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A hatha yogi is one with Nature

A spiritual talk expanding the concept of Hatha Yoga to include childcare, discipline, and natural healing.

"Discipline is not only for the yogīs. Discipline is not only for humans. Discipline is for all animals."

"The hatha yogī is going with this nature, and we are opposite the nature."

Swami Ji uses anecdotes about infant care, such as proper holding to avoid displacing a collarbone, to illustrate the foundational need for discipline (anuśāsanam). He expands this into principles for life and Hatha Yoga, emphasizing natural remedies, particularly the neem tree, for nervous system health and purification. The talk connects physical well-being to living in harmony with nature, concluding with a mantra.

Filming location: Vép, Hungary

Lazic, think of your heart yoga. Feel happiness, smile—happiness from the heart—and say mentally to yourself, "I will be successful. I will be on the path of Haṭha Yoga." The Hatha Yoga exercise began from the womb of the mother. The baby was fighting already in this little womb. And after the birth also, a lot of exercises and this and that, and we want something, and the child wants something different. The child cries and cries; we don't know what kind of pain it is. Many times, the problem with a little child is this: we call it the collarbone. And this collarbone is easily displaced, and there is immense pain. But the mother doesn't know, the father doesn't know, and they are not trained. So it's more pain, and you hold the child, and you make more and more moving, and crying more and more because of pain. You want to make sleeping, and it's also painful. And what we are doing, we are massaging the stomach, and this and that. Because still the child is not capable of telling what pain I have. In this case, one should really go immediately to the child doctor. And I tell you, suddenly, immediately, the doctor will see this collarbone. The stomach after. And again, they do some kind of movement or massage, so that the collarbone again comes on the right path. And she cries, slowly crying, crying, slowly, peacefully again. So many young mothers, they don't respect their mother-in-law, grandmother-in-law. These young girls, they think, "I'm the best," and so many times they miss the children. Another thing I would like to tell you is that many young mothers now, they have some kind of a cloth, so they put this cloth like this and want to have a child on my chest, on my heart, and the child is turned towards the body and crying because there's no oxygen. The face of the baby is towards your body. It's okay, but then you are putting the cloth there. So what they are doing, what people in China or in Japan, the workers, ladies, they are in the field of doing this. But they are experts; they know how to do it. So, don't bring the new technology. Say what your mother did. Your grandmother had what she did. So it is a story from Russia. So that one lady, a girl, a new girl, she also put this cloth like this. And the coat over, because she went for a walk. It was minus 20 degrees. And I want to walk with the fresh air for my child. And it's covered, and they walk through the forest. And the child is crying and crying, and she thinks, "Oh, the child is cold," again one cloth more, and again one cloth more. Suddenly, someone came, a normal woman, and she gave one slap to this young girl who got a child without any ideas, and she said, "The child needs oxygen because she is so freezing, as a freezing you, not this child." So, pull the face of the child in the other direction. And the child was so happy, getting good prāṇa again. So this is also a kind of haṭha yoga for our children now. Yes, so you mean that the child should look to me. But you cannot be looking like this all the time. So let the child look free. And often, of course, the nurses and doctors, doctors, they are giving you some instruction on how to hold a child. Or, how to give the child to your husband, or mother, or wife, or brother, or sister, or something. How to give the child to the other hands? And mostly, they have here a soldier, and he's hanging like this, and you give the child like this. Again, the collarbone is displaced. So it can have a problem with the eyes, many problems. So you know that all these mothers, elderly mothers, always, you must support. Put the head of the child in your palm, and not only like this. A few days ago, one of our young girls had a child, and the child is crying. And she's making, and she's crying and crying. So I said, "Put it like this. Hold his head." Immediately, the child became peaceful. Anyhow, this is also what is called the Haṭha Yoga. Bāl haṭha. This is a child's hatha. And now, the hatha yoga is first of all, it needs this discipline. That's why Patañjali wrote the first word in his sūtra, "atha yogānuśāsanam," which I told you many times. So, discipline is not only for the yogīs. Discipline is not only for humans. Discipline is for all animals. And even the trees have a discipline. But humans are denying something about the discipline. For example, one duck, and ducks have got little babies now. And the male duck is also there, and I don't know how this duck is talking. She's coming, and all babies come together, sitting there. They are about six or seven, all come together, and she makes something. I don't know what language it is. They are all sitting, and she is going, bringing something, or she goes in the water and she brings some. Some fiddle, or she makes something, all comes in the water, and one after the other, like in an army, so they are going left, right, left, right, and mother, and they say, "Left, right, left, right." So also the other animals. So they do have a discipline; they don't feed too much. They don't let them starve. And we humans, we are feeding them too much. It's love, but love kills us. So we have to be strict, otherwise this love is not. So you should know how we do. So anuśāsan, the discipline, it is either your work, your profession, your company, anything. A businessman, a farmer, a taxi driver, a bus driver, a train driver, an aeroplane pilot, all must have discipline. And that is very important. We humans went out of the discipline. When you sit in your car to drive, immediately you are in the discipline. Because you know that it's your life. Then why not, in other situations, should we also get discipline? Then these four principles, which are very important for Hatha Yogīs and other yogīs. Ācār, vicār, āhār, vihār. These are many times I translated, and you know all, my dear, these principles. Now, Hatha Yoga is not only physical exercises. Of course, hatha yogīs have to keep the body flexible and strong, and it should not become fat. Visible, some places in your body, the bones are visible. And where the muscles should be, the strong muscles. The nerve system is very strong, very good. I tell you, for example, you lose your nerves. What? You lose your nerves. How many people are here who lose their nerves, please? Can you tell me? Hands up, please. I can't count so many, thank you. Dheriya. Dheriya is very important. There is one point: Dheriya. Nagyon fontos ez a pont. Dheriya means to be impatient. Legyél szenvedéktel. Geduld. What? In German they said, "Geduld." "Elégedett." "Legyél elégedett." Then you will be successful. Akkor leszel sikeres. So, for that, you lose your nerves. You become restless. Then you forget, memory goes away, and then again you're thinking, you're so nervous, and you go for examination, and your teacher asks you a question, you are sweating, and you know the answer, but suddenly you are nervous. So there are two techniques; this is Haṭha Yoga techniques. First is the breath. Inhale deep. When you go into the office where two or three teachers are sitting there, and now it is your turn and you come in, they ask you the questions about what you have learned. They will not ask you a question outside of your lesson, and then they say, "Yes." This one, yes. Then teachers are also nervous. So if you want to have your memory and answer, then inhale a few steps already from outside. But not like this. Also, not like this. Just take a deep breath. Expand your lungs, your chest. Second, the best for your nerves to calm down the nerves and to strengthen them, you should take the neem capsule. It must not be a capsule; it can be the powder. It must not be powder. Just eat one in the morning, one at noon, and one in the evening, or two or three in the morning, and then you see how your nervous system becomes relaxed. We call the tree the neem tree. It's called Nīm Nārāyaṇa. They compare this neem tree with Nārāyaṇa, the Viṣṇu. How much Viṣṇu can do, that can do the neem. The leaves, the branches, the bark, the fruits. The flowers which are blossoming, the wood, everything from the neem is very, very useful. There are certain times where the nature gives us what we need, that's enough in that season, then next year again. So the neem... When they begin to blossom, I can't smell anything. This is one way it's very good; other ways, it's not good for me. It's good or bad, I don't know what is the smell, because Mahāprabhujī, I think, gave me this blessing first time when Holī Gurujī came to Europe. And flight with Swiss Air from India to Vienna and then Zurich, and Gurujī had a good class. As the flight took off and it was at a certain height, the trolley came. "Sir, what would you like to drink?" "Water." Besides, sir, what do you want? He said, "Vodka." Bloody Mary, I don't know what a Bloody Mary is. Others say screwdriver. Oh God. And Gurujī had his soul, he pulled on his stomach and mouth, and took his mala, and everybody is looking at him. Then came the lunch, or the beer serving. Holy Guruji said, "I thought in that height in the sky, God must be somewhere to be seen." In such an atmosphere, what naraka? This aeroplane is carrying the naraka, not the svarga. He landed in Delhi or Vienna. He said, "Mahesh, you saw me, the Naraka, the hill." I said, "Gurudev, why? He told all the stories." The fish, the chicken, the beef, and what not, and alcohol. And when alcohol, I said, "I don't smell, Guruji." He said, "That's why Mahāprabhujī sent you to Europe, that you can survive in Europe anyhow." So on the month of April or March, the neem is blossoming. And very beautiful, fine, small flowers, and so fine a smell, and you can't imagine how many bees are around that. You can sit under the tree, and you can meditate and see the sound of the bees. Many, many, many bees. In the morning, you get up and come and go under this neem tree. So good smell. You can take these prasāda and just eat. A little bitter, but it is very healthy. So there is for ten days, ten days, I don't know what word, I've forgotten the word, for like a medicine, a medicine course. So, you take the Brajāṃś, you make the paste, and with the water cloth, filter it. Half a glass you drink, and for about half an hour, nothing else—tea or coffee or eating. It is said to be one of the best medicines for your nervous system. For your heart, for your lungs, and then comes the fruits. So, I mean, there is a beautiful quality. God has given so much; nature has given so much remedy for us. And that is Āyurveda, nothing else. What did Ayurveda say? What is that? Ayurveda is not these medicines. Ayurveda said, "No, no... I don't know, anything will... what is that? I don't know." Definition of Ayurveda. Ayur. Ayur means life. Long life. And who knows? Who knows about each and every plant. That is the doctor. That is called Vedyā. Ayurvedic doctor. And long, all the time, about in 1965, I was going with Gurujī to the Kailāsh Āśram, Mahāprabhujī Āśram. I was never so far. I'm from a little small village. No road. No bus. No car. No sweet water. No electricity, no hospital, no school. We were happy. The children were happy, but there were some private doctors or teachers teaching us. So we were sitting under the tree, neem tree, banyan tree, babul tree, and 10-15 children, all. The teachers were very nice, loving. When you do not properly learn, then teachers will have both ears up, get up, and sit down. So mostly my ears were all the time red, so my father said, "You didn't learn properly, I think, anyhow." So I came near the Kailāsh āśram, and there's a very, very good Āyurvedic doctor, very good. He knows by heart the Vedas, Upaniṣads. A great person, a great person. All when he's coming like a light. And he was a disciple of Gurujī. So one day he said, People come to him for medicine, and he doesn't ask for money at all. He said, "I have this problem." So he was collecting from the field certain herbs, and in certain cases, he went and he searched some herbs. He was sitting there, I go with him, he said, "Sit down." And he said he made some mantra, I don't know, from the Vedas or something. And then he made praṇām to this herb, plant. Said that I want to have some part of you. For that suffering, a creature, a human. Some other plant, and he took some leaves or some flowers or something, and he brought it home. He was cleaning with water, he was grinding, making a paste, and then he filtered it with water, and he gave this person in one bottle, one teaspoon. Three times a day, no money, nothing. That was the Ayurvedic doctor. And if they make some other medicine, then of course they have to pay something, but it's costing. And now the most expensive is Ayurveda, and that's why allopathic medicine is there. All allopathic medicines have names in what we call the Latin language. And all these names are names of certain plants. But it is manipulated that becomes what is chemical. So the yogī, haṭha yogī, they go and they feel the herbals. And it takes some, that's it. So there are three: jaḍī, bhūtī, and vanaspatī. These are the three. Jadi means the roots, bhūti means a little plant, a herbal plant. So you can take only some branches and leaves; don't destroy the whole plant. Second, you can take the roots, but don't take the roots of a living plant. So there are certain herbs which, after a certain time, dry and die. And those roots have the essence good for Ayurvedic medicine. So that's called jadi, jadi means the roots, butī means this plant, and vanaspati, vanas means the forest, pati like these big trees and their leaves. So we can take the leaves of that plant tree, but we should not destroy the tree. And these are the principles of the Āyurveda: jaḍī, bhūtī, and arvanaspatī. These are the three kinds of medicine; it doesn't matter what, there is no fourth one. So This is what Ayurveda says, and they had a time they should wait. If you have a high fever, then it doesn't matter, it will give you weight. Some of you know, in Jadam, we began with our school there, and that... The person who was beginning, he was a principal of some college, and he began with how he began a school in Jordan. Some may know, and he had a fever, a very high fever. So I said, "Should I bring you medicine?" "No, no,..." Swamiji, he took the neem leaves, he drank neem water, and he bathed with this neem water. Boil hot water, boil about one bucket, and take a bunch of neem leaves. Let it be half an hour inside, and then he washed it. He didn't take any allopathic medicine. So that nature, we have to become one with nature. And he always used to clean his teeth, whether it was with a toothbrush, a branch of the neem tree, or baboon. So he said, "Now, everybody, you know," Do not suppress this fever which you have. The body needs that. There are certain bacteria or something in the body that have to come out through sweating. You will feel weakness because these bacteria that are in your body are making you weaker and weaker. So, it should go out beautifully, that's it. Similarly, so this neem, what you have, these plasms, the flowers, and the leaves, so many of our people who are going to the ashram or in Rajasthan, they take every one, one leaf. It's bitter, perfectly bitter, very good bitter. You think today is enough, but a few minutes, and then no more bitter. Or there is something, some miracle; you will not feel at all bitter. You can eat leaves, no bitterness. Very simple technique that I will not tell you, yes? If I tell you everything, then you don't know what bitterness is. So, your nerve systems, your blood, the blood purification of the neem—many, many things. So, therefore, why are you nervous? Why are you like that? Because of inner impurities and uncertainty. So if you want to become a Haṭha Yogī, then you should be very strong. It is called endurance. Don't take medicine immediately. Endure a little bit. And when you said that the pain, But pain is pain. When I go to the dentist, he said, "We take only Z-section." And one day I was looking like that, so long needle, and it goes like this. That time, really, I put my fingers and nails together. I cannot bite because it is open. The images of the Kwanzaa now. But our Krishṇānand, he is not here now. He is going to the dentist, and he doesn't want an injection or anything. He said, "Go do it." And the doctor said, "You have no pain?" He said, "Yes, but don't worry, go ahead." So Krishna doesn't say, "He is enduring, he is a yogī." So, a hatha yogī, a hatha yogī, the first is discipline. Then such a yogī will take the way to the desert, the hot desert, or to the Himalayas, anywhere. That one has no fear. Just renounce, I renounce everything. Renouncing is not easy. Holy Gurujī said, Enter the kingdom of the gate for the sacrifice. And Mahātma Gāndhījī said, "Renounce and enjoy." But now we are, who is sitting here? All difficult to renounce, that's it. And this, our intense time, we all know how many things are inside. And there are some worms, there are some bacteria, good and bad, but... The neem will purify your intense time. And it will not kill the good things. That is a good idea. Or not a good idea, but the goodness of the neem. So, different kinds of creatures in our intense time, Which should not be in our body, that neem will clean it up, and the heart, and it will support your lungs. It's a lot of oxygen. It will give it to you. So, you take one capsule or two capsules, drink it with water, and you don't feel the bitterness. The stomach likes bitter, unfortunately our mouth doesn't like bitter, and sweet and sweet, and you know what is the condition of our intestines? So many sweets, so many sweets. So, Neem Nārāyaṇa, we like worshiping, and many people do not cut the Neem, but I have hundreds and thousands. So, I have to chip the branches. But many people, the Indians, they don't want to burn the wood of the neem, because it is a holy wood, holy neem. So there are two very holy plants, or trees, in Rajasthan or in India. One is the neem. Of course, the banyan tree is the highest. That is like Brahmā, or Viṣṇu, or Śiva, the banyan. That you can adore, you can pray, it's a life, it's a life. To sit under the banyan tree, so much oxygen, that you call people. So the male is the banyan, and the female is the people. So this is, you can say, Śiva and Pārvatī. And what is the specialty of those people? And that is the 24 hours that people give the oxygen. We are worshipping this tree. So this name, Nārāyaṇa, but nowadays so-called very highly educated people, they can chip the trees. But our people say, "What a sinner." So the second tree is called for yajña, ceremony, and that's called khejri kā, or tree. When someone dies, even a small piece of wood you can have from Kejai, if you put it in the cremation, they take it as it will guide the soul to heaven or yajña. Your yajña will be very successful. It is a wonderful tree. And that is what we have also, the saṅgrī, you know, vegetable? You eat this, and it has not only some vitamins, but this and that. It has a vibration. So in this, all of these trees, we don't know exactly, but we have such a divine vibration from our vegetation. So, try to get friendship with the trees. So someone said, "Nature doesn't need us." But we need the nature. And that is his, so it is a science. Humans have this science. That's why the hatha yogī is going with this nature, and we are opposite the nature. This is the difference: doing āsanas, prāṇāyāms, and this, and for a few minutes, close the eyes and do. That is not enough. Walk in this tree. Sit under this tree. Hug this tree. Touch the leaves, don't break it. Three days more, and this tree is Brahma, Viṣṇu, Maheśa. Hari Om Tat Sat, past, present, and future. So become one with this tree, and you will see how happy this tree is when you go with such respect and such love. And that is a healing power, that so much prāṇa which we have, that much you can't get in the ICU in the hospital. Of course, they have to take this oxygen and other instruments to survive our life. Otherwise, that oxygen what we get, even in the ICU, not that one. So, haṭha yogī. A Hatha yogī is one with nature, and he is surrendering to nature, and that becomes what we call the Hatha yogī. So let us have one mantra. Let's chant a mantra. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān, Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān, Alakh Purījī Mahādeva Kī Om Śānti Hi Śānti Hi...

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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