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Six tigers of the human mind

A discourse on meditation, discipline, and the obstacles on the spiritual path.

"Meditation is a part of Rāja Yoga, also known as Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. It is a path very gradually and systematically guided by the great saint or ṛṣi, Patañjali."

"Patañjali said, 'My children, my devotees, my students, follow me. I will lead you to the supreme Brahman, but with discipline.' And the greatest enemy of discipline is laziness."

The speaker opens a meditation weekend by emphasizing practice over theory, framing meditation within Patañjali's path of discipline. He identifies the six primary obstacles (Kāma, Krodha, etc.) as lions or tigers that hunt the aspirant, with laziness as the greatest enemy. A significant portion of the talk connects spiritual discipline to diet, advocating for a vegetarian or fruit-based diet as researched by ancient yogis, linking physical nourishment to mental states and ethical living. He expands on how these obstacles, particularly anger and ego, manifest in modern life a

Filming location: Vép, HU.

DVD Number: 505.

This weekend is dedicated to meditation. Many of you have been watching the webcast and attending seminars where there were many theories. Therefore, this time is especially dedicated to practice. Meditation is a part of Rāja Yoga, also known as Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. It is a path very gradually and systematically guided by the great saint or ṛṣi, Patañjali, who lived more than 2000 years before Christ. Patañjali is known as the father of psychology and is an Ātma-jñānī, a knower of Brahma Vidyā. He understood the body, the human mind, emotion, problems, consciousness, the soul (jīvātmā), and the self (ātmā). Step by step, he guides aspirants from material consciousness to cosmic consciousness. But at the very beginning, he says: "O my disciples, if you want to follow me, if you want to achieve higher consciousness, supreme consciousness, samādhi, the knowledge of the self, the knowledge of Brahman, to know thyself and the entire universe, I am ready to guide you—but on one condition: discipline." If you miss the discipline, you cannot follow. It is like a long hike through mountains; you must follow the guide's instructions to reach the peak. Similarly, to achieve anything in life, you must discipline your life. Self-discipline is the key to success. It does not matter how many years you practice yoga, prayers, or meditation techniques; without discipline, you will not reach your goal. This is the research work of yogis over thousands of years. What we now call research, yogis called tapasyā—austerity, discipline, and never giving up. The biggest enemy, the greatest obstacle, is laziness. When attacked by laziness, you are like a deer in a forest hunted by a tiger. For a yogi, laziness is that tiger. Self-discipline is the remedy. Patañjali researched human attitude, emotion, and mind. He says there are six lions or tigers that hunt you: Kāma, Krodha, Mada, Lobha, Moha, and Ahaṅkāra. We pray: "Lord, protect me. Blessed are they who are protected from these six crocodiles." Desire is natural. God has given you the intellect (buddhi) to master your desires, not to become their slave. A yogi enslaved by desire is like a mouse in the mouth of a cobra. If you are a slave to your desires, you have no chance. Forget it, and pray to the Lord for a next life without desires. Theory is nothing. Tons of theory are nothing compared to a gram of practice. Therefore, in the research of the Ṛṣis, diet was controlled first. Diet is the nourishment that creates feelings: anger, jealousy, hate, greed, laziness, desire. All are caused by unnatural, unbalanced, unhealthy nourishment. After researching for thousands of years, the yogis and ṛṣis concluded and turned to a vegetarian life. They adopted fruits and vegetables, taking only some leaves of plants without killing them. The Vedas say everything on this planet has life. Modern science also says our beautiful planet is living. Our living planet, Mother Earth, has a soul (ātmā), consciousness, mind, and energy. Animals are different from humans. Many things are prohibited for humans. We speak of our mother tongue and motherland, rarely fatherland. So it is motherland Hungary, motherland Croatia, motherland Australia, and our beautiful Mother Earth. Animals would not think like that. A hungry tiger kills only one deer, not two or three, because it has no freezer. It knows to eat fresh meat. But humans, when collecting mushrooms, will take a basketful even when four are enough for the family, leaving nothing for others. That is human greed. As Mahatma Gāndhījī said, "Mother Earth has enough for everyone's need, but not for their greed." After all this, the Ṛṣis spoke of the fruit diet. When you eat fruit, you feel fresh. Of course, if you are allergic, that is an individual case. Otherwise, eat an apple and feel the freshness in your mouth, alimentary channels, and digestion. A fresh banana is neither too hard nor too soft—how beautifully Mother Nature prepares it. Apples, pears, oranges, grapes, cherries, plums—your body becomes blessed. Your body speaks to you: "Thank you, my dear. I like this." All the nutrition your body needs is in these fruits. When the plant dies, you can take the roots: carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes. These are jaḍībūṭī and vanaṣpati. You feel pleasant when you eat them, but if you eat too many potatoes, you will look like a potato. Then there are beautiful trees with nuts, which have valuable nutrition. And peanuts—my God, that is also something. Then there are our dear family members: the bees and honey. Some people avoid honey, thinking it is hiṁsā (violence) to take from bees. That is true, but the Creator did not say to take so much honey to sell for money. Take only as much as you eat. Honey, nuts... I remember it is said that people who came to Jesus ill were blessed and became healthy, just as Devapurījī or Mahāprabhujī healed even the blind. Jesus told them, "You are ill because you do not eat what you should eat, and you eat what you should not eat." He indicated nature: fields, grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, flowers, bees, honey, and the mother cow's fresh milk. Just milk the cow and drink that milk. Nothing compares to it. Like a mother's milk for a child, coming directly at the right temperature, so is the mother cow's fresh milk. Do not keep milk longer than two or three hours; convert it to yogurt. In Hungarian, yogurt is "sleeping milk." Let the milk sleep, and from it you get nice buttermilk and butter. I am not saying you must become vegetarian, but I tell you, vegetarians are the happiest people with so many choices. Others go to the supermarket, buy meat, microwave it, put ketchup on it, eat, and drink Coca-Cola. Can you imagine? That is what most people are doing, unfortunately. Therefore, the Ṛṣis said: eat fruits (Falāhārī diet), vegetables, a little honey, a little milk, and a few grains. They meditated for days, had no desires, felt no hunger. Their bodies had enough nutrition. They had no high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes. All these diseases were gone. How happy! I will talk to you after six months, beginning after this weekend, for we have bought you much to eat. Go and turn your life to a vegetarian diet: fresh fruits, fresh vegetables. Try to get fresh milk, a little. Do not eat too much. Yogurt, a little. One handful of rice is enough to live the whole day. Strength comes from the mind, mental strength. So Ṛṣi Patañjali said, "My children, my devotees, my students, follow me. I will lead you to the supreme Brahman, but with discipline." And the greatest enemy of discipline is laziness. Laziness is that snake in whose mouth you are. That desire puts you in the mouth of the crocodile: Kāma and Krodha in creation. When the Creator created Brahmā, there were different kinds of creations, unfortunately called demons and gods. Demons and gods look similar: beautiful, human-looking forms, but the inner feeling was bad, and that is anger. If you are angry, forget about getting realization. Take your things today and go home. Go into the forest, into the snow, and become angry at the snow. Look at Jesus: "If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other cheek." It means that in your heart, mind, consciousness, and intellect, no anger exists. If someone slaps you and you raise your hand to hit back, it is better to cut your hand off first. An angry man is equal to the devils. Who can forgive? Be kind, as Jesus said. All great saints say: mercy is the root of Dharma, the root of the purest. The cause of sins is ego. "I am a man"—this is a man's ego. "I am a woman"—when a man marries, a woman is here, then slowly, when the woman comes to know the witness of that man, she comes here, and that man acts with her. But a good man and a good woman together become one, in harmony and happiness. Mostly, it is the anger of the man that makes him and his family unhappy, and that man will never be happy. That woman may go away, suffer, or give back something, but that man should analyze the quality of the devils, rākṣasas, asuras. Patañjali said, "The door to the Brahmaloka for asura is closed. You need not follow me. My children, put away the burden of anger." Generally, we are not angry; we are calm and peaceful. But suddenly something happens, and anger comes out. That is why, during Samudra Manthan (the churning of the ocean), the 14th ratna came out: alcohol. Who got the alcohol? The asuras, because they wanted to support their anger more. Therefore, the nectar (amṛta) was for the Devas, and alcohol was for the asuras. You know, all who consume alcohol have much anger and desire inside. You decide for yourself. That is why mother's milk or cow's milk is like that nectar, amṛta. And alcohol and blood are for the asuras. Kāma, krodha, lobha—greediness. One snake caught a frog, and the frog said, "I am still greedy and hungry. Before the snake eats me, I want to eat something," and it was catching flies. So you are in the mouth of that snake through your desires, weaknesses, and laziness, yet you are still greedy, trying to take as much as you can. In communist countries, someone told me, "I take whatever I find in the vegetable shop; tomorrow you do not know if it will be here." The next day, I went and was surprised—there was even more than yesterday. So it was a wrong thinking of the people. In communist times, people had more than enough, but psychologically they were not happy. Now people have less; only a handful are rich from web business and companies. But look at the poor, elderly people on pension with no children and no side income. They have no heating in this cold winter. Hot water is very far away. Many people put newspapers on windows to keep a little warmer. Now, money has gone to the greedy ones. The poor are poor again. Kāma, krodha, lobha, and moha. Moha is blindness. When you fall into attachment, moha, you are swallowed by darkness. Hari Om Tat Sat. Ṛṣi Patañjali said, "My dear, don't try your heart; you can't come." Ahaṅkāra—ego—is like a water bubble or soap bubble. You are blown like a bubble, but if a little thing touches you, you explode like an atom bomb. Yes, we are like that. So what should we achieve, my dears? This weekend we will meditate. I am very happy my video team allowed me. You see, even I have to get permission. You think they are all disciples? My dear friends watching the videos, you should know I have to follow these people's instructions; it is healthy for me. The video team allowed me to give the meditation so you all around the world can meditate with me. It is nice. I support you more. Who's there? So what was there? I am Kāra, the Hūṃ Kāra. At the time of God Rāma, more than 10,000 years ago during the Rāmāyaṇa, there was a mighty king of Sri Lanka, Rāvaṇa. He studied much, was very wise, had great knowledge and siddhis. It is said Rāvaṇa was very rich; he had a golden city, Laṅkā. He was a very great... but he got the ego of Ahaṅkāra, "I am." That "I am" killed Rāvaṇa, and he lost everything. Otherwise, I tell you, till now everyone would follow Rāvaṇa's instructions. But he had one weakness: the ego of Ahaṅkāra. It is your ego that disrupts your family life. In all modern civilization, now people... anyhow, there are no relations left. But whatever relation you have—husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend—if you have a problem between, it is only your ego. Either husband or wife, or both. Two egos, double power. One ego, single power, but the other suffers. Therefore, between husband and wife, there should be no ego. If your wife is more clever than you, accept it, my dear. Your wife studies more; nowadays women are allowed to study. Your wife has high degrees and a good position. Then what happens? The man suffers, his ego suffers. When his wife is at home and someone telephones, you say, "Hello," and they say, "Sorry, sir, to disturb you, but can I speak to Madam Director?" Then the man will say, "Yes, I'm sorry, the Director is not at home," but he does not say her name, "Director," from the heart. Often he will say, "I'm sorry, she's not at home." What? She is not at home? That is the ego of the man, and they can never be happy together. There are women with great ego too, my God, the feminist ego. I am sorry, my dear brothers and sisters, to say: you all women have ego about your hair, beautiful eyes, eyebrows, cheeks, and whatnot. But finally, they surrender. The good quality in women is that they surrender. How? If you ask, they say, "I do all for my dear husband." Plus point, ladies. Again, do not be unhappy. Therefore, ego is never good. Ego is not healthy. Ego will kill your emotion, your positive intellect, destroy your good social relations, friends, and so on. Kāma, krodha, mada, lobha, moha, and ahaṅkāra—these are the six devils. Patañjali said, "Follow the discipline or step out." It is like in the military. When parading, if the left knee is up, everybody must have the left knee up. Right hand up or left hand in front? Everybody goes right, left. And when they say left, you go right; the general will say, "You go out." For the training again? Meditation is the way to Thyself. It is to find those enemies hidden in us, root them out, and find peace. Therefore, you see the ṛṣis in Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvāpara Yuga, and Kali Yuga were different. You could count how many ribs the ṛṣis had, but they had great strength. When a ṛṣi came, even God Viṣṇu or Śiva had to rise and say, "Adoration to you, my yogīrāj or ṛṣi." Where is that discipline now? Everything is lost, lost within. These six thieves have stolen everything from us. So meditation is the way to inner peace, contentment, happiness, and even world peace.

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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