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Blessings to all of you from Mahāprabhujī, Devpurījī, Alakhpurījī, Gurujī. Blessings to all dear brothers and sisters around the world who are with us now through the webcast. Our webcasting is very uplifting—spiritually, as well as for health and philosophical knowledge. And to all the bhaktas, devotees, practitioners of yoga and daily life, thousands of you around the world, soon to be millions: you are all here in this hall, or joining via the stream. Most of you present are yoga in daily life teachers. For your information, we have with us our sister Kṛpā Devī, from Spital and the Drao region, a beautiful country neighboring Slovenia and Austria. She is working on something and has research to share. I would request Kṛpādevī to come and inform us about how many visitors we have through the webcast, YouTube, and so on—but please keep it within five minutes. Thank you. Kṛpādevī, come here. And no Austrian dialect! Hari Om to all of you here in the hall and around the world. Modern technology is a very good thing, because it brings us very close, and it holds many, many possibilities. I work on YouTube. I think almost everyone here knows about YouTube. It gives us the possibility to see webcasts—the Guruvākya, the speech of Swamījī in short videos. I personally work on YouTube, where we can present small, short videos containing Swamiji’s teachings. They have a maximum length of ten minutes, and each captures the essence of a special topic. So far, we have uploaded almost 600 videos, with six different playlists on different topics. We have one playlist with about 100 bhajans, one with meditation, one with āsanas, another with Holī Gurujī’s Living Wisdom series. Until now, we have had more than 800,000 video views. Yes, 800,000 views. We have been uploading videos to YouTube for two years, so the number is continuously counting. I think within one or two months we will reach one million video views. And this, dear brothers and sisters, depends on you—on how often you visit and show interest in the Yoga in Daily Life YouTube channel. We upload almost every week, and it is always something new and very interesting. So I hope all of you will join us on Yoga in Daily Life’s YouTube channel. Thank you. And Swamiji TV also. Thank you, Gurujī Scott. Thank you, Kailash, for this good information. Yoga in daily life is indeed a compact program—it is a multi-activity, multi-information effort. Yoga in everyday life is a comprehensive program with many activities and much information. It ranges from the children’s program to juniors and seniors. We also have yoga in prisons, yoga for the blind, and in many schools and rehabilitation centres. In addition, we do humanitarian and social work. We help wildlife, and especially in India where there is drought and no water, Yoga in Daily Life is helping to bring water to certain villages and to provide water for animals to drink. We also hold peace conferences and many other projects. So you are in the right place to join us. It always begins with a grassroots project. For instance, the news of today: dear Swamiji, we collect donations for your house by selling flowers—meaning for our projects and Om Āśram. And these are the children: Ula, Jīva, David... can you read all the Slovenian names? These small children were selling little flowers from the meadow and collecting donations. Can you imagine the idea? They are the agents of these ideas, our children. Now there are many questions, and I ought to answer them. My question can be your question too, and my answer can be an answer for you. But sometimes questions are not so satisfying to answer. We should know the context—color, time, and situation. And this is the case for many of you. So this question comes not only from one person but, I think, from many people all over the world. This problem faces the whole world: What to do if you live in an environment with alcoholics? The answer: don’t begin to drink. Protect yourself. And if you have influence, then slowly, slowly, give them treatment so that they will give up drinking alcohol. Unfortunately, everywhere you go, people are pouring alcohol on you. In airplanes especially—they prohibited smoking in airplanes, which is good. But now in aeroplanes, nearly everyone consumes alcohol, meat, and fish. So for vegetarians and non-alcoholics, sitting for so many hours in that airplane is a punishment. Many people begin to vomit when they come out, and it takes them a few days to recover. You will not die if you don’t eat meat or drink alcohol for two, three, or a few hours. So, all dear listeners around the world and you here, please write to all the airlines and the World Health Organization too. Thank you. There is a question from someone who would like to follow a flowery diet. I would like to clarify what a flowery diet means. There are two, actually three, kinds of flowery diet. First, a fruit-only diet—all kinds of fruits except bananas. Second, a flowery diet with milk products, dairy products. And third, for health reasons, and fourth could be a raw diet. So, there are some phalāhārī who do not eat any kind of grain—no wheat, no rice, no corn, no barley, and no salt. But they may consume pomfret and milk here, without rice. They eat halwā made from different sources, not from grain. They take a lot of milk and paneer, so it is not a true phalāhārī. The third, the raw diet, is only eating raw fruits, nuts, and vegetables. If I am not mistaken, I think they also use honey, and many do not use dairy products. In Yoga in Daily Life, we offer a flowery diet mainly for good health. And this should be done only by people who are overweight. Those who are underweight should not do it. For them, eat as much as you can—you are free to eat—but only vegetables and fruits. Quick meat? That’s all, and grains. No potatoes, no bananas, no milk products or dairy products. But you may have milk in your coffee or tea, and one cup of yogurt per day. Pregnant women should not do a flour diet. You may eat ten to twenty nuts a day; that’s all. A question came: can a flowery diet person eat tofu? No. Can a flowery diet person eat corn? No. Can a flowery diet person eat quinoa? What is quinoa? It is a kind of grain—no. Even quinoa is not allowed. Can a flowery diet person eat barley? No. What is that, yečmen? No. Can a flowery diet person eat ghee? Never. So you can eat vegetables, cooked or boiled, with spices, a little salt, and you may put oil or one teaspoon of ghee on them after the vegetable is boiled or cooked. Cut carrots long and make a nice chutney, a sauce, and whenever you feel that your jaw muscles need something to bite, dip the carrot in the sauce and enjoy. It will do great help for your body; you will experience kāyā kalpa. I have cancer—there is a question about someone who has cancer and is advised to have fruits, vegetables, and juices. Can I eat nuts? Not one kilo a day. Twenty-five grams a day. Where will my body get protein and fat? Don’t worry. The elephant doesn’t eat nuts and fat; he gets everything from vegetables. So don’t worry about fat. Ask how to reduce the fat—that is a good question. The body takes care of itself. Hari Om, why were these last two years in Strilky not an instruction seminar? Thank you. There is one question about pedagogical education in schools and colleges, and for children, it is a horrible thing. He or she doesn’t accept this. It’s the teacher, I think, no? The teacher. If you are a professor or teacher, then change the job. Go to other faculties, in other places, and write to your government—President, Prime Minister, and Health Minister. I agree with you, but I am not entitled to help you in this way. Therefore, either change the job or write to the government; they can do something. I am sorry for that. Now, everyone cannot write the questions. Maybe someone has a question, please feel free to ask. Very good, thank you. Yes, thank you. Yes, that was a very good question: banana and potatoes. Bananas have a lot of nutrition—potassium and many other things. But when you eat flowery food, you tend to feel more hunger, and you begin to eat three, four, five bananas. Then again your body will gain weight. If you eat one banana a day, it’s okay. And potato is the same thing. We are all potato masters. The potato made life easy for people: quickly cut, quickly fried, eaten. So when we consume a lot of potatoes because they taste nice, then again we are expanding. But if you keep it in limitation, then of course it is not bad. If someone has a problem gaining kilos, you know, there are some who are manufacturers and some who are consumers. Somebody has such a nature—only looking at food makes the body expand. So we are the manufacturers. And there are some consumers who eat and eat, but remain thin. Very often, questions ask me—mostly from the ladies: "My husband is so thin. Please, can you give some diet so that he becomes a little stronger?" And it’s a real story, I tell you. I told her: before your husband goes to sleep, give him a big glass of milk with two tablespoons of honey inside, and three bananas. She said, "It’s done." Within four months, he overtook her. And then she came to me: "Swāmījī, please, how to reduce his kilos?" So now he’s taking it, growing, growing. I said, "Stop the banana and the other things." She did, one month ago. But still she’s fighting, and he’s fighting that he will lose the kilos, yet constantly he remains heavy. So for people who can’t gain kilos and would like to have more, this is a therapy. What would be your advice for using the spices for children—the ones you described in the morning? Well, as long as the child is breastfeeding, it’s getting automatically spiced by what the mother eats. When the child begins to take solid food, don’t give anything hot like chili, but you can use some mild spices like parsley leaves, carrot juice, a little cardamom—these softer things, okay? If you don’t have enough iron in your blood, what would be your advice for the kind of food to eat? Yes, that was a good question. Seaweed, what they call spirulina. And eat black poppy seeds—about 50 grams a day. Add a glass, half a glass, of carrot juice, and some different root juices. There is a special pot, an iron pot, made of raw iron; cooking in that is very good, and it also gives you iron. There was something more I’ve suddenly forgotten. Yes, there are some apples: when you cut them, they become brown. These are the old apple varieties—the old kind of apples—and they have a lot of iron. When you cut such an apple and put it on the plate, after five minutes it’s brown. That is the iron coming in contact with oxygen. Also, what we call brinjal, the melanzani, eggplants—there are two kinds. One is when you cut it and keep it for a few minutes, it becomes brown inside. That has a lot of iron inside. That’s it. What is your suggestion? How long should a mother breastfeed the child? Normally, it is said that when a child begins to get teeth—seven, eight months at least, or one year. Is it okay for two years? Yes, it’s my case. Until I was five years old, I wanted to drink from my mother. So I was the lucky one who drank a lot. No problem. But after one year or ten months, you should give solid food: nicely cooked rice made into a paste, a little milk, and so on. Life is beautiful. Life is divine. The life which God gave us is great. But at the same time, for many people, life is a struggle. Life is hard. Why? Because we do not have the strength to endure and digest certain circumstances in this world. Life becomes a struggle when we have no limitation on our desires. Our wishes are too many. And a wish is also a kind of feeding for your brain, your emotions, and your intellect. With wishes, you feed your brain, your emotions, and your intellect. If a wish comes true, it becomes a burden for you. If a wish does not come true, it becomes a sad subject for you. Therefore, God Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad Gītā: "Arjuna, before doing any karma (action), know the form of your deeds." When you know the form of your deeds, or what kind of karma you are performing, then your viveka (discrimination) will show you a clear picture of what the result will be. Then your viveka makes you alert, and you will decide whether you will do it or not. That is why Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Gītā told Arjuna that he must know the way of his action. When he is clearly aware of it, then his viveka will forever show him the results of such action—and then he will decide whether to do it or not. Sometimes we wish, and the wish comes true. Then you don’t know what to do with that wish. If you deny it, it’s bad for you. If you accept it, it’s bad for you. It is said that there is a kind of mouse that is very long. When a snake mistakenly catches that mouse, the snake immediately realizes, "Oh, God! What to do now?" Because if he swallows the mouse, the snake will die. And if he lets it go free, the snake will become blind—because while living free, the mouse emits such gases that the snake will be immediately blinded. And that is the situation many of you face, mostly those who go through Facebook: you catch such a mouse, and now you can’t swallow it and you can’t free it. At that time, the mouse is searching for water—the snake, sorry. The snake dives into the water, and then he releases the mouse. So he is saved. So, satsaṅga is that water. You dive into the ocean of wisdom, and you spit out your old wishes. Wish means poison. Many situations in life, when we wish, can become trouble. You know the one story about a snake, I have told it several times. But similarly, there is another story. In the desert, one man was traveling. Desert—sand and sand. He had to go sixty kilometers on foot to visit someone. They are strong; they are not spoiled like us. To get one liter of milk from a shop half a kilometer away, we take our car. And then we get angry because milk costs ten cents more. But we are not angry about how much petrol we used. So we are spoiled. We have no physical condition. That man took his lunch packet with him, and in the morning when dawn began to rise, at four o’clock he started his journey. By eleven, he had walked nearly twenty-five to thirty kilometers. Hot, no water, no shadow. Suddenly, he sees a beautiful green tree one kilometer away—a banyan tree, which gives a lot of shade and is home to millions of creatures, from very small to large birds, many ants, many insects, and many more. The tree is a shelter for many creatures. The man was happy: "Oh, beautiful tree!" He walked there—beautiful sand, very gentle, clean sand. Outside, the temperature was nearly 50 degrees, and under the tree it was just one degree different. But for him, even one degree was a nice cool. Our ancestors said, our grandfathers and mothers said: when it’s hot weather, wear long, loose clothing. Because anyhow, when it’s warm, you will be sweating a little. But this cotton cloth covers your body and is loose, and a nice wind blows through—it’s a natural air conditioner. When you wear tight jeans, the wind can’t blow through. And now it’s completely opposite, especially the ladies. When it’s 25 degrees, they have nearly nothing on. No: when it’s hot and sunny, take a long dress. And with this pollution—physical pollution from cars and industries and such—to have your skin exposed is not good. So when elderly people see young people running with short trousers and a short shirt, half naked, they say, "Oh God, this person doesn’t know how to protect the body." And you are bombarded by many advertisers and posters. In hot climates, like the Sahara, the Middle East, India, China, people wear long dresses. Why do the ladies have veils? It’s not that they have to hide; it was to protect themselves from the sun and rain. And there are some people, what do you call them? Bedouins. They can sit completely covered while riding camels, and nobody sees them, but they know what is healthy. That’s it. So that man saw a beautiful banyan tree. He walked under it; the shadow was about 40 meters in diameter—a big tree. He said, "Oh, thanks to God, nice and cool." He sat down and opened his meal. He was thinking, "I’ve forgotten to take water with me. It would be very nice to have some nice, cool water." And suddenly, a very nice, cool pot full of water appeared. He said, "Oh, miracle!" He drank the cool water, but the food he had was very dry. "If only this food were fresh and warm, it would taste double." He took one bite, and with the second bite, the whole beautiful plate transformed into a fresh, warm meal. He said, "Oh, it must be some siddhi I have," so he ate. Then he thought, "It would be good to have a little rest." A nice bed. Suddenly, he found himself on a beautiful bed. "A cool breeze would be nice, like an air conditioner." Cool air began to blow. He rested for ten minutes. He said, "Now, the best would be a good coffee." But then he thought, "It’s stupid. From where will coffee come?" And he saw a beautiful cup and plate coming, full of coffee with cream on it. He drank the coffee. Then he said, "There is no village, no people. From where does all this come?" He lay down again, relaxing. "Maybe there is some ghost in this tree." And as he thought this, he saw a ghost sitting on the tree. He was paralyzed on the bed. "This ghost will kill me." And the ghost killed him. Finished. That tree is called Kalpavṛkṣa. Vṛkṣa means tree, and kalpa means whatever you wish comes true—but only under this tree. If you step one meter away, the wishes do not follow. This life, this world, is an endless desert. And this human body is that tree which fulfills all wishes. The mind is the traveler, and the mind has so many wishes. You fulfill and fulfill, but it is your own wish that will kill you one day. Therefore, without using viveka, if you wish for something, that can cause you trouble. That is why life is called a struggle—life is a danger. Therefore, God gave human life to protect all and to protect yourself. Love every creature. Tomorrow, you will hear in the lecture about the fight between the two—the Devas and the Asuras. Do you remember? This morning, we did a small test about memory. Who has the best memory? You judge yourself. There is nobody else to judge. And we know who failed. Similarly, tomorrow you will judge whether you are a member of the Asuras or the Devas. Who am I to judge you? You will judge yourself.