be no competition. Yoga is not about taking your leg and putting it behind your neck. If it were, we would need many orthopedic hospitals. A few people try and try, and they do something. But here you are, hundreds of people sitting in the hall. Not everyone can do this. Does that mean we cannot be successful in yoga? Yoga is designed for everyone, from the embryo in the mother’s body, beginning yoga, until the last minutes of life. It is designed for everyone. Very important is our mental exercise. We must change our inner behavior and awaken in everyone’s mind, in everyone’s awareness, that life is not forever for us. God gave us life to realize the mercy of God, to become one with Brahman. You know, we call it heaven and hell, Svarga Loka and Naraka Loka. Svarga Loka is heaven. Who goes to hell? Those who have negative thoughts, negative intentions, negative feelings, and who damage everyone, criticizing others, putting all mistakes on others, and thinking, "I am the best one." That person is creating sin. Sin means darkness. Darkness means hell. Thus, this soul goes to hell. God cannot always forgive us. One day, when there is so much heaviness in us as sin, God will say, "Now you have to pay back your actions." Many times you have to be there before you can come up. Then your sin will be purified. God says, "I will clean your sins," but it is not so easy. If I remove all your sins immediately, you will think it is very easy, and you will make mistakes, commit sins, again and again. Heaven is also not forever. Your good karmas, your good actions, your good self—that also has a limitation. Then you must come again to this saṃsāra, this world of birth and death. But there is a third world called Brahman, which has no limitations. Heaven and hell, everything is dissolved into one nation, supreme, and that is the aim of human life: štěstí, and paramānanda in Brahman. So we live in this world as the happiest person. We know everyone will not think that you are a good person, and we do not expect that. We go on doing good thoughts, good work. We continue in that, creating good thoughts and good work. But even when they were crucifying Him, He said, "Father, they are in ignorance. They do not know what they are doing. Merciful Lord, Father, forgive them." But how many times will we forgive? Still, our duty is: if we cannot speak good, at least do not speak bad. If you cannot think good, at least do not think bad. So always remain on the side of light, of purity. Our soul is longing, and day and night the soul is calling. My soul says, "I am the truth." Our soul is day and night in the heartbeat: Truth. The truth is Brahman, the Supreme. Unreality is this world. No matter how much you try to keep your body young, healthy, and beautiful, one day this body will be useful for nothing. One saint said, "O man, the animal’s skin is useful. We make a nice drum. Even after that day, their skin makes joy for us. But, O man, your skin is not useful. Only one thing will happen: it will burn to ash. What is the use of this body? Do not be proud of your body. How long will you adore your body? One day, all nine doors are open." Our body has nine doors, and the doors will be opened in such a way that other creatures will go in and out. Again, that soul is gone somewhere. The soul says, "It was a mistake to go to that body. The body is a temple of God, but my indriyas, my senses, guided me in the wrong direction. O Lord, please give me one more chance to be a human." But that human life—Ādiguru Śaṅkarācārya writes in his book Cūḍāmaṇi: "Blessed are they that are born in the human body again. And lucky are they that they have spiritual parents. And fortunate are they whose parents give them, the children, the spiritual and right path. That from the past, Karva, O Lord, awake in me the spirituality that I meet a Satguru Deva, so that Satguru makes me also the Satguru." Like these two souls merge into oneness, light into light or darkness into darkness. One side is the water, and the other side is the milk. So, through meditation, through mantra, through practicing yoga in daily life, be sure one day water and milk will again separate. And this soul, as Paramahaṁsa, the swan, will merge, fly into Brahman, to the Holy Father. That is the aim of our life. Otherwise, it is said: "Khānā, pīnā, bhogānā, paśubdhi param sujan"—O human. Eating, drinking, creating children, and sleeping. Animals can do this also. If you are doing only this, you have not understood human life. So everywhere in the world, there were many, many holy saints. And even now there are, but in this Kali Yuga, slowly, slowly those sands are disappearing. The rivers are drying, and different kinds of stones are lying there. The sands are disappearing, and no more jewels are there. The pearls disappeared; stones remained. So our soul, our Ātmā, our Jīvātmā, is searching the path to Brahman. And that Brahman is Brahmanand. Sat citta ānanda. Sat means the truth. So truth is that highest one, God. Citta means consciousness. Our consciousness should be pure: crystal clear, transparent, pure consciousness, and there is the bliss. Ānanda. Sat Chitta Ānanda: Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss. That is called Om Sat Chitta Ānanda. Om Sat Chitta Ānanda.... Place your right hand on your heart, and your soul will be so happy inside. Even if you do not understand, it knows that now this human understood something to realize me as Saccidānanda. Saccidānanda: truth, consciousness, and bliss. And so, step by step, you have a mālā in your hand or around your neck. It has 108 beads. When you begin to repeat your mantra, one by one, one by one pearl, you are crossing, and that means step by step. OM SHO HAM SHAGUNBRAM SIDDHI PARIPURAM NARAYANAMAH OM SHO HOM SHO Mantra. Automatically you will come to the 108th. Similarly, step by step, day by day, one day you will come to Brahman. The thread should not break. The thread is the thread of love. And that love means our relation to God, the Supreme. If you have a little doubt, you break it then. And when it is broken, all the pearls will just disappear. So it is said: Moti bikhara chale, do din rahkar saath, jaane kider chale. Toot gayī he malā, the malā is broken. The thread is broken. Moti bikhara chale, the pearls just disappeared. Do din rahkar saath mein, two days were with me. Now, don’t know where it’s gone. So it can be like your friend, your partner, your mother, parents, or anyone. We are connected by one thread. You are all sitting here, hundreds of bhaktas. You are all connected to me. You have a mantra. That mantra is a thread connecting you to me. And if you go away, if you stop, then this thread is broken for you. Then, I do not know. There is a bunch of deer in the forest. All the deer disappear and one remains. That deer is looking, "Where are my friends? Where are my relatives? My mother, my father. Where are my friends?" A lone deer is standing there, and then comes the hunter. The deer wants to run away, but in every direction the hunter is standing. There is no one who can save you. No way to run away. So this karma, that negative energy, negative thinking, jealousy, hate—these are the hunters. And your soul, you are standing alone, and there will be so many bullets shot into you: the bullets of pain, suffering, ignorance, darkness, etc. The soul is completely ruined. The mala is broken. The pearls just disappeared. Two days together, where have they gone? Two days: one day was yesterday, and the second is today. Tomorrow, we do not know where we will sit. So try, try not to break the mala of relations. For one joy, for one thing, do not disappoint your whole family and friends. This worldly māyā, the worldly enjoyments, position, money, prosperity, beauty, etc.—how long? Again, it will go away. Therefore, the essence of yoga is not only torturing the body by twisting this leg here and that leg there. One man put both legs behind his neck and put his hands between his thighs, and he was rolling like a cradle. Suddenly, he could not open anymore; he could not pull his hands out, and he could not remove his legs. And then... the hyena came, and a few came, and they began to bite here and bite there. So you have died by your own such karma. So, release everything. Liberate yourself and love all humans and other creatures: your family, your parents, your father, your mother, your children, your neighbor. So, enjoy how long you have life, but repeat your mantra and do something for your soul to come into the eternal light. When someone dies, we pray, but do not forget to pray one or two sentences: "Merciful Lord, lead this soul to the eternal peace and light." So it does not matter if it is your grandmother, your mother, your father, or any friend who died. These two words are most powerful. And when the soul goes out of the body, it goes with high speed into this space, like a flame. You can imagine the darkness, a beautiful flame. And he or she is not anymore here. Only this mortal body is here. You can cut it, you can bury it, or you can burn it. It has no value. That is it. Therefore, do your sādhanā. Understand your life, and create that energy in you so that no darkness comes. With this, all my dear ones, I wish you all the best, and I pray to the Almighty that you and I are always happy. Ānandoham ānandoham cid ānandarūpam. I am sat-cid-ānanda: truth, clear consciousness, and bliss.