Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – January 16, 2018 – Vijayawada
Compiled by: Parimala Eshwarla
Kriya yoga is the best preventive against all ailments.
Sankranti is a wonderful opportunity for us to think of Sun-god who bestows good health upon us. All you are very lazy. Only when you fall sick, when your heart-beats become slow, fast, or become irregular, when kidneys turn defective, when intestines, skin or nerves turn problematic – you use strange medicines including steroids and suffer enormously.
We fail to recognise the value of the medicinal plant growing in our backyard. Only when some scientist comes to our home and asks for the plant, we sit up attentively. Likewise, on many occasions Swamiji has forewarned people. But only when doctors mention its importance you sit up attentively saying – ‘Aha, Swamiji has already alerted us to it’.
What then is this important advice? It is the significance of Pranayama and Kriya yoga in life. When beleaguered with problems in the kidney, heart, large intestines, wind pipes, throat, skin, indigestion, sleeplessness, tensions, we begin to search for solutions. Doctors give some medicine to temporarily alleviate the problem. But the real solution to all these problems lies in Kriya yoga which Swamiji has been teaching for past many decades. From 1976 He has been propagating it. Many people have taken His advice and have benefitted tremendously. Lazy people waste this opportunity and begin to take baby steps in this direction only after they are diseased. By then it is too late. Kriya yoga will no longer be as effective as before. Learning Kriya yoga after being diseased is comparable to learning archery on the battle-field.
Dietary precautions, eating limited food, eating moderately spicy food, reducing unnecessary actions help the body cope when diseased. This battle with disease is inevitable for every human. Despite all precautions, some disease or the other may affect some organ. At that moment, the person who had practiced Kriya yoga for long time will stand to benefit.
Repeatedly Swamiji has been advising this practice of Kriya yoga. ‘Continue Surya-chandra nadi bhedana. Practice Nadi shuddi excerices’ – He has been goading you all. Despite limitless warnings, you are taking it lightly. Once again I am warning you. The young and the old without any excuse have to practice Kriya yoga and Pranayama every single day. This is the greatest secret I am sharing with you today. I am forewarning you. This is an insurance towards all deadly diseases. If you practice Kriya yoga then, even if you fall sick, the medication will help you bounce back to your routine at the earliest. Your routine will not be hampered for long.
We are slack in practising Pranayama. ‘why should we exclusively sit and practice Pranayama when we breathe all day long?’ – such is our lack of faith in this medicine.
Not everyone can go for walks, swimming or other exercises. So at least do some basic exercises at home daily. Science today has discovered the positive effects of Pranayama and meditation. They are propagating today what I have been preaching for past 40 years. Please take a vow that we will learn and put this into practice.
When you are totally diseased then you will regret. Today 10 devotees said to me, ‘Swamiji when you had forewarned 5 years back, we were negligent. We were egoistic about our good health. Today we have paid the price for it. Now this body does not co-operate for full practice of Kriya yoga’.
Hence all of you take a vow. Every 3 months go back to the teacher and re-learn the lessons. It will help you. Surya candra nadi bhedana has extra-ordinary benefits and thus is extolled in many mantras including Gayatri mantra.
Cleaning the nose daily with luke-warm salted water has many benefits. It clears the throat and the wind pipes. Bhajan singers find it very useful. You will be able to hold breath for long – perhaps up to 6 minutes.
Recently a Yogi visited Mysore ashram. He is 6 feet tall but manages to fit into a tiny box. He can hold breath for 6 minutes. Normal person will die when breath is held that long. But that Yogi could stay without breath for so long. He lives in France. Through Pranayama he has brought breath under his control. People who practice this turn into yogis.
We, who lack faith, who lead hectic lives due to office commitments, who are lazy, who are fickle minded and suspicious, should learn Pranayama and put into practice. I will not warn you again. Begin your efforts before it is too late. Do not over eat. Compulsorily go for walk daily. Do exercises.
Treadmill is unhealthy in the long run as it damages the knees. People who are above the age of 20 will find their knees damaged due to regular practice of treadmill. Swamiji walks in the hall itself for 40 minutes daily. In case I don’t go swimming I feel uneasy. If I don’t go swimming for 4 days I feel feverish. Such is my addiction to exercises. I am giving myself as an example to drive home the point.
Therefore, all those who consider themselves as my devotees, who treat me as their Guru and their God, who have placed implicit faith in me, who have obtained blessings from me, who believe that they can obtain happiness from me, who are enjoying along with me, who love me dearly – all of you please make a promise that you will unfailingly practice Kriya yoga henceforth. There is no excuse whatsoever. Please attend Kriya yoga classes again and again.
You will benefit from it in every single way. It will help in your job and business. Your future diseases will be healed. There are many who are egoistic – ‘I am healthy. There is nothing wrong with me’ – such persons are the first to fall sick. We do not know the future. We do not know what will land on our head tomorrow.
Often people say, ‘I was fine till yesterday. Today suddenly I fell sick’. Or ‘My grandfather led a healthy life till the age of 90. My father too is of good health. As such I do not fear any sickness’. But then, in such homes diseases set in quickly. Sickness is the outcome of the adulteration in food, in milk, rice, spices, chillies, turmeric.
Of late, plastic rice and plastic millets are flooding the market. In oil, animal fat is being mixed and we are consuming that oil on a daily basis. Everyone claims the food is organic but how do you know if their claim is valid? Normally milk should be spoilt when kept in fridge for 3-4 days, but adulterated milk remains fresh even after a week.
Food is adulterated, working conditions are not healthy, devotion has decreased, faith has slackened, feelings such as love, respect, reverence have reduced, attachment towards money has increased. Husband and wife no longer trust one another. As such we do not know what is real love. Only selfish love is seen. Lies and cheating has become rampant among family members. Due to the above-mentioned reasons, negative vibrations fill the home. This bad energy shows its effect on the body in the form of diseases.
Untimely food, eating chats from roadside vendors, eating late at night, eating food filled with onions, garlic and spices, eating food which is cooked in unhygienic environs – all of these spoil the health. However, we fill our stomachs with such unhealthy, stale food. We do not know if any rats or cockroaches ran over the food in the restaurant. We only see the external ambience and the presentation of the food and, pleased with it, we eat the food unmindful of the harmful effects. The excreta of the insects too will be filled in the food. We relish the coffee in the restaurant unmindful that the same powder is being reused for ages. Yesterday I found seeds of Papaya mixed in pepper. Papaya seeds were coloured so as to resemble pepper seeds. Adulteration has spread its tentacles everywhere. All green vegetables are grown in unhygienic surroundings. Wash the greens at least 5 times in lukewarm water prior using them.
Do not use onions and garlic on daily basis. Consuming on daily basis causes the person to stink terribly. Even when they are at a distance their presence can be known. Even mosquitoes that sting such people, die instantly.
I am not against eating tasty food. However, you need to ensure that the food is cooked healthy. Cook at home and enjoy to your hearts content. Thereafter continue exercise and Pranayama.
Now all of you have promised to practice Kriya yoga daily. I am leaving with the confidence that you will not let me down. There are many teachers in the ashram. They are ready to travel to your places and teach provided you assemble as a group of 30-40 to learn. Make Kriya yoga a part of your life.
I will personally come to your place and teach if 1000 students enrol. The knowledge that I teach should not be lost. If 1000 people learn, I have the hope that at least 10 will diligently practice. Once a year I will teach in Mysore ashram. Please attend those classes.