'I lead a simple and disciplined life': Fit and healthy monk reveals secret to long life

'I just want people to be happy, healthy and peaceful.'

An Indian monk claiming to be 120-years-old has revealed his secret to a long, healthy life.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Swami Sivananda appears to be a physically fit and his clean bill of health suggests he has led a long, healthy life.

Sivananda plans to apply to the Guinness World Records as the oldest man ever to live.

His secret to longevity? "[Y]oga, discipline, and celibacy."

"I lead a simple and disciplined life," he explained. "I eat very simply - only boiled food without oil or spices, rice and boiled daal (lentil stew) with a couple of green chillies [sic].

"I avoid taking milk or fruits because I think these are fancy foods. In my childhood I slept many days on an empty stomach."

Sivananda's passport claims he was born August 8, 1896. If this information is accurate, he will surpass the current World Record-holder, Japan's Jiroemon Kimura, who died in June 2013 at 116-years-and-54-days-old.

In the late 1800s, India was without electricity, cars and telephones. He was orphaned at only 6-years-old and was given to a spiritual guru who traveled India.

When Sivananda settled in Varanasi he continued the religious life and lived simply.

"Earlier people were happy with fewer things," he explained. "Nowadays people are unhappy, unhealthy and have become dishonest, which pains me a lot. I just want people to be happy, healthy and peaceful."

Part of living happily in peace and health is practicing yoga several hours each day.

The remarkably limber monk is only 5-foot-two-inches tall and sleeps on a floor mat with a wooden slab as a pillow.

If he is really as old as his passport claims, perhaps his simple lifestyle is the secret to a long, healthy life.

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