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Part 1: Salutation to the Cosmic Mother Oṁ śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. Yā Devī sarvabhūteṣu dayā rūpeṇa saṁsthitā, namastasyai, namastasyai, namo namaḥ. Yā Devī sarvabhūteṣu buddhi rūpeṇa saṁsthitā, namastasyai, namastasyai, namo namaḥ. Yā Devī sarvabhūteṣu śānti rūpeṇa saṁsthitā, namastasyai, namastasyai, namo namaḥ. Yā Devī sarvabhūteṣu mātṛ rūpeṇa saṁsthitā, namastasyai, namastasyai, namo namaḥ. Salutation to the Cosmic Mother. She is mercy, she is kindness. She is our wisdom, she is our strength, she is peace, and she is our mother. My adoration to the Cosmic Mother within that Cosmic Mother and Cosmic Self—no duality. You may call it God or that Mother. May she bless us all. Good evening, dear sisters and brothers. In the presence of the cosmic light, I welcome you and bless you in the name of the cosmic Self. To all my dear sisters and brothers around the world, the spiritual seekers and practitioners, a beautiful good evening. This blessing comes to you from our ashram in the beautiful city of Brisbane, Australia. Perhaps it is morning where you are. Good morning, and may God bless your whole day. Peace be with us. The subject is meditation: theory and practice. After practicing meditation for many years, after practicing many postures of yoga or yoga in daily life, after practicing systematically for a long time, step by step, the breath exercises of prāṇāyāma, it becomes clear to humans what it means to be human. In the morning, when we rise and open our eyes, we see holy pictures of God, whom you believe in. God has no name, God has no form. It is omniscient, omnipresent, but we humans gave it name and form. So it does not matter which God you believe in. Or if you do not believe, then see the beautiful faces of your parents, your loving child, or look at beautiful flowers or a garden—some harmonious, peaceful symbols. Perhaps you do not have a garden; you are living in the sky, in multi-floor buildings. But you can have in your sleeping room some harmonious picture that will immediately give you positive energy. The first impression will guide your day and your evening. It is very important: what you see when you open your eyes after sleep. Second, think for just a few seconds: I am human. What makes me human? Then you step out from your bed. Before you step on this Mother Earth, offer your salutation: "My salutation to thee, O Mother Earth. Give me solid and sure ground, and lead my first steps towards love, peace, and harmony. May I walk? My steps should be as if I walk to my God, to my temple, ashram, church, mosque—wherever." The holy friends from Assisi said, "Lord, make me an instrument of peace, so that I can bring peace where there is unhappiness." May I bring happiness? May I bring certainty? So we feel when we get out of our bed and step on this Mother: "Allow me." You see, these are the thoughts which make humans alert, aware, happy, and free from anxieties. "Mother, I should not be a heaviness for you." You go to your bathroom, or you go to your coffee machine first—I do not know. When you touch water for the first time in the morning, say, "Thank you, thank you God for this water element." How beautiful it is when you take water in your hands and wash your hands or your face. It is beautiful. Then you do whatever you are doing: taking a shower, shaving, applying makeup, and so many different activities. What makes me human? Which are the human qualities? We have two kinds of qualities within us. They are called devī śakti and āsurī śakti—the divine energy and the negative energy, like devas and asuras, what you might call satanic. When the divine energy awakens, the devic energy, then you have understanding, love, kindness, clear thinking, positive thinking, positive will, and so on. If the negative energy awakens—both are inside—then you are angry, jealous, greedy, proud of yourself, dominated by such feelings, and so on. These are all waves of energy which lead us, like a wind pulls a boat in another direction. These are two mighty horses pulling the coach of our consciousness, the coach of our intellect. Now, how to cultivate, how to awaken that energy which will make me happy, make others happy, keep me healthy, and allow me to live in harmony and peace without anxieties? There are many different techniques given to humans by God, holy incarnations, and holy saints—it does not matter in which country. In every holy book is written about love, service, kindness, and so on. No holy book will write, "Hate others, be jealous, be angry," and so on. So there is oneness in everything. How to purify those negative energies? The first is prayer. When you pray, you have direct consultation with your God. God listens to you. Carefully, He listens. Prayer means surrendering. It is very easy to bend or bow your knee down, but it is very hard to surrender the heart. Prayer should be from the heart. Which love? Like a small child, only a few days or weeks old, and the father or mother—what kind of love gives milk to the child? Similarly, God takes care of those who surrender in the form of prayer. Second, do good things. Help. The helping hand has more value than just folded hands. That will create in you positive energy and positive feelings. Practice your mantra, practice your yoga exercises with the feeling that you are giving to the world. It is not that you need the world, but the world needs us. It is not that your family loves you and your family needs you—no. We need the family. We need the tree. We need the water. We need. But not only this; they need us too. Therefore, "Lord, each and every breath I breathe is for you. By each drop of my blood, it exists for others to serve." That is the feeling when we do things positively. That will awaken the positive energy. That is the way we will make you a holy saint. That energy in your hands will be like a healing energy. Your words will be like healing words. Your appearance will be like light in the darkness. Because you became like that. Your entire being is like that. If someone is angry and very cruel and so on, my God, when such a person comes in, we all feel unpleasant. We do not know what is happening now. A human can do. A human can change. That is very, very important. Before doing anything, if it is not clear, ask yourself: "Should I do this? I am a human. If this is good for a human to do, I will do it. What makes me human? That I am kind, I am helpful, I forgive, I have understanding," and so on. Then our life will become very comfortable, very easy. Though we live in the world, which is called a troublesome world nowadays, to live in this world in spiritual life is like having to live in a lake where there are plenty of crocodiles. And to work for spirituality, we have to live like a tongue between our teeth. Yes, we see the historians, the censors who work for spirituality or for peace. They became the victims of the day. But afterward, all remember and cry. See, did it have to be like that? What were the last days of Jesus? Now we cry for him. Now we feel pain. But at that time, we did not feel. At that time we were also human, but because of ignorance. So meditation brings us to our Self. That our Self will understand the divine Self, and that divine Self will bless us to become one with that Divine. Coming to practice in a group is more important than just practicing alone at home, on the beach, or in the forest somewhere. For example, suppose this is a piece of magnet. We all know what a magnet is, and here is just a piece of iron. It is not a magnet, but I want to make this iron piece a magnet. I will bring and touch this iron to the magnet. It receives the energy, the power of that magnet. Now, does that become like a magnet? I must experiment again. I take one needle and I touch it here. Will that needle also get that magnetic energy? Will it remain here, hanging? Yes. So that is the example: when we come to some harmonious place—well, I lead my spiritual life. I always must, because my experience is that when I come to the ashram, when I go to the church, or I go to the temple, or any holy place, I feel there is a magnet, and that comes to me. I become like that. So it is said, there is one small story: There was a statue made out of salt. And the salt wanted to know how deep the ocean is. So one said about 50 meters. Another said, "If you go half a kilometer far, then you will be nearly 200 meters deep." Others said, "Two kilometers deep, 2000 meters." The salty statue said, "I cannot understand. Everyone has a different opinion." And that is like what Hinduism is telling, what Christianity is telling, what Islam is telling, what this is telling. And we sometimes are confused. They are all telling the truth, but we cannot accept that. So one wise man came and said, "What are you discussing all here?" The salty statue said, "Yes, my friend, I would like to know how deep is the ocean." He said, "Yes, my dear. The best way is to find out: jump yourself in, go to the bottom, and then come and tell us." And we are all still waiting on the beach. That salty statue will not come back, because it melted into that ocean. Similarly, when we go to that divine consciousness within us, then suddenly there is no difference. It is said: "When I was here, he was not here. Now he is here, I am not here. Now he is here, but I am not there. Why? The street of love is so narrow. Two cannot walk together. Two have to become one." And when this oneness develops in our heart and in our consciousness, our intellect becomes one with that. And that develops the divine qualities within us. And that is what we spoke about: the cakras. In the body, there are thousands of energy centers—thousands. According to yogic science, yogic anatomy says there are 72,000 nerves in this body. Each nerve has one energy point, and that is like a cakra—thousands. I taught an example this morning: when you go to acupuncture, when they touch the needle somewhere at the reflex zone or power point, when they touch the needle, on the monitor another needle is moving. If we do not find the correct center or point, the needle will not move. It may move the needle, but only 40%. Then what the person will do, while giving you this acupuncture, is keep the needle for a while and give you extra energy. You will be surprised that the needle goes one hundred percent now. Because that point which he was touching—maybe on the ear, or on the face, or in finger joints here and there—they are dormant. They are blocked, meaning the energy does not flow freely. The prāṇāyāma breath technique is that subtle energy which flows through the body, and responsible for that are those subtle centers which I call cakra. Cakra means a cycle, a circle. Will energy always move in a circle? Everything is like a zero, and so you have seen in the video. Similarly, energies are moving in the whole body. In the Vedas, the holy Vedas—one of the first scriptures existing in human societies, or for us on this planet—Vedas means knowledge. It is: "Yathā brahmāṇḍe tathā piṇḍe." What exists in the entire universe exists in the human body. Astral traveling? First, you have to travel through your body. We know about our body only ten percent. Ninety percent of the mystery of this body, or the divinity of this body, we do not know. So it is that meditation which will guide you, and you will enjoy making your astral traveling in your body. Suddenly, you do not know if you are beyond Jupiter or you are in your... The body becomes one. There is no more boundaries. It is beyond every happiness, joy, freedom—no fears. Out of the 72,000 nerves, three nerves are balancing, guiding, or governing the entire body’s function and these energy centers, the tissues, but they recharge the cosmic energy. I chanted in the beginning: Yā Devī Sarva Bhūteṣu. This Devī means God, that God is Mother God. Yā Devī Sarva Bhūteṣu. Sarva means everywhere. Bhūta means in every living being and in every element. She is everywhere where there is energy—there is everything. Where there is no energy, there is nothing. When energy and consciousness come together, then life begins. Then come the five bhūtas or tattvas. They are called space (ether), fire, air, water, and earth. Then, on this planet where we are living—this planet is known as a living planet—and on this planet, five elements are alive: fire, air, water, earth, and space. This, that cosmic mother, this Devī, is in everyone. How? We said, "Holy Mother Maria, thy mercy." Jesus, thy mercy. Krishna, your mercy. Or you can see your parents, you can see your friends. When your friend is very angry with you—girls, okay—then he will ask you, "What do you want? Your mercy?" Okay, you know, all ego, all the temperament, all anger will fall into the water. So it is like that. But for meditation, for all this development, you need a master. Even for driving your car, you need a driving master. To learn electrical work, you need an electrician who can explain it to you. Any profession in this modern civilization needs a professor or a teacher. And that is why we created schools, high school, college, university, higher education. Why? Suppose you have this book in your hand, and this book is written by one world-famous surgeon, writing here how to make a heart bypass, very clearly, with instruments and pictures and everything. Now you read it, very good. You go to the medical shop and buy the tools and instruments, and come home and tell your father, "My dear father, I know how to make a bypass. Will you do it?" Your father will say, "Yes, my dear child, but I think this time, will it be made by the surgeon?" Similarly, the same thing is with spirituality. Part 2: The Grinder, the Meditation, and the Mother’s Light If you do not understand and do not practice correctly, a different energy awakens in your body. This is why many people begin to practice and continue for ten, twenty, or even fifty years, yet never comprehend what it truly is. Let me share a small story. If you have children at home, they will be happy and ask, "Mom, what story did Swāmījī tell today?" There was a man who boarded a boat to sail on the ocean. Before setting out, he met a very wise person—someone with great life experience and siddhis, spiritual powers, like our Dharmarāja sitting here. The wise man asked, "Where are you going, my friend?" The sailor replied, "I am going sailing on the sea and plan to be out for ten days." "Alright," said the wise man, "take enough water and food." "I have everything," the sailor assured him. "But I will give you something," the wise man said. "You may need it." "What is it?" asked the sailor. It was a small machine, a hand grinder for coffee beans. "Look at it," instructed the wise man. "If you need something, turn this grinder and tell it, 'Grinder, give me this, I need it.' It will then work automatically and produce bread, butter, cheese—everything." "Oh, that's fine. Thank you very much," said the sailor, and he took it. After five days, he was in the middle of the ocean. He had a nice braid and wanted to have a picnic, but he needed to put some salt on his food and had none left. So he took the coffee grinder, said the mantra, "Grinder, grinder, please produce some salt," and the machine began to produce salt. However, he had not received the mantra to stop it. It kept producing salt and producing salt. And that is how the ocean became salty—it is still producing salt somewhere. So, when you practice something—exercises, meditations—you should know how to complete it, how to stop. That is why we need a master. We should know our border, never overdo. We should know our limitation. In meditation, when we sit, it is just to become aware of our being. We get motivation in our life and learn how to understand the world. That is what all holy saints did. They went to monasteries, āśramas, or caves to sit and meditate. They did not engage in a lot of imagination. We make imagination because we try to bring our thoughts to one point. We sit in meditation, yet we are thinking differently. There was a man who meditated every day. One day, he was late for his meditation, so at 9:30 he went into his meditation room for one hour. He told his daughter-in-law, "Please, a man will come. I gave him an appointment to meet me at 10 o'clock, but I am late. I have to meditate. Give him a cup of tea or something. Show good hospitality, and tell him I will be with him in half an hour." He was meditating. After half an hour, the man came. Hearing the bell, the daughter-in-law opened the door. He asked for her father-in-law. "Yes, please come in, take a seat," she said. "Where is your father-in-law?" the visitor asked. She replied, "Yes, he went shopping. He wants to buy shoes, but he will be here in half an hour..." The father-in-law was sitting in the other room, meditating, and he heard everything. "Why did she lie? I told her I am meditating here. I am not going shopping." After half an hour, he came out. He met the man and conducted his business. An hour later, the man left, and the father-in-law asked his daughter-in-law, "My daughter, I told you that I am meditating. Why did you tell him I went shopping to buy shoes?" She said, "Excuse me, Father, but at that time you... we were thinking and searching the shoe market, wondering which shoes are better for you." He said, "Yes, you are right. But how did you know this? That is what I was thinking. I meditate every day, and I do not know what you are thinking, which techniques you did, what you are practicing." She simply answered, "Father, I practice yoga and a life. That is it." Some people fight for power, cities, but it comes from itself. So practice, practice... Make the most of having no expectations. When you have too many expectations, they lead to disappointment. Just do it. Just do your seva, that is all. Go ahead, do your service. The fruits will be given; God will give you the fruits. This is the teaching of the Bhagavad Gītā. Do the seva. Do not expect the fruits. They will come. God will give you everything. Just be the tool in the hands of God. So, how can we meditate and find our inner peace and achieve everything in our life? When you get up, greet and take permission from the holy earth, the holy mother. Then go to the water; feel this divine element. Can you imagine life without water? Be gentle to all elements. You do not know how much strength every element has. Water begins to move; a flood can wash away or damage your whole house. You had a very nice flood this year, no? So many people experienced walking in the water, or hurricanes, or tsunamis. What is that? These are imbalances in the elements. But such a tsunami also occurs sometimes in the human heart and intellect. That is called destructive power. There are some people who like to make problems. I call them problem makers. They cannot sleep unless they have created some problem for someone. They exist. If they do not find someone to cause problems for, they will dial some numbers at night, at 2 o'clock, and someone answers. "Yes, sir, who is speaking?" "Don't ask me who I am speaking to, you stupid, bloody man. Go and sleep." And he puts the phone down. "Now I have created... from now I can see there are people." This is a satanic power, disturbing, troubling. So it is said: if you cannot clean the thorns from the path of all, at least do not plant the thorns. This is our entire being. This is the science, spiritual science, for humans to achieve the final goal of human life. My dear sisters and brothers, this is a little theory. Now we will do some practice. We have a five- or ten-minute interval. If someone wants to wash their hands or something, you are welcome. In ten minutes we will begin. Until then, for our dear brothers and sisters in different parts of the world—I do not think they will take an interval—we will play for you a bhajan and sing for you a bhajan. Okay, remain with us. In nine minutes, I will be with you. Are you ready? Please, sing the bhajan. They are so... will you point the camera to the singer, please? Thank you. Okay, the Patañjali and Jñāneśvara Bhāgavata. Prabhu Dīpa Nirañjana Sabaduka, Dīpa nirañjana sabhā dukha vantra, prabhu dīpa nirañjana sabhā dukha. Isī mantra se, hove mana mañjana isī mā, Śrī dīpa nirañjana sabhā dukha pāna. Prabhū dīpa nirañjana isī mantra se hove mana mañjana, isī mantra se hove mana mañjana, Śrī dīpa nirañjana sabhā dukha bhajana. Prabhu Dīpa Niran, isi mantra se Isi man hove mana manjansi. Dīpa Niran, janasabha dukkha ba. Prabhu Dīpa Niran, janasabha dukkha ba. Hṛdaya kamalakīya kekulaja dalenita nāma kāyañjana jodha. Nāma kāyañjana śrīdīpanīrañjana sabadukābhā pravudīpanīrañjana sabadukābhā Graho sar kāṭāpa nahī lāgyā. Bhūtāpya, bhūtāpya Budhise dhyāve to darśata. Kare sabhāvan dāna de, kare sabhāvan dīdī. Sabhūdīpa niran bhuvaṁman dīdīran, sabhā dukha bhan. So, we will have a few minutes of meditation. Adjust yourself in a comfortable way so that you will not feel discomfort during the meditation. We will chant Oṁ one time. And close your eyes now, please. If it is not necessary, do not open your eyes. Remain with closed eyes during the whole meditation time. Become aware of your breath. Feel the breath, and during the chanting of the Oṁ, withdraw yourself from the external world and become aware of your being here in this hall. We will chant Oṁ once. Deep inhale, Oṁ. Relax. Relax your breath process. Be aware of your being here in this hall. Relax your body. No tensions. If you want to change your posture, you may do so, but during the meditation, make sure that you will not feel discomfort. Relax. Feel your whole body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. Relax your neck. Relax your face muscles. Relax your eyelids. Relax your jaw. Relax your fingers and elbows so that your shoulders are also relaxed. Try to relax your stomach muscles. Feel your body relaxed and comfortable, and feel the motionlessness of the body. When your body is motionless, then your prāṇa energy will move through the whole body easily. Now, bring your awareness to the breath. Become aware that you know you are inhaling, and you know that you are exhaling. Let it flow; let the breath be as natural as it is. Do not change the breath rhythm. I know that I am inhaling, and I know that I am exhaling. Concentrate on the deep breath, but this does not mean you have to inhale deeply. Let it flow as naturally as it is, but bring your awareness towards your abdomen. Feel the time of the inhalation: your stomach is expanding, your abdomen is expanding. Feel the time of the exhalation: it is contracting. Or feel your navel. Around the navel, you will feel very clearly expansion and contraction with the breath rhythm. Be relaxed. Let your stomach muscles be relaxed. Just feel how breath is moving in and out: inhaling breath and exhaling breath. Where the navel is, there is a seat of the Maṇipūra Cakra. "Maṇi" means jewel. In the center of the jewel, this cakra is like a generator, which is generating prāṇa or hara, the hara energy. Imagine a disc which is rotating and producing the energy that supports your digestive fire, that supports your solar plexus, that helps to distribute this cosmic energy to the whole body, as well as the physical energy which we consume through solid and liquid nourishment. At the time of inhalation, your whole body is sucking cosmic energy. It is concentrated on the Maṇipūra Cakra, the navel, and then let it flow. It flows into the different parts of the body: different organs, glands, muscles. The whole body relaxes. Now, bring your awareness to the center of the chest, where the heart cakra, Anāhata, is. Anāhata means limitless, without boundary. Nāda is the sound, the cosmic resonance. Through this cosmic resonance, energy flows towards your body. Nāda rūpa para brahma. That cosmic resonance is the form of the supreme. It is resonating through that divine mother, divine energy. The energy is controlled and received through the solar center. It is purified in the heart center in the form of mother’s love, purity, harmony, peace, understanding, and compassion. So see the light and the goddess of our hearts. One who does not have mercy or love or understanding—that means the person’s heart is like a stone. Energy, purities. Now feel your breath from the throat to the navel and from the navel to the throat, ascending and descending. Beautiful, like a flow of light. It is like a flow of very pure water. It is like a stream or the flow of oil. Viśuddhi Cakra: Viṣa means poison, and śuddha means purification. That is near the vocal cords, and it flows and purifies the thyroid gland. All our sweet and bitter experiences of life are harmonized and purified in the Viśuddhi Cakra. For a few minutes, let your breath flow as naturally as it is. You are inhaling through the nose and, without sound, exhaling through the mouth. Please carefully listen to this kriyā, this meditation technique. It will help you very much. Ascending breath: light flows in from the nostrils, comes to the Ājñā Cakra, goes to the vocal cords, down to the heart, touching the heart cakra and coming to the Maṇipūra, expanding the abdominal muscles or abdomen, and exhaling. Pure energy comes again to exhale through the mouth. When you exhale, you feel the warm air on your lower lip. When you inhale, you feel a very gentle air flowing through both nostrils. When you exhale, it is bringing all the toxins out through the exhalation. Three cakras or energy centers: the navel, the heart, and the throat, or near the vocal cords, the thyroid. The next step of the meditation: this light will reach the Ājñā cakra, but you will not experience it as long as you have not purified these three cakras. Inhale and feel all the beauty, all the harmony of the universe and this world within you, uniting in you. Exhaling, you let all purify. Maybe in some corner of your heart, or in your intellect or consciousness, there is some dot of negative energy. Feel that you are the mother. All sitting here, male and female—in these minutes, you are the mother, the giver of this divine energy to the world. And that consciousness which is dwelling in the supreme is the father. Perfect harmony. Inhale normally and naturally through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Now, while inhaling, feel consciously the energy, the light. While exhaling, try to give this light and energy to the world—pure energy. Again, exhale through the nose and inhale also through the nose. As far as you can, think of the whole world and all creatures: the entire vegetation, oceans, lakes, rivers, and ponds; the life of the ocean; the birds, animals, and humans; and our dear ones. Your exhalation is like your blessing. You are blessing the entire world. Yes, you can. This divine light which you have—it is not yours; it is God’s light. With this, take three deep inhales and exhales, and become extrovert. Deep inhale, and once we will chant "Oṁ" and the three-time mantra: peace, śānti. Inhale, Oṁ śānti śānti śānti. Slowly move your fingers. Open the palms, close the fists. Open the palms, close the fists, and rotate your fists. Stretch your elbows and fold your hands. Rub your hands, rub your palms, and place your palms on your face and open your eyes.