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Swamijis public lecture from Zasavje, Slovenia

A public lecture on holistic health, integrating yoga, Ayurveda, and spirituality.

"Health means balance. Where there is imbalance, health is suffering: physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual."

"Yoga means balance. And where there is balance, there is health: physical, mental, social, spiritual. And yoga means harmony."

Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda delivers a talk in a Slovenian theater, exploring health as a multidimensional balance. He connects physical well-being to spiritual principles, discussing the unity of creation, the role of diet and positive thinking, and the symbiotic relationship between yoga and Ayurveda. The lecture concludes with practical demonstrations of yoga exercises for the audience.

Filming location: Slovenia

Om sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, mā kaścid duḥkha bhāgbhavet, om śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. Salutation to the cosmic light, Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. In his divine presence, very good evening, dear brothers and sisters. It is divine blessings that I could be here this evening with you. The subject given is good health. That is very good. While driving through this valley from Ljubljana until here, I was thinking that you are very blessed. God is especially gracious to you. You have beautiful vegetation, enough good water, and peace. I was welcomed in this beautiful valley first by the mayor of Zagorje, his dear wife, and his colleagues. For the last 20–25 years, wherever I come in new countries or new cities, I plant a peace tree. The tree itself is the ambassador of peace. A tree is divine; a tree is our life. No trees, no life will be ours. One American Indian said, "When the last tree will be chopped off and the last fish will die, oh man, then you will realize that you can't eat your dollars." Mahatma Gandhi said, "There is no way to peace. Peace is the way." So, the tree represents health, a divine message. It began with this beautiful tree planting. Then we drove through this valley further, and again there was a warm welcoming here in front of the theatre—this hall—by the director in the government who is responsible for taking care of all multi-religious societies, Mr. Gulič. He is a very proper person, a person with deep knowledge and equal vision, not narrow-minded. Such persons are the pride of the nation. And you all, my dear brothers and sisters—there are many directors of the theatres and so on—I do not know all of you, so accept my warm regards and divine blessings. Health means balance. Where there is imbalance, health is suffering: physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. All should be in perfect balance. And we do have a choice in how to balance. It is said that Mother Nature knows how to keep balance in nature. Similarly, humans were aware and knew how to keep good health. But somehow we lost the knowledge, or we neglected that, or we cannot escape from certain things. That is why we are victims of different illnesses. The body has three dharmas, three principles: to be born, to grow, and to die. Our life and the life of the tree are the same. In spring, the tree begins to give new flowers, blossoms, and fruits. And in autumn, it renounces. It makes a complete cycle in nature. Similarly, we also have the same cycling, the changing of the tissues in the body. We are not separate. Winter influences us, as it influences the trees. Spring also, summer also, and autumn also. Nature still keeps its principles, but we humans do not. Therefore, we have to suffer the consequences. The Āyurveda system is the most ancient medical system. The knowledge or wisdom of Āyurveda was brought in Satya Yuga, millions of years ago, not only thousands. That time, according to Kumbha Melā, there was the churning of the ocean—which I will tell on Sunday, not now; you can wait till Sunday. It was a search for immortality, to gain the nectar. And God appeared with one beautiful pot full of nectar. That is called Amṛta Kalaśa. Kalaś is pot, and amṛt is the nectar. Nectar means immortality, and that was the message of Āyurveda. So the god of medicine is Dhanvantarī. It does not matter if it is Āyurveda or homeopathy or allopathy or naturopathy. The beginning of the thoughts, the message of medicine, is that the first instructions in Āyurveda state: the first happiness is a healthy body, mind, and intellect. So also, one of the Western philosophers said, "Health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health." So here we are. Nature gave them the abilities to keep themselves healthy and manage everything. But humans lost this knowledge and abilities. Therefore, the second message was brought by Lord Śiva before Dhanvantarī—that was before, or how the creation begins. It began with the eternal resonance, sound. Out of nothing, the resonance appears that is declared as OM. OM, endless universe—we do not know where is the beginning and where is the end. And that endless space is a symbol of the mother. That we call cosmic mother. That we call holy mother. So every mother is a holy mother. Every mother is a divine mother. Every mother is a good mother. It is said in our scriptures, the mother can never be a bad mother, except in some psychic illnesses. So mother is that which is endless space. And within her body, it means in the universe, that is called Hiraṇya Garbha, a golden embryo, a golden egg. That egg is life, which you have now in Christianity as Easter eggs. I do not know how you explain it, but for us it is that Hiraṇyagarbha, the cosmic consciousness. So space, and within this space, that consciousness—nowhere is empty—space is compact consciousness. That you may call God, that you may call Brahman, Supreme, love, or ultimate truth or light. It is not described in individual form. It is a oneness. And that awakening of that consciousness, manifestation of that consciousness, is with the resonance. Nādarūpa Parabrahma Vedā said, "The form of the Supreme is resonance." And that sound is still here in the entire universe. And every sand grain that resonates is here. In your every blood cell is the resonance. The entire body is nothing but a resonance. And that resonance, that power, is called yoga, which keeps two together, balanced: space and consciousness, the body and consciousness. So yoga means balance. And where there is balance, there is health: physical, mental, social, spiritual. And yoga means harmony. And finally, yoga means union: the union of the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness. It does not matter which way you will go. So that resonance, the first manifestation, was the resonance that we call Svayambhū. No one has created him. He himself manifests. And then comes the light. That is called Jīvanjyoti, the flame of the light. And that is called Śiva's light. Śiva means consciousness; Śiva means liberation; Śiva means truth. And then the manifestation begins. So old is the yoga. Now, Āyurveda and yoga, medicine and our yoga practices, are like two wings for a bird to fly. Both wings should be healthy, not only one. Similarly, husband and wife are one. Their bodies are like two wings. And our spiritual life and material life, these are the two wings for the soul to fly towards the Supreme. Tudi duhovno življenje in materialno življenje sta kot krili naše duše, ki mora leteti proti najvišjemu. 8.4 million different creatures are created by one creator, divided into three categories: Jelcher, Thelcher, and Dupcher—the creatures in the water, on the earth, and in the space. And out of them, one is the human. The human has got a special, powerful tool, and that is intellect. So the human intellect needs education, and a human can be educated endlessly. The capacity of the human intellect is limitless. But the body does not play with it. Therefore, the human, through certain exercises and food, reduces so-called stress. Do not put unnecessary thoughts in your mind. The aim of these 8.4 million creatures is to come back to that resonance, to the origin. That you may call mokṣa in Hindi, in Sanskrit, or liberation, or salvation, or one with the Supreme, eternal peace. So humans are capable of achieving this. We are all one. The ātmā, the origin, ātmā. The ātmā of a small ant, our ātmā, and an elephant's ātmā is the same. Different is the individual soul. So we are sitting here, many souls. Ātmā, we are only one. Here is a microphone, the bulbs, the loudspeakers, light, and so on: microphone, loudspeaker, the light. They are individual, different instruments. But the power within that is one electricity. Similarly, we are different in body, but the reality is we are one. That is called self-realization, God-realization. And according to that principle, the universal law, unless you get this self-realization, you have to cycle. So as an individual soul, we are fluttering on the waves of time through the entire universe, experiencing pleasure and unpleasure, darkness or light, pain, fear. And from time to time we manifest in form. So the aim of this creation is to come to the origin, that is all. Example: you know what is the ocean or the sea. Slovenia has a small part of the sea, but it still has a small sea. A small country, a small sea. But you know that you cannot divide with the intellectual borders, political borders. Very soon, the Slovenian water will be in Italy, and the Italian water will be in Croatia, and the Croatian water will be somewhere else. This is a conflict of the human ego, of pride. God never created the border. Oneness. So, the aim is to come back, and humans have got the opportunity. That means the human body. Now, through this body, we can get that realization, that achievement. And it takes time to get that realization, though we are human. And therefore, it is said, try to keep your body as long as possible, but healthy, so that you can practice your spirituality. Sanātana Dharma is an umbrella, that means the universal law. There is no book which says this is Sanātana Dharma and the rest is not. There is ocean, that is all. You call it Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and so on, but ocean is ocean. So, therefore, the duality is somewhere else. So, good health, my dear. Through this good health, we can come to or realize our aim in this life. If we miss the chance, we do not know where we will come. And if we will have this chance again... Many things happen in human life, good and bad, but the most terrible tragedy which will happen is that we have to leave this body without realization. Therefore, do not fight, do not create conflicts, do not say "my" and "yours." Work for something different. And so first priority for us is our health. We cannot buy health, we cannot get it as a present, but we can gain health while living a healthy way of life. Now, for me, it is a different, healthy way of life, maybe. And for somebody else, it is different. But we have to come to the majority. According to this Indian philosophy, or religion, or yoga, we have different bodies: physical body, mental body, astral body, and subtle body, and the causal body. Some say that the astral body and the subtle body are the same. We are not aware of the other four different bodies, but our system is connected continuously. My space now is relayed around the world through the webcast. You and me, we do not know in which country the camera or the computer is on. But they are connected with me. You know, in ancient times they said a yogī can appear at once in many, many places. But I am not that yogī. But thanks to what you call technology, it made it possible to appear at once, not only on this planet, but also on other planets through satellites. So, physical body, mental body, subtle body, causal body, and cosmic body—they are connected with us. If you are angry, all the five bodies are suffering, especially the four. If you are sad, all the four bodies get the gray color, aura. If you think negatively, you are poisoning your own being. If you are happy and you make others happy, you are enlightening your phenomenon. All four bodies are undergoing a healing process. Now, my action, from where it comes, that is important. Therefore, it is said, what kind of food you get. And if in this bread is some pain hidden or not. That is why we yogīs are vegetarians. Animals know several hours or days ahead that they will be killed, that something terrible will happen. Only one does not know, and that is human. And if you will know that in five days you will be killed or hanged up, what will happen to you or me? We will think of our money, our house, our country. What will be the first thought in us? What to do so that we come out? Fear, my dear. Fear is in every creature. Each gland of the body begins to produce those fearful hormones. And it remains in the flesh of the killed animal: the pain, the fear, the cruelties. And we do not know which animal had which kind of illness. Mostly now, how the animals are kept, they are all psychic ill, and that we consume in our body. That is why now, in this modern time, there is a very high percent of psychic disturbances in humans, or cancer, and so on. Stress is a factor in many illnesses. Therefore, you should know what you are eating. It is said that ill people used to go to Jesus, and his blessing was that people were healed. One day he said, "You are ill because you do not eat what you should eat." Eat the grains, nuts, honey, milk, and wheat. So we have to nourish healthy, healthy nourishment. And therefore, first, we shall take care that we get organic, healthy food, and we should take care that we have healthy drink. We should take care that we have proper nourishment. And that is called solid nourishment, liquid nourishment. Then comes the mental nourishment: the environment, the society, the partner, the family, the colleagues, the working place. This environment should be healthy. It means you feel good with them. Movement is nourishment. Keeping silent is nourishment. And breathing is nourishment. So you, my dear brothers and sisters, according to Āyurveda and yoga, you are your own doctor. You can protect yourself from many, many illnesses and lead or enjoy a long, happy, healthy life. But do not think that you will be here for one thousand years. One day, sooner or later, this body will go. How? That is in our destiny. We are sitting here in this hall, completely full. We do not know who will be the first. Only the stars know. So we pray to God to give some more time, that we can serve this divine planet. So Yoga in Daily Life is systematically designed as a system, and it has a very strong spiritual energy in that because it is coming from that channel, what we call Siddha Pīṭha, from the Śiva times, Alak Purījī Siddha Pīṭha. What do I mean by this? Your respected nation, your republic, Slovenia, has great respect and a very good relation with the world, with other nations. So your passport has a meaning, a value throughout the world. So this passport, the paper is not getting respect. It is your country, your nation, your politicians, your social workers, and you people. That you are proud of your country. Similarly, there are many spiritual channels that will let you go through and through. So, Yoga in Daily Life has blessings, and it is a systematic system: meditations, mantras, breathing exercises, prāṇāyāma exercises, and diet. Those who will practice will gain the spiritual channels, meaning a healthy way of life is like this river which is creek flowing here in your valley. And you are very thirsty; you can go and drink. That river will not come in your house and fall in your mouth; you have to make steps toward that. So you should know that your life is dear to you, and you would like to live healthy, happy, so that till the last minute of your life, you are conscious, aware, enjoying your life. For that, we have to do something: good food. Healthy food. Good food keeps body and soul together. And good thoughts keep body, soul, and consciousness in oneness. So, in your country, here in this part of the world, you have many good ways to be healthy. Whatever you are doing for your health, that is very good. And that is yoga and deathless life. Yoga and dead life means 24 hours. Lead your life according to these principles: do good to yourself and do good to others. Yoga in everyday life means that 24 hours a day, you live in accordance with these principles. Do good for yourself and for others. And, as Śaṅkarācārya said, "Who am I?" I am not this body, not this mind, not the intellect. Who am I? From where do I come? For what did I come here? And where will I go? These answers, if you clear it practically, then you are liberated. Then you have that knowledge. And to achieve that, we need a long, healthy life. Then we will understand the world. So, what we drink, what we will eat, where we go, with whom we are sitting—this all should be checked carefully. That is yoga. So what you believe, which God you believe, how you believe, the main thing is that you believe. And if you are an atheist, you do not believe. But at least you believe that you do not believe. That is also a belief, because the atheist is not a bad person; do not think. They are very aware of that, only they do not believe what you believe. They are very good people. They do believe in some universal principles. They are good-hearted people, so who are we to judge that someone is not good? So do not judge others, judge thyself. Whatever I do, it will reflect on me. So our life is existing on food. So healthy food, organic food, vegetarian diet, milk, and what you call your yoga exercises, that will keep us healthy. Now, there is another factor why we are unhealthy. And we are all guilty of that. This modern society has created lots of pollution. And in certain things, we cannot avoid. I came this afternoon from Ljubljana to here by car. Unfortunately, my car was not one which will run only with air. It is petrol. Definitely, it created some pollution. So we cannot blame anyone; we blame ourselves. So go cycling. When you go shopping, just half a kilometer, one kilometer, do not go with the car. Walk or bike. Your Yoga in Daily Life teachers will tell you how to clean your inner body. That is Haṭha Yoga techniques: six techniques. That is called Haṭha Yoga. Otherwise, what you are doing is Rāja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jñāna Yoga. And that is the cleaning process: netī, dhaūtī, bastī, naulī, tratāk, kapālabhātī. If you do this, you will not be affected, or you will have little of what we call the allergic problem. Now, very simple things. We are coming back. Every morning when you get up, drink this pure water from this city. Three glasses: one for yesterday, one for today, and one for tomorrow. Three glasses of water. Then move in your room, or in the garden, or go to the bathroom and so on for 20 minutes. And then you can have your coffee, or tea, or milk, or water. If you can keep this water in a copper pot, it will have a good effect. So, at a minimum, half a liter of water is what you should drink first thing in the morning. I know you are healthy, but you will see how much healthier you will get. And this is not very hard. I am coming from a country where there is very little water. I am always carrying water with me because you never know when you will get the next glass of water. You do not know what water is. You do not know. When it is raining, you say, "Oh, terrible weather." And when one drop falls, we say, "Thank you, God." That is it. From the cold winter, when one day the nice sun is shining, we say, "Oh, God, nice sun shining." And we have enough of it. You have the songs in Europe, "Always Sunshine on Your Face." And we have the song always over you. It should be a nice shadow, a cool shadow. So, dear brothers and sisters, exercise, healthy food, positive thinking, early morning drink a glass of water—that will give you very good health. Is there someone who has not yet practiced yoga? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Thank you. One thing is very well known among Slovenians. They are waiting until others will raise their hands up. One did, and then went very hands up. I will give you three very short exercises. One was the water, and three other exercises. So, is there anyone who can demonstrate and come here, yoga teacher or student? You can come there. Oh, very good. Thank you. So, first exercise, psoas, turn this side of your face. Thank you. Go a little back, thank you. We do not need mattresses. No, we need you. Come on, girls, here. Thank you. Come, come, quickly, quickly. Very good. There. There. One. Thank you. And second, here you come here. Yes. Very good. Vajrāsana. Sit down in Vajrāsana. This posture will remove the tiredness from your body. Very nicely, these ligaments and these muscles, the seen muscles, are stretched. After long running, you will see sometimes a person goes to the tree, holds the tree, and then bends the knee. Automatically, their back is straight. It means the whole body is relaxed. It means the neck is very free and relaxed. So, shoulder and leg pain will release. Because the spine is straight, your lungs are nicely free, the whole diaphragm—it is more volume of taking oxygen. And because your back muscles are relaxed and your body is straight, the entire digestive system is relaxed in this place. So this is good to do also after eating. Sit like that for five minutes. Second, it is best to remove the stiffness and pain from your back. But if you have a problem with a slipped disc, sciatica pain, or pregnancy, do not do it. Then you need a doctor's advice. The female body has many spasms during menstruation. This exercise, which we will do, is a blessing to release the pain immediately. You need not take a painkiller. It will keep good digestion and remove the shoulder, neck, and back pain. Yoga is coming from nature, and therefore this exercise is called Marjari, the cat pose. Very flexible, beautiful back, have a cat. And after a long time sitting, when the cat gets up, she is stretching her back like a heel up, and then she presses her back down. So, now they will do it, Marjari. Inhale... you can tell in Slovenian... exhale and inhale. Now, normal breath please, remain there. Look to your stomach, look to your navel. Now this is stretching the back muscles. Inhale, look up. Now, pressing the muscles, the stomach, or the front part of the trunk of the body is stretched. Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, polako. You were too quick. Go down again. Yes. Yoga in Daily Life is balanced, slow concentration. But they are the yoga teachers, so they think on the highway they can drive 20 kilometers speed a little more. So, slowly inhale and slowly come up, nine, exhale, sit down. Once more, one, and go ahead. Doing. On the ninth time, you come up. Some people have problems with their knees, and they cannot sit like they were sitting. In that case, you can go directly on these four hands and knees and do your exercises. Always exhaling while bending forward, and inhaling while bending back. This is one exercise, very good. The second is called Kaṭhūpraṇām. To remove the stress from the whole day, it gives more energy, and it also supports developing immunity in the body. And supports the immunity of your body. Kaṭhūpraṇām. One, polako, mister. Hey, slowly, always like this. Hands down. Three, say eight. In yoga, there is no competition and no challenge. As slow as you do, that much effect you will have, that much benefit. And to do slow takes more energy than just to do it like this. Seven, this was eight, sorry, or nine, I forgot a number. Eight, nine, up, whatever it is, go down. Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Very good! That was a test for the teachers. So once more, please, do it yourself, round slowly. So you see, in this exercise, Khaṭu Praṇām, it is movements, stretching, postures, and dynamic. All these three are in one exercise, all combined together. It is also very good for the arm muscles, for the shoulders, for the back muscles. That is called Kaṭhu Praṇām. There are similar exercises called Sūrya Namaskār, Candra Namaskār, Guru Namaskār. These are different exercises. This will give you immense energy, especially when you come home from long work, or before breakfast, or in your yoga class. So this is the second exercise. Thank you. Now the third one, then I will leave you free. So, girls, you just relax. Lie down on your back. All right. Moment, moment. Hey, head here, legs there. Not to people. Head here. Yes, okay. Now you come here. For everyone, this is a blessing exercise for your body. It will keep your blood pressure in balance if you do it every day. It will remove the unnecessary thickness of the stomach. It will keep your digestive fire strong. And it is said that it is a protection against cancer. It burns all negative energy from the body. And that is called Agniṣār Kriyā. You do it in the morning after going to the toilet, before or after taking a shower. It takes one or two minutes, but the effect is very great. So, you turn, come this side, please. Go there again where you have been, more back, more back. Thank you, and look a little in that light, like the cameraman always tells me, okay. Now, what he will do is move the stomach in and out while holding the breath outside, Agniṣār Kriyā, purifying and awakening the fire, the digestive fire, and it is very good for the pancreas. So, first he will inhale, exhale, and slowly bend forward with his hands on his knees, and move this table. And when you feel that you must inhale, then you come up, inhale, and exhale. Now, please do it without my instructions, according to your capacity. And those who have a constipation problem will also be released. Good for eyesight, good for the stomach muscles, intense tones, circulation, very, very good. So once more, please. Thank you. After every yoga exercise, relaxation is very important. So health is life, and life is health. Health means balance. Health is not everything. Everything is nothing without health. Health cannot be bought; health can only be gained. To understand the creation and principle of the nourishment, movements, and healthy food—organic and good water, yoga, and daily life exercises—systematically. And always remind your teacher: every day in the morning you drink half a liter of water. Then anything else. That water after the Agniṣār Kriyā—first Agniṣār Kriyā and then water. And then Kaṭhopaniṣad. Then enjoy your breakfast: bread, butter, cheese, honey, or what they call cereal. Fresh things. Now you have a cereal. Very good. And good strawberries. Oh, you cut your strawberries and make decoration. And good ripe cherries, that we say. My God, I cannot talk, my mouth is full of the juice. And some nice honey, one spoon. And then prayer, if you like. Otherwise, at least you should say to your wife, "Thank you for a good breakfast. Enjoy." So, dear brothers and sisters, this was the main instruction or thought about health: that our every action, food and drink, and society influences all of our five different bodies. Positive has positive influence, and negative has negative influence. If there is something you did not like or if you felt offended, please forgive it. And which you do not like, leave it here. And we should like you to take it with you. I pray to the Almighty for your good health, harmonious happiness, long life, and spiritual development. God bless you. Om Śānti, Śānti, Śānti. Om Śānti Śānti...

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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