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Hari Om, and good morning to everyone. This special blessing is for all our brothers and sisters abroad, in different parts of the world. It comes from the Republic of Hungary, from a beautiful place called Vip, where a delegation from around the world has gathered. This weekend is dedicated to meditation—its theory and practice. Let us begin with our subject. As I spoke yesterday, meditation is also part of Rāja Yoga. Rāja Yoga is also known as Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, the eightfold yoga, and as Integral Yoga. "Rāja" means king. A king is one who has his own decision and discipline; he must decide what is best for his kingdom and rule it with discipline. Similarly, every individual has their own inner kingdom. You have your own inner kingdom where there is immense energy and elements, and it requires discipline and concentration. Your ātmā, your Self, is the king, the ruler of your phenomena: physical, emotional, mental, intellectual, and so on. Your soul is the minister of that king, observing and trying to manage and arrange things so that life remains life, and then there is the mind, senses, and intellect. All is here for that king, the ātmā. It is said: "Tumman Indriyoka Raja Atam Antaryami." O my inner self, you are the king of your mind and senses and everything. So, Aṣṭāṅga Yoga is a complete part of yoga, like yoga in daily life. Aṣṭāṅga Yoga begins with yama and niyama. To be healthy and not become a victim of different problems, the first two principles are yama and niyama. Yama and Niyama have to be followed for life. It is not that you say, "Okay, I will finish first Yama and Niyama, and then I will do āsanas." It is not like that. All these eight parts you have to do every day: Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and then comes Samādhi. We are all waiting for that divine consciousness, samādhi. That’s why meditation is put into the part of yoga called Rāja Yoga. Meditation means to be one with. To be one with, and before meditation we have dhāraṇā, concentration. Concentration is that kind of focus where nothing disturbs you. Like a dancer dancing on a rope, a hanging bridge three or four meters high. We who are looking are happy, making jokes and laughing and saying, "Oh, bravo!" The person walking on the rope also smiles at you, looks at you, and pays attention to you. But the main concentration is balance on the rope. That is the concentration. So you have the saṃsāra, this world, the vṛttis, but the main aim is, I know what I want to realize. And that is the subject to lead the meditation, concentration. Meditation means to be one with, to be one with thyself, meaning to be one with your Iṣṭa Devatā or God, which has two forms: a physical form and a universal form. There are different ways; someone can meditate imagining a physical form better than just a formless one. In the Bhagavad Gītā, twelfth chapter, Arjuna asks God Kṛṣṇa, "What is better to worship, nirguṇa God or saguṇa God?" The form in this material way, or the formless universal one? The answer of Kṛṣṇa is, "Both are good, but easier is for you to go through a form." And that’s why we have this physical form too. We are sitting here physically. In the ātmā, we are all one. In the soul, we are different. And in the body, also, we are very different. Therefore, meditation means to be one with. Meditation is like sleep. When you are very tired, you enjoy deep, good sleep. But the person who has realized concentration and entered into meditation understands what meditation is. That one enjoys more than sleep. When you meditate, you are completely relaxed and your brain centers are also relaxed. There are no tensions. And you can relax more consciously. So if you can really meditate, then you can also replace sleep through meditation, and you can get more knowledge and more energy. So the question is complete relaxation, and that’s what Patañjali said: "chitta vṛtti nirodha." The vṛttis are like waves. So when all these waves, meaning all the thoughts, good or bad, calm down. And then you come to your breath, ascending and descending breath consciousness. You take in more oxygen. You have the capacity to retain more oxygen in the body. The whole body is relaxed. Then it’s like a very deep sleep. When you are in a very deep sleep and a car is passing, you don’t hear it. So in deep meditation, it’s like a deep sleep. You gain the benefit of the sleep, and you gain the spiritual energy. Then this individual consciousness will merge into the cosmic consciousness. Like sleep and meditation are merging, similarly it will come to the divine. For sleep, you need not do any techniques. You go and lie down, off you go. And you don’t know which minute or second your consciousness changed from the conscious to sleep. In meditation, you know that. And we don’t know how, from the sleep, the consciousness turned to the dream consciousness. But in meditation, you know, you observe everything without causing the vṛttis, too many vṛttis. If everything is in you, then the meditations, the level of the meditation, or the meditator’s state of consciousness is like an ocean. On the surface there are many waves, in the ocean there are many creatures moving, but at the bottom it is very peaceful, motionless. And so, deep in thyself, you are without disruption, neither sad nor overwhelmed, balanced. And all these relations and these thoughts are moving in you, like in an aquarium the fish are moving. And you know how many fish you have in your thinking? Many, many, many. Swamiji, you have colorful fish. Sometimes there is a problem with your dog, a problem with your cat. Many times people call me, "Swamiji, please, can you help? My cat is lost so that she can come home." So I have to go to search for her cat. That means it’s like this, no? Now in India, someone came and said, "Swamiji, my buffaloes are lost. Please help." So I said, "Should I go to search for your buffaloes somewhere?" He said, "No, no, you just say it and it will come true. Because in the past few times, you said something and everything came to reality. So just tell me, don’t worry, buffaloes will come." So I said, when it’s so easy, then why not? I said, "Okay, don’t worry. Go home, and your buffalo will be found." And after five days, really, it was found. So, how many vṛttis you have about many, many relations, many, many problems? But deep in your ātmā, you are undisturbed, like an ocean, and that’s very important. When you come to the test of meditation, when you come to the reality of why it is meditation, the mantra has to be practiced; then you will not run here and there. There was one master, and he got one disciple, finally one disciple. He was not so lucky like me, you know. I have so many, no? And the disciple did not know how to cook. That is the first problem. So when you want to come to the master, one thing you should know, then the master will love you more: how to cook, because the master may not know how to cook. So the master taught the disciple cooking, and then he taught him something to cook for him in the evening. And Master said, "Take care that it doesn’t burn. Take care it doesn’t become like just a vada or like a soup, but it should not be raw. It should be properly cooked. I am going to have a lecture, satsaṅg, and after satsaṅg we will have dinner." So the master went to give the satsaṅg. At that time, there was no electricity. So it was only a little candle or oil lamp. The disciple was cooking and cooking, and he did not know if it was through or not. So, Master said, "If there is some problem or something, you can ask me anytime." So, the disciple came behind the master and, near his ear, said, "Master, how should I know when it is cooked, when it is ready, no?" The Master is giving satsaṅg, like I am doing. Now, giving satsaṅg, he cannot explain to him how, when his food is ready or cooking, no? So the Master said one nice poem for both the audience and for his disciple who was cooking. One poem, answer for all. And he said: "Jab lag handī khaḍ bade, tab tak tab lag sījī naye." Until the things in the pot are moving, dancing, the beans, you know, in the water, it means they are not cooked yet. Jab lāg handī khaḍ bāḍe, tab lāg sījī nāye, sījī tab hī jānīye nāche kuḍe nāye. When they become all calm and not dancing separately and making sound, but only very fine vibration, that’s all. It means now it is through. The disciple understood, he went to the kitchen, stirring, and so, this is still time. And to the audience he said, "As long as you are trying this technique and that technique, and there and quick liberation, and no liberation, this and that, it means you are still half-boiled." You have no taste of meditation. When you come to the right path, through your inner decision, then you will say, "There is no shortcut, there is no quicker path." But there is nothing quicker than God. He gave you this beautiful life, so meditate long. You will come. So meditation is such a beautiful thing which you can do in your life. There are so many problems, called stress, headache, sleeplessness, worries. And especially now, the whole world is worrying about this economic situation. What is that? You see how the human mind is manipulated. The money doesn’t fly somewhere in the sky. No, there was no hurricane that suddenly made all the money go up, or money was not sunk in the ocean, or burned. There was money, and what a funny thing, suddenly there is no money. So money is here, everything is here. It is the manipulated human mind’s fear, because they were giving too much money out, and this is a way to keep it. And the money went somewhere into different pockets. But everything is okay. Finally, this material life is nothing. Therefore, work more to develop the human qualities. These educations which we have now, what is called high education and all this education, have made humans slaves. They have imprisoned humans and created fears in humans about finding a job. First, we say slavery is not good. But now everyone is a slave looking for a job. Doesn’t matter if you are a manager or director, still you are a slave working there under them. So that education is not the education that humans should have. Humans need the different education which makes them human. So, meditation. You close your eyes, and meditation will come, like when you lie down in your bed, with a soft pillow, close your eyes, and you go. Similarly, instead of a soft pillow, you take your mala, greet the master, and sit in good posture, making the chin mudrā. Close your eyes and off you go to the beautiful world of meditation, one with thyself. So, now please get ready for meditation and take your mantra, dīkṣā, and mālā in your hand. If you have not with you, or you have forgotten, then do it mentally, and I answered already. Take a comfortable seat so that you don’t feel discomfort during the meditation. Adjust yourself in such a comfortable way that you will not feel discomfort during the meditation. Close your eyes and become aware of your being in this world, the external world, your relation to this world, and beautiful nature. Relax and be comfortable. We will chant Aum three times, and while chanting Aum, withdraw yourself from the external world to your inner world. Relax, relax your shoulders, relax your elbows, relax your stomach muscles, relax the whole body, and keep your body straight upright. Take a few deep inhales and exhales, and now inhale and chant Aum with me. We will chant Aum three times. Inhale. Put your mālā around your neck again and rub your palms. Place the palms on the face. Rub your face muscles and elbows. Fold your hands. Open your eyes and bend forward. Try to touch your forehead to the ground and feel the blood circulation towards the head, your eyeballs, and your face muscles. Feel the circulation towards the head and slowly come up. Hari Om. The next steps of meditation we will do in the evening, and now we will do individual postures. You also have a 25-minute interval. Hari Om. After 25 minutes, some questions will be answered.