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Yoga brings you back to Thyself

Yoga is the science of body, mind, and soul, inseparable from spirituality. Its commercialization often neglects this spiritual core, leaving humanity like a body without a soul. Yoga purifies physical and mental impurities, known as vikāras. Physical vikāras are the body's substances and ailments; mental vikāras are jealousy, anger, and greed. Practice, including prānāyāma, purifies these. Spirituality is pure thinking, recognizing the one divine essence in all forms of worship. Without it, yoga fails. Humans, uniquely among creatures, pollute the world, but yoga with spirituality restores correct living and self-realization.

"Yoga without spirituality is like a body without a soul."

"Spirituality is that when we don't have impurities in our thinking."

Filming location: Bratislava, Slovakia

Bhagavān Kī, Devādhi Deva, Deveśvara Mahādeva Kī, Satguru Svāmīmādhvānandajī Bhagavān Kī, Satyasanātana Dharma Kī. Good evening, all dear ones. Nice to see you. After a long time, we again have a lecture in Bratislava. Though Bratislava is very close to Vienna, it feels very far even from Vienna due to such a busy schedule. Time is divided around the whole world. Thanks to all organizers, the committee of Yoga in Daily Life. We are approaching the International Day of Yoga. This is already the third anniversary of the International Day of Yoga. But our International Yoga in Daily Life is celebrating, is worshipping, 46 years. Yoga was officially announced by the United Nations. We know that when the respected Prime Minister of India announced and requested it to the United Nations, within a week all the countries of the world agreed about yoga, the International Day of Yoga. Yoga is not only for health. Yoga is not a sport. Yoga is a science of body, mind, and soul. Around the world, there are numerous yoga schools. It has become a kind of commercial subject. Prime Minister Modi declared yoga, but people did not understand. And there is one big mistake. That big mistake, what people are doing, and even the organizers of yoga unions, they don't want to be clear about the spiritual life of a human. Modi knows, the Indian ambassadors know, all know that humans should have a spiritual life. But day by day, around the world, people take their distance from spirituality, and that's a pity. Yoga is that science and that quality which will save humanity. Without spirituality, it's like a body without a soul. The human body is there, but there is no more life inside. Humans are suffering day by day, becoming complicated because they lost their spirituality. Yoga brings you back to thyself. Who am I? How is my body? Do we care about our body? Do we understand our body? What is happening in our body? The different activities in the body, we don't know. Medical science has made immense development, but still they don't know. There is someone working within us that you may say God. But nowadays people are afraid of God. It is said that those who are spiritual are like holy saints. It doesn't matter if you are a businessman or a householder. But when you are on the spiritual path, you are close to God. They don't have fear of God. But the āsurī śaktis, satanic śaktis, they have fear of God. They run away into the darkness. Therefore, yoga without spirituality is like a snake is gone, and you are beating on the trap of the snake. And that's why mankind is suffering, day by day. But still, it is not too late. We have our saṅkalpa. Saṅkalpa of 46 years, and that is the Saṅkalpa of Yoga in Daily Life. You all who practice Yoga in Daily Life, it is around the whole world, and they do lead a spiritual life. We don't make differences. If you believe in Jesus, you should believe. But do not neglect Mohammed or Allah, or do not neglect Krishna. Ne zanedbávajte Krišnu. Oni sú všetci jedným. Rozdiel je v jazyku a vo forme, v tvare sú rôzne prostriedky alebo plavidlá. Je rôzna nádoba, rôzny pohár. And in this vessel is one, that's water. Or milk, so the form is different. But water is the same, milk is the same. Doesn't matter which mother it is, human mother or animal mothers. Which animals doesn't matter. Mother will produce or give the milk. And milk has the same color. And only the mother can do that. And that mother, which has love for a child, doesn't matter which mother. Similarly, every creature has that blood, has a red color. We shall think about this. Similarly, God is one in all. But when we go in the path of fanaticism and blind belief, then we make a mistake. So yoga makes our heart pure, like a mother giving milk. Similarly, a yoga practitioner, no matter how many years one is practicing, will not have a doubt. Not offended, not angry, not jealous, not greedy; all these qualities the yogī does not have. Because we plant that tree and we give the water to the tree. Years and years, we don't want to chip off that tree. Or, it is said, don't throw out the child with the bathwater. Or don't throw away your shirt if there are some ends inside. These are ends, they will go out. Don't throw away your shirt. So when a yogī, while practicing āsanas, prānāyāmas, meditations, mantras, teaching yoga, then the consciousness becomes very clear, bright consciousness, bright intelligence. And that we celebrate is called the International Day of Yoga. We don't need a crowd. This is just the soul. But that crowd which is coming should be on the right path, on the good path, and practicing with spirituality, with love thyself first. Otherwise, we said, "Inak hovoríme, chali jai chamri, leki ne jai damri." It means, even if I lose my skin, but I don't want to lose my money. So it means the money is more dear to us than our skin. That is not yoga. So, yoga without spirituality, and spirituality is that when we don't have impurities in our thinking. There are two kinds of vikārā. There are more others, but the major vikāras are these two. Vikāra means impurities. Vikāra means illness. Vikāra means troublesome. So one vikāra is a physical body. This body is full of the vikāra. As long as there is spirituality in life, everything is good. And as soon as life is gone, everything becomes vikāra. The hormones, the bones, the muscles, the nerves, the blood, the urine, the coat, the toilet, all these are the vikāras. Coughing is a vikāra, and that vikāra is inside, and when you cough, it is coming out. This is a vikāra. As long as in your mouth, sometimes you swallow it. But if you spit it, you will not lick it again. So when you spit it, you will not lick it again. Similarly, when you have given up the negative qualities, you should not again accept those negative qualities. So, in the body, there is called medhā śakti, energy in the body. That's also vikāra only. Who is keeping our body? Life is our soul, but we have put so many vikāras in the body while not leading a healthy life. Therefore, our body becomes the victim of different diseases. Then there are mental vikāras, and mental vikāra is jealousy, hate, anger, greed—all negative thinking. All, if you see more in a neighbor's plate, immediately, vikāra is coming to you. Why does this person have more than me? That is vikāra. There is one real story: when Mahatma Gandhi and India became independent and became a republic, they made a government. Now every politician wants to come close to Gandhi to become a minister, to have some high position. So they were coming and working with Gandhi. One day, one came from a far distance, and he was serving in the ashram, karma yoga. He had one wish, and he was asking the people, "I have only one desire. Please, can someone tell Gandhiji, I would like to have a lunch or dinner or breakfast with him." It means what Gandhijī is eating, he would like to eat the same thing and sit beside him, so sit like on one, let's say, one table, but it was on the ground floor. So someone sent a message to Gandhi. Gandhi said, "Oh yes, yes, come, come, my dear." So for other people, it was different eating. Gandhi was eating very simple. No spices. Only a little salt, a little haldi like this. Other people had it a little better. So Gandhijī was sitting, and Gandhijī got some vegetables, a little soup, a little rice, and chapatis, and the same thing was served to the few people who were sitting with him. Now, that person who wanted to sit beside Gandhijī, he wanted to eat. So when food was served, they made prayer, "Brahmārpaṇaṁ Brahma Haviḥ," and they began to eat. Now he is slowly looking at Gandhijī's plate and the others' plates. All have equal. He got the same thing, but he discovered one thing that on the plate of Gandhiji, what others didn't have. So he was looking, and that was called the chutney. Like a ketchup, so chutney, which is different kinds of herbs. Green. Now he thinks that chutney must be tasteful. But only Gandhijī got it. We did not. Thinking, and Gandhiji took the chapati with that chutney and was eating. He was looking again. And then Gandhiji said, "Who was serving the food? Come here, please give this chutney to everyone." So others all said, "Very little, please." They knew what it is, half a teaspoon. And when they came to that man who wanted, he said, more, more. So he gave him three or four teaspoons inside. And Gandhījī said, "A little more." Of course, greed. Curious. So he took the chapati, put a piece of chapati on the chutney, took it, and bit it. There was nothing, no salt, no chili. It was only bitter neem chutney. It is so bitter, you can't swallow it. Now he cannot spit it out. Gandhiji is looking, "Is it tasty?" "Yes, sir, yes." Now he is suffering, and Gandhiji's principle was you should not leave anything on the plate; eat only that much. Take that much which you can eat all. Now he has so much chutney. He was suffering. He swallowed water and swallowed water. He told everybody, "You can eat with Gandhiji, but don't imitate his food." So this kind of greed, that kind of desire, is not good. That is also vikāra, and that will create a disease. And that disease is a mental vikāra. It can make a depression, it can make anxiety; it can make many, many mental disturbances. So when we practice yoga, let's say among us, if he doesn't like another one and that other one doesn't like another one, then what will happen? Then one said, "I don't want to be with you. I go away." But where will you go away? Now, it is said, "Use and throw." Use and throw. But where to throw? Wherever you will throw, you are throwing on our Earth. The pollution will come there. Similarly, your anger, your hate, your jealousy, or you feel that somebody is not nice to you, but it will remain in you. It will give you immense problems, so solve it. You are a human, you are a yogī, you are practicing yoga. Solve it. So, spirituality without spirituality, yoga is not successful. So if you love yoga, you love thyself. And to love thyself means you love God. And if you love God, then there is no difference of the gods. These five elements, they will dissolve into each element. The earth will go to the earth, the liquid water will go into the water, the heat, fire, will go into fire. The wind, the air, what we have will merge into the air. As soon as the breath stops, the impurities and disease begin in the body. So prāṇāyāma is one of the best techniques to purify the physical vikāras and mental vikāras. So don't say that you don't want to practice because of this spirituality. It means you don't know what spirituality is. So first, spirituality is that you take care of your body. Purify your body. Purify all these vikāras. And then prāṇāyāmas, mantras, meditations. Prāṇāyāma, mantra, meditation, so purify your mental vikāras. After the mental vikāras comes another ego, more about the vidyā, the knowledge. So the knowledge, when we have real knowledge, then it's called already the self-realization. But it's very hard to have any kind of anger, jealousy, hate, this, that. Then it is said, God takes upon Himself the destiny of the devotees. So this one, from Devpurījī's slogan: "Gurudev takes upon himself the destiny of the bhakta." It's not easy. That's why you must practice yoga, that spirituality should be continuous. Spirituality lost, illness attacks. Spirituality comes, self-confidence comes. And that energy develops in the body again. So, with that faith, we shall practice the yoga. And for that we teach the yoga. Yoga is designed for humans. Because animals know what they should do. I told Devī for yesterday and yesterday. There are 8.4 million creatures, and one is human among them. So, which creature pollutes this earth? Only one: the humans. But we said humans are very intelligent, they have good intellect, they have good awareness, they have good consciousness, and they declare themselves that humans are the best. When you say humans are the best, think one day that I, as a human, am the best. On the roof of your house, the crow will say, "Caw, caw, croak, croak,... croak." It's not true. Yes? No animal declares humans as the best. All animals say the most dangerous animal is a human. But as a yogī, if it is that right that the... Francis of Assisi, the birds could sit on his hands and on his shoulders, and like this. And when we go, the birds will fly away quickly with such speed. Why? Because our energy is so dangerous, so negative. Birds don't come close. Of course, we try to feed them and feed them so that they will come close. But if you try to catch them, they are not stupid. They will fly away. So, yoga without spirituality is a body without soul. Spirituality is a life of yoga. And spirituality means not that you worship this God, worship that God, do this and that. No. Our pure thinking, that's it. And so we make a saṅkalpa that we remain, we will remain, we will face all the difficulties, and we will be the winner, and we will help and bring all people more and more to this spirituality. Then we are successful in that we worship the International Day of Yoga. With this, I wish you all the best. Nice to see you. And now we will have some questions and answers. The next webcast will be announced.

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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