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This evening, our subject is Prāṇāyāma. In yoga, Prāṇāyāma is very important, but it is also crucial for our life itself. When we were born, the first thing we did was inhale, and then began all other activities in this world. At the end of this life, what will we do? The last thing we will do is exhale and will not be able to inhale anymore. Inhalation at the time of birth and exhalation at the time of death—like an ocean, life begins from one shore, one mainland, and ends at another soul, another mainland. Between, on the ocean, there are the waves. Similarly, the shore of our life begins from birth, where we inhale, and ends there, where we exhale. What we are doing between, and breathing, is like the waves on the ocean. It means life is the breath, and breath is the life. It is not only that we inhale oxygen and exhale toxins. If we see according to cosmic reality, cosmic law, cosmic principles, or cosmic dharma, in this universe there are millions of different principles. Out of those, there are some major powers or principles, and the first of those is called the universal mother, the universe, and the universal consciousness. Then, of course, there is energy, there is a trinity, and many, many different things. This individual consciousness is a part of the cosmic consciousness. You may call the cosmic consciousness the father. Therefore, every individual consciousness, every individual conscious being, is the child of that cosmic consciousness, the father. It does not matter which life it is—human, animal, or vegetation. We are talking about our planet, which is known as a living planet. In spiritual language, it is said to be the mortal planet where birth and death are experienced. Hence, the individual consciousness is the child or the son of that cosmic consciousness. There is no duality of male and female principles in that divine world, in divinity, in the knowledge, in the reality. There are no anatomical differences. Therefore, whether it is a male or female body, the consciousness is neutral; that is the Self, the Ātmā. So do not feel pity that you are a man, and do not feel pity that you are a female. No, this is only in this world. Yes, male and female principles—that is different. That is not in the way we think. This female principle in the universe is called the mother principle. First is the mother. All rights has the mother. Therefore it is said, Mātṛ Devo Bhava. First, God is the mother. So this mother consciousness with the father consciousness, the mother's love and father consciousness, Prakṛti and Puruṣa, they gave birth to this individual. Therefore, it is the cosmic mother who is nourishing her child constantly, taking care. This child, this individual child, is connected to her with this breath. So when we inhale, we should be thankful to that divine mother, that she is taking care of us and giving us this cosmic energy to live further. So inhalation and exhalation, our consciousness, our life, is connected to the Supreme. Then, of course, according to the atmosphere of this planet, according to these five elements on this planet as a living planet and living elements, oxygen is very important too. The breathing process is not only through the nostrils or nose and mouth, but it breathes through the whole body. Therefore, in yoga, it is said to use natural material, mostly cottons made out of grass, tree barks, tree leaves, and cotton—it means from this vegetation material. It is not advised to take animal skin for two reasons. First, it does not apply Ahiṃsā; there is no Ahiṃsā, only Hiṃsā. It does not matter from which animal you have the skin on your body. Secondly, all the karma of that animal, which is covering you, falls on you. So you are getting the karma of that animal on you. This skin was given to that animal, to that soul, to spend the time until a certain period in this skin. You kill that animal. Maybe he is liberated—this is good—or who knows how many karmas still remain. But now you take over this karma. Also, the fear and quality of that animal, through this skin which you have on your body as a cloth—whether trouser, jacket, coat, or muffler—it reflects on your life. So the decision is yours, but this is that reality. Now the question arises: what about Lord Śiva? He had a tiger skin around his body in ancient times, yes. That time, when Śiva was, there were fewer other materials. And Śiva is Śiva. You are not a Śiva on the day when you will be Śiva, then you can have a tiger skin around your body, no problem. Do not compare yourself with certain things with God. When the question arises about vegetarianism, then mostly the Christians speak about Jesus. You know, Jesus was vegetarian, completely vegetarian. I cannot imagine that he would eat killed animals. But then they said, "Why was there an offering of a lamb or a fish?" Well, do not compare Jesus' action with you. He was Jesus. You are not Jesus. You cannot compare even with the small nail of Jesus' body. You cannot compare yourself with that. First become Jesus, and then I will talk further with you. When the doctor comes with an injection, our heartbeat grows stronger. We close our eyes, not wanting to see how the doctor is giving the injection inside. It is a very thin needle, thanks to God. In this modern time, needles are very small and thin. Just two decades ago, the needles were nearly ten centimeters. You know, and the doctor was putting it in and looking, and we said, "Quickly, please." So we are afraid of a small needle. How do you think? How do you imagine Jesus crucified? If it is true—I do not know—the nails were pounded into his hands with a hammer. The nails were not like a needle, sharp and finished. No. With a hammer? So do not compare yourself with Jesus. Just adore Jesus. Be the servant. Do not be like Jesus. And I do not wish that you are a Jesus, because to be a Jesus is not an easy life. Everyone cannot be Mahāprabhujī. Everyone cannot be Kṛṣṇa. Everyone cannot be Rāma, and everyone cannot be you. That is why individual life. So it is said that this body is breathing; this body is nourishing with the cosmic energy which the cosmic mother supplies to our body, and we should take more natural and healthy material on our body and feel free. It is also that some people have a cap of animal skin or a hat, also not good from the viewpoint of karmas and saṃskāras, which will reflect on you. Now, it is your decision what you want. Prāṇāyāma in yoga—yogīs have been researching this life very much. I think no one on this planet has researched life truly as the yogīs did, and not only this physical body, but all other different bodies have been researched by the yogīs. With which instrument or technology? Through meditation. The five different bodies: Annamaya Kośa, the body of nourishment; Prāṇamaya Kośa, the body of the prāṇa; Manomaya Kośa, the mental body; Vijñānamaya Kośa, the intellectual body; Ānandamaya Kośa, the body of desires, or the Causal body. Within this is that consciousness, within this is the soul. And not only this, the yogīs researched life after life. They followed the individual consciousness, either there or others, who is dying: how they died, what happened, where they went, how many days they stayed there, what he or she experienced, after how long a time they again come to this planet, and so on. And not only these, they said fourteen different worlds, like we have this planet. Fourteen different planets or worlds to which our consciousness, to which our soul, is connected. Ikṣo Brahman and 2100 different universes. This has been experienced, researched, and declared by those yogīs. Therefore, yogīs went through and through this body from the beginning of the first life in the universe, from what we call the sound "Oṃ," till that billions of years they went through with their consciousness and came to this life, and followed from this all past lives to this life, to birth, and future, what is going to happen. So it means from the origin, beginning, till up till the back, to the liberation or becoming one with the Brahman. That has been researched by the Indian holy saints, or so-called yogīs or Ṛṣis. The Ṛṣis were the hermits who lived in huts. That time was not this technology here. There were no multi-buildings like this. They had a multi-building, but different. It means making a beautiful hut on the tree, on the branches of the tree. That was a higher floor, or living in the caves high in the mountains, the best view. Anyhow, those Ṛṣis, they are or they were our ancestors. There are no dualities, whether they are Indians or from different countries. The time when those Ṛṣis had a hard time to survive, that time, what we call this continent Europe, was under the ice. So, our roots are coming from the east, more or less from the Himalayas, because the Himalayas were the highest point and are the highest point on this planet. It is said the human race began from Tibet. Last information from the scientists, the modern scientists say. And that is what we call Śiva from the Himalayas, from Tibet, from Kailāśa Parvata, and so on. So the prāṇa is that source of life. Prāṇa is not oxygen only, and prāṇa is very hard to define. Is it the soul that is prāṇa, or is prāṇa the soul? Because living beings, the entity we call in Sanskrit Prāṇī, and Prāṇī means living beings, those who have the prāṇa. So, in yoga, after such research, they put some rules, and this was for all. First of all, these five points, which I always used to tell: remember, oh human, I am a human. What does it mean for me to be a human? What makes me human? And how to develop those qualities which make me a human? And what is the human mission? Plus, who am I? Accordingly, then lead your life and take a healthy nourishment. First was the nourishment? Yes, there were always... that humans were also hunters. They were killing the animals; they were eating the animals. But since the yogis discovered the law of the karmas and the law, or the principle, or the feelings of the pain, discovered the Hiṃsā, then the humans began to be vegetarian, and so it is said the human awoke their consciousness towards the reality, right nourishment. So they said four points: Āhāra, Vihāra, Ācāra, Vicāra. Āhāra means diet, sattvic and light diet. Some people are dying, starving from hunger, and some people are dying from eating. This is a disbalanced world. Āhāra, Vihāra. Vihāra means where to go and where not to go. Ācāra means behavior, and Vicāra means the thoughts, positive thoughts, good thoughts. Go to the Satsaṅga, do not go to the Kuṣaṅga. Walk on the path, do not walk wild in the forest, because there are other wild creatures you step on. They will tell you, "Please go away," but they have no hands. They will bite you, and when they bite you, then it can happen that you have to sit down to rest, and such a rest forever. Besides this, they designed what we call the science of nourishment, Āyurveda, which is also declared as a medicine, as a healing, as well as prevention. And then it is what they call designed the exercises, proper exercises. And after Āsanas came Prāṇāyāmas, Mudrās, Bandhas, Kriyās, concentration, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi. So from this, the Prāṇāyāma after the Āsanas is more subtle and powerful. So prāṇa is that cosmic energy; prāṇa is the living force in the universe. We do not see it, but it is that. Life is a living universe, not only this living planet, but the living universe, and that living universe means that life, that is the prāṇa. Everything is filled with the prāṇa. It is beautiful, beautiful. And everything is existing in this prāṇa. Even the most dangerous bacteria, which for us is very dangerous, are not dangerous for themselves. They are also living in this life. That is a universal life. So Prāṇāyāma: prāṇa and vyāyāma, exercise of the prāṇas, to control or to manipulate the prāṇa system in the body in order to live a long life, a healthy life, in order to achieve the final goal of the human mission. Now, this prāṇa, which is also in the nourishment, this prāṇa is also in the air. This prāṇa is in the fire also, and this prāṇa is in the air and in the water and in the earth. This prāṇa is in all five elements equally, and if something is wrong, then one of the elements is imbalanced in this body, and the body becomes ill. Therefore, yoga means balance. Yoga means harmony, and yoga means the union. It is the balancing, harmonizing, and uniting principle. That is the yoga. So yoga is a healthy consciousness in this universe, the prāṇa system or prāṇa principle. So Prāṇāyāma: vyāyāma means exercise, and prāṇa is prāṇa. Now when we eat, we should first inhale deeply and say, "Thank you, God, for this life," for the prāṇa given to us. Different cultures have different prayers. There are short prayers, there are long prayers, and so on, but they do prayer. Different religions, different languages, different traditions, and so on. They said, even a tiger who kills the animal, he attacks and catches the throat of the animal. That animal does not have to suffer too long. It is in the nature that the animal will not suffer so long. They have that technique, and then after, the tiger or lion, they are waiting. It does not begin immediately to eat. That means maybe they are praying, "God, forgive us and give liberation to this soul. I must have my food too." And we also feel from this prāṇa, the air, thanks to the air principles. This food which is in front of you, it comes in form of the smell through the air element. The earth is the principle of the smell. All kind of smells, beautiful or not beautiful, all are coming from the earth. Everything here is reflecting from the Earth, Mother Earth, and then when you eat it, it develops the taste in the mouth. The glands, there are many, many glands in the mouth, in the tongue, and they begin to stream that liquid, the hormones. These glands produce hormones, which mix with what you are eating and then supply it to the stomach, so the stomach will have an easier time digesting. Therefore, do not give the work of your teeth to your intestines. Your intestines are very unhappy and angry that you do not chew properly and you send everything as it is. Therefore, the stomach is exhausted. After certain years, the stomach said, "Now I cannot digest." And then you said, "I have a digestive problem." The children can digest everything very quickly. It is said children are eating, then they wash their hands, and after washing hands, they are getting hungry. And we, after 24 hours, we said, "Yes, okay, I would like to eat something." Our stomach is so tired, so retired, because you did not take care of your chewing system. So chew your food, so there the prāṇa, the energy comes. And these glands, they are already there to make juice. Imagine now, a beautiful time is coming. Oh, very soon the cherries will be ripe. And big red cherries in the form of the heart, nice, ripe, and fresh. Can you imagine that you take one cherry and put it in your mouth, and it explodes, the juice? No? And there is more juice than the cherry had. It was more juice than the cherry had. That was from your mouth. Your body produces the hormones. These are all prāṇa that activate our prāṇa in different healthy ways. So the Prāṇāyāma. Therefore, when you practice your Āsanas, first relax and become aware of your prāṇa. I inhale, I know, I exhale. My whole body is inhaling and exhaling. Relax, relax. As much as you relax, the prāṇa is flowing freely. And then coordinate your movements with the prāṇa, with the breath. That is the specialty of Yoga in Daily Life, that each and every movement of Yoga in Daily Life is coordinated with the breath movements. Every meditation technique, concentration technique, and relaxation technique is also coordinated with the breath. And so when you perform any posture, do it slowly. And when you do slowly, you need more concentration, you need more balance on the muscles, you are more aware of those muscles, and your muscles, joints, ligaments, and nerves are more influenced through this movement when you are doing slowly, like a balloon. When you give the air inside, it does not go in within a second like this. It is slowly expanding, and then slowly take air again out. So imagine a balloon, and so round your body there is a prāṇa body. It is called Prāṇamaya Kośa, and this Prāṇamaya Kośa is breathing, expanding and contracting. Your, our body, this physical body, is like a mosquito net, like a thin cloth through which air can freely come and go, and so our body is the way the prāṇa is penetrating through and through, and so it is a balloon, and that balloon is expanding, contracting, expanding and contracting. So when you sit to practice your Āsanas, calm down your breath, feel your lungs, feel the respiratory system and the trunk of the body, which is expanding at the time of inhalation and contracting, then the whole body. Then you move your hand like this. Beautiful. You feel this whole part of the body is nicely expanded, and the muscles are balancing the limbs of your body. So when you do Āsanas, you do your Prāṇāyāmas also together. After that, you sit for extra, doing the Prāṇāyāma, but you are sitting in Āsana: Sukhāsana, Vajrāsana, or Padmāsana, or Siddhāsana, any different kind of Āsana which you are sitting in, that is also Āsana. But take a seat, or use the pillows, or on the hard chair where your back is straight, be comfortable, and then inhale. So when we inhale, this is a Prāṇāyāma Mudrā: index and middle finger touching the center of the eyebrows to balance Iḍā and Piṅgalā, both nāḍīs, as well as to support your head that it does not go too far, or it does not go too far like this, because when you will be advanced in practicing Prāṇāyāma, one hour you are doing only with one nostril, one hour. Oh, that is a Prāṇāyāma. Thank you, Mahāprabhujī. Next seminar day, everybody has to sit for one hour only with the left nostril breath. And therefore, we need Varāgiṇī, or what you call Yogdanṭ, to support our elbow. So this Prāṇāyāma, now it is not only that you are breathing in and out. Feel your life is moving. Your life is moving in and out. How beautiful that you prolong your life and your consciousness becomes very clean. Your intellect becomes very pure. Your mind is steady. Your emotion is very beautiful and pure. There is no anger. There is no greediness. There is no jealousy. There is an oneness, you and the world. That happens when you do the Prāṇāyāma. And Prāṇāyāma, in order to learn proper Prāṇāyāmas and to come to the different levels of the Prāṇāyāma, it takes a minimum of three years. Every day practice, and minimum three years. Comfortable and good is five years. That person who will do this proper technique according to Yoga in Daily Life for five years, that is, then, after one special course for the Prāṇāyāma, you will be a different personality. But my dear, every day disciplined. Every day the sun rises. The sun never said, "Today I will not rise up." My God! Can you imagine what will be if the sun does not rise one day? The whole world will become, the human will become nervous. And many will begin to prophesy, oh, that will be now the end of our planet, this will be that, this will be this. And some will say, "This is our sin, that the sun does not come." Many, many thoughts. And the next day, the sun rose and he smiled. "I was a little bit ill, so I remained in bed. But here I am again." We say, "Thank you, sun. Please do not rest in the bed." So every day, disciplined, systematically do your Āsanas and your Prāṇāyāma. That will be something wonderful. So Prāṇāyāma is the divine science. Prāṇāyāma is life, not a source of life, but itself is life. And it is that prāṇa which can develop your immune system in the body, which will fight against all illnesses and bacteria. It is the prāṇa which we call Kāya Kalpa. That Kāya Kalpa will take place through the Prāṇāyāma. But you have to practice Prāṇāyāma systematically and never be a fanatic of it. Observe, you will have so many experiences, you cannot imagine. The best part of your yogic experiences is through the Prāṇāyāmas.