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A beautiful, good morning to all our dear sisters and brothers, all bhaktas. You are most welcome—those who are here for the first time today, and also our many brothers and sisters who have been with us since last week. Welcome, and many blessings of our paramparās. Our practice will be very beautiful here under the cool, shaded air. Those of you who are very far back can come forward into the sun if you wish; if you are comfortable where you are, that is also fine. This gathering is for a limited number of people. The sādhanā you are doing is mostly what we call Kriyānuṣṭhāna. For those of you practicing Kriyānuṣṭhāna, can you raise your hands? Thank you. And others are practicing different techniques—āsanas, prāṇāyāma, meditation, yoga nidrā? Good. Enjoying good lunch, breakfast, and dinner? That is very good. We are in a place with a very divine atmosphere. For many years, this has been a site for Mahāprabhujī's satsaṅg. Thousands upon thousands of people have come and gone here from all around: the whole Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, and other neighboring countries like Hungary, Yugoslavia—which once encompassed Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia—and definitely you as well. These beautiful trees and vegetation here hold so much energy, so much prāṇa. We can inhale and exhale it; it is unbelievable. We go to hospitals, to intensive care units, and we have oxygen. We are always checking the level of prāṇa. In cities, what kind of air is there? In many countries, before Corona, in great big cities like New Delhi or in America, people were holding their breath. We are so blessed to receive such nice prāṇa here. It also has healing power. If there is any disease—I don't want to specify—simply sitting here, speaking about our practice, walking, eating good food, talking with friends, and exercising in this air for 24 hours a day is beneficial. This is some of the best air here in our Strelka āśram. Sometimes, in some countries, people go out only on Sunday, for one day or half a day, to get good air in a park. But often those parks are surrounded by cars. Do you feel the breath here? The water is also the best. We have different kinds of water, including from our own tube well. Other water is supplied centrally, to which they undoubtedly add some treatment substances. But this water is good; it is like healing water. So this is the first point: we are here in a very peaceful place, without many cars. We should be aware 24 hours a day of the quality of our prāṇa here. We are born into this kind of atmosphere; from birth onward, our bodies need this kind of environment. Many people go to the mountains to ski. At higher altitudes, the oxygen level is very thin. Those who live there are used to it and are fine. But when we go, we think we are strong and can walk quickly. However, that oxygen level is too thin for us. If you go to the Himalayas, give yourself time. Stay there for a month, and then slowly, slowly return over another month. That is a proper Himalayan trip of three months. Many yogīs live there and do not feel the energy as thin or lacking in oxygen. Now, for our practice today—this Kriyānuṣṭhāna—and for those who have not yet practiced these techniques but will begin, I would like to give an introduction. Sooner or later, you will also come to these higher techniques. When we begin practicing, we feel, "Oh, now I am here with these great techniques." But when we practice in this kind of atmosphere and air, we begin this Anuṣṭhāna. What happens? After 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or even an hour, some fall asleep. This is not the same kind of sleep as at night. It is due to the prāṇa here. Everything is so soft, relaxed. You become happy. Many start to doze off. Therefore, we give training so you understand what the techniques are, how to do them, and which to practice more or less. The practice moves from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head back to the toes. It is like when a very good cook prepares vegetables or food very nicely. The spices within are very powerful, and this is for the whole body: all the different nerves, glands, organs, and many things. Nowadays, we have telephones where we can read everything. We read that this spice is very good, that one is very spicy and beneficial in many ways. If we utilize this knowledge in our eating, we will definitely avoid many diseases like cancer. In every body, even in animals, there is a potential for cancer. It is not inherently harmful; it is simply something present. But when negative things enter, then it expands into what we recognize as cancer or another disease. Every creature has its own kind of food. Dogs and cats eat many things, but a cat that eats everything is not a real cat in that sense. The best are lions and tigers. They don't eat chili, chapati, or bread. They eat only pure, fresh meat, not meat that is one or two days old. Certain birds also eat only fresh meat. Other creatures, like pigs, will eat anything. Similarly, humans eat in varied ways. If we concentrate and understand what kind of nourishment we should take... We often say the best is grandmother's kitchen. Why is it good? It contains good medicine. But now many don't even know what spices are there. In the last two or three months, many people have learned cooking because they had to stay home and did not know how, so they suffered. We humans, if we take the right kind of spices, will be very healthy. Everything we use for our food should be tasteful, but that does not mean to eat in excess. I mean the spices. We should not use too much; just a little, like perfume. If you put perfume all over your body, you will become mad. For every vegetable we cook, we should know its nature. It is said that in our kitchen, there should not be dead animals. When animals die and are eaten immediately, or later—what is called "fresh"—you often don't know how old the meat from the shop really is. Long ago, in your countries—Czechoslovakia, Bosnia—during Communist times, it was very good. The country and people were the same. Narcissism is everything; it is only politics and talk. Anyway, I will not talk about your politics. But once it was said that meat was transferred from Czechoslovakia to America. It took a long time, stood there, then came back to the Czech area, wasn't taken, stood for months, went back again, and took a very long time. When it was brought out, it was nearly inedible. But for business people, it didn't matter. They said, "It's orange, fresh, my meat is good." Thanks to the people of the Czech Republic, they discovered this and did not allow it to be given to people to eat. When you put meat in the fridge, it is still a dead body. Whether hot or cold, it is no longer fresh. What we should eat are fresh vegetables, fresh milk, cheese, butter, and fresh bread. Certain spices are missing from our diets, and because of this, many diseases exist. For example, there are many kinds of chilies. In Mexico, there are very small chilies, about two centimeters, that are extremely strong. The seeds are very hot, though the fruit is not so thin. Long ago, I heard on the radio—when telephones and radios were the means—about chilies from Mexico. They said many people in Mexico develop holes in their intestines and get cancer. One should never even touch that kind of chili; it can harm your eyes and skin. There is a chili that is very good, found in Hungary and India. The best chili is long or big, with few seeds and a thick skin. A chili that is a little sour and hot is the best. Many in Hungary bring that; it is good. That kind of chili is very good for the whole body; it kills many kinds of bacteria in our stomach. But of course, don't eat too much—just a little for taste. The person who knows what is yours to drink is not defined by chili or chai, but consider coffee. A true coffee drinker does not drink a big cup. How do you make coffee? How to take sugar with it? No sugar inside, no milk inside. If you use sugar, let it be crystal sugar. Take a little in your mouth, don't break or taste it, just let it dissolve. The coffee should be two and a half tablespoons—not a big spoon—in a nice little glass. You drink just a little bit. That process takes about one and a half hours. That is called a coffee drinker. Taking too much coffee is very harmful; it will attack your liver, one hundred percent, among other things. If you give up coffee, you will be okay. But if you can make it properly, it can be medicine. We have to learn. Every year when I come, I say, "Please learn cooking." It is so easy, but you don't know. I have explained a hundred times, but many cannot. For about 52 years I have been outside India, and many have cooked for me. Till now, they don't know how to make chapati properly. They don't know on which side of the chapati to put a little ghee or butter. Ninety-five percent of my cooks still do not know how to make chapati or where to put the butter, because this knowledge was not passed from their mother to them. So better not to put butter on it at all. Secondly, which is the right side of the bread or chapati? They always put the wrong side—ninety-four percent of the time. They don't know the right from the wrong side. When you drive your car, you don't put it in reverse and say you're driving forward. That is the state of cooking knowledge. Why am I a little angry? One time is okay, two times okay, three times okay, four times okay. But for fifty-two years? Now I must be a little angry. When a dead body is brought to the crematorium, people place on the chest a thick chapati with a little ghee and sugar. They put it with the wrong side up, the thick side up. That is for the dead body. But for the living body, you should put the chapati with the thick side down and the thin side up. Of course, you know how to make other foods here, like apple strudel. If you tell a Rajasthani person how to make apple strudel, they might make a better parota. One can learn if they try at least one, two, three times in the kitchen; then you become perfect. Anyway, I want to tell you about the food in your countries, aside from meat and eggs. You have very nice food here too, but now many don't know how to prepare it. In the cities of India and Europe, people have lost about seventy-eight percent of cooking knowledge. The best cooking comes from the mother, so ladies should know best. But now consider a couple: the wife is the president of your country, the husband is in parliament. Both are good. They come home hungry. He sits and says, "Are you cooking, my dear? I am the president." Okay, now who should eat? Of course, he might say, "Yes, darling, I will bring you a little bread." Another might say, "I'll bring you chewing gum." The whole night the husband is just chewing gum. The next day they say, "Let's go to a restaurant." Like that, we have lost our cooking. Why do I always talk about cooking? Because 70, 80, or even 90 percent of our living depends on food. Money will not feed us. Alcohol will not feed you; it only leads to more alcohol. What percentage of our survival relies on good food? Even yogīs who say, "I am a yogī," might not eat for two days, but then they will look for something to cook. Nowadays, people eat enough, but what kind of food? That is why there are so many diseases in the world. We have the best hospitals, yet there is no place for patients. In very old times, hospitals were empty, mostly for accidents. Now everyone has so many illnesses, due in part to chemicals. Now people are looking for organic food. When I first came to Europe in the 1970s, nobody talked about organic food; everything was considered pure and good. Now we are searching for what is organic because we have destroyed and poisoned everything. Why do so many people have mental, psychic, and other diseases? Please, at least bring and give good food. Cook good food for your families. It doesn't matter if the husband or wife cooks, but you should know how. Otherwise, you don't even know what milk is. If a husband says, "I want hot milk with a little sugar," and someone puts lemon in it, the milk curdles and becomes uneatable. So we must know what to do and what not to do. My dear, we shall speak more here. Ask someone knowledgeable in the kitchen about what spices are available. There are many—it must not be only chili. Certain foods have good taste and are better for health, but we often add many unnecessary things. This is very important for us. Here in the ashram, the food is very good and sāttvic. We say, eat less so you can practice; otherwise, after eating, you will sleep. This morning I had breakfast, then had some time. I was sitting and wanted a little coffee or tea. Two cups were there—one with coffee or tea, one empty. By the time they brought the tea, I was tired. I had the tea in my hand; it was too hot, so I did a little test, holding it. Mānasa Devī said, "You are sleeping." I said I was not sleeping, just thinking. She kept looking at me. I wanted to bring the cup to my lips, but my lips were here. Mānasa Devī ran and took the cup; otherwise, it might have spilled. This sometimes happens; it's called jet lag. Jet lag can be very nice. My jet lag has lasted years and years, moving from village to village, city to city, country to country, plane to plane, like a pilot. Pilots fly for many hours, days, everywhere; they are used to it. But sometimes they also experience this. That's why they have a co-pilot. When one pilot is dozing, the second says, "Sir, I know, don't disturb me." The captain says, "I know, I don't have a rose." The co-pilot says, "I'll take care; you can have a little coffee." Sometimes it happens; it's a joke. But regarding cooking: we should use spices properly. Take, for example, one cup of spices, dry them, put them in a clear plastic bag, label what kind of spices and their purpose. We should have this knowledge: which spices for which vegetable. I can tell you, your body will be about 60% healthier. You don't have to use too much, but you should use them correctly. This is what I want to tell you in our Anuṣṭhāna practice. Keep your body straight. Therefore, sleep earlier, wake earlier. If you feel tired, better to get up, walk a little, or run a little bit to wake up again. Don't just remain there. After a few times, you know... up to nine. One, two, three, four... nine. After nine, there is no next number. After nine, what is more? Nothing. And what is nothing? A zero. And zero—you know what happens? You become completely zero. So we should be higher and higher, up to nine. If you go beyond nine, it becomes zero. So be careful at nine, because nine is very nice and very clear. How many countries are you here from? Every country? How many languages? Czech? Slovak is a little different? Austrian? French, British, English, Polish, etc.? In most different languages, the word for "nine" has one commonality: it always signals a limit. It always means "no." How do you say "no" in Czech? Ne. In German? Nein. In Croatian? Ne. French? Non. Russian? Nyet. Indian? Nahīṁ. Mexicans, Italians... you see? With "no," it means no more. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... now finished, please. No. It is "no." What is further? There is zero, the whole cosmic Self. All is zero. So see, in any country, when you reach the limit of knowing, you say "no." We come to that border. It means we should bring our best nourishment. Otherwise, what you take, your body says "no." Only then do you go to the hospital, and there you don't say "no"—there you say "yes." So, good food is a good life, a long life.