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Good morning to everyone. This blessing comes from the beautiful country of Slovenia. Earlier this morning, I visited a home for the elderly, a senior house in the city of Kranj, accompanied by the mayor. More than 200 older people live there, with about 50 having the freedom to come and go. It is perfectly organized, very clean, well cared for, and medically supported. They practice yoga in their daily lives. Some are 102 years old, some 101. One person, 101 years old, had a slight memory problem and some joint pain. She practiced yoga daily with one of our teachers, Lalitha from Ljubljana. Within a month or two weeks, they said her memory improved tremendously, and the pain in her knees and back disappeared through those yoga and daily life exercises. They are very happy and always look forward to their yoga class. The second thing that surprised me was their very nice welcoming with singing. My surprise was that all these elderly people knew a long Slovenian song by heart. You people sing a bhajana a hundred times but still have to read it. This means your memory is 78% less than that of the elderly people there. She was 102 or 101 years old and had joint pain. I said, "Don't worry. Now people have pain when they are ten years old." So all of you are suffering. Someone has pain in the knees, ankle joints, back, shoulders, or fingers. You can judge for yourself: how good is your memory? Now we will have a test to judge our memory, an individual test. It doesn't matter how many you are—hundreds or thousands. The test will be at the same time and will take only one minute, half a minute. Let's see who will be the winner. This is a competition about memory, like an Olympic game. Who will win the gold medal? Ready? Who knows 51 telephone numbers by heart? Friends, family, colleagues, office, anyone. Fifty-one numbers by heart. The golden champion, you are the winner. Is there anyone who knows 51? Thank you. It took very little time to judge. I will minimize it to 14 numbers by heart. Okay, you lost the silver medal. Now, thirty numbers—who knows thirty by heart? Thirty, three zero. Please raise your hand. There is one lady. You know thirty numbers? Come and write them down, and I will call all 30 numbers. She will write all the numbers. Thirty numbers you know by heart. Very good. So you have the golden medal. I was right that we have 70% less memory than before. You people have no memory. When someone is telephoning, you say many times, "Please repeat once more, I have to write the telephone number." One said, "5, 9, 8, 6." "Please, can you say once more slowly? 5, 9, 8, 6. Okay, 5, 9, 6, 8. Was it right?" That's our condition of memory. Now the question is: why? Who will answer? Will the winner answer? Can you tell why? Please stand up. Can you tell how to practice memory? Tell them how to practice memory. Thank you. Can someone else say why memory is getting less and less? Was I clear? Laziness, somebody said. Thank you. Is there someone more? Because we have everything in written form, and modern technology gives us this chance that we don't have to memorize things. We always have everything prepared again. Too much information, media, advertising from all sides. Do you know by heart how many restaurants and clubs you have in your city? Girls, boys, you know, but you don't dare to say. This is a catching question. I can see on everyone's face. These restaurants, these clubs where you are every evening, are the cause of your little memory. Number one. The last one told about so many advertisements and this and that. Second, as Dayālpūrī said, we always write down our record. So now we are depending on writing. Third, the food we eat doesn't have that energy or nutrition which our brain needs. And on top of all this, you don't practice everyday āsanas and prāṇāyāmas. So, day by day, your memories are getting lost. If you continue like this, I hope this evening when you come back from the restaurant, you will know the house number and will not knock on other streets, on someone's home. That will happen to you if you don't do those exercises which keep the memory fit. There are many practices to develop your memory. Try to remember a number by heart—one number per week at least. Some people remember after seeing or listening only three times. But because you have no memory, your brain is full of calcium. Like when persons are old, 120 years, then in German this is Verkalktes Gehirn. So all these young people's brains are somehow compact cement. Why? Because it is not practiced. When water flows, it's clean. Then it remains stuck in the canalization and begins to smell bad. Therefore, you should practice. The best technique for memory to develop is to sleep enough. Especially for students, they must sleep eight hours a day. By nine o'clock, in any case, you must be under the sleeping blanket. And by six or five o'clock, on your legs. That student will be brilliant and will pass all examinations with closed eyes. Another one: even if God is sitting with you, you will be like frozen ice cream. On examination day, you are very nervous. "Swamiji, will I pass my examination?" Swamiji always gives a positive answer: "Yes." But did you learn? Yes. Nine o'clock, go to sleep. Students, this is your future life. Don't destroy your future life. Then you will live long and healthy and enjoy life. First, you need your brain to be strong and have enough space for your memory, to put those things in the brain which are your subject of life now, in this time, and not the other things. Next is the silver medal: 25 numbers by heart. Where are you going? With the children, okay. Good. And the brass medal: 20 numbers. Thank you. Alright. Now please concentrate and write down or remember. You have to write it down because your memory is not. You know, when one is blind, unfortunately by birth or by disease, and God protects us, we should live healthy. We thank God that we are healthy. The healthy brain has so much space inside. Everything is compact. So, write down. Why do we write down? We write down because there is one nice, beautiful dog, well-trained, and he leads the blind person even through the traffic light. More than time, we are that blind one, and paper is the dog who leads us—that white dog. So, please, use the dog. How to train the memory. Number one: sleep minimum seven hours, minimum. Every eight hours, best ten hours. Yes. So seven hours minimum sleeping and three hours practicing: āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, meditation. All exercises bending forward support your memory because more blood supply and more oxygen supply go towards the brain. That is the best nourishment for the brain. But you should know that you don't have your eyes easily bleeding or becoming red, or you have some kind of dizziness, or you have some problem with the cervical. The best for memory, concentration, and anti-stress—three things—is Śīrṣāsana. Śīrṣāsana means head standing. Begin slowly, according to your book, Yoga and Daily Life. Come to the time of five minutes standing on the head. If you practice every day, then after one year you come to five minutes. Your memory will be brilliant. No stress will be there, and good concentration will be there. You will be less angry. You will be less angry when your mother wakes you up in the morning and says, "My child, get up, you have to go to school," and you say to your mother, "Don't disturb me, I'm tired." Then the father comes. Mother says, "Should I call your father?" Then you are so angry, throw the blanket away, and run into the bathroom. Thanks to God that the father is at home. So, Śīrṣāsana, head standing. They said, before practicing your āsanas and prāṇāyāmas, you should take one glass of milk with one tablespoon of almond paste, or eat one handful of almonds. Especially very, very important for young children. The best nourishment for the brain is, they say, fat and sugar. So it means milk and almonds, and you can put honey inside. That's very, very good for students. You know these prasād pockets you always bring with the nuts—not chocolate, nuts. I understand a little bit of Slovenian, and this is written on it: "Student food." From many, many years long. So it is advised that for students, it is very good: nuts and raisins and this. And what do students do now? In an interval, they run to the fast food bite, and they drink black, cold liquid, which has nothing inside. How can the brain be helped? Therefore, students should consume fruits and vegetables, as they drink milk or yogurt or juice, and nuts and honey. All vegetarians have the best, brilliant memory. You know, about three years ago, or nearly four years now, before four years, the President of America, Bush, Mr. Bush, had a lecture in a university. He told the students, between Vivek Purī and more to the Sāvitrī Devsik, and pull your ears, he said to the students, Americans, you must study properly. Otherwise, very soon, the Indians will take over everything. And he said, "All who are vegetarians, they have a good brain." In America, they say at the university or any college, when the examination is, there is some Indian who said, "Oh, don't worry, he will take the first number." Because they are vegetarians, their way of eating and living. They have little interest in the clubs, and they have more interest in their future and their studies. Last Wednesday, I was in Nova Gorica, and one of the directors of that theatre, a very nice man, a very good gentleman, said he visited India—in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore—he visited the education centers. I tell you in his words what he said. He was so surprised and delighted at the knowledge of the mathematics of these Indians, these students. Unbelievable, he said. Why? They are humans, we are humans. But the wrong way of eating makes us suffer. So don't consume meat. Don't consume eggs and fish. Consume fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, good nuts, and good spices at home, made, not a powder. I can tell you, if you will accept my advice, in one year you will be a completely different person. So, enough sleeping. Quit your night activities, and concentrate on your study or on your profession, your job. And spend more time with your family. To spend time with parents and children is anti-stress meditation. Of course, the father and mother should not be quarreling all the time, or the children should not quarrel always. So when the father is angry, or the mother, then the children should say, "Don't be angry." When you are angry, then one of the parents will say, "Don't be angry." In family, there's always a little bit of argument, but that's not fighting. Therefore, spend more time with your people. That's very healthy. Your family members, they do care about you. We say blood is thicker than water. So it doesn't matter how it is; your family member will not harm you, except someone is mentally crazy. Sleep enough. Spend time with the family. Concentrate on your study or your profession. And third, fourth point: be good to your friends. And always talk good things, never talk negative towards others or gossip. Such friends are also family members. Practice your āsanas, prāṇāyāmas, meditation, and mantra according to Yoga in Daily Life. Eat every day a minimum of 25 almonds on an empty stomach, with a little milk or juice. Someone doesn't like milk, then some juice or yogurt. Then go to work. This is very important. Now, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Try to eat as much fresh food as you can—organic. Many people used to take their food in one thermos to their job. Because at home, mostly your wife or your mother is cooking. And in that food is love, and in that food, you know what is inside. When you're cooking something, you are supposed to pray—mantras, or put nice mantras on the recording, any language which makes happiness. Now, this resonance of the chanting mantras, or very nice music, Western music, which is very, very nice, is very harmonious and monotonic. That has a vibration that goes into your food. Don't put music in your kitchen which is "BUM, BUM,... B." Spices, not in powder form. At home, prepare everything. Buy the raw spices and grind them at home with the hand, with the stone, not with the electric machine. And if you have an electric one, it should have a stone plate, with slow movements, like a coffee machine, slowly. When you grind the coffee beans fresh, it has a different taste. And now, all other coffees have different aromas, chemical aromas. So, you know, I would say ex-Yugoslavians connected further to Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. This is the Balkans; they love coffee, but not like this coffee that we get here. They grind first, then they put it in boiling water, long boiling, very strong. Then they filter it in a small glass with a copper holder. Three spoons of sugar, no milk. And then, there is still coffee inside, which didn't filter completely. And first you drink water. Then you take a very little sip. That's called coffee drinking, kāvā. That's known, famous as Turkish coffee. So coffee should be hot like fire and black like a head, and sweet like... love. That's good coffee. So, why am I telling this? I'm not a coffee drinker. I mean that homemade is always healthier. When the spices are ground with an electronic machine and the iron plate, the metal plate, the speed is too high. All the substances in the spices are burned, lost. That's why you go near the grinder and you smell something nice smelling. That's burned everything. So, in every house, you should have a little stone for grinding masala, and that's very, very healthy. Very healthy, I tell you, in one year you will feel a change in your health and little possibility of getting illnesses or cancers. Now, in winter, if you can't get green spices, then in summer you collect green spices and dry them. Like you are drying different herbal teas, and then you grind them. That will support your memory. That will support your gland systems. That will support your circulation. You will look healthy. You will look in the mirror and you will say, "Yes, I look healthy." Yes, every day, look, I feel better, I look healthy. Oh, today is much better. This is a self-suggestion. And you know what will happen after one month, one year? Your makeup expenditure will decrease to 25% only. Because from nature, you will be again so beautiful, healthy. Do we make a makeup for a small, born child? One month, two months, a year? No, their skin is so beautiful, gentle. So I don't promise you that you will be like a one-month or two-month-old child, but you will be healthy. So go, nine o'clock sleeping—except for the yoga seminar. For the students, normal time. Waking up now from the exercise, which exercise should we do for memory? I will show you a demonstration here. Please, any boy or girl, come to the front. No girls, no boys. Come, some old men. You are not old men. Okay, but I can say, in this modern time, we are the oldest ones. Very good. Here, thank you. Now, the exercises for memories. First, Vajrāsana is very important for developing the memory. Then there are two postures which we can do in this Vajrāsana or from Vajrāsana. One is called Śaśāṅkāsana. One and two remain there. This is because more circulation and blood flow towards all the gyānendriyas and the brain. It's very comfortable, but if you have problems with your eyes, eye pressure, nosebleeds, or dizziness, then don't do it. It's very comfortable, very relaxed. And many times you find a small child sleeping like this. Two, three, and four. So now you can see color on his face. I have no mirror, otherwise I could show you. Moran, come and sit here. Check the color, different. Yes, look between. Now he is getting red because I called him. Special energy, no? Okay, good. So the second you come this side, do you practice every day? Of course. So that was Yoga Mudrā, no? Satsaṅg āsana for memory development. Second Yoga Mudrā: so you inhale and bring your hands on the back. Hold one of your wrists or interlock your fingers. Exhale and bend slowly forward until your forehead touches the ground. Normal breath. It's very nice. It's very, very nice. It removes the tension from the back. It helps your diaphragm to expand more and take more oxygen, or breath capacity. And more circulation towards the head. And it is very easy. After that, slowly come up. So, three to five minutes remain in this position every day. It is not that you have to repeat many times, but you remain for a long time in the same position. That's why it's called āsanas. If you do it quickly, it's exercise. Āsana means kāya-sthairya, the body is motionless. Śaśāṅkāsana and Yoga Mudrā. Second, the third, Bhūmi Pāda Mastakāsana. Bhūmi Pāda Mastakāsana. That's very, very good for the memory. So, please, everyday practitioners of yoga in their life, this, if you have no balance, you can put your legs a little apart. And when you find it difficult, then bend the knees and come down. And the rest in Śaśāṅkāsana. This also you should not do if you have some difficulties in the cervical. And slowly come up and relax. Bhūmi Pāda Mastakāsana. It's very good for memory, for concentration, for balance. Daily practitioners' bodies have a different attitude, and those who don't practice systematically daily have a different attitude. And you never know when Master will call you for demonstration. So anyone will be. So this was the three: Śaśāṅkāsana, Yogamudrā, Bhūmipādamastakāsana. The fourth one is called Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā. So, you know Goran? Okay, so you can sit. So, Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā. Gopāl, oh, you have a problem with the hand. Okay, so this you all know. Some people call it half-shoulder standing. But this is not a half shoulder stand; this is called Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā. This posture is used for doing Kriyā Yoga. There are 64 Kriyās. And when I see the person is really practicing, then I can give the next kriyā. Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā. Viparīta means opposite. So now the energy is flowing opposite, from upside down, it means towards the head. Mudrā is posture. It is very good for the solar plexus, thyroid, and very good for purification of the chakra, going through this posture towards the head, the kuṇḍalinī energy. It is good for eyesight and the best for what they call the side kidneys. Side kidneys, they say, Nebennieren. There is another medical term, I don't know. People who always feel tired, though the blood test is very good, now you can relax. You have enough iron, you have enough of all kinds of, what you call, the elements. But still, you are tired. Potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamins—everything you have enough. But still, you are so tired. They said this is your side kidneys, they have slid it all down. And many times, doctors operate to hang it higher again. Without any explanation, still you feel tired. And this Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā is a blessing. After three days, you will feel 70% better. Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā, and this is also very good for the memory. Now, the fifth one for memory. And that is Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana in standing, legs apart. Now he knows he is a yoga teacher, and he will perform, and we will see. This is also very, very good for memory, for balance, concentration, and very good for the leg muscles and the ligaments. So this is very good for the memory and everything. If you had an operation recently, a knee operation, then you should avoid it. But they said sometimes this is very good for the treatment of sciatica pain. And finally, there are some more, but you have no time. Finally, there is one posture called the king of all āsanas. Which is the king of all āsanas? Hand up, girl, dog, dog. One, which one? Are you sure what you are saying? Yes. Sure? Yes, Śīrṣāsana. So, that's it. And you all know very well. And that's also good for students. I can tell you something very secret. It replaces your sleep. In the morning, you look fresh. Your father and mother think that you are sleeping, but you are in some local restaurant. You come back, and early morning you practice this—Śīrṣāsana. There are different variations. Śīrṣāsana, king of all āsanas, supplies immense energy to the brain, and it develops concentration, memory, and relaxation, while removing stress. If someone has read the life story of one of the famous politicians called Nehru, he was a disciple of Gandhījī, or close worker, always he followed the footsteps of Gandhījī. At least he tried. And it doesn't matter where he was, in which country, or how busy he was. He said every morning he did ten minutes of Śīrṣāsana. Like you spend time for drinking coffee or tea or smoking, he spent the time for Śīrṣāsana. That helped memory, concentration, and the ability to work more. It develops the personality. It is like the unfoldment of the consciousness levels. And it controls all the indriyas, which we will speak on Sunday evening, tomorrow in Kumbh Melā lecture. There is another exercise posture which replaces the Śīrṣāsana. That's called Vṛkṣāsana, the tree. That's a little easier. So these are the seven postures, or the exercises, āsanas, for your memory, to keep your memory up to date: Śaśāṅkāsana, Yogamudrā, Bhūmipādamastakāsana, then Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana, Viparītakaraṇīmudrā, then Śīrṣāsana, and the seventh one was Vṛkṣāsana. This seven is a good number. After doing these seven postures, you do the Bhastrikā. You know the difference between Bhastrikā and Kapālabhāti. First, you do the Bhastrikā. Bhastrikā and Kapālabhāti both should be done with the help of the abdomen. Bhastrikā is equal to the level of the breath, the frequency of the breath. Kapālabhāti has more pressure on the exhalation. So first you do the Bhastrikā 21 times or 50 times, and all, you know. So please, Bhastrikā is very good, and you can do it. If you are doing it for a long time, then you can... Do directly with both nostrils. And after that, two or three rounds with fifteen-fifteen numbers can do the Kapālabhāti. And that is for your memory. So again, long sleeping, spending more time with parents or children, family. Third, good nourishment, fresh, homemade. Four, avoid all the contents of meat, eggs, fish. Five, no meat, take almonds, a little milk and honey, or only honey and almond paste. And then do the exercises, these five or seven. You can also add Agni Sāṅkriyā. So, these are for your memory and development. If you have a computer or access to a computer, then look on Google and search for the spices, and then read the benefits of those spices: effect on the body, the content in the spices—spices like cardamom, spices like the Haldi, spices like cloves, spices like chili. Now, chili, there are many different varieties of chili. Many, many varieties. A few years ago, some years ago, I heard once a commentary on the chilies, and they said, "The chili, which is bigger than what you call pepperoni or paprika." It means it has a thick fruit. They are also hot, mildly hot. They are very, very good for the health. But those chilies which are small and thin, full of seeds only, they are very harmful for the health. They can cause even cancer, intestinal cancer. They can make holes in your elementary channel, the food channel. So generally, when you buy chili paste in a jar, you don't know which chilies are mixed in. Therefore, buy the whole chili, the big one, dry or green, and then utilize it at home. The mustard seeds, the sesame seeds, and then the coriander—the seeds and leaves, what effect do we have on the body when we utilize that? Then there are many of these spices, which in Europe you also have many things: parsley leaves, the horse carrot, horseradish, and many of these spices. Now, you should know in which food, which kind of spices you should put. That's very important, and you can read that in Ayurvedic or good cookbooks, vegetarian cookbooks. Also, the saffron, also the garlic—some say garlic is tamas guṇa, yes, if garlic is fried in oil, it becomes tamas. Garlic and onions, if you fry too much in oil, they begin to burn. Again, it is said that it can also cause cancer. But fresh garlic and fresh onions are very gently fried. They are good for the health. And especially, garlic makes our blood thin, so it keeps our veins and arteries clean. So there are many, many spices which you find now in your meadows. The mint also, dry them and store for the winter. Now, this is the little instruction. Now, what I do, for example, what we did at home always—if we cook three times, we did three times. This is called a health stone. So, let's say we will cook vegetables now. So I will put three or four chillies, dried chillies. And before that, I will soak it in the water for 10 minutes. I will put the chili, and then I will put half a teaspoon of coriander, half a teaspoon of black mustard, and like half a thumb of haldi root, three centimeters. And that also I will grace it first and suck in the water, 10–15 minutes only. And then put it on. Then I will put half a teaspoon or a little salt. If garlic, then a few cloves of garlic, and then grind it. Your third neighbor, not the first neighbor, the third one, will get so much appetite because the aroma goes. Such a good aroma. That means you are doing something good for your health. If you have cancer, please take this as a strict discipline and make it at home: the spices and your cooking vegetables. And cook your vegetables until they become hot in the pot. When you see the steam come, now put it off the fire. And let it be 10, 15 minutes, 20 minutes. Close it, cover it. And these spices should be cooked with. And your good olive oil or mustard oil, cold pressed, one teaspoon. So this was only one example. So there are many, many examples. It means healing through cooking. Anyone who has a problem with their health, please try this. You have many good rocks in Slovenia. You can make a stone like this. Or if you want, you can order from the Līlā or Narasiṁha Purī and have it at home like this. And when your wife is angry, boys, and she's making spices, don't go near. Okay, so we will show you more about this stone. So this is for your health, the blessing. So this morning was dedicated for memory: the tips for good memory, and good eating, healthy eating. Spices also support our memory. So every kitchen is a chemistry. Every kitchen is what you call the Ayurveda factory. And every mother or wife who is cooking is your doctor, or the man who cooks. But you should have a knowledge of the spices and what kind of vegetables you are using, and many sweet things you can prepare. And such a vegetarian dish you can prepare that your wife, or your husband, or your children, they will forget meat. But if you become a vegetarian and you go home and you boil the vegetable till it becomes soft and you put it to a husband, one day he will eat, today he will say yes, and the third day he will say, "Do you think we go to restaurant today?"