A. <2>Physical health is possible only when a person lives in an environment where the seven basic necessities for a strong physical body are provided:
(1) Fresh Air, which is the #1 "must." It is the most essential physical necessity. Even the greatest yogis cannot live without
prana which can be found in clean fresh air.
(2) Sunshine, the second "must" in order to gain the freshest life energies from the sun and build strong bones and a healthy physical body.
(3) Good food, sentient, fresh, and balanced food to be used by the body to create strong cells. The sun also helps food to be digested properly. Food is the most beneficial when it is cooked with a joyful group and is eaten with the same joy by the group.
(4) Pure water, which not only gives much prana to the person, but also provides the essential fluid and moisture for the body, many essential minerals, and prevents many diseases.
(5) Good rest, especially when done in fresh air will provide happiness, joy, and contentment, which all are very necessary for good health.
(6) Exercise and Inner-size, to stimulate the
circulation and provide the body and brain with more blood, ease the work of the heart, and provide relaxation and health and also Inner-size (yoga postures, which mostly work on the glands and Spirit rather than the muscles).
(7) Concentration and the use of the power of the
mind, this will
help a person to use his/her healing power and provide this
power more easily for physical stability and health.
B.<3> Mental equilibrium: To acquire a simple life to prevent the disturbance of the
mind (but not so simple that the person becomes a burden on society). <4>Simple life does not mean escapism
<5>but avoiding those activities which provide much stress with no beneficial results to the person or others, such as games (when they become a show, instead of for health purposes), luxury, too much attachment to the
external world, drugs, drinking, smoking, thinking too much about the opposite sex, putting material gain prior to
spiritual progress, etc.
C.
<6>Spiritual cleanliness: In addition to physical and mental cleanliness, a person has to
strive to be spiritually clean. As the body becomes dirty in a few days, the mental aspects of the human also become soiled. Actually the
mind becomes soiled much faster than the body, and even faster than the
mind is the
spirit that becomes unclean (through the
mind).
<7>So we can see how important these things are: the environment we live in, the materials we read, the shows we see, or the people we have as our companions. They all affect our mental and spiritual cleanliness.
<8>A spiritual person not only tries to avoid crudifying
environments but eventually he also should be able to stay in the equilibrium of his mind even in the middle of the worst environment. Otherwise (if he does not
become that strong), he will leave the society and go off to the mountains or fall into the grip of
Maya as he loses his Soul in it.