Does exercising that increases our breathing rate decrease our lifespan?
Thank you very much See If we say that The number of breaths are fixed Then sometimes when we exercise We know exercise is good for the health But then exercise also makes us breathe faster So are we actually Increasing our longevity or decreasing our longevity When we exercise See There are principles And there are specifics So The broad principle Applies In the sense that Our lifespan is fixed As I give the example that When we get a body How long we are going to stay in that body is fixed Now How I act in my life Based on that understanding That is based Not just on that philosophical principle It is based on practical action See for example now If I will give an extreme example of this That we know that Whatever happens to us is by our past karma But in this life We are not meant to judge people Based on their past karma See for example if a person is robbed And that person goes to the king I have been robbed And the king says you are robbed by your past karma Well this is ridiculous Or take this to a further extreme You know a mother has a small baby and the baby is crying And the mother says she is crying because of her past karma Now what will happen to humanity? What will happen to love? So we understand the principle of past karma Yes A person may be robbed because of past karma A particular baby When she was born She has some complications because of which she cries more We could say that is because of past karma But when we are acting in this world Our focus is not on What is whose karma Our focus is on What is my dharma So as a king The king's focus is not on Okay is this person robbed because of their past karma The king's focus is what is my dharma I am in charge of law and order over here I have to make sure that this injustice Is corrected So from this life's perspective A person being robbed Is unjust From this life's perspective a baby is crying No it's mother for a mother has to do something About it So similarly When we think about Taking medicines Or doing exercises Or adopting healthy practices The principle is that I know that there is my past karma I have a particular ex-wife But there is my This life's dharma also So one dharma of this lifetime Is to take care of my body I can take care of my body as Because I want to enjoy life Or I can take care of my body because I see this body as a means by which I can serve Krishna So see once we get this If we get too paranoid About this concept of past life karma You know we will get paralyzed Should we do anything or not in this life You know if I say Okay if everything is going to happen by past karma Why should I take medicine The disease has come because of past karma And if my karma is there it will be cured also Well we have to understand that What we experience in our life Is not determined just by our past karma It is past karma Plus present karma also It's like Say If somebody is riding a bike And They are riding rashly And there is water spilled on the road We can say that by their past karma They were going to meet a situation Where the water was spilled on the road But they could have been driving slowly And there was a small accident If they were driving very rashly And they were thrown off It could be a fatal accident So that means Now the point of their meeting With the accident Much more serious accident So the point is that Our present life actions also affect So it is not just The past life actions Past life actions happen, they affect certain things But when we get certain Complications by our past life karma The way I respond to it Can aggravate that situation Or it can mitigate that situation So when we are acting in life We should focus on What is my this life dharma So Yes by my past life karma I got a disease I can say But my this life dharma is I have to take medicine Even in the Vedic tradition there was Ayurveda You know Ayurveda If everybody was simply going to think About the past life karma Then why was Ayurveda there at all Ayurveda it accepts the existence of God Now we say that That it is Vishnu Who is acting through the Aushadhi Through the medicine But still we take the medicine So when we act in this life We act primarily based on this life dharma So if I find that exercise Is favorable for my health Then I should do exercise It's not that every single action I do I want to calculate it How much breath is it going to take It's going to take too many breaths It's going to take too less breaths That's not the point The point is that We recognize that there are certain things Which are beyond my control And certain things which are in my control So what is in my control I do that That's why Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita also says The intricacies of karma Are very difficult to understand So The broad principles we focus on And as far as practical actions Is concerned We don't have to get too caught up In this whole analysis of past life karma And what all is happening I think what should I do right now What is the best thing for me to do right now How can I serve Krishna right now So whatever be the number of breaths I have If I have a healthy body Then I will be able to serve it And if exercise helps me to be healthy Then I will do the exercise So our focus should not be too much on This past life karma See the philosophy Should be always used in such a way That it Enhances our understanding And our purposefulness in life Our philosophy should never be used In such a way that It shrinks our humanity It kills our initiative It's not meant for that Any philosophy You can turn it in the opposite way In Mahabharata, Dhritarashtra when Vidura tells him Stop Duryodhana from fighting From antagonizing the Pandavas He is Otherwise the whole Kuru dynasty will be destroyed So at that time Dhritarashtra says That oh But if it is the will of almighty destiny That our dynasty is going to be destroyed Then who am I A tiny mortal To stop the will of almighty destiny Now Vidura Just cuts through Dhritarashtra's rationalizations And Vidura replies The sentence that we all can memorize He says that Destiny determines The consequences of our actions Not our actions themselves So If a student doesn't study in an exam And say I failed because of destiny That is not because of destiny That is because of stupidity You didn't study If after studying somehow The student forgets Or the student Maybe the computer makes some mistake Or something goes wrong Then that is destiny So our actions are in our hands And we need to do our actions responsibly If after doing our actions the results don't come Then that is destiny So exercise we should do And sometimes you will find some people Despite doing exercises sometimes they fall sick And some people don't do exercises Still they seem to stay healthy But we understand that is the result of past karma But I know the general correlation is If I do exercise so I stay healthy So I do exercise Does that answer the question.