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Now to the story we have just completed. According to the understanding of prāṇa, prāṇa is something very difficult to define. We tend to think prāṇa is oxygen, but oxygen is not prāṇa. Prana is something more than oxygen. Jalābhināmina, Chandrabhinārayaṇa, Jalābhināmina — “Without water, the fish.” Mīrābāī said, “And without moon, the sky in the night, the rain, the night. Similarly, I am without you, oh my lord.” Creatures that fly very high are happy and enjoy themselves there, like great eagles. Above a certain height of some thousand meters, what we call oxygen becomes thinner and thinner. Prana is present there, but the quality of oxygen that exists on our earth is not — it becomes less and less. That is why, when it comes to what we call astral traveling, we cannot do it physically to any great distance. We can make the journey by aeroplane or with enough oxygen in rockets, but not without that support. Our astral body, however, does not need oxygen. That astral body is prāṇa. This prāṇa body travels together with our vijñāna body; the vijñāna body is our intellect. Caturdaśa Loka, Ikṣu, Brahmāṇḍa — the fourteen different worlds and twenty-one hundred universes. Mujhe hi Darśaya — it has been shown to me inside. This means that we can expand our consciousness far and bring the information back. That is the special capability of samādhi. Samādhi has many different levels. Even sleep is samādhi. In sleep you also receive much information in the form of dreams, and it is not easy to observe this process. In samādhi we are, as it were, unconscious. Or take smell: when a gas or some bad smell appears, you wake up. Or the touch of the skin: when something touches our skin we immediately feel that someone is touching — a mosquito, an ant, a spider, a scorpion, a snake, or another creature. Thus we have five jñāna indriyas, the five senses of knowledge: vision — cakṣu; hearing — śrotra, the ears; smelling — ghrāṇa; taste — svāda; and skin — tvac. These are four different kinds of tests, the channels for receiving knowledge. The five jñānendriyas are constantly alert, not only informing us with knowledge, but actually guarding us. Guarding means waking us up: “Something is happening.” The messengers deliver information. Only cakṣus, the faculty of sight, with its closed eyelids, does not see. Many people sleep with half-closed eyes, and some can sleep with open eyes — though you should not try, because dust and mosquitoes can enter, so close them completely. Yet when you have certain dreams and are looking for something, you may really open your eyes in sleep. Still, they are not fully active. So the yogī says these are the first samādhi states. One is called drowsiness, half sleepy and half awake — what we call micro-sleep. Most deadly accidents on the road happen when the driver has micro-sleep. That is micro-samādhi, born of inertia and tiredness. The second state is sleep. About sleep you should know — you can try this today, it is very interesting — to find out exactly at which second your consciousness was transformed from jāgrat to suṣupti, from awakened to sleep. How did you pass over? That is very interesting. This is the work of yoga nidrā. Normal sleep is very hard to explore, and if you try too hard you will spoil your sleep the whole night. But some people do observe, and second by second, they know the steps of their sleep. The next step is: how do you transfer your consciousness from sleep to dream? At what time and how did you lift your physical body and go into the dreams? Was it not painful? Not complicated? Similarly, when we die and the soul departs, it is just a transition. You are still living. In a dream, you are in Olomouc, you find the best cheese shop and buy the Olomouc cheese — which has a wonderful, penetrating smell. If I placed two pieces of Olomouc cheese here, your prāṇa śakti would suffer. So in the dream you go to buy something in the city; you know the shop and everything, but in reality your body is here. This is the process by which yogīs go into samādhi. Yet between samādhi and dream there is a difference. In a dream you cannot obtain real knowledge, only what you imagine. You cannot, upon returning, say whether the shop was locked or open. But in samādhi you can say, “The shop was closed.” This is the difference between sleep, dream, and samādhi. Another samādhi is called bhāva samādhi. Bhāva means devotion. There are people who sing and sing. It does not matter whether they sing in a monastery, an opera, a temple, or an ashram. When you sing and you like it and you understand the subject, or take what is nowadays called rock ’n’ roll and pop songs — the biggest gatherings are there — you see that all these young generations are in trance, hypnotized by the lights. I was not there, but I see it sometimes in the news. That is also called bhāva samādhi, and it is temporary; it is called trance. Some people sing bhajans and “Jai Gurudev, Jai Gurudev.” That too, because temporarily people feel happy and out of their body. But such bhāva samādhi can cause psychic problems, so you should be careful. Next come the Tantra samādhi, Nidrā samādhi, Bhāva samādhi — these are the different samādhis. Then comes dhyāna samādhi. Dhyāna astha means you are deep in meditation. Everything is completely tranquilized, completely relaxed. Therefore the best anti-stress technique is meditation, and the best anti-stress techniques are meditations. More than two decades ago there was a television documentary about the two hemispheres. The research had been done at, I think, Barclay University near San Francisco. They researched certain diseases: why these diseases appear, what may be the cause, and so forth, and also the treatment. But when the question of depression or schizophrenia arose, they said there is no treatment — you get a tranquilizer, just let the time pass so you become dull. That is like a Tantra samādhi: time passes. They mentioned three things: either meditation, some kind of Eastern techniques — exercises, by which they meant yoga, but they did not want to advertise yoga — and thirdly prayer. Going to a temple, an ashram, anywhere for prayer — these three offer a kind of release from such diseases. Stress can cause all kinds of diseases, as we all know. Nowadays, unfortunately, the incidence of cancer has increased tremendously. The reason is all the pesticides, not organic fertilizer. And there is too much food in the world — too much food, food. More than humans can eat is destroyed every day. There are huge companies, and they do not know what to do with their fruit; they simply drive the tractor over it. I was in Greece in August, I think, and saw a great hill of plums, peaches, what we call nectarines — big ones. A huge hill. And the buggies and trucks drove over it all, to keep the market price high. The same thing happened in Austria, I heard, with butter. There was so much butter they did not know what to do, and I heard they threw it into deep holes in the mountains. So when it becomes very hot, maybe there will be a fountain of butter. The global economic crisis is mainly caused by too much manufacture and too little consumption. They could not stop their greed, so they made a trick: lower the quality, so-called “use and throw.” But now we must become aware of the environment. We have become dependent; we are hypnotized. Almost all are hypnotized. I would say eighty-six percent of the people sitting here are hypnotized. What do I mean? You do not know how to cook. You have lost a beauty that is an essential part of our life and a subject of health, because you depend on ready-made, packaged foods from markets. Buy, eat, go. Many children do not know where meat comes from. When they come to know that animals are killed for it, they will not eat. Many children in big cities do not know where cherries grow; they think cherries exist only in the supermarket. Thus the most valuable knowledge and qualities in life that humans have lost is the talent of cooking. And therefore you have become dependent; you have to buy and eat whatever is available outside. And that is ninety-nine percent pesticides. In November and October there are beautiful apples in Czechoslovakia, but they have little black spots from wasps. Then you go to the market and buy beautiful, big, shining, waxed, round apples. You buy the shiny one, because they spray wax on it, while the organic, beautiful, tasty apples from our own gardens and trees — even if we have no time, one day we could get them — we are not able to take the time to collect. I have been completing my fourth decade in Czechoslovakia, and you cannot imagine the time when I first came in the early 1970s, last century. Wherever you went on the edges of old fields and roads, there were beautiful fruit trees: apples, pears, apricots, cherries, plums — many, many. Birds were enjoying them, people were enjoying them. People would stop the car and collect the fruits. Now these trees are cut down. How foolish we are. They said the trees were ill. Now the hybrid tree is a small one, so you can take the fruits with your hand. And these hybrid trees have no long life. The trees were not ill; our brain was ill with greed, money, and the interests of lace workers. Too much manufacture, less labour, fewer consumers. No wonder there is an economic crisis. If humans want to be healthy, happy, and free, then learn two things. Do it yourself, with your own hands. Organic garden: fruit, vegetables, everything. And learn cooking. Otherwise your children are completely lost. Eighteen, nineteen, twenty-year-old children will lie in the hospital with cancer. So I challenge you, my dears: learn cooking. Learn proper cooking. Even nowadays, young mothers do not know how to breastfeed a child. I have to teach all that. I have lost everything. So you should watch our webcast. We will try to send a nice cooking programme once a week. So make a saṅkalpa: we will not buy anything ready-made, except from our garden, or, if you have no garden, then we are obliged to buy normally. No fast food. Slow food. Gentle refreshment. Cook with love for children. Now, this samādhi. Somebody asked Mahāprabhujī, “Do all your disciples know samādhi? How is it with your students — do they all know Mahāsamādhi?” He said yes, and when asked how, he replied, “Oh, they like good spicy food and then sleep. They like spicy food and then sleep.” This is also a way of samādhi. If you eat too much, tamas guṇa predominates. If you eat less, you have more energy and you are not tired — so quality. In quality, no compromise. Yesterday our dear Muṅgal Muktamānī gave you a nice lecture. Āyurveda gives more quality to your life, good prāṇa. After Dhyāna Samādhi come higher levels. Then comes Turīya Samādhi. Turīya means three — above three times: past, present, and future. Turīya Pīṭha, above these three times, becomes somehow the knower beyond time. The name is Turīyā, yet totally in ignorance, totally in ignorance. That is why I gave you the name Turiyānand — so that you realize this. And if you cannot realize it, then this Turiyānand is stuck in three corners. So you can never come out of these three corners; it is called a triangle. In the triangle you are neither here nor there; you have to rise above it. All our spiritual yoga names are given so that you should realize your name. Her name is Lakṣmī, and she has no money to buy milk this evening — what can we do with this Lakṣmī? The name is Sarasvatī: a Saraswati who does not know a single Bhagavad Gītā śloka — what kind of Saraswati is that? Name is Dayā, and you are the most angry one. Name is Kṛpā, and you are the most cruel one. So every yogic name is given to us for realization. This leads to Sabīja Samādhi and Nirbīja Samādhi. Sabīja Samādhi means samādhi with a seed: you are there, you have memory and desire. Nirbīja Samādhi is when you have no desires — only one knowledge, that is all. Many people come to know that in Sabīja Samādhi your body looks as if you have said goodbye to this life, yet prāṇa is still present and the jñāna indriyas are still active. I have told many stories about this. In Nirbīja Samādhi there is no more activity of the jñāna indriyas from the material world. Some call these savikalpa samādhi and nirvikalpa samādhi. Savikalpa, like saṅkalpa, means you have desire, you have the wish. “Sa” means “with,” and nirvikalpa means “no wish” — like the seed. But nowadays we have hybrid seeds. It looks like a seed, but it does not grow. The big apples mostly cannot be grown from seed; they are seedless. And that is why in the world the female population is increasing more and the male population is less. And from this, the fewer males often cannot get children; they become seedless. So one day this world... and this is also a way to reduce the numbers. It will die, but there will be no next generation. And if there is, they will be unhealthy, mentally retired. Mahāprabhujī karatā hai kevalam, Mahāprabhujī karatā hai kevalam, Mahāprabhujī karatā hai kevalam… and the first wealth is good health. Health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health. But having health is fine, yet if we have no knowledge, then we are like wild buffaloes, wild bulls — a wild life. Therefore jñāna is very important. It is said that when Buddha, Bhagavān Buddha, went into his higher consciousness — which is called enlightenment — in that enlightenment he lost memory. He did not know at that moment for what he had come to this level, because it was Nirbīja Samādhi, Nirvikalpa Samādhi, and there is no kalpanā, no imagination; all is nothingness. Therefore Buddha said, “There is nothing.” But science says that where there is nothing, there is something, and where there is something, it is not science. Yoga also says there is nothing, and when it is something, it is duality. So that nothingness is something — that is Brahman — but you cannot reach it through the five indriyas. At the same time, it is written somewhere that when Buddha had enlightenment, he followed his past. It is said that he went to the stone consciousness: stone, vegetation, coal, metals, water. Buddha’s original name was Prince Siddhārtha. Buddhi means intellect. The book Aprokṣānu Buddhi of Ādiguru Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya mainly speaks about Buddhi. When this Buddhi has knowledge, it is called Bodha. If you do not know something, people say, “See, he does not have Bodha about that” — he lacks information. So when realization, self-realization, is there, Buddhi has gained Bodha, Viveka, intellect. So from Siddhārtha, when Siddhārtha gained enlightenment, it was called Bodha. And through that Bodha, through his teaching, they named him Buddha, and the original name was totally forgotten. Buddha was a Hindu, Sanātana Dharma. He was a king, a warrior, a prince. Samādhi is a miraculous thing. Many have tried to go into samādhi and could not come back. That can happen. Without the guidance of Gurudeva, without a perfect yogī, we cannot attain perfection. And that master or guru becomes that person for the one who really understands and follows the principles — not for one year, or ten years, or twenty years, but for a lifetime. Therefore the Satguru does not choose a successor according to intelligence, or good looks, or being a good worker, or a good speaker. What is the inner quality? That is what matters. There is a coconut, and we do not know what its nut is like inside. When you open it, then you see. We say in India, “Bandī muṭṭhī lākh kī, khulī huī rākh kī.” When the fist is closed, it has the value of hundreds of thousands, because you do not know — maybe there is a precious diamond, some precious stone, very expensive. So we can make an auction: who wants this? A million, two million, five million, ten million. So a closed fist looks like millions. That is what is called vācārthī, intellectual. And when it is opened, nothing is inside — dust, like ash, fire ash, nothing. That points to inner feeling, inner relations. Because the tradition was that the first son would become king, and the second would not. The first might be stupid, but he was the first. So the other three children were sad: why did God do injustice to us? Born into a royal family, yet the right to become king was taken away. You cannot have a king with only one child, so even among brothers there was war — power, ego, position. Therefore, inner spiritual development is different. You have to open that nut and see what is inside. Slowly, slowly — do not be in a hurry. “Manavā dhīre dhīre cal, gaṅgā caḍhnā re bhai.” So who understands the complete principle, the complete path, the complete way? Holy Gurujī often said to me, “You should know what Devpurījī’s wish was, what he wanted.” And I said, “How should I know? I did not even see Mahāprabhujī.” Then how could I not have seen Devpurījī? But he said, “Mahāprabhujī has written everything. Mahāprabhujī has written everything, and I have written everything that is Mahāprabhujī’s wish.” So to know the Gurudeva is not easy. There are three kinds of disciples: Kaniṣṭha, Madhyam, and Uttam — one is very bad, one is so-so, and one is the best. That is all. So, my dear ones, Brahma Vidyā Kriyā will bring us to our inner development, and we will realize that Brahman. Guru Nānak Sāhib said, “The name of the Gurudeva is that boat, that ship.” Those who will come and sit will cross the ocean of this Māyā. Śraddhā kar sevde — with faith they will sit in this boat. Guru par utāran hār — trust that Gurudev will bring you to the main shore. Therefore Mahāprabhujī said, “Guru...” Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān and Kṛṣṇa, Devpurī Samādhi, Dev Kṛṣṇa. So, my dear ones here and there on the webcast, unfortunately the time allotted to us is finished. This retreat was beautiful. We had beautiful weather, a good season. In August there will be plenty of fruits and vegetables, so we will eat less grain; let us have more fruit. Perhaps try from home one or two weeks before, so you can enjoy your sādhanā more. I wish you all the best. And for those coming to India for Guru Pūrṇimā, I am happy to welcome you there. It is the 22nd of July, and the webcast satsaṅg will be from India. The next one, maybe two days before Guru Pūrṇimā as well, will be broadcast. Wish you all the best and many blessings for Guru Pūrṇimā. Take care and practice. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai. Śrī Śrī Devpurījī Mahādeva Kī Jai. Jai, Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān Kī Jai, Sanātana Dharma.