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Yoga is very ancient. Through research into the entire universe—not merely this planet—I have come to understand yoga as that principle which unites space and consciousness. That space we call the universe is known as Brahman; it is endless space. We do not know its beginning or its end. This space is filled with Universal Consciousness. We do not say "Consciousness Universal," but rather "Universal Consciousness." The universe is like the body of a mother's womb, and the consciousness within it is like an embryo. This is called the golden egg, the golden embryo. The perfect balance maintained between these two is called yoga. When there is perfect balance between the mother's health, the mother's body, and the new embryo, that fruit will grow into completeness and health. Where there is balance, there is harmony. Thus, another definition of yoga is harmony. Finally, the third definition, generally spoken in simple terms, is uniting or union. Therefore, yoga means the balancing principle. The manifestation of this balance is harmony, and the result of harmony is unity. Here, unity signifies the union of the individual self with the cosmic Self. Between the individual self and the cosmic Self lie many obstacles. These obstacles do not exist anywhere in the universe but within you. They are your negative thoughts, negative conversations, and negative qualities: doubts, anger, jealousy, hatred, envy, vikṣepas, kleśas, prapañca. This is your personal problem; it is not the problem of anyone else. You have nothing to do with anyone. After death, everything is finished. In the present, everything you think and what disturbs you are merely bubbles on the water. These bubbles have no relation to you. You cannot even touch them; as soon as you touch one, it will burst. Yet these bubbles create a negative fantasy that disturbs you day and night. You suffer day and night in the fire of negative things. You project your own picture onto the unreality of that bubble; you see your photo reflected on its side. This is your ignorance. Thus, between the individual and cosmic Self, there are many obstacles which only you can remove. Ask yourself very honestly. Ask with a pure heart and pure consciousness, and ask God, "God, what will be with me?" The answer is within yourself. Only you can help. Three days ago, a young mother took a child with both hands, and the child stood up. But the child did not stretch her legs. She kept them bent because she did not want to stand. So the mother put her down again. Similarly, the master tries to pull you up, but you remain... like this, paralyzed. So, what should he do? Your physical problems, your emotional problems—everything is a projection from your mind. That is all. So, yoga means the uniting principle, harmonizing and balancing. In the entire universe, all visible and invisible elements are balanced by that one divine principle, and that is called yoga. Out of that consciousness, when there is balance, harmony, and union, then the fourth stage takes place: creation. Thus, God Kṛṣṇa said, "From time to time, I manifest myself here through my yoga māyā." Here, māyā means power, yoga śakti. This means that all these exercises you are doing are not yoga. They are merely an attempt to be healthy and relaxed, and to gain some satisfaction that yes, you are something. By torturing your body, twisting it, and putting it into particular postures, you will not attain liberation unless you change your inner attitude. I am continually surprised and disappointed, even by the best disciples and yoga teachers. About twelve years ago, I placed a spoon in honey. Today I took the spoon out and washed it. The spoon itself has no taste of honey. In twelve years, the spoon was unable to absorb the honey's taste and transform itself into honey. Iron cannot absorb anything, especially honey. Similarly, there are disciples who, after many years, still exhibit so many volcanic eruptions within. This is what we will speak about. Now, of course, there is one very important part in yoga practices for everyday life: we call it meditation. Everyone would like to meditate. Some say meditation cannot be practiced because it comes by itself. The best meditation comes when you are tired of this māyā, this saṃsāra. Then, no matter how sweet it is, you go into meditation. It is like when you are very tired; no matter how nice or beautiful something is, your eyelids grow heavy, micro-sleep sets in, and that can cause a deadly accident. You were tired, and sleep attacked you. Similarly, as long as you do not develop vairāgya (dispassion) for this world, you cannot enter into meditation. What are you doing in meditation? You are thinking about getting rid of your problems and tension, reducing stress, and attaining a healthy body. You think: my mother should be healthy; my grandfather is in the hospital, he should be healthy; my son is not passing his examination, he should be healthy; my grandchild is crying because teeth are coming in—God, please help; I don't want pain in my kitchen; there are so many mice, how to get rid of them? For three months, do not bring any food into the kitchen. That is all. They will leave automatically. You are the cause of the mice being in your kitchen. Throw everything away, leave only the walls, and there will be no mice. But you cannot do this; you have no ability. Then the mice will not leave. What are you doing in meditation? Meditation ought to be without any thoughts; just relax. But as soon as you close your eyes, the whole problem of the world enters your mind. All the problems of the world are buried in your mind. Your mind has now found the chance to empty your subconscious: all sorrows, stress, plans, and work reside there. Therefore, it is said that meditation cannot be practiced. Meditation comes of itself, like sleep. When you try to lie down in bed and say, "I want to sleep right now," you cannot sleep. When sleep comes, you do not know which minute it arrived or how you transferred the transcendental process from the conscious state into sleep. That transition is without pain. Similarly, you do not know how you transfer from sleep into dream. In the same way, in meditation, you will transfer your consciousness from worldly problems to your divine consciousness, and from your divine consciousness into the cosmic consciousness. There is no alarm to wake you up at home, so do not meditate too long or you will miss your bus to work. Some mornings when you are meditating, you think, "I have twenty minutes for meditation, then I must have breakfast, and I must not miss the bus." So you are meditating on the bus, or thinking, "There will be too much traffic if I am ten minutes late. I hope I will find a parking place." Thus, you are meditating about a parking place. Therefore, lucky are those who can tell themselves, "Relax, I just want to be relaxed." And that is how the self-enquiry meditation begins.