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Salutations to the cosmic light, the Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. In His divine presence, good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Welcome. It has been ten years of Yoga in Daily Life in Linz. In reality, I began Yoga in Daily Life here in November 1972—quite a long time. So, I wish you all the best for ten years of active Yoga in Daily Life in Linz and am happy to be here in this beautiful hall. It has a good atmosphere. I also thank the governor who has made this hall available to us. Yoga is very well known throughout the world. Wherever there are people, there is also Yoga. And where there is Yoga, there are also people. Yoga is the knowledge of the body, mind, and soul. Yoga is designed to liberate the human body, human emotion, mind, intellect, consciousness, and the soul. But the principles of Yoga are present throughout the entire universe and on our planet as balance, harmony, and unity. These three results or effects come from Yoga. Yoga is the element, energy, or principle that holds space and consciousness together in balance. That means the endless universe and universal consciousness. Endless space is like the mother’s body, and consciousness is like an embryo in the mother’s womb. The cosmos and cosmic consciousness are called the brain, the cerebellum, the golden egg. This consciousness and space are in perfect balance, harmony, and unity. Yoga is called a principle. Thus, Yoga is as old as space itself. Ānanda Brahmāṇḍa, endless. Śāstra, Sūrya, and thousands of solar systems are mentioned in the sacred scriptures, in the Vedas, which have existed for several thousand years in written form. The Vedas are the oldest scriptures on this planet. The creator has brought forth 8.4 million different living beings on this planet and has distributed or divided them into three planes: Jalacara, Thalacara, Nabhaçara—in the water, on the earth, and in space. Out of 8.4 million living beings, incarnations, one is a human. People talk about racism, but it is wrong. Man is man. The soul is in this dance, as we have seen from Lord Śiva, from Śūnyākāśa, from the empty space where only consciousness and space are held together by the power of union, energy, namely Yoga. And consciousness as Śiva, that is the very first in this universe. Numerous elements, stars, planets, the moon, the sun, and so on, are created by a sound: Oṁ. Nāda Rūpa Parabrahma, the form of the Supreme Self, is a sound, and the world arises from sound. The world is a sound. In every atom, this sound is still present. The awakening of this divine or cosmic consciousness means sound. And immediately there was an endless, endless universe throughout the entire cosmos. For example, we are walking along the Danube in Linz. A small mosquito is sitting on the side of our very little finger here. Immediately, the whole body knows that there is a mosquito bite. And so, the awakening of the sound was immediately present throughout the entire universe. The urge, the urge at the resonance, is like a beautiful lake, a very calm lake. We take a stone and throw it in. Numerous waves are generated, and it goes round and round—nothing square or triangular, quite beautifully round. Because the entire universe is round, the sound is round, everything is round. Zero. Every wave or every vibration of this sound causes an individual life as the soul, as the Self. Ātman is the universe, the universal. So, I and all of you, we are only one. There are not two. As the Ātman, as reality, in this microphone, in the camera, in various light bulbs—everywhere there is electricity, but itself is electricity, one. And so, as breathers, as the highest Self, we are all one. Whether a human being or a tiny mosquito, each represents cosmic light, divine light. But the soul, we are individual. And therefore, individually one has the freedom to do something, good or bad. We say karma, good karma or negative karma, sins or something beautiful. Every step is accounted for, every thought is counted, every movement is observed—physically, mentally, emotionally, intellectually, and so on—it acts as Karma. We have the freedom to act or to do nothing. I have a stone in my hand; if I wish, I can throw it away or keep it in my hand. But when I have thrown a stone with all my strength, then it is gone from my hand. Now nothing is under my control anymore. I cannot run after it and catch it. So, what we have done is already noted down. And that means the effect of our actions is Śikṣā, destiny. Destiny is individual. The Self is universal, and the Self has no destiny. So, every individual has their destiny, their fate, and must go through this fate. From beyond, this individual soul journeys through the endless universe. It floats on the chariots of time through darkness and light, experiencing the beautiful and the painful. Finally, the soul has found a path. Out of 8.4 million different forms of life, the human body. We are happy, we are blessed, we are grateful that we have received a human body. But for what? What is the purpose of my existence? Yes, I know, I am a human being. Do I know what makes me human? Not these two legs and two hands, eyes and ears, mouth. Every living being has these. Reptiles do not have hands and feet, but they do have mouths, eyes, and so on. What makes us human? And what does it mean for us to be human? And what is our goal? Eating, drinking, sleeping, and producing children—animals can do that too. So human beings have a higher goal, namely to merge this individual consciousness or the soul into Universal Consciousness. To merge, to become one with the Cosmic Consciousness is our goal. Well, many paths, one goal. And each describes their path differently. The people who have come from Czechia, Prague, or České Budějovice to Linz describe a beautiful path. And those who have come from Salzburg also describe a beautiful path. And those who have come from Vienna describe it as well, but each one writes something different because they have had experiences. And so, there are many Masters, many teachers, many religions, many incarnations. Everyone speaks of their experiences. But what experiences do they truly have? So, it does not matter through which path we come to our goal. And it is beautiful that we all respect and show tolerance. The destination is one thing, and that is Linz. But you know, in India, closer to my birthplace, there is also a place called Linz. When I went back from Europe to India and read, I said, oh, this is Linz, which also exists in Austria. But I mean this destination. And that is what Yoga is. Yoga is the science of the body, mind, consciousness, and the soul. Especially now, it is very important for us to create or live a healthy life and deal with everyday stress, fears, insecurity, sadness, pain, and so on. There is so much confusion all over the world. Yesterday in Salzburg, during our lecture and the 35 years of Yoga in Salzburg, the people collected money, all donations. And we dedicated this donation to a women's movement, a women's shelter. I was truly surprised. Whether I have been in Austria for 40 years, I have never thought so much about women. But we said, every fifth woman in Austria experiences a terrible life—oppression or violence. Violence. I said to myself, are you hard of hearing? In Austria? By now, I even consider myself a bit of an Austrian. In 40 years already, because the young people, 30 years old, there are fewer of them in Austria than me in this beautiful country of Austria. Why does this happen? There must be a cause somewhere: dissatisfaction, greed, hatred, envy, jealousy, anger, and so on. And these qualities are not human; they are animalistic. Hatred, envy, greed, jealousy, anger are animalistic qualities. Human qualities are to be happy, joyful, gracious, loving, tolerant, understanding, forgiving, helpful, and so on. That is what makes us human. Yoga has so many paths, so many techniques for everything. And one of the most important of these is meditation. And today’s topic is meditation. What do we understand by meditation? The original idea of meditation was or is to anchor our consciousness in divine consciousness, to realize through self-experience, to realize through self-realization. But this meditation, slowly, slowly, people have also developed a taste for it. "Wow, that is good. When I meditate, I am much calmer." At the beginning of 1972 in Vienna, I conducted a yoga course for diplomatic personnel. A woman from the American Embassy also participated in my program. And after three weeks, one evening, she asks me, "Swāmījī, can I ask you a question?" I say, "Yes, please." "Do you think that I practice yoga and my husband benefits?" I said, "Yes, but what do you mean?" "I practice yoga—do you think it has an effect on my husband?" She says, "Yes, but what do you mean? You know, Swāmījī, over time yoga has made my husband much calmer." I said, "That's true, because you have become calmer, and that's why the poor man—you always used to make him nervous." Please, the women should not be angry with me, but most often it is the man, who holds a much higher position, director and so on, who is usually earlier than his wife, most of the time. Because the woman is very dominant at home. She tells the man, "Okay, in the office you are the director, but not here with me." And for a man to digest that, for his pride and ego, is truly a hammer on his head. Women can do it more easily. So, you said, you are very angry with him. You said, "Yes, I always have arguments with him, why he comes half an hour late or this and that. And since I have been practicing yoga, I don't care. I am glad that he is coming later because I can go through my practices." And so it is. Meditation has progressed to the point that many companies in various countries send their employees, during the lunch break, for half an hour of yoga and meditation. And many health insurance companies pay for it because people should attend yoga classes, as yogis are rarely ill and the health insurance has very few expenses. In New York, every office with 30 employees has a room called the yoga room. And some have a fitness room, but not the fitness room with jogging or cycling and so on. Yoga is practiced there. I believe there is also some in Austria, perhaps definitely in Linz. And if not now, then we begin now. Linz begins. First is Linz. Meditation is the path to oneself. Meditation is the path to harmonize our body, mind, and soul. Meditation is an anti-stress remedy, and meditation is to be realized as divine consciousness. Meditation is to find harmony, and meditation is the path to discover inner joy and peace. Meditation would be an answer to creating world peace. Now, there are so many types of meditations. So, what should we do? One says, laugh a lot. That is also meditation, my God. Alright, I once learned and was told, if you feel a little tired or something, make me laugh, how simple. So, I was in the Austrian Airlines Golden Lounge in Singapore, sitting at the Singapore airport, at the Austrian Airlines, the Star Alliance Lounge, about 70, 80 people inside or 100—it is a large, very large lounge, like this hall. I was tired, and I thought, now I will laugh. And suddenly I said, all heads turn in my direction. That was enough of an answer. Yes, laughter is good, but where, when, and how? That did not tell me anything. There are many techniques as well, such as meditation and visualizations. Too much imagination is not meditation. It is concentration. Meditation is part of Rāja-Yoga, Aṣṭāṅga-Yoga, or Integral Yoga, the eight-limbed Yoga, and so on. Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, Samādhi—these are all in the Sanskrit language. I know that many do not know. And I will not repeat everything. We come to meditation. I will endeavor to guide a meditation today, as simple as possible. Or do I want some complication? So I will demonstrate a simple, beautiful technique. I ask a great saint, one who, as mentioned, realized God or is a great saint—the one who lives in the monastery and prays 18 hours a day, or in the Himalayan mountain cave life of the yogis, or in Tibet, and also in the desert; 90 years old, 105 years old, saints. What technique do they practice? The answer is: we close our eyes and do nothing except repeat the name of God. And so meditation is where one is meant to experience their inner joy and peace. Possible, few instructions. Okay? Good. Ready?