TV Channel

Welcome to all devotees, practitioners of Yoga in Daily Life, and seekers of spirituality and self-realization. This is a yoga seminar, a retreat. The Yoga in Daily Life retreats have been held since 1972. You can imagine how many people have learned, practiced, and subsequently taught this system around the world. Yoga in daily life means to lead life according to the principles of yoga. The first principle, according to Maharṣi Patañjali, is that yoga begins with discipline. When we observe nature—the flow of rivers, the behavior of creatures, birds, animals, or fish—we see they all have their own discipline. For example, as the sun sets, every bird flies to its nest. It is said that even animals and birds remember God at dawn and sunset. We do not understand their language; otherwise, we would know. They understand our language, our movements, and even our thoughts. Even a wild dog, if approached with harmony and love, will not bite you. Therefore, nature itself follows discipline. But we humans have lost that discipline of human life. We search excessively for the outer world and material things. One saint prayed to God: "O God, give me only as much as I need to feed my family and myself. I cannot remain hungry, and any saint or guest who comes to my door should not go empty-handed. That is all." Whatever more we collect becomes a burden. In our youth, we build many houses and apartments and buy souvenirs from around the world. One day, you will see those souvenirs have become dust collectors, with no one to clean them. To whom will you give them? They were expensive, and such materialistic thoughts fill the human mind. Day by day, we load ourselves with burdens and different desires—vṛttis. It is these vṛttis that destroy human beings and their qualities. There is a discipline, and animals have it too. Certain animals do not eat certain things; they do not search for them. But humans have lost control over their tongue, over taste. These indriyas—the senses—are the five senses of knowledge (jñāna indriyas) and the five senses of action (karma indriyas). Animals also possess all ten senses and desires to a certain degree, but they keep them under control. There is a particular time when birds lay eggs. Animals provide for their young at specific times. They have time, but humans have lost time. We have lost discipline to such an extent that humans have no feelings anymore. Therefore, it is said: if you wish to be happy, lead a disciplined life. Sometimes, out of ignorance, greed, desire, or jealousy, we act in ways that bring us diseases—mental, emotional, and physical. Yoga is the science of body, mind, and soul. Yoga advises: "Limit yourself and slow down. Do not run so quickly." We are running day and night. Once, we only walked. Then we used horses, oxen, and camels to move faster. Then came the bicycle, the motorbike, the car, and now airplanes and rockets. Where do we want to go? We run and run without a thought to slow down. When we reach a mid-life crisis, we think, "Oh God, I lost. I did not get this. I could have earned that diploma, achieved that position, made more money, or found a better partner." This is the mid-life crisis, and it recurs every decade. We regret the life we lost, and finally, we are sorry we did not do what we should have done as humans. Mahāprabhujī said in a bhajan: Chant Gagangar Chadna. So, slow your speed. If we slow down, we will have a long life. What kind of speed? Running after materialism, desires, and busyness. Sometimes, even when you try to help someone, they cannot be controlled because they are out of breath. It is like trying to hold your cap—your trousers fall; holding your trousers—your shirt falls. In this way, we are broken into many pieces. People say, "My heart is broken. I am totally broken." Why? Because you did not slow down; you did not consider the consequences. If we come to practice, in Yoga in Daily Life we have the practice of meditation. What is its first effect? The aim of life meditation is to calm down and feel your organs—your liver, kidneys, pancreas, intestines, heart, circulation, etc. We do not realize how much we damage our organs by not caring for our way of living. We lose memory, balance, and strength in our joints. Nowadays, how many people have artificial knee or hip joints, or problems with the spinal column? We see ourselves suffering, full of pain, yet we cannot help. Similarly, it is our own body with certain diseases, and we suffer, unable to help ourselves. Modern diseases like cancer, diabetes, blood pressure issues, and memory loss are prevalent. Still, it is not too late; we can help ourselves. This condition is called stress. The meditation technique of Yoga in Daily Life first calms the function of your organs. It brings discipline: when you should sleep, wake, eat, and work. Do not compare yourself to me. What I say may seem opposite to my own life, but my life is different. I move like a boomerang around the world, yet my organs and everything are in balance because I am giving. When you give, you receive a kind of energy in return. Otherwise, if you followed my travel schedule for two or three years, you would die earlier. Jet lag is always in my pocket. The second level is that you achieve balance in your body and relaxation. Then you can concentrate better. Otherwise, we are workaholics, and being a workaholic is as detrimental as being an alcoholic. People say, "I have no time." Gurujī used to say, "You have time, but you have no feeling to give the time." If you are a smoker, no matter how busy, you will find time to smoke. If smoking is not allowed in the office, you will find a balcony or go somewhere. If you are an alcoholic, you will find time to drink. If you drink coffee, you always have time for coffee. Then why can we not take even ten minutes for our inner self? This is what we have in Yoga in Daily Life. In that meditation, we call it balance: coordinating the body and breath. The body (kāya) is the medium. Through motionlessness of the body, you pay attention to your breath. This beautiful technique we practice harmonizes, relaxes, and gives prāṇa (energy) to the body. This is what we will teach and learn in this seminar, what we have taught many times, and what many of you practice daily. But the body never lies. I can see from your body if you practice daily or not. I can see your vṛttis, whether you have been practicing. You have time for nonsense things but not five minutes for your own body because you have so many desires, vṛttis, vṛttis, vṛttis. When your vṛtti is restless, it is like a wild horse you cannot control. Similarly, you cannot concentrate, relax, or work peacefully. Your family life, your own self, your health, and good relations with neighbors and the world—this is the second step of the meditation technique. Beyond this stress is self-inquiry meditation. Everything is within us. Do not blame anyone. If you blame someone, you incur more bad karma. If you think badly, you load more karma upon yourself. Therefore, Gandhijī said, "Renounce and enjoy." Give up. For example, if you have a lot of money, many friends may wish to borrow, and humanitarian projects may ask for donations. You try to avoid them, hide from taxes, and remain restless and fearful day and night. That is not a life. You become a slave to money, taking care of it, yet you cannot eat it. Who will enjoy it? Someone else. Consequently, your children may not study or work, thinking, "Father has enough money. If not now, in a few years everything will be mine." Day and night, you have security—a dog, a gun—yet you cannot sleep without pills. Is that life? Renounce and enjoy. Give up everything. You might hear someone say, "That stupid man gave everything away. He must be abnormal." Yes, I am not normal, but I am supreme, the highest, the great. But you say, "I will not renounce." It will come, my dear. In India we say, "Muṭṭhī bāndhe āyā thā" or "Khālī hāth jāegā, muṭṭhī bandhe āyā thā." When you were born, your fists were closed. Perhaps the mother knows; the father generally does not, as traditionally the father should not be present during birth—it is the work of women and doctors. But nowadays, a foolish man stands beside his wife, experiencing more stress than her, making her nervous. It was not like this before. Of course, if no one else is there to help, he assists, but otherwise, he should not. The wife gives birth while the father sweats. What a modern world. You should not be there. The doctor and nurse will manage everything, and then you will receive your beautiful child in your hands. Sometimes the doctor says, "No, you cannot see yet; we will show you tomorrow." Why not? But the world has changed. Sometimes a wife might joke, "You give birth, I am leaving," but that will not happen. When the child is born, the fists are closed. Do any of the doctors open the palm? Do you know this? Mothers, do you know? What kind of mother are you? You were unconscious, and the father had no vision. Ask the doctor or nurse; some mothers know. They open the palm, straightening the fingers nicely. The fist was closed because there is something valuable within—"bandī muṭṭhī lakḍī." A closed fist holds value worth millions, while an open one is like dust. I tell you, I have the biggest diamond in my fist. Sometimes we play, "One, two, three, what is in my hand? Which hand holds something? Tell me, left or right?" When it is inside, it is your karma. We are born with closed fists. When you die, your fist will not remain closed; it will be open. In the beginning and the end, see: anyone who has died has lost everything; the hand is open. Even if you try to close the fist of the deceased, it is very hard. When a tiger holds a deer by the throat until it dies, the deer stretches and goes into spasms, but once dead, the tiger waits, relaxing. So it is with death. One day death will come, and it is not always easy; it depends on karma. What I mean is, no matter what you have, one day you will not have it; it is gone forever. There is a song: "Oh my darling, oh my darling, lost and gone forever." Do you remember? Girls, you sing songs. Everything is lost and gone. Empty hands. So why do we concentrate so much, running after materialism? When knowledge appears, you realize we do not need so much. Why run after fashion? One season it is orange—ladies, especially, have a passion for fashion—an orange shirt, orange nails, orange hair, orange lipstick, orange trousers, a mini skirt, orange socks, orange shoes. I walked beside such a person at the airport; it is not a joke but reality. Orange and black, and she saw me looking. I said, "It's beautiful." Why not? Next year, it is black. You bought such expensive clothes, and now fashion dictates black, so you wear all black. Then fashion turns green. Suddenly, hair fashion changes, cut here and there. Why? It means you have too much money, or you are chasing fashion, fearing people will think you are outdated. It is unnecessary. Have proper, clean clothes; that is enough. If they are torn, buy new ones. But nowadays, you cut jeans—holes on the buttocks, thighs, knees, and calves. What a poor person! This originated from cowboys who were poor and had patched trousers, and from the American Indians (Red Indians) whose trousers were completely open at the back. I am not joking or telling a story. A real Red Indian living on a reservation had the buttocks completely open; they could sit and go without lifting or closing anything, then jump on a horse. Now people imitate this fashion. Every day I think they can do anything, but, oh man, please do not cut holes revealing the buttocks. It can happen. I hope such a man does not shame a woman. I am saying: why do we run after such fashions in eating, clothing, and colors? One day, this body will dissolve into earth or fire. Therefore, I am not saying you should be poor, but you should not strive to become a billionaire. No competition. If others ride horses quickly, let them. Let your horse relax and walk. Stress creates immense physical, emotional, mental, and intellectual disease. Physical diseases include many cancers. Emotionally, you are never satisfied, often changing spouses yet remaining unhappy. Mentally, you have many desires and mental illnesses. Intellectually, it is money, money, money; profession, profession, profession. This kills a human. That human dies without achieving what God gave life to do. If you earn money, fine, but give it forward. Do not collect too much dust, like souvenir dust collectors. So, meditation—anti-stress meditation—and then to know: "Who am I?" I am not the body, not the organs, not the bones and nerves, not flesh and blood. I am a human. For what was I born? From where did I come? For what purpose did I come? What have I done? What should I have done? Where will I go? What is the cause of all this? Ādi Guru Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya spoke of this. At the end, when your heart is completely tired, you are old, no one interests you, your friends are gone, your children are elsewhere, and it takes five minutes to fetch a glass of water from the kitchen—then you will know, "What was the sense of my life?" Therefore, Guru Nānak Sāhib said: "Guru Nānak Sayyab Asmā says, Śākyaputra pitābhinahina..." Therefore, Saint Guru Nānak said, "O my friends, you have nearly lost your whole life. At least now meditate, remember God. Something will help you." Without a mantra, everything is nothing. Without a mantra, one is like a blind man without eyes, without a partner; a tree without fruit; soil without rain; a cow without milk; a pandit without Vedic knowledge. Similarly, O friends, O devotees, O bhaktas, give up jealousy and just meditate. Hold on to your path. Do not run here and there. You have your mantra and your path. Alag Purījī said, "Pitā." We will continue tomorrow. I wish you all the best, with the blessings of Gurudev. Shrī Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Deva Puruṣamā Deva Satya Sanātana Dharma Kīj