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4 kinds of health

Yoga addresses four dimensions of health: physical, mental, social, and spiritual. Yogic practices are psychosomatic, affecting both body and mind. Physical health alone is insufficient without mental health, and vice versa. Social health is defined by avoiding harmful behaviors like crime or idleness; unhealthy social conduct leads to societal avoidance. A healthy individual contributes to a healthy society and nation. Spiritual health is equated with tolerance. The claim that one's own mother, religion, or culture is "the best" is subjective; from a broader perspective, all can be seen as good. True spiritual health requires accepting this plurality. Intolerance is framed as a sign of spiritual and mental unwellness.

"My mother is the best mother. But which mother is not the best mother?"

"Spiritual health means tolerance. Those who have no tolerance are mentally ill."

Filming location: Maribor, Slovenia

Yogic movements and exercises are psychosomatic. They influence both our body and our psyche, and their effect is complemented by the blessings of holy saints. In yoga, we speak of four kinds of health: physical health, mental health, social health, and spiritual health. If you are physically healthy but mentally unhealthy, your problems will not be solved. Conversely, if you are mentally healthy but physically unwell, that too is insufficient. If you are socially unhealthy—engaging in drug use, criminal activities, theft, laziness, or idly waiting for others to provide for you—you fall into the category of poor social health. No one would like you; everyone would try to avoid you. When someone is drunk or intoxicated, lying in the street or behaving nonsensically, people change their path to avoid them and call the police or an ambulance to take them to the hospital. Therefore, our social life must first be healthy. When social life is healthy, society becomes healthy. A healthy society means a healthy country, for a nation moves in the direction its people take. Spiritual health means tolerance. Tolerance and understanding are profoundly important. Every child says, "My mother is the best mother." But which mother is not the best mother? Every mother is a good mother. Everyone says, "Our religion is the best religion." Yet, which religion is not the best religion? Everyone says, "Our culture is the best culture." So which culture is not the best culture? All cultures are good, they are all the best. As one philosopher said: all cultures are good, but the best culture is agriculture, for that is what we all need. It is the point where we all come together. Thus, tolerance is essential. Those who have no tolerance are mentally ill. They are spiritually unhealthy.

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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