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Food, the digestive fire, and spiritual practice are deeply connected. Learning to cook from a young age is vital, not just for health but for the energy imparted to the food. A strong Agni, or digestive fire, allows one to dissolve all that is consumed, including food and information. This inner fire is cultivated through gradual, systematic practice like Haṭha Yoga Kriyās and prāṇāyāma, particularly Bhastrika when prepared. Vegetarian food is essential; consuming meat introduces the animal's fear and chemistry into one's own system, affecting the mind and experiences. The system of Yoga in Daily Life prevents such negative experiences by advocating sāttvic food and step-by-step practice. Go deeper into each practice, exploring its effects on the five bodies; this prevents boredom and eliminates the need for constant change. Karma operates impartially: actions return to the doer. The body's design, with jaw movement and intestinal length, indicates a natural inclination toward vegetarianism. The consciousness and feelings of the cook are absorbed into the food, affecting those who eat it. Therefore, cooking for oneself is preferable.

"Remain where you are."

"What you do will come back to you."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Praṇām Gurudevo. Hari Om, dear brothers and sisters. Today we saw a very nice performance by our children. The program of our children is always something very nice. But yesterday I saw something even nicer than this practice, this drama. You know that what you ate today is mahune—I don’t know, this green bean—but this green bean. I was passing, and I saw that very small children were cutting and preparing it for cooking. What is so important? That is very important because to start learning cooking, it is important from a very young age. And what Viśvagurujī told so many times, that is the most important thing: to know how to cook. And to know how to cook, start from a very young age. I think ten years ago I was watching a documentary about food in Great Britain and food in the schools. And children didn’t know how to eat green beans. How to eat this grāśak, these beans. They didn’t know how to eat this. They know only these chicken nuggets. And we have this opportunity: you give to your children that knowledge, not only how to eat, but also how to cut. And in yoga, it’s very important to know cooking. And I heard from Viśvagurujī that it will be excellent if we are able to cook for ourselves. Not to go to the restaurants, not fast food. But prepare food for yourself, because it’s not only about healthy food, but also about that kind of energy which you will give to the preparing food. But also, we don’t need to be fanatic with this healthy food. When I start to talk about food, immediately one story about two Rākṣasas comes to my mind. These two Rākṣasas were trying to have some entertainment. And one Rākṣasa pretended to be a householder. And his brother changed the form of the food. And they were waiting for the travelers, and when somebody passed, he starts the drama. This householder invites, "Please come in my house, please eat. The guest is like a god, please." And when the men or women had eaten enough, the householder Rākṣasa called his brother, "Come out, please." And that brother jumped from the stomach, and in that way they were killing the people. And you know, for Rākṣasas, that is the kind of entertainment. And for that, here, one yogī, a Yogi, purposely goes to that place to release people from terrible terror. And you know, to win a child in chess is nothing, in the chess chest. As you know, to win in chess is easy. And started the game. One pretended to be a householder. The other changed the form of the food on the table, the delicious food. And the yogī entered that house. They offered food. And he ate everything, because they said yogīs are always hungry, but why? Because he has a good fire, and he ate everything. And when he ate everything, the rākṣasa who played the householder said to his brother, "Come out." And the yogī was just smiling and said, "Remain where you are." And that is such a great lesson to us, that we, like a yogī, one should have such a kind of digesting fire, that kind of agni, jāṭharāgni, to be able to dissolve everything. And what means dissolve the rākṣasa? All kinds of food, like jīmo, etc., gemo, etc. What means that we will not eat such a food? We will eat nice sāttvic food, but we need such kind of fire to dissolve everything, because we don’t need only to dissolve the food. You need, in our language, said when you hear something, "I don’t have a stomach for this." Yes? What does that mean? That even for information, you need to have a good digesting fire. For everything, we need a good Agni to dissolve this. And now, how to have strong Agni? First is to try to practice Haṭha Yoga Kriyās. We have so nice Haṭha Yoga Kriyās, Agniśa Kriyā every morning, and also we have so nice asanas for our Maṇipūra Chakra, from grinding and so many other asanas, Mayūrāsana, who have different asanas. And also, we have a nice pranayama. I remember a nice explanation about Bhastrika pranayama. Once I heard this from Viśvagurujī, and immediately I went deep inside. When Swamiji was explaining the Bhastrikā, He said that with the knife, you may kill the goat. And the goat is too weak against this knife. But when you make this knife from the goat, for blowing the air into the fire, in that moment, that ghost will melt the knife. What it means is, if you put the knife in the fire, you may keep the knife in the fire for days, nothing will happen, because it is the normal fire. But if you want to melt the iron, you need the blacksmith’s fire. And that blacksmith fire is only existing when you have this for blowing the air inside, and that is the bāstrīkā. When is our agnī too weak to dissolve some knife which is coming in our life? We have Bhastrika, but not from the first day. Start Bhastrika—that is also our problem. Start nicely. How is it in the system? Yoga and daily life, step by step, and from the first level, second level, third level. From Nāḍī Śodhan, first, second, third, and so on. And when we are prepared, we will start with the Bhastrikā. And that is the beauty of yoga in daily life. When you read some other books, you will find inside so many different techniques and some strange experiences. Some jumping or strange breathing, etc., but in yoga and daily life, something like this is not existing. Why? Because Vishwagurujī gave to us first: if you want to do something serious, vegetarian food, be vegetarian. Today was Mantra Dīkṣā, and always on Mantra Dīkṣā, I remember my Mantra Dīkṣā. I know that from that time till now, I always hear from Viśva Gurujī: the most important thing is vegetarian food. Maybe some of you don’t think that it’s so important. But I remember that I was practicing yoga before I met Viśvagurujī. And I was practicing some serious prāṇāyāma. With the bandha, etc. But in that time, we, who were together practicing yoga, were eating meat. And one very nice, not nice, but experience what we got. First, start fear. And I get the fear that somebody will slaughter me. And in that time, we were together practicing, Vishnu Purī and I. And he had an experience like his wife would kill him with a knife. Everybody has a difference, and it was not a nice experience. A few years later, when I met Viśva Gurujī, we completely became vegetarian. And really, everything that we add comes inside. We will not talk only about karma. Karma is enough. But also, they come in the form of the chemistry. And you will have this in your body. And when you look deep inside, when you start to meditate, that chemistry, that fear will go out. And if you think, "No, it’s stupid, because we are cooking this," People are cooking, and still, when you go to the Adriatic Sea, you may see the guys with such big breasts. No, no. Yes. What does that mean? That is, the women’s hormones come through the food. And they also, this chicken is cooked. What means? You must be very aware of what you are eating because of ahiṃsā paramadharma, because of karma, and also this food will change your mind and you will have a different experience. Because of that, we in yoga and daily life don’t have such experience. I know that none of you have this experience of fear and some terrible things, because we are not eating meat and we are practicing slowly, step by step. And everything comes so easy, so gentle, and that is the beauty of our system. Be aware of this. Try not to change. Try not to improve. That is the biggest problem when we want to improve something. But every day, be aware that if you think, "Oh, it is boring," I know already everything. Okay, maybe you know. But know that there are five bodies: Annamākośa, Prāṇamākośa, Manomākośa, Vijñānamākośa, Ānandamākośa. Even when you practice Marjari, first you practice with your body and with your breathing. After, you are aware of the flow of the prāṇa in your body. You are aware how this āsana has influence on your mind. You will get knowledge from this āsana, and you will have a good feeling, bliss inside. Because of that, try to always go deep in the practice. It will never be boring. You will never need to change something, only to go deeper. And we have so many things. That is, when you just try a little to dig and to understand what Viśvagurujī gave to us, I always put a question to myself, oh my God, from where did he get all this? But immediately I know the answer. But immediately I know the answer. And that is our aim: to practice constantly and nicely from the first level. And we will find so many things, I think not only for one life but for many, many, many lives. We just need to be focused and to go deeper and stay on our path. See, deep is number one key. Jai! Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Devo Maheśvara, Guru Sākṣāt, Parabrahmā, Tasmai Śrī Gurve Namaḥ, Mannātha, Śrī Jagannātha, Māth Guru, Śrī Jagat, Guru Māmātmā, Sarvabhūtātmā, Tasmai Śrī Gurve Namaḥ, Om Śālakpūrjī Mahādeva Kī Jai, Devādedevī Viśvar Mahādeva Kī Jai, Salutations to the Cosmic Self. Salutations to Śrī Alak Purījī Siddha Pīṭha Paramparā. I am done with praṇām to our beloved Gurudev, His Holiness, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa and Māheśvarānanda Purījī. Om Namah Nārāyaṇth Mahāmdaleśwar Vekpurī Jī and all the sannyāsīs present here. Hari Om and good evening to all of you present here. And good morning, good afternoon, and good evening for those who are watching through Swamiji TV. I hope you had a good day today. Yes, now in Hindi there’s a saying which means, "How you will do, what you will do, the results will be the same." For example, you do some good deeds, then you will get something good in return. Well, you do something bad, and something bad happens to you. That’s how the karmic law works. So, continuing our stories from Ānand Muthī, from Holī Gurujī. There’s one beautiful story explaining this exact term, how the karmas work. There was one sādhu, and he used to go for bhikṣā in the nearby village. And he used to always say, "Give me food. Like how you will do, that will happen to you. Give me some bikṣā." So the households used to offer him some food to eat, some money, whatever. They wanted, and then one household stopped him and they said, "Please, Gurudev, come inside." They made his āsana, and they offered him food. And they were very kind and generous towards him in how they treated him. They even organized the evening satsaṅg. Satsaṅgs and beautiful bhajans, how we have. And her neighbor, who was also a relative of that household, was very jealous and very angry about this. And the neighbor, she always liked to enjoy her life, to be indulged in all the worldly activities. And then she was like, "Why is my neighbor doing all these satsaṅgs and bhajans? It’s disturbing me, and it’s disturbing my night. Why do they have to sing it all the time? Can’t they be silent?" They invite this man with a long beard, why? Why can’t this guy find a job? Why can’t he go and work and earn his own money instead of begging for food? So she decided overnight that she had to do something about it, and the best option would be to get rid of him. So she ordered some poison, and she mixed it in laddus. Laddus are the sweet balls which we eat, and she made two of them and kept them ready for the sādhu for the next day. The next day again, that sādhu was passing by, and the sādhu again came the next day. And again, he asked for food, and she said, "Oh, Mahārāj, welcome, welcome. Please come. I will give you. I made—my neighbor, you know, she gives you this chapātī and sabjī—I made specially for you beautiful laddus with my own hand." And she said, "So please, Mahārāj, come to me." And you’re getting pretty thin, so I made the laddus full of ghee, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, and all the dry fruits you can think of. I put them inside, and it’s very healthy for you. So the sādhu thought, there is something wrong there. Till yesterday, this woman was always swearing at me and always angry about why I am around. And today, suddenly, bhakti arose from her, and she is offering me laddus. But sadhus being kind-hearted, generous people, she said, "Okay, thank you very much. Please put it here." That’s the specialty of Vishwagurujī and of sadhus, that they don’t judge people. They do not see people differently. For them, everyone is equal. And they are generous and forgiving to everyone in the world. It doesn’t matter how you live or what you do, but if you come with a pure heart to go to live, he will always be there for you, he will always forgive you for whatever you did, and he will always be there. Your parents, your friends, they all might leave you eventually, once in your life. But the Guru is the one person who won’t leave you and who is always within your heart. So then he accepted the food, and when he went back to his ashram, he decided, "Okay, the chapatis are warm and nice, so if I first eat the laddus, then the chapatis will get cold." So let me first eat the chapati and the sabjis, and I will leave the laddus as dessert for later. And at that time, there was heavy rain going on there, and his ashram was near a railway station. So in the rain, two people came from the railway station, and they couldn’t go home because it was raining too strongly. So the husband and wife saw that there was an ashram nearby, and they decided to go and take shelter there for the night. The next morning, they would go home, because from their realization, their home was a few kilometers away. They went to the ashram, they made praṇām, "Gurujī, we came." The man said, "I came from Bombay, and my mother and my father live in the village." But it’s raining very much, so I would like to stay in your ashram. Guruji said, "It’s not my ashram, it’s your ashram." It’s the ashram of the people. Anyone is always welcome, so please stay. It’s your home. You might be very cold, and it’s raining, so have some nice laddus which were made today. And they both ate the laddus and slowly fell on the ground. And the sādhu went to wash his hands and came back. And he saw they both were lying down on the floor. So he thought, "OK, they must be very tired; they were traveling all day, so let them sleep." He put a blanket over them. In the morning, Mahārāj Jī got up early morning, Brahma Mūrta. And he tried to wake them up, and he said, "People who wake up early in Brahma Muhūrta and do their sādhanā are very good, and those who sleep longer, they also sleep in life." No response. Mahārāj Jī said, "OK, let them sleep for a little bit longer. I will go and do my pūjā and come back." Seven, eight o’clock, he again tried to wake them up, and the sunlight was strong, and he realized that they had passed away in the night. But when they came, they told that we came from Bombay and our parents are so-and-so. Guess who the parents were? The mother who made the laddus, so Mahārājī went there, and she was already questioning, "Did you see that Mahārājī who comes every day? I think he’s sick or something, or he passed away, no?" And the Mahārājī is walking, coming to her. So when he came there, he said, "Oh Mahārājī, how were the laddus? I hope they were very good or not so sweet for you." Because she wanted to find out if he ate it or not. If yes, then how did he survive? He said, "I came here to give you another news, by the way." And he told the story of what happened last night. And then she cried, "Gurudeva, please save my kid, please save my kid." And he said again what he always said, "Jai Sākarīgā, Jai Sākarīgā." What you do will come back to you in some way or another. So we should be in life always trying to be focused towards spirituality, towards the positive path, and not towards negative things and negative company. As Vivek Purījī was talking about vegetarianism, I also have one point which I often tell people when they ask me, but you know, animals also eat animals, so why can’t we? That’s the circle, that’s the chain. The most commonly eaten meat products are chicken, beef, pork, and fish. But do those animals, these four species, do they eat any other animals? Chicken, vegetarian. Cow, vegetarian. Pig, vegetarian. So, which protein are you getting out of them if they themselves get protein from grass? But then they said, "But there are other animals who eat meat, you know?" Like a lion, for example. You know how lions make friends with each other? They sniff each other’s butts. They sniff each other’s butts. So when humans meet, do we go and sniff each other’s butts, or do we do a handshake or namaste or something? If you want to compare yourself with lions, then go and sniff each other’s butts. Best, no? And did you ever see how the lions have their teeth? They have teeth which can grab meat and bite it. And their jaws work like this. And whose jaws work like this, sideways also. They are not meant to eat meat in the first place. Try, can you do this? Our jaws go sideways, right? So God made us in that way that we are vegetarians, not people who eat meat. The intestine of the lion is seven feet long. Meat eaters’ intestines are short. And guess how long ours is? 35 feet. So that’s how long it is. So basically, our bodies are built in such ways that we are not meant to eat meat, but we are supposed to be vegetarians. But if we still want to, no problem, but then start also sniffing each other first, you know. And there is also one beautiful story. What you eat, that’s how it affects you. Or who gives you something, and from whose hands you are eating that food, and in which way will that affect you in your life? One thief was passing by a satsaṅg, and while passing by, he heard that if you feed a monk, if you feed a sādhu, you get ten times the profit or the good deeds in your life. So the thief decided, "Okay, many are doing so much sin in my life, so why not feed the monk and I will get some good karma." So the thief went to Gurujī, "Gurujī, come to my house and eat, please." But Gurujī being Gurujī, Trikāl Darśī, who sees the past, present, and the future, He said, "No, thank you, I’m good. I’m not going to eat your food." He said, "No, no, Gurujī, you have to eat it at my house today." Gurujī said, "No." So what the thief did, he went to a good restaurant. He told the restaurant owner that he would pay him some money, and he should go and offer Gurujī food. So the restaurant owner went to Gurujī and he said, "Gurujī, if I would like to offer you some food, could you please accept it?" Gurujī said, "Yes, sure." But because that food was bought or paid for by the thief, that food indirectly becomes the food donated by the thief, not by the restaurant owner. So when Gurujī ate that food, the effect of that food went into the head of Gurujī. And in the night when the temple was closed, He went to the temple and stole the jewelry from the statues of Lord Viṣṇu and Goddess Lakṣmī. He put it in his bag and started escaping. And after a few hours, when the food was digested and he came back to his normal senses, He was like, "What have I done?" And he goes back, returns the jewelry, and the villagers and the priests started asking, "What did you do? Why did you take the jewelry in the first place, and then why did you bring it back?" Then he said, "Gurujī, the food which I—" No, the Gurujī said to the priest, "The food which I ate was offered by a restaurant owner but was most probably paid for by that thief." And that’s how the food can also affect us. So with which bhāva, with which feelings you are making your food, it also affects the way what you eat. If you are going to a restaurant and they cut that animal and you are eating that animal, then you have the effects that Vipul was just mentioning, that feeling of getting slaughtered, because that animal which you just ate had that fear of getting cut. That’s why Gurudev always promotes sāttvic food and sāttvic living, because that is good for our body, physical body and mental body. Let’s say someone in your house was cooking, she had a fight, or he had a fight, and then he is cooking while having a fight and arguing with the person. So that feeling, that energy from that argument goes into the food. And then, after eating the food, the whole family is fighting. So leave your anger and all the things outside the kitchen, then cook, then offer the food, then eat the food. That’s why Gurudev always recommended to cook by yourselves more than eating in restaurants outside. Because we never know what feelings the cook has while cooking the food. Once in a while, going out with family or friends, that’s a different thing. But on a regular basis, it’s much better to eat homemade food by your family members. Thank you. We will continue tomorrow. The new mantras are being printed, already been printed, and we will start with that with a new group tomorrow. First week, we had the Sannyāsī Sūkta. Second week, we had the mantras which we were chanting. And tomorrow’s one will be a surprise. So, for those of you who are not following the first week, you can go on Swāmījī’s Facebook or YouTube and find the Sannyāsī Sūkta. Those who are not following the second week can watch it here. If you don’t have the first week or the second week, you can find it on Facebook. Mahādeva Śambho.

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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