Acharya's Words

Master's Guidance: Although it is not easy to speak about diet in general, let me tell you this: a good diet should not be expensive. Nature has given food for free. Simple foods like lemon, fruits like Banana, papaya, apple and grains like rice, wheat, dal, sprouts, leafy vegetables, etc. are more than enough.

Master's Guidance: We get stamina through healthy food, proper sleep, regular exercise, stress-free life and healthy habit. It is important to consume proper food in proper quantity at proper time. Practice of Keimoudo and Moxshlife Yoga also gives stamina. And the most important thing is following a healthy habit, without which also our stamina will be drained. Healthy habit includes not consuming alcohol, non-smoking, conserving energy by talking less and only when required, proper thinking etc. Meditation also plays a big role in restoring stamina. Meditation calms us down and puts a stop to unnecessary wastage of energy and makes us stress-free, which results in good stamina.

Master's Guidance: 7 hours of sound sleep is sufficiant for a human being, provided we eat well, do meditation and exercise well, and live a good life. We are the only animals who sleep on our spine, which is a very delicate and vital organ that cannot absorb the stress of our weight for over 8 hours. According to yogic science, 40 minutes' Savasan is equal to 8 hours sleep. Sleeping in the afternoon is not good for health.

Master's Guidance: I salute you because you are a brave man. After having side effects, why do you still want to consume it? It is very bad to have protein powders. Who was training you when you were into bodybuilding? Unfortunately, in India most trainers are uneducated and feel that by giving these products, they will very quickly be able to have a group of bodybuilders.

All such products are bad. Do not consume them. Some people even have large quantities of bananas or eggs. Even then you will have problems. Excess of anything is bad. You will put yourself in deep trouble.

Master's Guidance: Yes definitely. Both Martial arts and yoga have certain positions and our body takes a particular shape. In Yoga it is subtle and passive and in martial arts it is active. Now for example, if while practicing push-ups in martial arts, a student puts more weight on one hand, then he/she will face problems on that side, because his/her entire body weight is on one elbow. Same is the case with techniques like jab, which have a particular way of doing. But there are two types of students: one type does not understand anything and is only concerned with throwing the technique. The second type of student have their own understanding of the techniques based on what they have seen, etc. And they use unnecessary speed, power, etc. without understanding the technique, but still feel that their technique is the best. It does not matter what the Master says, they will continue doing the same technique.

In martial arts there are two reasons for sustaining side-effects or injuries. First is lack of understanding by student and the second is the instructor. If the instructor is not qualified, does not understand students, their natures, physiology or anatomy, then the students might face problems.

For example, we do not allow students who are below 12 years to practice knuckle pushups. This is a very important thing and it is related to the student's growth. But some people do not understand this and teach knuckle pushups to children. We have considered many such things that do not cause harm to students. If the students and teachers have this basic understanding then there are minimal chances of side effects.

Also, for example, in martial arts breathing plays an important role. But many students do not breathe properly, and do not say Hu and Kiai properly—I am not asking them to say Hu and Kiai very loudly, but properly.

Master's Guidance: It is simple. If you get something that you were going after then you are successful. But I will say one more thing. If you get success, but it consumes all your time, energy, and peace of mind in the process, then even if you achieve it, it is of no use. If you are going after a future success that makes your today hell, then you will never be successful. If your present is good, then future is also good.

Master's Guidance: If you look at something else or someone else and try to become like that, you will not get motivated. You should look at someone for inspiration and want something for yourself, then you do not need motivation. Motivation is automatic when something becomes your need and necessity and you put your 100% behind it.

Master's Guidance: It is indeed a serious problem, but the problem is not with the children. It is a problem because parents have not been educated on parenthood. Unfortunately, over the past 600 years or so, we have lost sight of our culture and education system.

In our traditional Gurukulam system of learning, a Guru, who was an experienced and educated person, would explain the responsibilities of all actions and decisions you would make in your life and guide you in the right manner. When a couple would decide to get married, the Guru would explain the meaning of becoming a wife, a husband, a father, and a mother.

These days, we have no one to guide us in these topics. Our schooling makes us qualified and not educated. Our life is on autopilot. We know we have to study, graduate, find a job, get married, and have children. We don't know why we are doing it; we just know that we have to. Therefore, people get frustrated or unhappy after marriage and fight with the spouse, dominate over them, and yell at the kids.

If you are a parent, you must understand your child. Talk to your child after understanding them. Don't tell them yes or no. Let them understand that you understand them. Don't become their friend. A parent must act and behave like a parent and not a friend.

Also remember, fighting is normal in children. That's how they learn. They need to find a way to channel their energy and fighting is one such channel. Fighting will help them respect each other and bond over the years. If they hurt themselves while fighting, explain to them the consequences and you will find that they will realize their mistake and be more careful in future.

Master's Guidance: Before we try to understand how to conquer or win over our ego, we must first understand what ego means. Only then will we be able to decide whether we need ego or not both in material and spiritual life.

Until now, we have had our own understanding of the term ego based on whatever we've read in books or based on what society or our friends and family have told us. Similarly, we have our own understanding of what is material life and what is spiritual life.

For example, we attribute emotions like anger, frustration, etc. to the presence of ego. In the same way we attribute our personal, social life which includes our worldly possessions as materialistic and the giving up of all worldly possessions and retreating from society as spiritual.

Unfortunately, all of these understandings are incorrect.

Ego is nothing but the mind, an instrument given by God to us during the time of our birth. At that time, the ego is natural and basic and very important. It helps us understand and respond to basic instincts like danger, hunger, sleep, etc. apart from this, it is so empty and in such a pure state that we have no understanding of whether we are boy or girl, rich or poor, which religion we belong to, etc.

But then as we start to grow, our parents and the society begin installing different information to us and our social mind or ego develops. While the mind we got at the time of birth was a natural product, ego is a social product.

This ego teaches us to be selfish and think only about ourselves. In the process, we slowly start becoming victims to emotions like jealousy, insecurity, deceit, weakness, fear, frustration, unhappiness, depression, etc.

While this ego or social mind is a big obstacle in spiritual practice, it is also very harmful in the material world. Because we have not understood this simple fact, we are unhappy because somewhere deep down we know we have done something wrong.

Our mind is over developed and as a result we have too much ego and this makes us afraid and weak. It is our fear born out of lack of understanding and clarity that gets us frustrated at different situations and we term this frustration as anger. In reality, anger is a very positive form of energy. It results in something positive. But frustration is negative and takes away from us.

Therefore, it is obvious that ego is important. Without it we will die. It is like removing the basic operating system from our computer. Right now, the best solution is to learn to control the ego and stop letting the ego control you. Stop becoming its slave. Instead, befriend it. Don't ever assume that the ego can be killed. We have fed and nurtured it for so long that it now has the power of a 1000 elephants.

But through meditation, it is possible to chip away the ego and arrive at the basic state of mind; a mind that is divine, satvik, and selfless. It is a state that helps us live in the moment. This mind is also intelligent. It is like the minds of wild animals, which have the power to anticipate natural calamities, treat themselves when sick, travel thousands of miles on air, land, and water without losing direction, etc.

The next part: what is material and what is spiritual? Material comes from the word matter and spiritual comes from the word spirit. They are inseparable and a part of the same coin. Matter is the outer aspect and spirit is the inner aspect. But we have had our own understanding of these terms. For example, we might see the vast material possessions of a businessman and assume he is happy. Similarly, we get impressed by several so-called spiritual people by looking at their attire, mild manner of speaking etc. and think that they are successful spiritual people. But in reality spirituality is defined by lifestyle and thoughts.

A true Master or Guru will guide seekers in the material world so that they do not suffer and become depressed. He will teach them the limit. For those interested in going beyond, he will also teach spiritual science.

It is only when you are with a true Master will you learn that life is a balance between material and spiritual. You cannot separate matter and spirit, and a spiritual person is one who gains the balance of both things.

Master's Guidance: First, about the mind: You must understand that what we call 'mind' is there not just in your head, but in every cell and every portion of your body. It makes you accept what suits it, and reject what does not suit it. If someone tells you something good, you like it and you accept that person. But if someone criticizes you, you don't like it and you reject that person. This is ego. Whenever you look at someone and you feel jealousy, envy, anger, or hatred, it is ego. The original or basic mind that we get at the time of birth is actually very pure. It is just something that god has given us to take care of our body. The sight, sound, smell, feelings are all senses given to protect ourselves and watch where we are going. And then we have a developed mind, which I call the social mind, which develops as we grow. This develops in our house, through society, by reading books, collecting information, etc. And then we all have some incidents or encounters in our life that shakes us up. We store it in our mind and say it was a bad thing, and it was bad for me, or it ruined me. In this manner, we make unnecessary use of our mind and memory and develop a thick crust of ego.

About luck, fate or destiny: If someone predicts that a person will have hundreds of people around him/her and will fly extensively around the world. This could come true in several manners: that person could become a great businessman, a saint, or an underworld don. All three will have hundreds of people around them (workers, disciples, or henchmen) and would fly around the world. Fate or destiny does not decide what a person should be, the person himself or herself decides that. And then there is the element of hard work, without which none of the three will become successful. People become successful out of any three reasons: they have inherited the quality and work hard on it; they look at someone and get inspired and then work hard on it; or you they get guidance from someone and they work hard on it. There is no fourth way.

When a seed germinates, we have no idea about the kind of energy and intense pain that it undergoes. It rips itself apart and pushes both downward and upwards bore thorough the earth. Every mango seed has the quality. But if you choose to keep the seed at home and not plant it, will it germinate? Then can you say that the seed's luck or fate is bad?

Unfortunately, we have been fed words like fate, luck and destiny from childhood and we begin to give too much importance to it. We forget the importance of hard work and instead pray to God to alter our destiny or bring us luck. If you have not studied or worked hard, what can God do to help you get good marks in exams? What you make of yourself is in your own hands.