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Bring back the good things to India

The churning of the ocean reveals the essence of practice. Ayurveda and yoga are inseparable sister sciences, originating from the divine knowledge revealed when the nectar of immortality was sought. The story explains the emergence of Dhanvantari and the foundation of the Kumbha Mela. True practice integrates this ancient wisdom into daily life through self-observation, discipline, and cultivating social health. The ultimate aim is Anuṣṭhāna—a meticulous inner journey into solitude and truth, free from distraction and comparison. One must maintain a clear aim amidst life's distractions, as the inner self knows everything. Practice transforms the individual, which in turn transforms the surrounding atmosphere.

"Your body is a book which must be read daily."

"Anuṣṭhāna means we see ourself. It is the subject of ourself, nobody else."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Praṇām Gurujī, Swāmijī, and the Yoga in Daily Life family. It is my absolute pleasure to be here with you this morning. Being in the holy and divine company of Śrī Mahārājī, I always feel that Mahārājī takes us back to Satyayuga. As you can see, feel, and witness, this truly is the amazing Satyayuga that Swāmijī has brought to all of us in this age of Kaliyuga. I want to share a small story with you, which goes back to the inception of the Kaliyuga, when Āyurveda was created. We believe that Āyurveda is very much part of yoga, and yoga is very much part of Āyurveda, as are Vāstu and Jyotiṣa. The nectar of immortality was sought by both the Asuras and the Devatās. They asked Bhagavān Viṣṇu how to obtain it. He told them about Mount Meru in the milky ocean, explaining that to get the nectar, one must churn the mountain, much like churning milk to get butter. They needed a rope for churning, and Śeṣanāga, the king of serpents, offered himself. The Asuras held one side of the serpent and the Devatās the other. By churning Mount Meru, sixteen treasures emerged from the ocean. With Swāmijī’s blessings, I share one of those treasures today. From the ocean emerged a divine being, Dhanvantari, holding a container of the nectar of immortality. The Asuras seized it first. The Devatās, in this complicated situation, requested Bhagavān Viṣṇu's help. On this rare occasion, Bhagavān Viṣṇu incarnated as Mohinī, a very seductive and beautiful woman, who attracted the Asuras' attention. Under her spell, the Devatās retrieved the pot and offered it to Bhagavān Viṣṇu, who instantly resumed his original form, his Sarūpa. He then offered Amṛta to seven Devatās sitting in a line. When he was about to give it to the eighth entity, an Asura realized something was wrong. At that moment, Bhagavān Viṣṇu severed the Asura's head from its body. In Jyotiṣa, India’s astronomy and astrology, this severed head entity became Rāhu and Ketu. During this event, as the Asura was denied the nectar, four droplets of Amṛta fell to Earth. These four places are where the Kumbha Melā, the biggest festival on the planet, is celebrated every year. This is the humble beginning of Āyurveda. 'Veda' means knowledge, and 'āyur' means longevity. It is the knowledge of how to live a life in absolute, or near-complete, perfection and health. I was requesting Swāmijī the other day that, as he has so benevolently promoted Yoga in Daily Life, he might also bless us to learn its sister science, Āyurveda, so we can incorporate Āyurveda in daily life as well. Finally, a simple way we can start: Āyurveda says your body is a book which must be read daily. How? Look at the tongue. In India, we use a dantūn, an herb, to clean our teeth and gums, and then we scrape the top layer of the tongue. When you take care of your oral hygiene in the morning, please look at your tongue in the mirror. Whether you are from Africa, Argentina, or Arkansas, the tongue should be pink. This is a key area for daily self-diagnosis. I am so benevolently honored by Śrī Swāmijī for asking me to be here and giving me these humble moments to share my thoughts. I offer my allegiance and my praṇāms to Śrī Mahārāj Jī. Thank you. Praṇām Guru Dev. Praṇām Guru Dev. Dear friends, we have heard such nice things about Āyurveda, a nice story about churning the ocean and Dhanvantari. For those who may not know, Viśvagurujī is always promoting Āyurveda in the old, very strict way. With all our Haṭha Yoga kriyās in Yoga in Daily Life—like jalāneti, sutraneti, and cleaning the tongue—Viśvagurujī is always promoting and telling us. From the beginning, he has always talked about sāttvic vegetarian food. He may not always use the name 'Āyurveda', but we know that yoga is the oldest, and everything—all religion, all science—starts with and from yoga. Be aware that when we practice Yoga in Daily Life, we have everything. We may not be given the name of all this knowledge. Viśvagurujī does not talk too much about Svara Yoga, but we know to check the nostril in the morning and which leg to place on the floor first. Everything we are trying to do and learn from Viśvagurujī is that ancient knowledge from Satyayuga. Viśvagurujī has said many times that a human eats only once, while an animal eats all the time. He would joke that we are like goats, eating all the time. The first luck is to be healthy. I think that is sukhapela ayogya—I am not sure, as I do not know Sanskrit. From Āyurveda, we also know it is a great luck to have good neighbors. This is very important. Not only must we look at what we use for ourselves, but also at our surrounding atmosphere and neighbors, because everything is a mirror of us. To have a good neighbor is part of Yoga in Daily Life. We have four healths: physical health, mental health, social health, and spiritual health. This is in the first chapter of our book. Social health is so important. How do we achieve it? Only through our practice, by changing ourselves to become better people. When we become better with a good feeling inside, we can change our neighbors. We will have peace in the family and at work, creating a good atmosphere crucial for our physical and mental health. Today, people often say they have so much stress from a bad atmosphere at work. But through our practice, guided by Viśvagurujī and through satsaṅg, we will change ourselves and thereby change the atmosphere around us. Thank you for this knowledge. We will try to implant it in our daily lives. This satsaṅg yoga should not remain only here; we will bring this atmosphere home and slowly change for the better. I have been thinking much about the Anuṣṭhāna we are practicing. I need your help with two words: anu and sthāna. What does it mean? Anu means the smallest atom, the most minute. Sthāna means place. So, my interpretation of Anuṣṭhāna is to go into the very finest detail. Do you think it is like this? No answer is also an answer. Anuṣṭhāna means we see ourself. It is the subject of ourself, nobody else. We really go within ourselves without any excuse, without any exceptions, without any forewarning, without any reason or exclusion. We go with truth, because the inside knows. The inner self knows everything. There, we should have no excuse. We must go deep inside, and this requires attention. In yoga, there is a word: ekāntavāsa. It means solitude. You are with yourself and nobody else. Sometimes people go into nature to be alone. There, automatically, is mauna (silence). You can speak with yourself. But this Anuṣṭhāna needs a little more effort. We say alpāhāri: eat less, the minimum. Don’t talk. You lose so much energy talking. For a few days, keep yourself within yourself. Now we know what Anuṣṭhāna means. Keep your mobiles in your bag. Keep your watches in the room; you don’t need them. We have the bell and the clock here. We come from a busy world and wish to achieve something in this time. One week is not much, but it is better than nothing. Time is precious. The techniques we received from Gurujī are so great and are 100% sure to help us discover, explore, and realize what is to be realized. I remember when Swāmijī himself was teaching the Anuṣṭhāna. I cannot explain it because I had no idea what was happening at that time. But afterward, and every twelve years, one makes a step—this has happened to me also. When I look back at what I remember, I see there is no comparison. I can only explain it with one story. We often compare ourselves with somebody else. But to compare is not what we should do, nor what makes us happy. We have the same thing inside, but we cannot be another person. Today, I saw many from the group sitting in deep practice, and I was so impressed. I know how it was when the Anuṣṭhāna began. Once, there was a great devotee (Bhakta) of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. They loved each other very much. Once, the devotee asked, "I know so many things you taught me, but I don’t know what your Līlā means. What is it?" Like our Gurudev, Bhagavān Viṣṇu did not give a direct answer. Instead, he said, "My dear Bhakta, I am so thirsty. I will answer you later. Please go to the next village quickly and bring me a glass of water. Hurry." The Bhakta did praṇām and went quickly. The next village was far. He arrived, and a beautiful young woman appeared at the door, adorned with jewels, smelling nice, with a smile, wearing a nice sari. The devotee was so impressed he could not speak. She said, "Please, the guest is God. Come in, sit down. What can I do?" She took his shoes, washed his feet, gave him food and drink, and offered him rest with a fan, as it was very hot outside. He was hungry and thirsty, so he ate, drank, and rested comfortably. She gave him a room, a bed, and introduced him to her nice family. They asked, "Who are you? Please stay." He forgot his purpose completely. Time passed. He married, had children, and a big family with many duties. They had a happy life. One day, when his son was grown, a great monsoon flood came, like the big flood in Zagreb. The flood reached the village. He tried to save his family, carrying one child in his hand, another on his neck, and his wife in his arm, who held another child. In struggling to cross the strong river that washed everything away, he fell. He lost the child on his shoulder, then the other child and his wife. He, too, was washed away unconscious. He opened his eyes, lying on the shore of a lake. He looked around. "Where is my family? What happened? I am alone." He sat up and looked into the eyes of his beloved God. God asked, "Where is my water?" This is the Līlā. Sometimes we forget what we are here for, what our duty is. We must keep our aim very strong and clear in front of us. What do we do? We have good bhajans. We are all very good, thinking well. But how are we now? Over all the years I have been here, many very pure people have come, even from far distances. They know where their ashram is—not only here, but in this country we have many ashrams. Their children do not eat meat and other such things. Now we are thinking... many will have begun... some from India, and they come here very nicely. Everything is good, but it is important not to eat meat. We are going to India, and you know what we are doing. We tell all people, "No meat, nothing." It goes like this. I tell all my disciples here, they say, "We are going to India to give you again what is good." So we are good, OK? He has spoken very nicely. She gave all such things. So we will conquer. We have to fight like this. They bring everything, little animals... So is that human? This human is a human. We are heaven. And little animals, they are also licking and taking, no? This little, little, they are taking water. This is not good. They are eating that and going outside; many people also, because they don’t know, and they go and eat something. But it is also given inside. So we all will go home, our home, and we will make everything, eating and this and that, okay? So, you should... many, of course, many people, you are, they are also, you are eating. They think, "What is okay, let it happen." But we are all okay. We will go to India and tell the Indians, "What are you?" Yes. I go to India and try to tell them, "Hey, you are in India, and you go to the other side, and what is going on?" Say what again? Of course, there are many good, very, very good, also. In little villages, very little villages, they are not eating anything. But those who have learned very much, and they bring Indians, they are making like this. And you know, our people here, they don’t, because if they will take, they will pull you out. But Indians don’t know, they think, "I am this." And I am this, but are you this? So we will give, we will give the Indians good. We are going to, so we will go to India and we will tell them the good things. I apologize for that. So we will do everything well and pleasantly.

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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