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Hari Om. Now, please sit up and turn to my side. Welcome, all of you, here in this beautiful suburb city, Schwechat, a suburb of Vienna, Austria. For those who may not know, there is an international meeting of experts held once a year to declare which city is the cleanest and most beautiful. Last year, Vienna was ranked first out of ten. This year, again out of ten, which city do you think it was? Vienna. That is why we thought to hold this weekend seminar or retreat here. Our first conference, on the occasion of India's Independence Day and my Golden Jubilee birthday, was held in this very hall. It is a beautiful hall in a beautiful part of Vienna called Schwechat, very convenient and near to the airport. Very beautiful people live here. Is Schwechat in Lower Austria or Vienna? It is in another province called Lower Austria. We don't have an Upper Austria yet, though the Tyroleans think they are Upper Austrians. Regardless, you are most welcome on behalf of Yoga in Daily Life, whose home city is Vienna, where our activities outside of India first began. You have just had a beautiful relaxation exercise, which can be called a meditation or a yoga nidrā. It also served to prove to yourself how concentrated, how nervous, or how relaxed you are. What was the result? Many students do not follow the teacher's instructions. When your Yoga in Daily Life teacher, after yoga nidrā or relaxation, tells you, "Now, take a deep inhale and exhale, and move slowly your fingers and toes," the teacher said only, "Move slowly, fingers and toes." Yet, what are you already doing? Your teacher did not say, "Rotate your wrist." He said, "Only move slowly, fingers and toes." And already you are moving left and right. The teacher did not instruct that. Why does the teacher say "slowly," and why not immediately be restless? This indicates a lack of concentration, a lack of inner relaxation, a lack of santoṣa (contentment), geduld (patience), and a lack of faith or attention towards the master's instructions. You are all beginners here, which is why I am telling you. There are no Yoga in Daily Life teachers here today, perhaps, and the students are also very new. I noticed today that even the so-called teachers were already doing this. When the teacher does this, the student thinks, "I must do it too." Yoga does not need compulsion or aggressivity. Yoga is that which calms down your nervous system. Yoga is that which develops concentration and self-awareness, which means self-control. Each and every movement is controlled. Each and every thought is observed, controlled, and guided by your intellect, your buddhi. If you practice Yoga in Daily Life every day, this will not happen to you. But I understand you are all beginners. There are some who have been practicing for 20 years and are still beginners. For me, they are beginners today. Practice makes the master. You can see immediately from a person who practices every day, who is a yogī or a sincere practitioner. You can see it immediately in the spirit of the person during an interval. You can see immediately if one has been practicing correctly and honestly or not. After your yoga class, when people go to the reception hall or cloakroom, you can see their spirit—how restless they are, how much they are talking, how they are behaving. This means the person did not understand, first, what yoga is. Second, you did not understand the master, meaning your yoga teacher. It means you do not know what you practiced, and it means you do not know where you are now. Therefore, be aware, be alert, be relaxed, be gentle, be kind. That is why our slogan is: "Yoga in Daily Life: The Harmony of the Body, Mind, and Soul." On the day you achieve harmony of body and mind, your soul will be so happy. Once I was at the airport in San Francisco with a few yogīs, practitioners, and disciples. Their behavior was completely opposite to that of normal people. We had two and a half hours to wait in the international area. A few went for ice cream, two went for coffee, others went to buy big cakes and chewing gum. They came with mouths full of chewing gum. I know ice cream is good, and every tongue is a spoiled one. Our tongue is not under control. All problems are because of the tongue. But it is not necessary to run twice to eat ice cream and cake. I had just arrived. Instead of coming to relax, they were sitting in the ice cream shop. I thought, I am happy to have some beginners in the class. There was one man sitting there, also flying to Auckland, New Zealand, from Los Angeles. He was a practitioner of Yoga in Daily Life, though he did not tell me initially. Afterwards, he asked, "Swāmījī, are they also practitioners of Yoga in Daily Life?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Okay." I asked, "Why did you ask?" He replied, "I was wondering how restless they are." I said, they are very much beginners. So you can see a person's radiance. You did not come here to go for ice cream. I know Austrian ice cream is perhaps the best, but still, you could control your senses. Atha yoga anuśāsanam. Maharishi Patañjali tells us in the first sentence: if you would like to be successful in yoga, if you would like to achieve what you came to yoga for—be it God-realization, self-realization, or health—then Patañjali said discipline is essential: discipline in eating, drinking, movements, talking, thinking, and where you are going. Do not think that a master like me does not know what a disciple is doing. Sometimes, not always, I can see sitting here what another is doing outside in the street. But I do not want to open this, otherwise everybody will make me restless and very busy. "Please, Swāmījī, tell me what my husband is doing there." For the sake of my husband's peace, I do not want to tell what he is doing now, or a wife, or something. So we have to learn. You are here to learn and realize something. Always follow the instructions of your yoga teacher, your master. A teacher should be a teacher, not someone who practiced for 10 or 20 days somewhere, came with a certificate, and said, "Hey, I'm a yoga teacher," and began to teach. Of course, I understand a teacher is exactly like you, practicing discipline. Discipline. Yoga will be successful if you have discipline. In America, they say self-discipline is the key to success. A solution to a fault is self-discipline. I am very happy you are here and had a good journey from different parts of the world. Welcome again. We will have beautiful programs, more practical this time, less theory, more practice. Kriya Yoga, which I have been constantly talking about for the last two days on the webcast, will be our focus. Also, Bandhas, Mudrās, Kumbhaka—Bāhya Kumbhaka, Antara Kumbhaka—and the differences among various Prāṇāyāma techniques. I know many of you cannot do them, but we will have demonstrators who will show and explain how. When I came to Vienna 40 years ago, my favorite exercises were the bandhas: Mūlabandha, Jālandharabandha, Uḍḍīyānabandha, and Mahābandha. But due to my Austrian disciples, who were undisciplined, they taught me something: to break the disciplines. Austrians like comfortable life. They always put a pillow behind me. Thanks to the Austrians. But my master told me very clearly, "My Eshwaranand, if you put a pillow behind, very soon it will come out in front." Like you, I was not listening to the master properly. So many times disciples spoil the master. Now Gurujī said to me, "It is easy to move the pillow from your back, but very hard to move that pillow which is in the front." I have been trying these last few years to move this pillow so I can demonstrate Uḍḍīyāna Bandha again. I can do it; there is no problem. But when something goes undisciplined and wrong, it requires hard work to get back on the right track. In yoga, people mostly come for health conditions, some for spiritual development, and some for philosophy. But the first thing is health. Yesterday you heard in the webcast: the first wealth is good health. Nothing can be compared with health. Someone said, "Health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health." Health you cannot buy; you have to gain it, which is easy if we are disciplined. Yoga is there for maintaining and realizing good health, physical and mental. Those yogīs who practice discipline—āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, mudrās, bandhas, kriyās, mantras—it is said that black magic and spirits cannot come near them. That yogī is above this; that yogī becomes like light. Where light is, darkness cannot come near. But those who are only yogī in their thinking, who think they are yogī, then of course difficulties can come: family difficulties, partner difficulties, and so on. Why? Because self-confidence is not there, self-control is not there, and self-discipline is not there. The yama and niyama are missing for such a practitioner. So, more practice, practice, practice. This is our subject. Let us begin. First, I must finish the explanation of Kriya Yoga, not the techniques. Kriya Yoga is given from master to disciple. Even if the master gives the kriyā to the disciple, and the disciple practices every day, if faith and confidence in the Master are not there, the kriyās will not be successful. It is like someone giving you the key to a beautiful new car with a good engine, good tires, and the best carriage. You have the key and a driving license from your master. Everything is there, but there is no petrol or diesel inside. How do you drive the car without fuel? One idea is to use two horses to pull your car. Similarly, those who practice Kriya Yoga but do not have devotion and love for their master cannot progress further. Often we make a mistake: we learn something, then think, "I do not need a master anymore; I am the master." And if your master tells you something, you become angry. But your anger toward your master will bring you back to your origin. Which origin? Where were you beginning with yoga? There is a small story. In a forest, about ten kilometers from a village, a master was living in a beautiful grass hut with walls made of mud—natural air conditioning inside. Gurus used to call it "natural air conditioning." It is the healthiest house to live in. In yoga, there is something called Kāya Kalpa, which means regenerating the body. They say if you perform correct Kāya Kalpa, then even at 80 years of age, through Kāya Kalpa, meditation, and energy, you can become like 18 again. I have the wish that I could do it too. I can do it, but you do not let me; I always have to give programs. The first condition is that you must live in a mud house with a grass roof, with no metal, concrete, or cement inside—only natural materials, mud plaster, and cow dung (but not from cows that receive daily injections and too much green feed). The room should be no larger than three by three meters—nine square meters, which is the highest auspicious number. Then comes the diet: what you must eat and what you must not eat. That is very hard for me. When someone tells me, "Do not eat chili," I say, "You can have your Kāya Kalpa." Or if they say, "Do not eat ice cream," someone might say, "Oh, I do not want Kāya Kalpa." There is a story of a farmer who came to the door of heaven. They took him to heaven and said, "Gentleman, you are here now; enjoy life. Everything is here." He said, "But I have forgotten my smoking pipe. Do you think I will get it inside?" They said, "In heaven, there is no smoking pipe." He said, "Then I quit heaven." So we are all here. We are not able to quit our bad habits, so you cannot have Kāya Kalpa. In that Kāya Kalpa diet, particular herbs are used. Nowadays, many people, even Āyurvedic experts, do not know which herb is where or how to use it. Charaka made a very nice Chyavanprāśa. It is said that if you eat one kilo of Chyavanprāśa, you become one year younger. Your eyesight returns, and all indriyas (senses) are regenerated. But nowadays, if you consume Chyavanprāśa like marmalade, your sugar level goes high. Knowledge is missing. Unfortunately, in this Kali Yuga, we yogīs, our Vedas, scientists—we have lost proper knowledge. So, the dietary program is limited. Then comes prāṇāyāma: prāṇa through nourishment and prāṇa from the air by practicing prāṇāyāma, which means manipulating or directing your breath rhythms. You must practice where, for at least forty meters around you, there is no artificial material, no plastic—only natural life. Then comes the divine energy of the mantra, your guru mantra, as well as different mantras for different times: Brahma Muhūrta mantra when you get up, mantras for sunrise, mantras before touching water and bathing, mantras before taking herbs, prayers to Mother Nature to bless you with her herbs. It becomes a divine life. That person becomes an enlightened one, becomes divine. Otherwise, we are merely lighted, not enlightened. Then Kriya Yoga comes from the first Kriyā Anuṣṭhāna. Kriyā Anuṣṭhāna must be done continuously for one year, following those disciplines. But we have no holidays for one year. Hardly do we have holidays for one month. For a one-month holiday, many people go to their families. For two weeks you come for yoga, and for two weeks you do kriyānusthān without discipline. After one year, you come to that spiritual kriyā where you put your consciousness, your mind, your attention into it. At that time, something awakens in the body; divine energy awakens. But we have to renounce many bad habits in our life. We have to realize contentment and happiness. Otherwise, of course, yoga is now well-known worldwide. Wherever there are humans on this planet, there is yoga. You may do just āsanas and prāṇāyāma and say, "Oh, I did yoga," and then have your bread and butter and drive your car. That is okay, better than nothing. You are doing some exercises. But if you would like to become a yogī, you can live with your husband or wife—no problems. The work which you can do and your wife cannot, you do it; what she can do and you cannot, she does. It is beautiful to live together, but not to do stupid things every day and shout, "Oh God!" A man who is angry with his wife has achieved nothing in life, and a wife who is angry with her husband—I do not want to say—both should have harmony, love, kindness. That is the beautiful life of a yogī. There are three different kinds of Kriyā Yoga. One is called Haṭha Yoga Ṣaṭ Karma, the six kriyās. Another is called Pañca Karma, used in Āyurveda. The third is the spiritual Rāja Yoga Kriyā. Rāja Yoga means self-discipline. To come to Kriya Yoga, first you must do the Ṣaṭ Karma, the Haṭha Yoga kriyās, then diet control, then mind control over anger and emotions. Then you come to āsanas and prāṇāyāmas, then to the bandhas. Bandhas open the dormant energy within our body. So: āsanas, mudrās, bandhas, concentration, mantra, meditation, Kriya Yoga, and then samādhi, where the knowledge, the knower, and the object all merge into oneness—God, realization, and thyself become one. That is the final aim or goal of human life. Therefore, the ṛṣis, the hermits, the yogīs who stayed in the forest did this research work for the well-being of humans, to protect and love other creatures and nature, and to attain realization. This is very important for us. Now, the story—I did not forget. Do not think Swāmījī has forgotten. What happens when a disciple thinks he is now higher than the master, stronger, or that he has all techniques and does not need the master anymore? Śāntideva, a good story. The master was living in a beautiful grass hut with mud walls, very natural. In that hut, there lived a nice mouse. Somehow the master was happy to have a companion, like a disciple, a nice mouse. The mouse was happy with the master. When the master returned from his walk, the mouse would stand with folded hands. The master brought him fruits from the forest. The mouse said, "Thanks to God that you came back, Master. I am very scared to be alone." The master asked, "Why are you scared?" The mouse replied, "I am inside your heart, and you closed the door. Thanks, Master, that you closed the door, but when you are not here, always a cat comes and goes around the hut, meowing, and I am scared, Master." The master said, "Oh, I see. Okay, I bless you; you become a dog." So the mouse became a dog. Now the cat was afraid of the dog. The master said, "I will make you stronger so the cat will be scared of you." The dog was very happy living with the master, who brought him milk, chapatis, and rice—a vegetarian dog. One day when the master returned, the dog was trembling. The master asked, "What happened to you, my dear?" The dog said, "Master, I am scared." "From what are you scared?" "You know, when you go away, some wolves come, and I am so afraid of them." The master said, "Okay, I will do something so you will be stronger than the wolf." He blessed him, and the dog became a very strong bear. Now the wolf was afraid of the bear. It was nice, sitting and sleeping, though snoring. The master told the bear, "Do not snore too much, otherwise go outside under the tree. I have to meditate." One day, the master returned to find the bear very scared. "What happened?" "Master, whenever you go away, a big tiger comes. I cannot fight the tiger; he will kill me." The master said, "Okay, I will make you a big lion, the king of the forest." So he became a strong, mighty lion. Both were happy. The master went to the village, bringing milk, chapatis, vegetables, and sweet potatoes for the lion. One day, while returning, the master fell and injured his foot, with scratches and blood. Every day when the master rested, the lion would come and lovingly lick the soles of his feet, giving a massage. The master would say, "Yes, okay, sleep." But today, when the master came, there was blood. The lion was licking it. The master said, "Okay, now it is okay; you should rest." But the lion kept licking where the blood was coming. The master said, "Do not do it; it hurts me." The lion did not listen. The master's leg was in pain. The lion said, "No, Master, I will eat the whole leg. Do not move." Now he wanted to kill the master. The master was lying on the pillow and said, "Oh, you little mouse, become mouse." He became a mouse again. The lion became a mouse. "Go under the bed, in the hole." This is what happens when a disciple or someone very close to you becomes dominating and naughty, thinking he is greater than you. Then disharmony comes, and the master can return him to his original state. The master is our ātmā, and our ego is that lion. That ego, the jīvātmā, does not let you come to the ātmā. When that ātmā, meaning God or the Master, becomes angry, or you lose confidence and faith, you are back where you started. Therefore, thankfulness must always be there. Even if you have more siddhis, more light, and more disciples than your Master, still the Master is the Master. Always the Master is in front of us; we are disciples. Similarly, even if you are a professor, a scientist, a docent, or a dean of a university, you are still the student. From the kindergarten sister who took care of you as a small child—when she comes, do not pretend you are a dean. For her, you are still that small child who could not even change a nappy. That is it. Like a mother and child, or father and child: even if you are a president of presidents, for your parents you are still that little boy or girl. That is called human feelings: respect, love, acknowledgement, to maintain humanity, human dignity, and protect human societies, all creatures, and nature. When yoga practitioners learn certain things and then think, "I do not need the master anymore," that is your biggest mistake in life, because now your spiritual development decreases. Our holy Gurujī said to Mā Prabhujī, "Day by day, my love should increase." Day by day, our love should increase for God. There is God. Do not think there is no God. There is God. Only we do not know. If we do not know, it does not mean God is not there. Someone may say, "Here in the basement of this hall, there are diamonds." We do not see them and say, "Ah, stupid, there are no diamonds. Who would leave diamonds there?" But the one who put them there knows. Similarly, those who have attained realization know there is a God. The difference between them and us is this: we do not know, and they know. So how to know? You must be a friend with them and go with them down to the basement to see what diamond it is. Practice, practice, practice. Not only your āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, relaxation, and meditation, but we must have a goal, a destination in life. A human has a purpose: to be a protector, a helper. The mission is to know God, to know "Who am I?" When doubt comes, it is like a lemon in milk. Never let doubt come. That is it. So, spiritual Kriya Yoga techniques are effective only if you have purified your Antaḥkaraṇa. Antaḥkaraṇa refers to the inner faculties: Manas (mind), Buddhi (intellect), Citta (consciousness), and Ahaṁkāra (ego). Purify your mind, intellect, consciousness, and ego. Then the antaḥkaraṇa is clear. Otherwise, it is like dust on a mirror. You want to see your face but cannot because it is dusty. Or when you take a hot shower, the bathroom mirror fogs up with humidity. You cannot see your face, and you are in a hurry to go to the office to make yourself up, but you see nothing. You must clean it, remove the moisture, dry it. Similarly, purify the antaḥkaraṇa: manas, buddhi, citta, ahaṅkāra. Where there is ego and selfishness, you become jealous, angry, allergic to someone. You see mistakes in others but do not try to see mistakes within yourself. Speak in such a language that everyone becomes happy and relaxed. Everyone is happy, and you are also happy. Words can be more painful than a knife. Words of hate, ego, domination, selfishness, greed, and jealousy are more painful than a knife. This is the enemy of humans, and we must clear it up. There is God. The God you believe in—yes, everyone has God in their heart. Everyone has faith in their heart. Everyone has love in their heart for something particular. Let that love grow. Do not search here and there. In the last century or two centuries ago, when one partner died, the other stayed alone for life. When the wife died, the husband did not marry again; he stayed alone in memory of his dear wife. If the husband died, she remained alone, even with children, and did not marry another. In memory, she spent her life, happy or unhappy. The memory was there, not changing. Where has that beautiful time gone? Where are humans going now? Which direction? What will happen to humans nowadays? There is something called belonging. We are longing to belong. But you have not realized that you already belong. Otherwise, all suffering and searching would be gone. The search stops there. Finally, we belong to that divine God, that light. That beloved one to which we belong—the stream of spirituality—will get us there. We belong forever in oneness, no duality. So, spiritual kriyā will be successful only if we purify our antaḥkaraṇa, our behavior towards others, our way of thinking, and are always ready to look at ourselves: what are you feeling and thinking? Very often, I am surprised how a person thinks and behaves towards another. How can it change? The mind changes constantly. It should not change. To become the master of your mind means your mind follows you, but now we follow the mind. Kriya Yoga begins with perfecting āsanas and prāṇāyāmas. Then comes netī, dhautī, bhastī, then relaxation, concentration, mudrās, and bandhas. Through these bandhas, we move from one chakra to another, unfolding like the petals of a lotus. That is the unfoldment of consciousness from unconscious to subconscious, to conscious, to higher conscious, and to cosmic consciousness. That is the end. The purpose of prayers, mantras, āsanas, bandhas, and mudrās is to realize that "It is." It does not matter what people say or do. You should know what you want. Clear your path with love. Practice. It is not that you hate someone. Of course, they may not understand you, but pray for them and love them. Do not behave like a fanatic. Do not be too strict. Often, husbands are angry with their wives because they are too strict, and the husband does not understand what his wife is doing. Understand naturally. Be more gentle, more kind. Or a husband towards his wife: understand gently, with kindness. So, practice āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, mudrās, and bandhas. Tomorrow morning we will have a nice program: from 6 to 7:30 at Gurujī's Ashram is prayer; 7:30 to 8:00 is breakfast; 8:00 to 9:00 is free time; and 9:00 to 10:00, āsanas and prāṇāyāmas here. From 10 to 12, someone called Swāmījī is coming. My God, who is there? The program will be announced. The webcast will be tomorrow, Austrian time—European time, meaning Austrian time, not England time. You could say French time, but Austrian is better because we are in Austria. From 10 to 12 will be the webcast, with practical instructions on bandhas and kumbhaka. I am very happy to have you here this weekend. I wish you a very good evening. God bless you till tomorrow at 10 o'clock. We will chant Om three times, all together. Deep inhale. Om. Om. Om. Śānti.