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Good evening to all dear sisters and brothers, to every yoga practitioner, and to all those on the path of yoga throughout the world engaged in their sādhana. I wish you the blessings of your masters and gurus. May we extend our positive wishes for divine health and goodness to all humans, respecting every individual's beliefs and religions. I am happy that so many are doing good for all beings. In this time, we should strive for oneness and make a collective effort for everyone. With this, we turn to our path of yoga in daily life. We respect our masters and gurus from many ages and ask for peace, harmony, and love. We are all doing our best to progress, and we will surely achieve our goals with the guidance of our teachers, ashrams, and gurus. Let us come together, remain together, practice, and move forward. We have been speaking about meditation for only three weeks. Many have shared that they were very happy with what Swamijī explained. This makes us happy and confirms we are on the right path. Regarding meditation, there are many techniques everywhere. People follow their chosen paths according to their understanding. But finally, we will all be one. It is like rain falling to earth, collecting into rivers. Each river flows toward the ocean. The ocean does not reject any water, saying, "This water is not good," or "That dirty water should not come." All waters are respected and received. The ocean itself purifies all that enters it. Similarly, all yoga centers and teachers guide people according to their knowledge, leading everyone toward the river of knowledge that flows into the ocean of supreme consciousness. In this way, everyone tries to meditate. Yet, often what we do is go outward; we are unable to enter inside. There are different forms of meditation. For example, consider driving a car a long distance. That requires concentration—a form of meditation. You must be conscious, driving on the correct road. The driver maintains awareness in six directions. There is also a powerful awareness of the machine, the car itself. The driver concentrates on the front: where to drive, the speed, and what is ahead. Simultaneously, the driver checks the rear-view mirror. The driver is also conscious of the right and left sides, aware of other cars or animals. We must be aware of the road conditions, which side we are driving on (right or left, as in Europe or Britain), and what is in front and behind. Then, we focus on the car itself—where it is going. We must be aware of the four wheels on the road (or three, or two on a bike). I was contemplating the mūlādhāra and the powers associated with it. Similarly, consider: who is driving? There may be passengers who should also be conscious. So, the driver holds many awarenesses, and finally, there is awareness for the self. Consider your own body as the machine: how both hands move, how the two eyes remain alert. If you close them, even for a micro-sleep, everything could be finished. So, there is consciousness of this. Also, with the legs: what are we doing? Are they inside or outside? The driver has a destination. Upon arrival, we get out of the car. I was thinking deeply about this yesterday and today, pondering what instructions to give about meditation. How many meditations are there? There is outer meditation. There is meditation in sleep. But where is the meditation in sleep? That is also important. Ultimately, we must come to the jāgratā, the waking state where we are aware. This is like driving the car—we are awake and aware. The second state is relaxed sleep, suṣupta. You park your car to the side, lie down, and relax. Consciousness goes further into dreams, svapna. We think: where are we going? Where should we be? With whom? That, too, is a meditation. I have spoken of these many times: Jagratā (waking), Suṣupta (deep sleep), and Svapna (dreaming). We must become aware of all three. For example, you may have a beautiful dream where you are happy, eating, drinking, walking, playing, swimming, or with family. In the dream, if a mosquito bites you, you awaken instantly. The ocean was far away; you were swimming, but you were sleeping. Or sometimes, one awakens slowly and lazily. The kind of meditation we wish to do requires first understanding these three levels: Jagratā (the waking state), Suṣupta (the sleeping state), and Svapna (the dreaming state). We must first master awareness in these three states. What we learn is that we should not try to leave the world when we meditate. This is what we are always doing, mostly in yoga and daily life. The first step is this. We must know and learn these steps. They are very simple, and also very hard. As yogīs, we should proceed step by step. We know we have our sitting postures and mats. For meditation, if we are healthy and can sit straight for a long time, there is a mat made of grass. You can place it down, perhaps with a rubber mat underneath for softness. But we had to graze. This āsana is the kuśa āsana. We can call it grass, or kuśa, or chara. There are many types. We sit on this grass. First, you should know this will prevent electrical problems. Sometimes we may touch something and get a shock. If you sit on grass, or place grass under you, you will not get a shock. Similarly, we do not know what vibrations come from the earth. Of course, the earth is good; we come from the earth. We use earthing for buildings. But if we use this kuśa āsana, the power and energy will remain contained within your body. When you sit on the kuśa āsana—which you can find in India, Nepal, and elsewhere—another point is tak pak ta prāṇa. We should also wear natural cloth. Our feet and legs should touch this āsana. The surrounding area should not have materials like plastic, as standing on plastic is not good for electricity. This is a different matter, but it relates to how to meditate. After that, when you sit directly, let every side of the kuśa āsana touch your hands. The energy flows from the kuśa āsana. There are many postures for meditation. The posture itself is not the ultimate point. Many sit in various ways. We are young and able, which is good. In modern times, people's bodies are not in good condition due to what we eat and drink. Our bones are not healthy; our knees are not in order. Our toes, fingers, wrists, and elbows suffer because we use many things we cannot control. But try an experiment. Make a long kuśa āsana. In your room, wear very little clothing. Touch both arms to the kuśa āsana. Let your right and left hands touch your legs. You can lie on your stomach, on your side, or sit. I cannot say you must sit only one way. The key is to be touching the kuśa āsana. From time to time, or daily, if you have Gaṅgā water, sprinkle a little on it. Every beautiful, nice river is a Gaṅgā river. If you are in India, or if friends bring a bottle from India, you can put many waters into it, and everything becomes Gaṅgā. Another thing: you know there is a thing called agarbatī (incense sticks). That is not so good; we do not know what is put inside. There is guggul. For fire, like in pūjā, doing the āratī. Is there anything special we do with the āratī? It is from a tree—the gum of the tree. Priskyřice? Yes, it is the resin of the tree. We put a little on the fire, and the whole room will have a very good smell. Not everyone can tolerate agarbatī. In ancient times, there was no agarbatī. Furthermore, in every Christian church or temple, they always use incense during ceremonies. You know it? The space is perfumed with that incense. When we pray and have a bowl, we should have something for the fire—coal—and one or two pieces of this resin. The smell is so good. I have not seen anyone who feels allergic to it. But we should not use too much, or it may cause a headache. These two powers (guggul and church incense) are very powerful, and maybe a neighbor will not like it. So we should concentrate, but we should have this guggul. So, what is the guggul? You have these technologies. But it is the other substance used for pūjā, for yajñas, and that is also what they use in church. So, you have this āsana. After meditation, you should dust it a little, roll it in a nice pure cotton cloth bag, and store it somewhere. After three months, you will feel its energy. The benefit can be immediate upon touching, but it will not go too deep immediately. Do not use knit or synthetic material. We sit on this kuśa āsana. The posture is whatever you prefer, however you like. Another point: if you cannot sit for long, you can make a small stool from pure wood to lean on. That stool should also be on the kuśa, so do not break the connection. The cloth should be pure cotton, 100% cotton. How do you know if it is pure cotton? Take a thick piece of the cloth and burn it. If it is plastic, it will melt and roll together. That is not real cloth. If it is pure, it will burn, leaving a very nice, white ash like snow, with a good smell. You can put this ash on your palm, on your ring finger, and make a tilak. This signifies purity for meditation. In Australia, there is one Indian who makes excellent cloths. When he brings them from India to Australia, he instructs, "Please do not let them go through chemical processes." In this way, our health will be better, and then meditation will come. Tomorrow, we will continue. For now, this covers sitting: where to sit, how to sit, how to be. Until then, continue with your meditation practice. In the meantime, you can continue meditating. Om Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpanārāyaṇam.