Sri Swami Sivananda, Sri Swami Satyananda and after them the sannyasins of our tradition believe that we all have one aim in our lives: peace, plenty and prosperity; happiness in our individual life, plenty in the family life and peace in society. This is possible to attain through yoga. It is considered an important part of this spiritual tradition. It is not in the form of religious belief or practice, instead in the form of a practical education of life, where a person can awaken atmabhava, a feeling of oneness within, and gradually diminish the nature of selfishness.
When atmabhava is experienced by everyone, we will be able to create a beautiful new community. As long as we do not experience this feeling of oneness within, there will always be disorder and disturbance in our society and our world. No one can find a solution for that. There is no theory, religion or politics that can eradicate it.
A person can eradicate disturbance and disorder only through his own strength and effort. To remove this chaos and restlessness, it is important to bring about a change in one's internal thoughts. Until one's thoughts change, no one is able to do anything.
When you become sick, you surely take medicines or the help of other forms of therapies, or you may even practise yoga for prevention. However, the effort for prevention is external and superficial.
If you want to make a real effort for the prevention of any disease, you have to listen to the words of Sri Swamiji. One day he told me, "Niranjan, mark my words. For yoga, nothing is impossible. However, there is one condition: the rules of yoga have to be followed word by word. You want to cure yourself without changing anything in your life. If you have diabetes, you take insulin. The sugar level will be brought down but you do not want to free yourself from the attachment to sweets. You still would like to have sweets. You do not want to change your life, the environment of your life, the negative aspects and shortcomings of your life. You want to live your life the way you are living it right now; you want to be the way you are right now. You want an instant solution and fix for the problems and illnesses, by any method. Without changing your lifestyle, this is not possible. As long as changes are not allowed into your life, neither good health nor peace will be attained."
6 June 2014, Kathmandu, Nepal