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Part 1: The Path of Discipline: From Diet to Meditation Śrī Deep Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī, Devīśvara Mahādeva Kī, Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandjī Bhagavān Kī, Sanātana Dharma Kī. Good evening to everybody. Also, many good wishes and a good evening from Hungary, the Republic of Hungary, Sambadhe, and all the dear brothers and sisters around the world who are with us today through the webcast. As usual, for those who have a birthday, I wish you a happy birthday. Here, the delegation is coming from different parts of the world for the International Meditation Seminar. This weekend is dedicated to meditation. Many of you have been watching the webcast and attending the seminars, and there were a lot of theories. So this weekend is especially dedicated to meditation. Meditation is a part of Rāja Yoga, which is known as Aṣṭāṅga Yoga or Rāja Yoga. It is guided very gradually and systematically by a great saint or ṛṣi, Patañjali. Patañjali lived more than two thousand years before Christ. He is known as the father of psychology. Patañjali is a knower of the ātmā, a jñānī of Brahma-vidyā. He understood the body, the human mind, human emotion, human problems, human consciousness, the soul—what we call jīvātmā—and the ātmā, the self. Very step by step, Patañjali guided aspirants from material consciousness to cosmic consciousness. But in the very beginning, he says, "Atha yogānuśāsanam"—"O my disciples, if you want to follow me, if you want to achieve higher consciousness, the supreme consciousness, samādhi, the knowledge of the self, the knowledge of Brahman, to know thyself, to know the entire universe, I am ready to guide you with one condition: that is discipline." If you miss the discipline, you will not be able to follow. It’s like a long walk, a long hike through the mountains; you have to follow the guide's instruction to reach the peak. Similarly, to achieve anything in life, you must discipline your life. Self-discipline is key to success. It doesn’t matter how many years you practice yoga, religious prayers, meditations, or techniques; without discipline, you will not reach your point of realization. Be sure. This is the research work of yogīs from thousands of years ago. That research, which we now call science, yogīs used to call tapasyā. Tapasyā means austerity. Tapasyā means discipline. Tapasyā means never give up. The biggest enemy of your goal, the biggest obstacle, is laziness. When you are attacked by laziness, you are like that deer in the forest among hundreds, the one hunted by a tiger. For a yogī, laziness is that tiger which will hunt you. Self-discipline is the remedy against laziness. Patañjali researched human attitude, emotion, and mind. He says there are six lions or tigers who would like to hunt you: Kāma, Krodha, Mada, Lobha, Moha, and Ahaṅkāra. Pray to God, pray to Mahāprabhujī: "Lord, protect me." The blessed ones are those protected from these six lions or crocodiles. Desire is nature. In nature, desire has many kinds. God has given you the intellect, the buddhi, to master your desires. It is not that you should not have feelings or try to fulfill them, but do not become their slave. A yogī who is a slave of desire is like a mouse in the mouth of a cobra—the mouse caught by the snake. Are you a slave of your desires? Then you have no chance. Forget it and pray to the Lord for the next life to make you without desires. Theory is nothing. Tons of theory is nothing compared to a gram of practice. Therefore, in the research work of the ṛṣis, diet was controlled first. It is food, nourishment, that creates in you different kinds of feelings: anger, jealousy, hate, greediness, laziness, desires. All this is caused by unnatural, unbalanced, unhealthy nourishment. After researching for thousands of years, the yogīs or ṛṣis finally turned to vegetarian life. They adore fruits. Vegetarian life means fruits, vegetables. You can take only some leaves of plants, not kill the plant. It is said in the Vedas that everything that exists on this planet has life. Now modern science also says our planet is a living being. I say, "I don’t hear anything," but I will tell you: our beautiful living planet, our mother Earth, has a soul. Our mother Earth is living, has an ātmā and a soul—consciousness, mind, energy. Everything. Animals are different than humans. Many things are prohibited for humans to do on this planet. Every language tells you, "My mother tongue, and my motherland, my mother country." Very few will say, "My fatherland." Fathers are borrowed. Motherland—that’s it. So motherland Hungary, true. As motherland Croatia, motherland Australia, and our beautiful planet Mother Earth. Animals wouldn’t think like that. May they feel like that. A hungry tiger will still kill only one deer. He will not kill two or three at once. He is not so stupid because he has no freezer to preserve his meat. How clever he is. The tiger knows he should eat fresh, not tāmasik, not old. But the human, when they go to collect mushrooms and find one, two, three, four—which are enough for the whole family—they will collect a basket full. The next one searching in the forest finds nothing because you took more than you could eat that day. That is called human greed. Mahātmā Gandhījī said, "Mother Earth has enough for everyone’s need, but not for their greed." After this, all the ṛṣis said—and in the last few months I was also analyzing—the fruit diet. Fruit is something which, if you eat, you will not feel bad. You will always feel fresh. Of course, if you are allergic to something, that is an individual case. Otherwise, eat one apple and feel how fresh you feel in your mouth, the alimentary channels, the digestion. Apple, fresh. One banana, two bananas—neither too much ghee inside, nor too much sugar, nor too little; not too hard, not too soft. How beautiful Mother Nature prepared the banana. When you eat, you feel fresh and good. Apple, pears, oranges, grapes, cherries, plums—many, many fruits. Your body becomes a blessed body. Your body tells you, speaks to you: "Thank you, my dear. I like this one." Your digestion and all kinds of nutrition your body needs are in these fruits. And when the plant dies, take the roots also. It’s called jaḍībhūti and vanaspati. Jaḍībhūti means those herbs; you can take their leaves, and when the herbs give seeds and die, you can take the roots. Carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes. There are many roots and vegetables, and they have all kinds of nutrition. You feel pleasant when you eat. But if you eat too many potatoes, then you will look like... I didn’t say this. You said you look like potatoes. Thank you for supporting. Then look to the beautiful trees with nuts. Many different kinds of nuts have very valuable nutrition for your body. And peanuts—my God, that’s also something. Then, our dear family members of this creature, the bees, the honey. Some people do not want honey because they think it is not ahiṃsā; you take away from the bees. That is true, very true. But God didn’t say, the Creator didn’t say, that you should take so much honey and sell it and put money in your pocket. That was not said. Take that much, as much as you eat. Honey, nuts. I remember it is said, it is believed that people who used to come to Jesus, ill people, he blessed them and they became healthy, like Devpurījī. He blessed them, they became healthy. Or, like Mahāprabhujī, even the blind one got his eyes. So Jesus told them, "You are ill because you don’t eat what you should eat, and you are eating what you should not eat." He indicated towards nature: the fields, the grains, the vegetables, the fruits, the nuts, beautiful nature, flowers, bees, honey, and the mother cow’s good milk, fresh milk. Can you imagine? Just milk the cow and drink that milk. You cannot compare anything with that milk. That’s why, like a mother’s milk when breastfeeding the child, it comes directly from the mother’s body, temperature, very good temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. Similarly, the mother cow’s body temperature, the fresh milk comes. Do not keep milk longer than two or three hours. If so, convert it to yogurt. The Hungarians call yogurt "sleeping milk." In the Hungarian language, am I right or wrong? Is there a Hungarian someone? You call it sleeping milk. That’s it. So let milk sleep. And from that milk, you get very nice buttermilk and nice butter. I am not telling you that you must become vegetarian, but I am telling you: vegetarians are the happiest people, who have so many choices. Others only go to the supermarket, buy the meat, put it into the microwave, take it out, put ketchup on it, eat, and then drink something like Coca-Cola. That’s all. Can you imagine? That’s what most people are doing, unfortunately. Therefore, the ṛṣis said, "Eat fruits." That’s called a flowery diet. Eat vegetables, a little honey, a little milk, and a little grain. They were meditating for days and days. They had no desires. They were not feeling hungry. The body had enough nutrition. They had no high blood pressure—of course they had blood pressure, but not high or low. They did not have high cholesterol. They had no diabetes. All these diseases were gone. How happy. I tell you, my dear, I will talk to you after six months, beginning from after this weekend, because now we have bought for you a lot of stuff to eat. Go and turn your life to vegetarian fruits, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables. Try to get fresh milk, a little. Don’t eat too much. Yogurt, a little. One handful of rice is enough to live a whole day. Strength comes from mind, mental strength. So Ṛṣi Patañjali said, "My children, my devotees, my students, my people, follow me. I will lead you to the supreme, to Brahman, but discipline." And first, discipline has a greatest enemy: laziness. Laziness is that snake in whose mouth you are. That desire, when you have a desire, then you are in the mouth of the crocodile. Kāma, krodha. In the creation, when the Creator created Brahmā, different kinds of creations came. Unfortunately, they were also called demons and gods. Demons and goddesses looked similar, beautiful bodies, same form, completely human-looking. But the inner feeling was bad, and that is anger. If you are angry, forget that you will get realization. Take your things today and go home. Go into the forest, into the snow, and become angry at the snow. "Oh, snow, snow, snow." Look to Jesus, what he said: if someone gives you a slap on one cheek, turn the other cheek. What does it mean? That in your heart, in your mind, in your consciousness, and in your intellect, no anger exists. If someone gives you a slap and you put your hand up to hit someone, it is better that before that you cut your hands away. An angry man is equal to the devils. And who can forgive, be kind, as Jesus said, or all great saints said—this is what I am saying: dayā dharam kā mūl hai. Mercy is the root of dharma, the root of purity. Pāpa-mūla abhimān. And the root, the cause of sins, is ego. "I am a man." This is a man’s ego. "I am a woman." When a man is a man, a woman is here. Then slowly, slowly, when a woman comes to know the weakness of that man, then slowly, slowly comes here, and that man, with her look, yes, no, that’s... But good men and good women, they are together, become one life, harmony, happiness. But mostly it is the anger of the man which makes him and his family unhappy, and that man will never be happy. That woman may go away, suffer, or give you back something, but that man should analyze the quality of the devils, rākṣasas, asuras. Patañjali said the door to the Brahmaloka for asuras is closed. "You need not follow me. My children, put away the burden of anger." Yes, generally we are not angry. All are very calm and peaceful. But suddenly something happens, and anger comes out. That’s why when the Samudra Manthan, they were churning the ocean, and the fourteenth ratna came out; one of those was alcohol. And who got the alcohol? The asuras. To support their anger more. Therefore, the nectar was for the devas and alcohol was for the asuras. You know, all who consume alcohol have a lot of anger inside and a lot of desires. You decide yourself. That’s why the mother’s milk or the cow’s milk, the milk is that nectar, amṛta. And alcohol and blood are that called asuras: kāma, krodha, lobha. That is another word: greediness. One snake caught the frog, and the frog said, "I am still greedy and hungry. Before the snake eats me, I want to eat something." And he was catching the flies. So you are in the mouth of that snake through your desires and laziness. But still, you are greedy. Try to take as much as you can. In communist countries, someone told me that you take whatever you find in the vegetable shop or anywhere. "Tomorrow, you don’t know if it will be here." The next day I went; I was surprised there was also more than yesterday. So it was a wrong thinking of the people, that in communist times people had nothing. People had very much, more than enough, but psychologically, people were not happy. And now people have little. Only a handful of people are rich, making businesses and companies. But can you look at the poor people who are on pension? Elderly people on a pension have no children and no side income. Even they do not have heating in this cold winter. Hot water is very far away. Many, I saw, people are putting newspapers on the windows to keep a little warmer so the cold doesn’t come through. Now, in this situation, money went to the greedy one. The poor one is again poor. So kāma, krodha, lobha, and moha. Moha is blindness. When you fall into attachment, the moha, it means you are swallowed by the darkness. Hari Om Tāraṣāṭ. Rishi Patañjali said, "My dear, don’t try, your heart, you can’t come." Ahaṅkāra. Ahaṅkāra is like a water bubble, a soap water bubble. You are blown like a bubble, but if some little thing touches you, you explode like an atom bomb. Yes, we are like that. So what should we achieve, my dears, today, this weekend? We will meditate, and I am very happy that my video team allowed me. You see, even I have to go out to get permission. You think they are all disciples? They follow Swāmījī always, my dear friends, who... Are you sitting, looking at the videos? You should know I have to follow these people’s instructions, which is healthy for me. So the video team allowed me to give the meditation to you, all my dear friends around the world, so you can have meditation with me. Isn’t it nice? I support you more. Who is there? So, what was there? Ahaṅkāra. Ahaṅkāra. At the time of God Rāma, more than 10,000 years ago, in the time of the Rāmāyaṇa, there was a mighty king of Śrī Laṅkā, Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa studied very much; he was a very wise man and had a lot of knowledge and siddhis. It is said that Rāvaṇa was very, very rich. He had a golden city, Śrī Laṅkā. Laṅkā was a golden city, and Rāvaṇa was very great. But he got ahaṅkāra, ego. That "I am" killed Rāvaṇa, and he lost everything. Otherwise, I can tell you, till now, everyone would take example and follow Rāvaṇa’s instructions. But only one weakness he had: ahaṅkāra, ego. And it is your ego which disrupts your family life. In this modern civilization, now people, anyhow, there are no relations left. But whatever relation you have—husband, wife, girlfriend, or boyfriend—if you have a problem between, that’s only your ego. Either husband or wife, or both of them. Two egos, double power. One ego, single power, but the other is suffering. Therefore, between husband and wife, in their relationship, there should be no ego. If your wife is more clever than you, accept, my dear, accept. Your wife studies more. Nowadays, women are allowed to study. Your wife has some high degrees. Your wife has a good position in the office. Then what happens? The man is suffering. Ego is suffering. And when his wife is at home and someone telephones and you say, "Hello," and one says, "Sorry, sir, to disturb you, but can I speak to Madam Director?" Then the man will say, "Yes, I am sorry, the director is not at home." But he doesn’t say from the heart her name, director. Often he will say, "I am sorry, she is not at home." What? "She is not at home." That is the ego of the man. And they can never be happy together. Or there are women who have a great ego too. So, my God, the feminine ego—I am sorry, my dear brothers and sisters, to tell you all—women have ego about their hair, ego about their beautiful eyes, beautiful eyebrows, beautiful cheeks, and what not. But finally, they have surrendered. The good quality in women is that they surrender. How? If you ask, then they say, "I do all for my dear husband." Plus point, ladies, again, don’t be unhappy. Therefore, ego is never good. Ego is not healthy. Ego will kill your emotion, ego will kill your positive intellect, ego will destroy your good relations, social relations, friends, and so on. Kāma, krodha, mada, lobha, moha, and ahaṅkāra. These are the six devils. And Patañjali said, "Atha yogānuśāsanam." Follow the discipline or step out. It’s like the military. When a military parades, if the left knee is up, then everybody must have the left knee up. Right hand up, or the left hand in the front. So everybody is going right, left. And when they say left, you go right, the general will come and say, "You go out for the training again." Meditation. Meditation is the way to thyself. And meditation is to find those enemies which are hidden in us and root them out and find peace. Therefore, you will see the ṛṣis in Satya Yuga, Tretā Yuga, Dvāpara Yuga, and Kali Yuga are different. The ṛṣis, you could count how many ribs they had. But still, they had a lot of strength. When a ṛṣi came, even God Viṣṇu or Śiva had to get up and say, "I give adoration to you, my yogī or ṛṣi." Where is that discipline, and where is everything lost? Lost within these six thieves. They have stolen from us everything. So meditation is the way to inner peace, the way to contentment, the way to happiness, and even the way to world peace. And that meditation also needs a proper diet, a Falahārī diet. So, first meditation we will have now in ten minutes. Please make yourself comfortable, and in ten minutes we will have meditation. Now there is an interval for ten minutes. If you want to have success in your meditation, so that you come to a higher level and are not lost, then you should have one mantra, a guru mantra, which you get from your spiritual master. It is said—Patañjali said and many others—without mantra, meditation is like a body without a soul. Mantra is very useful, very important. Mantra creates positive vibration. Mantra is practiced in five different techniques. The first is called likhita, writing. Write your mantra every day, a few minutes in one copy, nicely, slowly, beautifully. Concentrate like a painter who is painting a portrait, very precisely and exactly. So do not be in a hurry to write your mantra quickly, quickly. Write in such a way that you become one with that writing. It’s called Akṣara Brahma, and so when you write, this letter is like Brahman itself. The second step is chanting. Sing your mantra with your own melody. Do not hurry, and listen to your own voice, how you are singing. It doesn’t matter if you are a good singer or not. When a child begins to speak a few words, it doesn’t speak very clearly, but the parents have immense joy that, "Oh, our child is speaking, 'Mommy, mommy'..." And we understand it is said, "Mommy, mother, mother," no? That’s it. Part 2: The Path of Love, Mantra, and Meditation Whether you are a good singer or not does not matter. Love is that which attracts the attention of God. Love is the door to the Brahmaloka, the heaven above heaven. And attachment is a rocket to hell—not merely a highway, but a rocket. Attachment is the way to darkness and suffering, and love is the path to the Supreme. Therefore, when you practice your mantras, do so with that love from the heart, with devotion—bhakti. It is said: "Lord, bless me with devotion." Bhagatī ro daṇḍata dījī ho. O Giver, please give me devotion. A beautiful bhajan. I am not asking for a husband or a wife or children. I am not asking for money. I do not even ask for gold like whole mountains. I do not ask for the kingdom of the whole world and universe. All this is nothing compared to devotion, bhakti—that love. And so, nāda rūpa para-brahma. Akṣara Brahma, that imperishable form, changes now into sound, nāda. Then slowly, the third step comes: upāṃśu. The first is likhit (written). The second is vākya (spoken), and the third is upāṃśu—innerly happy. When you are very happy, you know only why. You can see: "Oh, you look very happy today." But why, we don't know. One day, a lady came, and she was so happy. I said, "You look very happy today." She said, "Yes." "May I know? Perhaps it is very private." She said, "Yes, Gurudev. After four years, I got my job again." Can you imagine her happiness? That's it. So happiness is that which you were expecting, and it came. And it should happen. The fourth technique is called mānasik. Mānasik means mentally. Direct your mind towards the supreme goal. If in your mind, in your thoughts, negative thinking is coming—which I spoke of before—it will lead you nowhere. So enhance your practice, working with concentration and feeling, repeating your mantra. At the time of mantra initiation, the master will give you one mālā. This is a mālā. For yogīs and for all, the best is called a Rudrākṣa mālā. The Rudrākṣa mālā takes unnecessary heat out of the body. It grants calmness through the vibration of the Rudrākṣa beads. It recharges energy in your blood cells. If you wear a Rudrākṣa mālā constantly around your neck, it is said you will be protected from throat and chest cancers. A real, good Rudrākṣa. A small one is also very good. You can have only one good Rudrākṣa; wear it so it touches your Anāhata Chakra. From here, the energy is radiating. Beautiful. Yes, it has a radiance. Different mālās have different radiances, so you can wear it either outside or inside your clothing. This mālā has 108 beads. One hundred is for counting from one to one hundred, and eight is for the eight chakras, purification, or aṣṭaprakṛti, navanidhi, and ṣoḍaśasiddhi. The first prakṛti, the eight kinds of nature; nine kinds of nidhi, the treasures; and sixteen kinds of siddhis that possess the yogī. That yogī who is never angry and sits in front of the master like this—not like that. Many of you are sitting like this, straight, in meditation posture. You never know if the master will say, "Close your eyes," then. One hundred and eight, according to the science of mathematics and numerology: one hundred and eight becomes nine, and nine is the highest number in mathematics. Therefore, one hundred and eight becomes nine, and the ninth one is called Sumeru, the last bead, which unites both paths, both sides, both threads in oneness. That's called Sumeru. Sumeru means the highest peak of the Himalayas. That is called the seat of the guru, the Gurudeva itself. Our aim is to reach the highest peak of our consciousness, samādhi. This mālā, when the master blesses and gives it to you, becomes like your spiritual passport. When you wake up, you must see the mālā, take it, and grip it here on the forehead, on the Ājñā Cakra. When you wash yourself in the bathroom, take a shower, then put your mālā aside. If you don't want to wear it all the time, keep it at home safely. It can happen that the thread breaks. It does not mean bad luck. It means something, and that means the thread was old and it broke. So it has another meaning: now put a new thread in. That's it. Today is Friday the 13th, is that true? And the mālā broke, and a cat was crossing the way. This all means someone says, "Oh God, something will happen." And then you drive nervously. So it didn't happen because a mālā broke, or a cat crossed the way, or it's Friday the 13th. This happened because you are nervous. That's it. So, with this mālā, practice hanging it on these two fingers in your meditation. Hold the beads with the middle finger and thumb. The index finger is touching the thumb. With the middle finger, you repeat your mantra once—for example, Aum—and cross the bead. Rām, or Hanumān, or Jesus, or Allāh—anything which you have as a holy mantra, a holy name for you, that one which your master gave you. Your highest mantra is that which your master gave you. While repeating, each time you repeat a mantra across one bead, you count it. Om. You've made it one hundred and eight. Now, don't go over like this, but turn back like this, like that. You will get practice after some time. It's not difficult to turn. Om, om,... om. That rope is capable of cutting the stone. It is very gentle, but constant. Practice, and you will know how much you have been practicing on your mālā. Master Sītā can immediately say how long you practiced. Then comes what is called ajapa. Mahāprabhujī said, "Neither lips are moving, nor is the tongue moving." Spontaneously, your mantra is going with you 24 hours. It doesn't disturb you. You work whatever you want to work, but your mantra is going on inside spontaneously, like you are breathing. It doesn't matter whatever you are doing, but you are breathing. Similarly, whatever you are doing, your mantra is going on within you. Mantra practice, first of all, will purify your consciousness. What does it mean to purify consciousness? The consciousness was like a film, like a fog, and suddenly the sun rises and the fog disappears. Or you put a lemon in the milk, and the milk spoils. Similarly, all the āvaraṇas, the curtains of the consciousness—mala, vikṣepa, and āvaraṇa—these three: mala means impurity, impure thinking, and sin; vikṣepa means that restless thoughts will be balanced through your mantra; and āvaraṇa means the curtain. That āvaraṇa will be removed when you practice your mantra systematically, as your master instructs you. At the time of giving the mantra initiation, you were also told to follow fasting once a week. How many people are really honestly fasting after having mantra, dīkṣā, and instruction of the master? It means not taking any biscuits, any salty things, anything which is made out of any kind of grains. Liquid you take: water, juice, a piece of fruit—that's all. Many people are very disciplined. It's called anusthāna—that you are following, for example, for twelve years, fasting every Monday. Twelve years becomes one mini-yuga, and then you make a kind of pūjā, ceremony, mantras, celebration to the Sadāśiva. If you break—one day you make a mistake—then all twelve years are gone. That's it. Mostly, girls are doing this when they are beginning, when they are eight years or ten years old, and doing good, following, to get a very good husband: a healthy husband, a wealthy husband, a wise husband, a beautiful husband, and a social husband. Or a good wife: a healthy wife, a beautiful wife, a wise wife, a capable one, a good one. There is nothing against wife or husband, girl or boy. The thing is that if these both are like your two eyes, if one eye has pain, the other eye is not happy either. Husband and wife are the two wings of the bird to fly. When one wing is injured, the other wing cannot let you fly. Lucky are they, blessed are they, happy are they who have such a husband and such a wife. You have to do some saṅkalpa and some anuṣṭhāna, and it will come. Don't worry, it will come. Now I am 18, now I am 19, now I am 20, I am 32, 40, 45, 50, 80, 90. And in 90 years, you see, some good person will love you from the heart. Because love is of the heart. Love is to understand you. That love is a medicine of immortality to remove all disease. Not only that love—physical, sexuality. It doesn't make, I mean that. So, wait. Do good saṅkalpa. But if you don't do it and you break it—one day, two days—your boyfriend will come. You make an SMS, he doesn't phone. SMS, he doesn't give you an SMS. Again, SMS. Then you don't eat, you are not concentrated, and then after another boy comes, you say, "Let him go away, I go with him." Where is your anuṣṭhāna? Broken? Don't give conditional love. There are no conditions, no promises, no. There is understanding. So the consciousness purifies through that mantra and fasting. Fasting is not only that you don't eat, but it is a way, a technique to develop discipline. Atha-yoga-anuśāsanam. Many disciples around the world are very disciplined, except one country, which I don't want to tell. Because now, a disciple from that country, all the time, they have something to eat. In the pocket, in this pocket, in the bag, in the car, in the suitcase. When they come to India and the ashram, whenever the mice are there, when these people come, the mice are there. And why is that? Psychologically. These people are not guilty ones, psychologically. This country was suffering very much between the First and Second World Wars. At that time, what hunger means, they suffered from their ancestors or their parents. So it is predicted in their subconscious always to eat, to have eating. And when you go, they will say, "Please eat, we have enough. Take more. Eat, please. We have enough." These words you hear in that country, okay. So, therefore, I have understanding for them, but I hope they can correct themselves one day. Fasting purifies your body. Fasting keeps your jathāgni, digestive fire, strong. Fasting will pull your blood pressure, if it is too high, lower. And if you have low blood pressure, then it will go even lower. For that, you may drink black tea or a little coffee, so that it will come up again. If you are pregnant, do not fast. If you are taking some medicine and you have to eat something, do not fast. These are the individual instructions. What I am talking about now is general. So, mālā and mantra for meditation are very important. And the mantra should be received from Satguru Dev, from the real master. Not someone who is just teaching you Haṭha Yoga and doing some āsanas and saying, "I am your master." With the master, your life will come, I am sure. And where your heart surrenders, there is your master. Now, all who are sitting here, and also brothers, sisters, practitioners of yoga who are listening to me: if you wish, sit in meditation posture and take the mālā in your hand. Put some cloth or something so that the mālā doesn't touch the floor. The mālā should not touch your shoes, should not touch your feet, should not touch the ground. And then sit straight, upright. But there are two things. One thing is straight, meaning you sit like this. But how long? After five minutes? Like a flower without water, so do not sit like that. Sit naturally straight. That's all. There are different postures for meditation. First is padmāsana, how to sit. So our Satvā Purī will show you the lotus seat. Please sit here. That's it. So please look to Satvā Purī. He will show you how to do the lotus posture. Each leg explains, speaks, hands on the knees. Thank you. The second āsana is called Siddhāsana. Satyapurī will also demonstrate. Please, cameraman, but not too far. Your heel should not go too far towards the anus muscle, okay? Thank you. The third posture is called Vajrāsana. Explain, please. Stand up. Vajrāsana is a posture where you just sit, you bend your knees, and then the knees go on the floor. Normally, you sit on your heels, and the heels are a little bit more apart. They don't see your heels. Go down, down, and put your side a little up, please. Thank you. Yes, and hands on the knees. The fourth posture is called Sukhāsana, always relaxed. The fifth posture is for the handicapped or the elderly people. Handicapped means those who have a problem with the knees, to bend their knees, or ankle joints problem, or hip joints problems. So they should sit then on the sofa, please. Yes, so comfortably sit. You can lean if you want. That's it. Very good. Thank you, Satrapurī. So these were five postures for meditation. Also, you can meditate lying on the back in ānanda āsana, relax and meditate. You can, like, do yoga nidrā, but there is one danger: after some time, you fall asleep. Sleep and meditation are quite different. We are practicing since we were born—I don't know if in the mother's body also we did. Since we were born, we are practicing sleeping. So we are very expert now in the techniques of sleeping. Meditation is now a little different. Now, in meditation, there are different mudrās. So, Satyapurī, please. We call this mudrā chin mudrā. It means the index finger and thumb are touching together. Three fingers are separate, and palms open facing upward, and hands placed on the knees. You receive the cosmic energy through your palms, and you release your energy through your palms. This index finger indicates the individual self, the individual soul. The thumb indicates the Supreme, the Brahman. The three fingers indicate the three guṇas: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas guṇa. Sattva guṇa is pure quality, Rajas guṇa is aggressive, and Tamas guṇa is lazy, drudging, and negative. So a yogī, when meditating, should be above the three guṇas. It means a yogī should be lifelong above the three guṇas. It is said very nicely in the mantra: From three guṇas. Satguru tāṁ namāmyaṁ. Satguru Dev is one who is above the three guṇas. So it does influence our consciousness when we sit like this. Now, if you come to the science of acupressure, it is said here: when you touch the thumb and the finger, it is calming down. The point which calms down invites you to meditate. Can you feel like this? If you do, very gently, you will feel inside a small ball, or like a round sand grain. Touch, do it. Come on, practice. Yes, like this. And the same thing you can see: put your left hand like this, and put your right hand, this finger, the middle finger, and touch your palm, and then roll slowly like this. You will feel inside like a little ball, a round stone. It creates the energy. It awakens the energy in the centers, so it is very sensitive. There is an immense amount of energy. So in meditation, sit like this. Some people sit with their palms touching their knees. It means circulating the biorhythm. Circulation is within you, circulating. You are not releasing energy away. If you sit like this, you get fresh energy and release used energy away. If you sit like this, it is also very good, but energy remains more within you. The second is called jñāna mudrā or siddha mudrā: one hand above the other hand, and sitting like this and meditating. These are two very important mudrās for meditation. Now, mostly when we meditate, we should repeat a mantra. Therefore, one hand, the left hand, is in mudrā, and with the second hand we repeat the mantra. Best is like this—not like that—but touching your hand to your chest so your shoulder doesn't get tired. Or put it down, but under the mālā should be some cloth, sitting straight. Now, when you close your eyes, you should know what to do. We say, "I will meditate, I close my eyes, now what?" That's very important. What to do when I close the eyes? First, before doing meditation, I will greet and adore my master. When you go to the karate club or judo club, before and after, they greet the master. Looking to the north, and then you take your mālā and begin to repeat your mantra. This is the second step. Third, make yourself comfortable. If something is not comfortable, move a little like this, or put a little cushion, a pillow, or blanket under your buttocks. Like I have here one pillow, I will put it under, like this. Now immediately my back feels relaxed, and it's a very beautiful feeling. Then, the third step. What was the first? No, answer comes. What was the first? Greeting the master. Did you say "greeting the master" or "the greed master"? Greetings to the master. Second, hello, and third, checking the position also. The fourth step: you close your eyes. Before you close your eyes, make sure your door is closed—that some stranger dog doesn't come in, or your cat doesn't run out. Make sure your windows are closed so cold air doesn't come in. Make sure everything is in order. Nothing will happen. Make sure you didn't forget your rice cooking on the fire. Yes, many things happen. Candles, this, that. Or don't forget that little baby you put in the bathtub, you know. And then you sit in meditation and wait two hours—my God, the child is in the bathtub. It happens. It is very nice. I was surprised. It was very good. In America, when you buy a washing machine, on the washing machine are instructions written: "Don't put your child in." Yes, because maybe it happens someone puts the child in to wash with the machine. That's it. So there are many things people don't know what to do, and therefore, make sure to secure everything is calm. Peaceful. Telephone, put off. This, that, and you, close your eyes and then check your breath. Open your belt—much better, but not so good. Open one button of your shirt and sit a little down. Now is good. Therefore, a yogī must always have nice, loose dress. Long and loose. Your skin should be covered with nice, natural material and loose cloth. Don't practice yoga in only your underwear, or the ladies in a bathing suit. That's not good. Bodysuit is good, but not for practicing yoga. So when you sit in meditation, take your meditation shawl like this. The first benefit, you know what? Mosquitoes will not bother you. Some people, when there is cold air and too much noise outside, should sit like this. Yes, because it protects you from the outer sound, cold air. Or if it is very hot, then it circulates nice air, and you feel cool. When you go to the Arabian countries or India, you see people are very clever. They have very nice, long, and loose dresses. I think when the Europeans go there, they will have nothing on. One month is a little warm, 30 degrees, and everybody is lying on the beach without anything. F-kaka. This means they don't understand the body. That's it. Always try to cover your body nicely. And if you have no cloth, chidana can happen, no? Then, nicely, yogīs were putting the Lakṣmī ash, nicely. Anyhow, now you check your breath, and then you know you are inhaling and exhaling. Free your breath, and feel the atmosphere of the room where you are sitting. Nothing is bad. Everything is good. If the bad is there in myself, my thoughts are bad, my feelings are bad. So harmonize yourself with your material life, room—doesn't matter how it is. You want to meditate, and your neighbor is boring. Why not? It means he needs to work. He needs to repair something. He is working; he is not making noise. Therefore, that is another joy of your meditation. At least one is working, and you are meditating. That is called being positive. Don't be selfish. That's it. So it means, in meditation, I harmonize myself with my outer world. If I can't harmonize myself with my outer world, I cannot harmonize with my inner world. So I harmonize everything. I take it as it is, and I check my breath. And then comes the next, very important part of your meditation, which I will tell you tomorrow. I wish you all the best for today. A very good night. And in some countries, there is "Good morning, dear brothers and sisters." Tomorrow morning we will come with the next techniques, and then we will close our eyes and begin to meditate. Thank you for your listening. Wish you a very good night. Śrīdhar Nārāyaṇa Bhagavānakī, Deveśvara Mahādevakī, Mādhav Kṛṣṇa Bhagavānakī, Satya Sanātana Dharma, Agrabatī.