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Alagpurījī Mahādev kī Jai, Devādhī Dev, Devpurījī Mahārāj kī Jai, Ārādhya Bhagavān Śrī Mahāprabhujī kī Jai, and Satguru Svāmī Madhvanājī Bhagavān kī Jai, Satya Sanātana Dharma kī Jai. Om Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇa... Hamsabh Dās Prabhu Śaraṇa Parāyaṇam... In our anuṣṭhāna, which you have been practicing for some years—some for only two or three—the techniques we learn are very clean, bringing forth pure, spiritual energy. There are many kinds of anuṣṭhāna. One is what we call mauna, silence. Mauna is very hard; few people have learned it for many years. It is not easy to learn, control, and remain relaxed and happy. This is very difficult for everyone. If we can achieve it, we are nearly on the cosmic road. Perhaps you and I are the same. That is why many ṛṣis and yogīs may not go around much, or if they do, they are always themselves, abiding in their inner anuṣṭhāna and concentration. Today, we should contemplate this sādhanā. It means deep inner silence. Therefore, everyone, please take a comfortable place now. Think anything you wish to think, think it now. Our eyes are very chañcal. Chañcal means they are not fixed in one place. Through our eyes, everything is in view. When we open our eyes, we can see how far away a tree is. If there were not so many trees, we could see for kilometers. Everyone's vision is different. Consider birds, like the large eagles in the Himalayas. Their eyes see very far distances. They can see behind themselves and, I would say, at least a hundred meters—kilometers, even—because their height is great, so their sight reaches farther. Our vision is not so great. It is said that as a creature is larger, its vision is lesser. An elephant's vision is not very far. There are some ducks, or a bird that stands on one foot in the water, concentrating only on that, nothing else. In the Mahābhārata, Arjuna and others were tested. There was a picture, with water, and something moving... a mechanism moving the picture. They were told, "There is a fish. A paper is placed... you see its reflection on the water." It was said, "Who will be able to hit the eye of the fish with an arrow?" Many tried and lost. They couldn't. Then came Arjuna. Arjuna was looking at the water, but for his eyes, it was moving. He sent the arrow and struck the fish's eye. Many people were there. Many tried to say they would do it, but it is called chañcal, chañcal, chañcal. Chañcal means always this and that, like this. Even water is flowing. So if one is chañcal, one cannot be perfect. There are many different kinds of chañcal in us humans. We are chañcal. How many points of distraction are there for one person? You have the chañcalatā of your hair, your eyes, pimples, your dress—you are looking, so many things are going on, chañcal. When the chañcal becomes peaceful, then we can proceed. When we drive a car, the wheels must be very controlled. If they are going like this, it means the wheel is not good—chañcal. While doing good things, we bite something, drink water... like this, chañcal. So if you think you will now meditate... what was that I said? It is sthirā. Sthirā means no movements. You can look at a flame; it is also very gentle, and you must be gentle even with much wind. Now I will give you something thorough: close your eyes, that's all, nothing more. But your eyes will tell you everything—"yes, this and that was this or that." So what will happen? We will sleep. Many people in anuṣṭhāna do very nice programs, chanting mantras, and many are sleeping. Like this. That is called tantra. Tantra means half asleep and half awake. You get it, you catch it, but you are losing it. That is called... what is our food? There is a certain kind of food that makes us this way. In this seminar, your teacher, who is instructing you, is also lying down. So he or she should not close their eyes. You have to watch your students. This is very difficult; it is one point: sthirā. Sthirā—no movement, nothing. But this is not within your thinking. There are many things in our body. Sometimes there are mosquitoes. If you can, for one minute, be very, very one-pointed... yes, there are many, many things. The point is to listen to how to do it and get it. Now, which point will you choose for yourself? Today, I want to tell you—for anuṣṭhāna and others, all can learn this—you have to go to the navel. That is the point. It is not easy. One day, Holī Gurujī was laughing with me. Gurujī was doing much mālā. Gurujī asked, "Where is the best meditation?" Because Gurujī said, "In the brain, everything is moving. But I want my mala and my mantra; everything should be silent in one. But sometimes I am half sleeping and half there." I said, "Gurujī, how can I tell you?" (Gurujī often called me Mahesh or Maheśvarānanda. A very strict Gurujī would say "Maheśvarānanda"; otherwise, "Mahesh.") So Holī Gurujī said, "You are a yogī, my friend. You have so many disciples; you give these trainings. I always fall asleep. What can I do?" I said, "How can I help you, Gurujī?" Gurujī said, "Tell me, don't just talk, or go out." The next day again: "This technique, where is it?" So I said, "In the heart." Gurujī said, "Oh, that is very good. I am very happy in the heart." I said, "Gurujī, this is very good." After five days, Gurujī said, "You have disturbed me very much. For five days, I could not meditate. I was always thinking of Mahāprabhujī's name. I don't know where it is, what it is, or where to go now. For five days, I was confused." The Holy Guru said, "But when you said, 'I will say it,' that's why I'm doing it." I said, "Gurujī, I told you, you are great, not me. I know this, but I told you where I can concentrate more." I asked, "On what concentration?" Gurujī said, "Only Mahāprabhujī, nothing." So I said, "Gurujī, what you do is always the best." So you should now close your eyes, all of you, and choose any point you like. How many minutes can you look at that one point? Close your eyes. Be silent. Now, come to your concentration. How many times? Seconds, minutes? This, without anything, only one complete point. It means your whole body, your life, was in one; you were one. And then, even without knowing your body, you are aware of that. So, look... tell anybody? Yes. You can turn it like this, only fingers inside... no, no, okay? Go in and see how silent you can be. Close your eyes. No, no Brahmrī, only hold. And hurry home, relax, take your fingers out from your ear. So there were no other signs. So, how was your concentration? Was it one, or something different? I would like to hear the difference between the two types of concentration. The first type was better for her, for me, because I had the imagination of a very precious picture that I have on my altar at home. It's Swāmījī's holy feet during pūjā. I cannot say if it was just one-point concentration, but it was very focused. It was short, though. And the rest of the meditation was like a pulsation—I went out and then in again, and it was pulsating. Please, it is restless. Now, did you have one minute, half a minute, or one moment of silence, one of tension? When this is not achieved, it means we are still beginners. So these are two things: outer and inner. When we think, "Yes, I read this book, I do techniques, I talk to others, I learn from others," it is only on the surface. The ocean is very big, with waves upon waves. But if you dive deep down, there is no movement there. It is very peaceful; only some things move. That is our ocean. Everything in our body, our physical being, will always move differently. But when we are deep, you will see, like at the bottom of the ocean. As we are in meditation, or in anuṣṭhāna, in oneness... When we do our anuṣṭhāna, we do five minutes of this, ten minutes of that, like this. Then again, we are confused. But your teacher has given you exact instructions for when and how it should go. So automatically, we should run through the other steps, like the ocean's layers, one by one. The waves come, and on that wave, it also makes it very peaceful inside. If we go somewhere near the ocean where there is only forest, about one or two kilometers away at night, we hear a sound like a train going. Yes, I was at an ocean beach. We were two or three of us there. Is somebody from Vienna here? Not Hemlata? Hemlata, yes. Okay. So we were there, about two kilometers away. There were many trees, and all the time it sounded like a train. After three or four days, we didn't hear anything, just as when you go near. The first day we arrived, what was there? Cicadas, right? Oh God, the whole day, for two, three days. And then it's gone, because we harmonize inside. So there are the waves of the water or the ocean, and then the sound, like here now. We are sitting here with all the birds and sounds. We are learning. We meditate on everything, but we do not concentrate on the birds. It is very nice, but we do not listen to it. When we are very tired and sleeping, but there is a lot of noise—for example, in a train—we eat and we sleep. So we have to slowly, slowly come into ourselves. Tomorrow we will continue. I wish you all the best and a good lunch. Do not eat too much. Eat half, fifty percent, and water fifty percent. Eat until six or seven, with two liters of water—not a liter, a pot of water. And then be empty. Then your anuṣṭhāna will be very good. Eating makes us a little sleepy. Tomorrow we will go further. Om Namaḥ Śrī Prabodhī, Rāi Namaḥ Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān, Akechāya.