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O Ki Tvandhavitam Gagan Sadṛśam, Tasmāśyādi Lakṣam, Ekam Nityam Vimalāchalam, Sarvaddhi Sākṣibhūtam, Bhavāvatītam, Trigunarahitam, Satgurutam, Anāmamyam, Śānti, Śānti. Śānti, Śānti. Salutation to the Cosmic Light, Lord of our Hearts, Omniscient and Omnipresent. In His Divine Presence, a very good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Your Holiness, Śrī Swāmī Nirptadānandjī Mahārāj, and His Holiness, Śrī Swāmī Amarānandjī Mahārāj. Dear Brother Neil and Dear Brother Mr. Ashok Jī, I am truly very blessed to be today in this holy place, in this church, where the name of God is constantly chanted, remembered, and spoken about. Each and every brick of this wall is vibrating with that spirituality. These two holy saints spoke beautifully. To speak something more after them is like showing a mystic burning to the sun. When a few speakers talk on the same subject, it is best to agree and not to make a competition or arguments. It is the truth. What we spoke, what we will speak, what we think is truth. His Holiness said knowledge unites and ignorance divides. Very beautifully, he gave examples about different traditions and different beliefs, but within all is the spirituality. Swāmī Amarānandjī gave beautiful examples from the Vedas, and it is believed that the Vedas are among the first and most ancient scriptures which exist among humans. Religion is a big question. When we speak about religion, I would say it is a very ancient word drawn from Sanātana Dharma. Swāmī Amarānandjī said that Hinduism or Sanātana Dharma is not governed by a particular mission or organization. That is a speciality of that spirituality, or you may call it the religion or Dharma or whatever. The last Pope said he admires India, that Hinduism has such great tolerance. This two-day dialogue or practice or sādhanā, what we are doing, is not about proving that Hinduism is the best. Please do not think about this. We do not want to defeat anyone. It is aimed at understanding how an Indian, a Hindu, achieves enlightenment. How are they free? And this freedom is in every religion. Sanātana means ancient, but literally Sanātana means relation. If someone asks you, "Who is this person?" and you say, "It's my relative, my sanātanī." So the word Sanātana indicates the relation. Here, relation means that each individual is related to the cosmic one. It doesn't matter if it is humans or other creatures. Ātmā, So'ham, Paramātmā—that Ātmā is Paramātmā and Paramātmā is Ātmā. In Vedānta, a nice example is given. Again, I must say, Ramana Maharṣi spoke about space: Ghaṭākāśa, Maṭhākāśa, Hṛdayākāśa, Chidākāśa, Ākāśa and Mahākāśa. This is a definition of different spaces. Maṭhākāśa means this house we are sitting in. The space in this house and the space outside in the park is the same. Duality is the walls. What is created will be destroyed. What is manifested will be dissolved. But Ekam Nityam, the everlasting one is that supreme, that is Ātmā—thyself. Now, the soul is not Ātmā. The soul is individual. Ātmā is universal. Sanātana, the relation, is that we are all related to that one. Dharma—dhṛti, dhāryate dharma. What you follow, you adopt, you accept. Literally, I would say it is our obligation or duty. If I go a little further, then it is our mission, the mission of human life. Dharma is not merely the religion we talk about and think of. Dharma is a principle. The dharma of fire is to give heat, the dharma of the eyes is to see, the dharma of our ears is to hear. Therefore, it is Dharma rakṣita rakṣitaḥ: if you protect your dharma, dharma will protect you. What is the dharma of the husband? What is the dharma of the wife? The dharma of parents and the dharma of children. Everyone and everything has its dharma. And this dharma is united in oneness. From Sanātana Dharma comes religion. Now, religion also means, when you speak in the Latin language, religion means relation. So, relation—realize your relation, know thy relation or thyself, that Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi, I am the Self. To realize your relation becomes the dharma, Sanātana Dharma. Where there is knowledge or love, there is freedom. Where there is ignorance, there is a boundary and no freedom. Therefore, it is said in Sanātana Dharma that you are not bound to anyone. You have freedom. And everyone has the right to achieve their goal or to come to their origin, which you may call God, Brahman, Supreme, Truth, Love, or whatever you name it. Through this, different teachings came. Every individual has different experiences. I came to Edinburgh for the first time; I have different experiences. Some who have been here twice have different experiences. I will speak about my experiences, how I came, how I found it. Others will speak similarly, so every master or Holy Incarnation spoke their message. But the truth is the same. Space is the same: Ghaṭākāśa, Maṭhākāśa, Chidākāśa, Hṛdayākāśa, Ākāśa, Mahākāśa, and so on. The reality is the same. So different streams of spirituality or belief developed. Therefore, Hinduism, this dharma, Sanātana Dharma—the word Hindu means hiṁsā ko dūr karne vālā, one who removes violence, non-violence. Ātmā so Paramātmā: every creature is a representative of the supreme, the Self. Sabhī ātmā merī ātmā hai—all are my Self. Once, someone asked me a question at a conference: how is it possible that there are so many different beliefs in India and still they live together? One believes in God Kṛṣṇa, one believes in Rāma, one believes in Śakti, one believes in Śiva, one believes in Gaṇeśa, one believes in Jesus, and some in Buddha, and they all sit peacefully together. I said, that is the speciality of Sanātana Dharma. Let us compare Sanātana Dharma to a fruit, a pomegranate, a dādām. The skin of this fruit holds it together, and inside are hundreds or thousands of pearls—the seeds, very tasteful. Dharma is that skin of the fruit which keeps all together and lets them develop, because all have the same taste, the same quality, the same spirituality. The main thing is religion. We call it Sanātana Dharma, Sanātana religion, Hindu religion, Jewish religion, Buddhism, Christianity, and so on. But we say Hindu religion, Islam religion, Christian religion. We have to come to that point, and therefore, the unity of spirituality will unite humans to achieve, again, peace, freedom, happiness—and that's it. Spirituality is very difficult to explain. People always ask me, "Swāmījī, what is spiritual? Should we fast? Should we bathe in the Gaṅgā? Should we go to church every day? Or should we meditate all the time? How do you define spirituality?" Yes, definitely the word is taken from 'spirit'. But spirit is just that aura of the Jīvātmā, and it is between Jīvātmā and Paramātmā, the real Ātmā and Jīvātmā. So, in my opinion, I would say spirituality is that spirit which means purity—crystal clear, transparent visions, thoughts, actions. Everything you utilize and do should be pure. God needs a pure heart. God resides in that heart where there is no duality, and God is not only in one heart; God is everywhere. Once a teacher asked the children, "I have five pounds in my pocket if you can tell me where God is." Some said God is in my mother—a small child in nursery school loves its mother. Someone said God is with my rabbit. Some said God is in the church, some in the temple, according to their thinking; little kids were answering. One child stood up and said to the teacher, "Sir, unfortunately I do not have five pounds in my pocket, but I can draw for you some pictures. Can you tell us where there is no God?" And the teacher said, "Thank you. What do your parents do?" "My parents are practicing spirituality, education." So, how we educate our children or our students or our disciples—in that way we put pure thoughts and not conflicts. And so, yoga—this is something. Now every third person in the world is practicing yoga, different kinds of yoga. Some are techniques from China, some from Japan, some from India. And yoga—yoga is not only physical exercises, breathing, and meditation. It is beyond the endless universe, Ananta Brahmāṇḍa, and the universal consciousness. Yoga is that Śakti or that power which unites, balances, and harmonizes space and consciousness. Therefore, yoga is as old as the universe. God Kṛṣṇa said, "Time to time I manifest myself with my Yoga Māyā," the Yoga Śakti of that yoga. So yoga is that Śakti which is balancing—the balance between the mother's body and the embryo. The universe is the mother's body and consciousness is that golden embryo. Yoga is that which is harmonizing, and it is that one which is uniting. All visible or invisible elements throughout the universe are balanced, and that principle is yoga. Our four elements, five elements in the body are balanced. All the different functions—our mind, our consciousness, our emotion, our intellect, our dreams, our movements, our heart function, and so on—all is balanced. As long as it is balanced, that is perfect, everything. When imbalance is there, we are declared an ill person, or there is disharmony. So yoga is that practice which balances everything. And that is not only āsanas and prāṇāyāma. Recording location: Great Britain, Edinburgh, Hindu Conference