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Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. It is nice to be in this beautiful city of Brno. I have heard that Brno is declared a healthy city, so in Brno, everyone must be healthy. That is why we have chosen the subject of peace. I welcome all of you, the many dignitaries, yogīs, and social workers present. Peace in the world is a great question. If we remember the past, in every century there was fighting, wars, and battles. Human blood flowed, many children lost their parents, and many young women lost their husbands. Somehow, humans are now more civilized, yet war has not stopped. On this planet, there are many places where fighting continues. If we ask for what reason, it is an ignorance of humans—fighting for power, for positions, and for money. Greed has no limitations. Animals also have greed, but when animals are satisfied with their hunger, they have no more greed. The human mental hunger, however, is difficult to satisfy. There is a story of a king who declared that in his kingdom, no one would be hungry, poor, or suffering. Everyone would have enough. And it was so, but the king became very proud; ego arose. God thought it was time to teach this king a lesson—that it is not he who provides everything to everyone. One morning, the king walked through his beautiful orchard. As soon as he returned to the steps of his palace, a very poor beggar was standing there. He was old, very weak, with no energy, wearing old torn cloth, holding a stick and a pot. He said, "King, I am hungry. For the last ten days, I have seen you and thought you would give me something to eat." The king could not believe it: such a poor beggar in his kingdom? He was surprised. The king asked, "My friend, where do you live? Where are you coming from?" The beggar replied, "Your Highness, I am a beggar at your door. I am living here outside your palace." The king said, "How is this possible? I did not know." The beggar answered, "You are a great person. People like me have no approach to you. Your people do not care about me. Whenever I try to come toward you, they chase me away. Today I found a chance and could come to you." The king said, "Well, from today onwards, you will not be poor anymore. I will give you so much that you will be rich." The beggar, Megha, said, "Well, sir, at present I am so hungry I have no time for talking. Give me something to eat." The king ordered food. The beggar said, "I only need to fill my pot." The king replied, "No, no, not only your pot with food. I will fill it with golden coins." So he ordered food, gold, and everything. Yet, whatever he put into the pot disappeared. Kilos and kilos, hundreds of kilos of gold disappeared, but the pot remained empty. The beggar looked at the king and said, "Your Highness, just fill my small pot, that is all." Now the king realized something was wrong. Whatever he put in disappeared. He asked the beggar, "What is the miracle of your pot? From which material is it made?" The beggar said, "I have no time to talk. I am hungry, I am dying. Just give me something to eat." The king ordered rice and a lot of food. All of it disappeared. The king folded his hands and knelt down. "Tell me, please, who are you?" Suddenly, the beggar changed into the great divine form of God, a light, and God smiled. He said to the king, "My son, I bless you. I came to give you a lesson. I know you are a very good person, but you have such a great ego, and I want to clear it today. Never think that you are the one who feeds the people. From the small ant to the big elephant, it is God who is feeding them. Who are you? It is good that you are taking care of your people." The king asked, "But Lord, tell me, what is the miracle of this pot?" God answered, "This pot is made out of the human mind, and the human mind has no bottom. It is so hungry, so greedy, it can never be satisfied." Human hunger, human greed—on this, Mahātmā Gandhījī wrote: "Mother Earth has enough for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed." A greedy person will never be happy; a greedy person is unhappy all the time. One man was walking in a park and met his friend. He said, "Good morning, my dear friend, how are you?" The friend replied, "Very good, but you look a little depressed, unhappy." The man said, "Yes, I am depressed. I am unhappy." "Why are you depressed?" "I am depressed because my neighbor is very happy." And so we are. When we see someone who is very happy and has everything, we become jealous. We become unhappy, waiting for some troubles. And when the neighbor has troubles, then you are out of your depression because today your neighbor is in trouble with his wife. There are people who are never happy; they are known as troublemakers. Their own problems, desires, and mistakes they try to reflect onto others. That is the cause of restlessness in the world. If this continues, there cannot be peace. So what is to be done? The answer is spirituality. What does spirituality look like? All day I was thinking of the best way to tell you in a very simple manner the way to the spiritual world. Spirituality does not mean that you sit and meditate the whole day; it is not that you pray the whole day. You may be sitting and praying in a temple or a church. The word 'church' comes from 'temple'; in the Bible, it is written 'temple'. You are praying, and suddenly someone from another religion comes inside. Immediately, you look at them with different eyes. Where is your prayer? That was not a prayer. Every entity, every living creature—not only humans—is a creature of God, meaning they are children of God. In them is the light of God. Now, what should be your behavior towards all these creatures? Love. So love is spirituality. How should that love be so that we can bring world peace? There is a very simple example. There is one mother and a child. The child is just one year old. The mother is hungry, and the child is hungry. They have a little to eat. Will the mother feed herself first, or will she first feed her child? Here are many mothers sitting. Can you give me an answer, please? Will you eat first and give what remains to the child? You give first to the baby. Yes? Now, that is the way to peace, and that is spirituality. Which spirituality? The love of that mother towards the child. That small child is hungry; first, I feed my child. And what remains? When the mother wants to put food in the mouth of the child, the child says, "No." And when the mother is breastfeeding the child, while feeding, the child is kicking the mother’s chin with its legs. What does the mother do? She takes the foot and kisses the feet of the child. The mother doesn’t mind that the child is kicking her; it is love for her, happiness. Such a love awakens in our heart. I can tell you, I can write it in golden letters: there will be world peace. If your neighbor tells you something, a little hard word, oh God, your blood begins to boil. There is no peace. It is said: love your neighbor. If you are real Christians, then love your neighbor. If someone strikes you on one cheek, then offer the second cheek. This is written, you know, but not practiced in reality. This is called the word of God, the words of the wise, the words of the masters. So do not just read, but realize that, be like that, and there will be peace. Otherwise, it is like a beautiful, peaceful lake where many ducks and beautiful swans are sitting. Suddenly a fox comes. All the peaceful ducks and swans become restless and begin to fly away. That hungry fox, licking its lips, thinks, "Which duck will I hunt?" That fox feels happy that people have fear and run away. So there are some people who are disturbing factors; they create negative thoughts, negative words, and negative talk. Never create fear in someone. Do not misguide; guide them. Let them believe as they believe. Support them. That is a way to peace. If your stomach is full—let us say my stomach is full, I just ate—it does not mean everyone’s stomach is full; you may still be hungry. But I am thinking, "I am full, so all are full." That is ignorance. As I feel hunger, others feel it also. As offended as I feel, others feel also. As happy as I feel, others feel also. Therefore, do not cause anyone trouble. That is spirituality—not merely being a religious person. No, religion will not make you spiritual if you do not follow the religion. So it is said: "Vāsudeva Kuṭumbakam"—the whole world is my family. The whole planet, the whole Mother Earth, is my home. Borders exist in the human mind. It is human ignorance to fight and fight. You know the past history of Brno. You know the past history of the Czech Republic. From the times of many kings, how many innocent people were killed? Even those who were fighting for this, where are they? Gone. No one could take anything with them. Spirituality means that humans have intellect, and this intellect is given to protect everyone from those who are disturbing. Try to make peace. Now, education—we need ethical education, and the education of peace begins on the parents’ lap. Those children who got the lap of the parents are happy. It is your father, your mother who teaches you not to fight. But nowadays, children have lost the lap of the parents because on the lap of the parents, there is a laptop. The laptop should be your child, but the child is somewhere in the nursery school, kindergarten. Babysitters are very good, but a babysitter cannot replace a mother or father’s love. Do not do so much that you often put your child with a babysitter. Take care of your children’s education. Peace begins in your own home. Another thing is meditation—a meditation we call self-inquiry meditation. Self-inquiry means not "Who am I?" but "How am I?" In the evening, when you come home after your work or after dinner, sit in meditation for even ten minutes only. Remember the day from morning till now. Every one of us has had good and bad experiences. We spoke something good; we spoke something bad. Our attitude. So sit down and make the calculation. How many good experiences and good actions have you had? And how many negative ones? Those good experiences you had calm down your mental waves, your brain waves. They make you happy. It is like you lost something, and the whole day you are unhappy. Then in the evening, someone telephones you and says, "I found your money purse." Suddenly your brain waves calm down. Why? You are happy because what was lost is found. Similarly, good acts we do during the daytime calm the brain waves. Negative waves we had in our brain—talking negatively about someone, thinking negatively about someone, experiencing negative things—you are driving a car and someone quickly overtakes you. Many are not disturbed, but maybe some people are like me, who said, "Ah! In this way he overtook. I will overtake again." This is a disturbing factor. Now what to do? This person could have caused an accident. I am angry. No. Anger is my ignorance. Who am I to judge that person? I do not know why he took off so quickly. Maybe his wife was very ill at home and he had to go. Maybe his child had an accident, or he was missing an airplane. Why do I not first think positively? But no, immediately: "What an unfriendly person." This is the problem: we create an inner war within ourselves. And though you go to sleep, these restless activities, experiences in your brain, remain active. Sometimes they may come in a dream. So meditation is to understand thyself and understand others. Who am I to judge someone? We all do not have such clean hands; somewhere, our mistake is also there. But great are they who do not see the mistakes of others. Great are they who do not destroy others. But wise and holy are they, spiritual are they, who will help others through mental suggestions, who will pray for them, to purify their mistakes. Spirituality means purity, crystal clear—my citta vṛtti, my cidākāśa. Cidākāśa means the inner space. When we close our eyes, we see the endless space. Now, what is moving inside? That is vṛtti, thoughts. A great yogī, Patañjali, said: through the practice of yoga, neutralize or purify the vṛttis. Without calming down those vṛttis in your cidākāśa, you cannot become a yogī. So yogīs are they, wise ones are they, great are they, spiritual are they, who remove from their intellect or their mind all negative thoughts. The sun rises, but the sun does not tell the darkness, "Go away." No. The quality of the sun is to neutralize the darkness and turn it into light. The sun does not fight against the darkness. There is no battle. The sun does not say, "This is the dark." No, no. The sun just rises up, and automatically everything turns into light. So, my dear brothers and sisters, you are like the sun. Your appearance is like a light, so try to help everyone. Clear, crystal-clear behavioral thoughts are called spirituality. And that spirituality can create world peace. So we need spiritual education. We need to develop our love like the heart of a mother. Then, the mother will first feed her child and then herself. You have had experiences, but you forgot. You forgot your mother. Now, many of you do not listen to your mother, especially the young generation. You know, when parents tell you, "Do not go out tonight," what will be the answer? "Enough! I am not a child anymore. I am grown. I am above 18 years." What will the mother’s heart say? "My child, you are still for me a small baby." But we have forgotten that love. So that love should be between partners, brothers, sisters, neighbors, colleagues, and other creatures. For me, spirituality is simplicity. For me, spirituality is understanding others’ pain. For me, spirituality is to help others. The helping hand has more value than just folded hands. For me, prayer is to help someone come out of difficulties. So, in the evening when you meditate, remember the whole day. And now we will meditate. If you want to do it, you are welcome. If you do not want to do it, just look at what we are doing. Only a few minutes, okay? If you want to go, then go before we begin meditation. But I tell you, this evening will not come again. This evening is only today; tomorrow is another evening. Make yourself comfortable and place your hands on your thighs. Your palms may be open, looking up, or touching your thighs. Join your index fingers and thumbs together. When two fingers come together, it is said to calm down your thoughts. This index finger is like the individual self, and the thumb is like the universal one. So we unite our individual self with the universal Self. These three fingers are like three different qualities. In Āyurveda, it is said: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas guṇa. So, rise above the three guṇas. Hold like this. Anything you want to see in this hall, you can look now. After we close our eyes, do not open them until I suggest you to open them, because nothing will change in this hall, so there is no need to open your eyes. Very good. So, close your eyes, be comfortable, and relax the whole body. Just relax. Take one deep inhale and slowly exhale, and relax. Relax your jaw, relax your neck, and try to relax your face muscles. Relax your shoulders, relax your elbows, relax your fingers, your palms, both arms—just relax. No concentration, just feel and try to relax. Relax the trunk of the body, relax your stomach muscles, and keep your back muscles relaxed. Relax your hips, thigh muscles, keep your knees relaxed, calf muscles, ankle joints, and feel and relax your foot soles and toes. Once more, deep inhale and exhale, and feel your breath. You know that you are inhaling, and you know that you are exhaling. Feel the whole respiratory system. During the time of inhalation, your stomach expands slightly, and during exhalation, it contracts slightly. Relax. The whole day has passed. You were working physically and mentally, but now it is time for you to relax. Relax. Bring your awareness to the center of the eyebrows, without stress. Just remember the activities of the whole day. How many times were you happy, and how many times were you angry or unhappy? Relax, relax, and remember the activities of the whole day. You know that you have great love in your heart. In your heart is a fountain of compassion. In your intellect, there is a light of wisdom. Your consciousness is pure, spiritual. Understand, and forget or forgive all the negative experiences and impressions. Relax. Who am I to judge anyone? Merciful Lord, forgive my negative reaction. Be happy and feel blessed with those positive experiences. Pray or wish that such peace and harmony, love and understanding should be in the whole world. Lord, let me be the light in darkness. Let me be the bridge, heart to heart. Let me be the support for peace in my family, in society, in nature, in the environment. Peace be in the whole world, the entire universe. Peace, peace, peace. Lord, let me be the instrument of your love and light, that I may become an instrument of peace in the world. Relax the whole body. Calm your thoughts. Feel the peace and harmony within thyself and outside of thyself. Feel the love of the parents for the whole world. At the end of the meditation, we always chant OM. After the OM, three times we chant in Sanskrit, "peace, śānti." The sound should create a positive and peaceful atmosphere. Those who are new or for the first time, you may chant after us or with us. It will be a long chanting of OM like this. Deep inhale. Keep your eyes closed. [Meditation and chanting conclude.] Fold your hands, rub your palms, place the palms on your face, open your eyes, and move your hands. This self-inquiry meditation will give you immense peace, harmony, and clarity in life. You will feel that you are becoming spiritual. Many problems will be solved automatically. Of course, those who are already practicing yoga in daily life know this technique, and those who do not know, know now. So you can begin to practice. Thank you, and I pray to the Almighty for your good health, peace, and harmony in your heart and family. God bless you. Adiós.