“Nithya Dhyan.”

Nithya Dhyan. Before entering into the program let's understand the concept or the truth behind this word Nithya Dhyaan. Continuously all of us are meditating on something. We are all eternally meditating on something. Nithya Dhyaan is all about making you meditate, which will be eternal. Instead of meditating on different things eternally Meditating eternally which will be eternal. We are continuously meditating on so many different things. Our whole life is meditation. Unless you meditate on some object, unless you are occupied about something you will not be able to proceed, you will not be able to move further. Your very life still you are breathing, still you are aware, still you are conscious proves you are meditating. Instead of meditating on various other things meditating on the eternal thing which stays continuously inside us.

Today we will try to analyze and understand why meditation, what is meditation, how, when. All these initial questions we’ll analyze, then I will try to respond to your questions. After the question and answer session, we will enter into the meditation technique. Tomorrow we will work on samskaras, engrams, engraved memories and have a question and answer session and meditation technique. Day after tomorrow we will work on a very important truth unclutching, Nithya Dhyaan and have a meditation technique.

I wanted to start the whole program with this one word, a very beautiful word…first sutra of the Bramha Sutra athado Bramha vignyasa. Let us enquire into reality. This word is really powerful. The Guru who is teaching is not saying let me teach you the reality. No, he is saying let us enquire into the reality because when you start only with the enquiry sense only you can reach the truth.

The moment teacher says let me teach you the reality disciple will have a lot of problem. If he is little egoistic he can start thinking who are you teach. Second thing, if he is humble again there will be problem. You may teach but I may not understand what to do. Whether he is inferiority complex based or superiority complex based naturally there will be confusion, there will be problem. This word is a beautiful word. Let us enquire into the reality.

Same way I am starting in that same mood, with that same attitude, let us enquire into the truth about meditation. Let us enquire into the reality because many time if the teaching starts with the mood of enquiry, with a mood of seeking even the teacher will find so many new things. Learning never ends. Teaching also can be beautiful tool to learn.

First let us enter into the question, let us enquire into the question what is meditation? The question analyzed, contemplated by millions of sages. Just like west has done a great research and development in the outer world, east has done for more than ten thousand years great research and development in the inner world. This was the core question for all the research and development… what is meditation?

If I had to put it in one line what is meditation any technique, any method, which raises your consciousness, is meditation. Anything, which raises your consciousness, is meditation. It can be even a simple breathing, it can be a simple repetition of some word or it can be just simply sitting. In Zen tradition, just sitting is meditation. It is most difficult meditation. Anything can become meditation if it is useful, if it is raising your consciousness.

Why meditate? Why meditation? Again thousands of reasons. I should usually ask, I should actually ask why we should not meditation because for that we have less reasons. Why we should meditate, we have enough reasons. Tons and tons of research done by different scientists in different countries proves the physical health and mental health, other different benefits but according to me even those things are not straight results of meditation or the purpose of meditation. May be all these things are side effects of meditation. Physical health, mental health…wonderful. May be all these things are side effects, after effects of meditation.

If somebody asks me why meditate a straight answer will be to raise the consciousness, to raise the conscious level. The human body is designed to raise the consciousness; human brain is wired for enlightenment. By your very nature, you are wired for enlightenment. Human body is designed to experience expanded consciousness. Only a person who brings all the possibilities into a living reality experiences the fulfillment. Understand a person who does not bring the possibilities into reality will be carrying so many karmas.

I want all of you to understand the word karma. Karma is nothing but unfulfilled experiences which stays in you and which is constantly pushing you to fulfill those experiences. Any thing, which you experience intensely, deeply will leave your system; will liberate you. Any experience you did not go through completely, did not have complete fulfillment, did not give the full energy, attention and awareness remains inside you as karma.

There is a very beautiful sutra, Upanishad shloka..Poorna madat, poorna vidham, poornaa poorna madacheri….from the whole came the whole. You are, even if you are carrying some karmas, basically, you are complete fulfillment, wholeness. So any karma, which has not become complete cannot rest inside. It will try its best to fulfill itself. It will drive you again and again to go through the same activity so that you can fulfilled. Any desire, any experience, which has not become complete in your system will remain as karma and push you, again and again make you go thorough the same experience to fulfill itself.

Why meditate? Single line answer will be to raise the frequency of your consciousness. How it heals, we can understand with this small diagram. I will try to present a simple diagram how our mind works, how the meditation influences our system, how meditation directly affects our hardware and software. Our hardware is physical body, our software is our mind. Let me try to give you a simple diagram, you can understand what meditation can do, why meditation needs to be practiced.

We have two states of mind. We can say two states of mind you experience in your day to day life. One with thoughts, another one without thoughts. Now you know you have thoughts. In the deep sleep, do you have thoughts? No! So with thoughts, without thoughts, these are the two states of mind. Two states of being at the deeper level, your being also experiences two states. One with a clear identity ‘I’. Now all of you that identity with the ‘I’ consciousness, with that identity ‘I’. In the deep sleep state you don’t experience the ‘I’ state, the ‘I’ consciousness, the deep sleep you don’t experience the feeling ‘I’.

Understand with the, in the mind you experience two states. One with thoughts, without thoughts. Same way in the being you experience two states. With ‘I’, with identity… strong identity and without identity, without feeling or remembering your identity. In the deep sleep state, you don’t remember your identity. In the waking state you remember your identity I am this, I am that, Usually, constantly you will be remembering or you will be reminded about your identity with I consciousness, without I consciousness.

Now if we just understand how this state of mind and the state of consciousness connect with each other and create different states in your being, different states in your consciousness. First, with thoughts and with ‘I’ consciousness. That is what we call jagrat state, wakeful state. Of course, most of us are now in that state. I can’t say all but at least most. ‘I’ and with thoughts you have the identity ‘I’ and the thoughts are moving. The frequency of ‘I’ is more than the frequency of thoughts. That is why you are able to control the thoughts. If you want, you can control a thought, if you don’t want you can remove a thought, if you want you can create a thought. With ‘I’ consciousness and with thoughts this is called jagrat state, waking state.

Next dream state. You have thoughts with thoughts but there is no consciousness, there is no identity. That is why you will see sometime in your dreams you will feel as if you are in college but you will be sitting with your son! Means there is no clear identity. The identity is not logical, it is not clear. Not only that the depth of frequency of identity, frequency of the ‘I’ is lower than the frequency of thoughts, that is why you are not able to control the thoughts. In the waking state frequency of ‘I’ is more that is why you are able to control your thoughts. In the dream state, the frequency of ‘I’ is lower than the frequency of thoughts that is why you cannot control the thoughts in the dream. If at all we have a freedom to dream what we want, we know what all we will be dreaming, what kind of dreams we will be choosing. The dream state, the ‘I’ state , the consciousness is lower than the thoughts that is why we say there is no ‘I’ but there are thoughts.

And the third stage, third thing neither the ‘I’consciousness nor the thoughts, it is called sushupti. It is called deep sleep state.

These are the threes states we constantly experience in our life. We experience waking state, dream state, deep sleep state, these three states.

There is fourth state, which we have not experienced, that is what we call thuriya. There are no thoughts but the identity ‘I’ exist is there. It is a, it’s a very strange experience. Very rarely you might have experienced, very rare. Very rarely one or two people experience in their life. If some sudden shock or if you are sitting with the nature, completely, deeply relaxed in deep silence, maybe at those few moments you experience no thought but you are not sleeping, the identity is alive, the ‘I’, the consciousness is alive. You know you are alive, you are awake but there is no thought. This is the fourth state. As on now most of us have not experienced this state, this what we call thuriya. We experience only this three.

Now, the problem is the reason for all our physical and mental illness, diseases is the dreaming state. The dream state starts penetrating, overlapping the deep sleep and thinking. If your waking state is penetrated by the dream state, it is called daydreaming. If your night, deep sleep is penetrated by dreaming it is called disturbed sleep. Continuously in the nighttime or in the day time your dreaming state, your swapna is disturbing your life. The more your deep sleep state, your sushupti is disturbed by swapna you will have chronic fatigue and insomnia problems. More your waking state is disturbed by swapna you will have daydreaming, less awareness.

Sometimes you can see you will get into your car, drive for ten kilometers, you will reach your office, only when you stop in your parking lot , get down, take out the keys suddenly you will realize you drove for so many miles. You would have taken hundreds of decisions…to press the clutch, press the brake, to stop or to run. You would have taken so many decisions without your awareness. Suddenly you realize ‘oh I finished my driving’ means the dream state is overlapping, penetrating the waking state. More and more the dream state is penetrating the waking state the frequency of your consciousness will come down. You may be living in the human body but you will not be living in the human life.

The frequency comes down you will not know what decisions you are making. You do not know what kind of words you are thinking, you don not know what is happening in your, inside you. It is like a living inside a house but you do not know what is happening inside that house. Living in the waking state which is continuously disturbed by the dream state is what I call living in hell.

Now all the physical and mental disorders are directly from this dream state penetrating either deep sleep or waking state. Waking state or deep sleep state both if it is penetrated by the dream state, you will have physical and mental disorders. If the dream state penetrates the waking state too much that is what we call depression because you will not have the clarity to think further. You will not have clarity to move further. You will not have freedom or energy to move further. That is what we call depression. You’ll feel like all doors are closed, all possibilities are over.

Why meditate? Let me come back to the question, why meditate. Meditation is needed to create more and more influence, awareness over your thinking state and unconscious state. Instead of dream state penetrating thinking and, instead of dream state penetrating waking state and deep sleep, your thuriya the fourth state the blissful state is supposed to penetrate the waking state and deep sleep state.

The more and more you meditate, raise your awareness, raise your consciousness, the fourth state; thuriya means fourth, you can’t name this state or you can give any name: samadhi, enlightenment, atmagnyana, bramhagnyana, nirvana any name you can give, different names but same state. This state, if it starts penetrating, overlapping the waking state and deep sleep state you will see health in the body and in the mind. You will see health in your being. The purpose of meditation is to experience this state at least once; the fourth state at least once and bring more and more influence of the fourth state on your waking and deep sleep state. If your waking state and deep sleep state is totally influenced by the fourth state, the thuriya that is what we call jeevan mukhti; living enlightenment.

Meditation is a method, technique to bring more and more fourth state in your day to day life. If you experience the fourth state in your waking state and the deep sleep state you are meditating. The purpose of meditation is to bring the fourth state into your waking state and deep sleep state. May be the physical health and mental health everything is by product. Of course it happens but it is a by product. The purpose, the main purpose is to experience.

When? The next question is when.

It’s controversial question. All the youngsters think I can do this in my old age; all the elderly people…I should have done in the young age. All the old people think, oh I have enough time. I can do when I don’t have anything else to do. All the youngsters are thinking no, no, no, I should, all the elderly people are thinking no,no, no I should have done in the young age.

When? The when question, I am not looking at the question only about the timing of the meditation, the decision to do meditation and the decision to enter into meditation; when that should happen in the life. Meditation is just like a…reading owners manual before you start driving the car. The person who does not read the owners manual before driving the car will naturally create accidents. Same way the person who has not started the meditation before entering into the life will naturally enter in suffering and depression.

Basical, basic things for the life is a psychological revolution. Understand one more thing. I wanted you to understand… this question when meditation needs to be understood and analyzed very deeply. Meditation is the basic thing for the life. It’s a very basic need. As I was telling, like owners manual, it is like reading the owners manual; meditation is like a owners manual for your body for your life. The moment you start living you need to go through it, to enter into it.

Before the meditation, one important basic thing needs to happen in you. Psychological revolution means understanding about self, world and God. As on now the understandings you are carrying are insufficient. They are not able to give a rest in your system. Understand, when I say the word psychological revolution, I mean having a clear understanding about the self, world and God: the source of the self and the world, God. The understanding, which is able to give you a complete rest through which you are able to solve all your problems, through which you are able to find your own life solutions. This is what I call psychological revolution.

If you are able to find solution for all your day to day problems by the understanding about you, world and God you had psychological revolution. If you are not able to finds solution for your day to day problems through this three understandings then, you need to learn. Only a person who went through a psychological revolution can meditate. Till then any technique you try, people come and tell me ‘Swami, the moment I close my eyes I get more number of thoughts than before meditation. If I am doing something, I have less number of thoughts. The moment I close my eyes and start, try to meditate I have more number of thoughts.’ I have more problems means the psychological revolution has not happened. Psychological revolution is a basic need for meditation.

When we address the question when meditation we should say after psychological revolution means the clear understanding about you, the clear understanding about the world, and clear understanding about the God, which is the source for you and the world. You may think if I have clear understanding about all this three then I don’t need meditation. I can say it is like a vicious circle. If you don’t have the clarity you can’t meditate. If you can’t meditate you will not have the clarity. It is like a vicious circle.

If you add clarity that clarity will lead to meditation meditation will lead to more clarity; it will become a virtuous circle. Instead of going through the vicious circle moving towards the virtuous circle. If I have to give one more simple example…this dream state constantly penetrating into the waking state and unconscious state, this what leads to more and more misunderstanding, more and more dullness, more and more lethargic feeling; more and more tamas. That is what we call pravriti…traveling towards suffering. If the thuriya, the blissful state penetrates the waking state and deep sleep state that is what we call niviriti….moving towards the fulfillment. This is virtuous circle; the clarity leads to meditation, meditation leads to clarity; leading one to another.

Psychological revolution is the basic need, basic understanding…I always tell people, you straight away close your eyes and start meditating, you may have more number of thoughts. So in the initial level I always give a technique, which will not be directly a meditation, which will be more like a contemplation means you will have an idea; you will have a technique. When you work with it, it won’t lead directly to thought less state, it will lead to more and more clarity. It will lead to psychological revolution. You will have an intense space where you can analyze your understandings, where you can consider your decisions, where you can rethink again and again your desires, your fears, your worries; what you think as the base in your life. You can again and again look into these details. You can again and again look into these things.

Otherwise, many times we do not know what are our desires. People brag just in the outside world but they do not know what they are talking.

Small story…

Three old ladies were sitting and bragging about their sons. One was saying, ‘you don’t know about my son how much he loves me. He personally took me to a travel agent and arranged for my vacation and did the best possible arrangements and gave me twenty days vacation.’

The other one said, ‘you don’t know what my son did. He got a separate not only the travel agent, vehicle, separate flight. He arranged everything for one month.’

Third one said, ‘you don’t know what my son does. He goes to the costliest psychiatrist. All he talks is about me!’

Many times what you think as life or what you brag may not be exactly what you mean, may not be exactly contributing to you, may not be exactly adding to you.

So in the initial level taking up a technique, which can awaken, which can help the psychological revolution in you is the best way to start.

When, when meditation?

Here and now! Neither the age can be the reason to postpone the meditation nor the time. Sometime people tell me should I meditate in the morning, should I meditate in the evening. I always tell people meditation should become quality of your life.

There are three kinds of meditation. One, it is a kind of a truth or bringing your awareness to the life. That is supposed to be done twenty four hours. Techniques like vipasana or bringing your awareness to the present moment…twenty four hours; it is not a part of your routine, it should become quality of your routine.

There are other kinds of techniques for which you need to spend particular time like morning one hour or evening one hour or some specific time. There are some meditation techniques, which needs be done whole day, there are some particular time. There are some other you neither need to do whole day nor spend separate time. Just very remembrance is enough. There are some great truths, when you are really in that matured state, you don’t need a separate technique. You don’t need to practice whole day or particular time. Just very remembrance you will be in that state, you will be in that state, you will be experiencing the truth.

In Zen, there are very beautiful cones…just very remembrance you will be transported to that zone.

There is a very beautiful story:

In Upanishad disciple comes to the Master and asks for technique or a method for enlightenment. Master says, ‘tatvamasi, tatvamasi, tatvamasi’…that art thou, you are the truth; and the story says disciple became enlightened.

Very strange story. Just Master repeats few words and disciple is enlightened. How can it happen, how is it possible? Looks too much. If we have done the two different techniques, means the technique needs to be done the whole day and the techniques, which needs to be done at a particular time; that very maturity will lead you to the level, the moment you listen you will start experiencing it.; you will start experiencing it.

When, why, what, now how?

There are so many different techniques. Somebody asked the other day,’ why you have so many Gods, so many methods, so many techniques!’ So I told them, ‘in the West why do you have so many cars? They asked me this question in the west.

Why you have so many cars? Because you spend so much energy doing research for the comfort level, about the luxury. So much of time and energy ahs been spent to develop the comfort and luxury. That is the reason you have so many luxurious things, so many cars. Same way in the east we spend so much of time in thinking and doing research and development how to raise the consciousness; because we have done so much of research and development, we have so many methods, so many techniques, so many gods, so many paths. All those things are available to us because we have done so much of research and development. We have hundreds and thousands of techniques in front of us, so many methods.

We will see three techniques. Each day we’ll do one, one technique. Today we will do one technique working on our mind, inner chattering. Tomorrow we’ll do a technique to release the engraved memories. Day after tomorrow we will do a technique to go to the deepest silence or core of our being.

When, why, how, what. All these basic questions about meditation is answered.

Now I will try to say a few words on these FAQ’s, frequently asked questions. The usual doubts, the usual difficulties people face when they enter into meditation, when they even hear about meditation. Many people think meditation is something like believing the whole thing. People are afraid, they come and tell me, ‘I am afraid that I might get too much attached into meditation.’ Meditation itself is nothing but removing your attachment, you can’t get too much attached to meditation. They are afraid that their desires, their fears, their… whatever they think as life will be taken away from them. I can say that is true.

Whatever you think as your life will not be any more part of your life. Many time you are trying to protect yourself from the unnecessary fears, the basic truths. You don’t need to protect yourself from your fears because they do not have a base. The concept or the idea you are a solid being and you have so many fears will be shaken by meditation. What you think as your desires will be shaken, so naturally what you think as your fears will also be shaken.

The fear and desire and worry whatever you think as your own, everything will start going through a big change. There will be big psychological revolution. There will be a practically a new birth. Your soft ware will have new quality. I can say it is like changing the software, changing the inner software. Your hard ware may be the same but your inner software will go through a big change. It will be completely changed.

Meditation is all about changing the inner software.

Your body may be same, your hardware may be same, the things with which you are living may be same, the persons with which you are living may be same but the being with which you are living will be totally different. The being will have a different quality. The inner software will be new.

This simple understanding, you can say this simple understanding of the four states of consciousness can initiate the psychological revolution in you. This is like a master key. If you apply every moment in your life, if you’re aware of these four states constantly, you will see before every decision the mechanism or the way in which your thought process goes towards meditate…towards the decision will be changed. This is what I call cognitive shift, receiving information, processing and deciding. That will become totally different.

If you understand this four state…when you come out of deep sleep state to the dreaming, you understand deep sleep was lower than dreaming. When you come out of dreaming to waking you understand that dream state was illusory, it was not real. Same way when you move from waking state to the fourth state, thuriya, you will realize this state is not the reality. This is not as you think

There is a very beautiful story, Zen story:

One day early morning, Zen Master, he came out of his bed and started crying. All his disciples, they gathered around him and said, ‘you are an enlightened being, why are you crying? It is really surprising that you are crying.’ He said, ‘no, yesterday night I dreamt I’ve became a butterfly.’ The disciples say, ‘you don’t have to cry for that, now you are okay. You are out of it, why are you crying for it?’ He says very beautifully, ‘I do not know whether I was dreaming that I have become butterfly or that butterfly is dreaming now that it has become a Zen master! I do not know I was dreaming that I’ve become butterfly or that butterfly is dreaming now it has become the Master.’

Understand there is no scale to say the state in which you are there is authentic reality. There is no scale. Again and again and again you get a glimpse every time when you face the depression or low mood this understanding starts raising from you within but we manage in such a way that psychological revolution does not happen inside us because too much is at stake. Too much is at stake. If that psychological revolution starts happening you are afraid you don’t know what will happen. You don’t know what you will decide about your cherished desires, cherished goals, cherished ideals, cherished ideas. You are afraid you may have to let go.

When I started the word, when I started the session I used the word adhado bramhavignyasa…in that commentary a great acharya says let us enquire into the reality means the guru and disciple both of them are deciding let’s have courage to follow where the reality leads us. Not just enquiry, let’s have courage to go where this research leads us, where this understanding leads us, where we are moving.

Just this simple understanding of this four states can transform the way in which we make decisions. The cognitive shift can happen; the psychological revolution can happen. Whether we directly want to understand or not the truth is there is no scale the state in which you are living is reality or authentic reality because when you come out of dream you say that is illusory; when you go into the dream this seems like illusion. When you reach the fourth state only then you will realize this not only the dream state even the waking state, so called waking state is also an illusion.

Again the moment we hear the word illusion we’re afraid, we get frightened…….. if that idea illusion gets into our system you may renounce, you may leave everything, life may change. I tell you, you will leave only one thing, only your suffering nothing else. Person who understands what is in front of him is not complete reality will renounce only one thing: his suffering.

Sometime you would have had this experience, rarely, in the dream state itself you will be aware that yes, I am dreaming and because of that awareness, you will be able to move some of the thoughts as you want in your dream. You will be able to change some of the scenes as you want in your dream, two, three seconds. How many of you have experiences this at least once in your life raise your hand.

Understand that those few moments you are aware you are dreaming and you will be able to move few things in your dream as you want but if the awareness increases that you are dreaming suddenly you will be awakened. Same way in this world too, if the awareness about you, the center, if it increases, about the ‘I’ if it increases you will have the experience the whole world which is in front of you is dream. Not only that, not only you will have awareness this is one more waking dream, may be we can call waking dream, when that awareness starts you will be able to move the incidents of your life as you want. That is what we call siddhis.

When the frequency of the ‘I’ increase you will suddenly start experiencing the waking state as a waking dream and you will have energy, freedom to change the things which is in front of you, which is in front of your life. That is what we call siddhis. If you are caught in the changing of incidents in your life by and by the awareness of the ’I’ will’ come down, you will fall into the same waking state and these siddhis also will disappear. But if you are not too much attracted to changing these scenes but you are centered on raising the consciousness you become enlightened.

Awakening form dream state to waking state, awakening from waking state to enlightenment state is almost same. The process is same. If you understand, there is a beautiful technical term for this understanding, they call it avastathreya, understanding three different states in which you are living your every day life. This simple understanding can create psychological revolution in you and help you to go through the mediation technique, help you to give a right glimpse of meditation.

When the psychological revolution happens, the inner healing happens. With the inner healing if the techniques are practiced naturally, outer healing happens. Without the psychological revolution, if the techniques are practiced they are called kriya or yoga…just physical movement, I can say very superficial understanding about yoga. With psychological revolution, if the yoga is done it will become mediation. With psychological revolution even ritual become meditation; with out psychological revolution even meditation will becomes ritual.

With the clarity inside if the meditation is added you will see every time you meditate the clarity will become deeper and deeper. Every time you take decisions in your life, it will add more and more understanding. With psychological revolution, every decision you make every day you live in the world the aptapramanas, the experience of the enlightened Masters will become atmapramanas, will become your own experiences. Without psychological revolution every day you live, every moment you add in your life will be pravriti, going out, adding more and more suffering, more and more low, more and more difficulties. With the psychological revolution, it will become nivriti. Everyday you will become more and more relaxed, more and more resting, more and more becoming aware.

The essence of what I call psychological revolution is understanding these four states of consciousness clearly and trying to raise yourself to the higher and higher frequency. I can say if you have the frequency of hundred it is deep sleep, thousand: dreaming state, two thousand: waking state and may be a lakh is thuriya or blissful state.

Sometimes you spend most of your life, most of your time, most of your energy between the dream state and the waking state means moving between these two. Half an hour you will be aware you are in the waking state, suddenly you will see so many things are…things are happening in you without even your awareness. When you come back and wake up you see half an hour is over you have done or you have thought so many things but things are not under your control. You are not aware of what was going on, you were not aware of what was happening.

I can say this is what we call a state between the dream state and waking state. Most of us spend eighty percent of our day in this state. Understand; never think just because you are out of your bed you are in waking state. No! Maybe you can’t spend your time in your bed, it is necessary for your survival to be out, maybe because of that reason you are out of the bed but it is not that you are out of dream or waking state. Bringing yourself out of dream and out of waking state is what I call meditation. Neither in the dream state nor in the waking state, bringing you completely out of all these three is what I call dhyaan, meditation.

When a person tries to work, when a person tries to raise his consciousness towards the thuriya, towards the fourth state naturally his body and his mind starts getting healed. I always tell people, they come and ask me, ‘Swamji, what is the essential quality for spiritual life. I tell them three things needed for successful life; I don’t even want to call spiritual life. The term is loaded with too many different meanings. Three things are needed. First intensity, second intensity, third intensity, nothing else.

Anything you do if the intensity is added you will see you are continuously raising the frequency; you are continuously raising your consciousness, you are continuously elevating yourself to different states of….to different state of consciousness, different level. The whole day will have the quality of meditation. The whole day you will have a different quality in your life.

The essence, which I want to convey in this introduction… we will have nine sessions, each day three sessions. First an introduction, the concept which I want to present, then question and answer, then meditation; three days, three sessions we will have nine sessions. With this introduction, I wanted to share these few ideas.

The essence is why, when, what, how meditation. I have expressed few basic simple concepts with which we are going to work; we are going to analyze. If you have any questions I request you to write and hand over to the volunteers. I will now spend some time analyzing your questions because unless you question you will not be able to internalize whatever is expressed. Sometimes you might have heard or read all these concepts much more than what I have spoken. In Bharat, the problem is not not knowing, too much knowing. Problem is not not knowing, too much knowing but not yet become experience. Too much knowledge but it has not become a reality. It has not become part of life; it has not become day to day life.

Sometime you might have heard more ideas or different ideas; you may have some conflict or misunderstanding, I welcome your questions to have more clarity and to internalize. Once we internalize these few ideas which I expressed, may be I can say which I proposed; I am not saying you need to completely believe or accept all these ideas, the ideas which I proposed if we analyze and internalize may be you will be able to enter into the meditation successfully.

So, I'll spend few minutes answering your questions. Wow! Here is very genius, beautiful question. Somebody is asking:

Q: Swamiji, You say there is no scale to find out weather the state in which we are there s reality or not. This person is asking: Every day when I come back to waking state I see same house, same world. But every day when I go back to dream I don't see the same world. I don't see same world. So, can this be used as a scale. With this we may say that this world is reality, this world is real. A: Very intelligent question... Volunteers can stop collecting questions. Maybe... please settle down... Very wonderful question, which we need to understand and internalize. Maybe I can give you a simple sketch of... when we will be able to understand. Let us analyze one night dream. For example, fourteenth night you are sleeping, fifteenth morning you are waking up; around 10 hours, 10 hours you are sleeping. Have you ever realized in one night dream you would have lived some 10 or 20 years of life. From your college you will start, you will start from your college period and slowly move step by step and go up to your marriage, having a child, and your son's marriage. Sometime you live even 10 or 20 years of life in one night dream. How many of you experienced at least once this: living 10 years or 20 years of life in one dream. How many of you experienced at least once this in your life, raise your hand. Of course, means you can recollect now what I am exactly trying to present or tell you...ten years of life you are able to live in ten hours of dream. Am I right? Ten years of life you are able to live in ten hours of dream. One more thing: scientists are saying now you don't continuously sleep; maximum you spend only 30 minutes in the deep sleep state. Then you come out and spend little time in the dream, and again fall asleep, spend some time in the deep sleep, and come out and spend some time in the waking... in the dream state... In the East the maximum time is 30 minutes, in the West it is only 16 minutes; we are fortunate. Anyhow, let me give you the small diagram--how our consciousness works. Maybe I can call this as a dream state; this is deep sleep state... Some... you fall into the deep sleep,maybe half an hour spend there, then come back to the dream and go through some dreams; again fall asleep, spend some half an hour, come back again, go through some dreams; again fall asleep, come back, go through some dreams; again fall asleep... this is the way you are moving. This is the way you move between dreams... dream state and deep sleep state. Understand: in one night ten hours you spend, you dream as if you lived ten years of your life. Means, in the first episode you see you are in college; in the second episode, when you come back, you see you are getting married; the third episode you see you have a son. Maybe in the forth episode, when you come back, you see your son getting married. An important thing you need to understand: when you fall asleep and come back, when you fall asleep and come back, in these different episodes you do see the same world even in the dream state. Am I right? You do see the same world in the dream state. Understand, it is a very subtle point, very subtle understanding; if you can catch it will really lead to a very big clarity, which can really revolutionize the way in which you think about your life, the way in which you try to solve the problems of your life. There is a beautiful story: one person was dreaming; in the dream he saw a tiger chasing him and shouting, ' Oh, tiger is chasing me! Save me, save me!' There was a guy, another one guy sleeping next to him. He got up and he saw that his friend is shouting, 'Tiger is chasing me, save me, save me!' What is he suppose to do? He is supposed just tell him, 'Hey, get up!' Instead of that, if he tries to supply some weapon you don't know what will happen. He may kill himself or he may kill you. You do not know how to decide. If you understand these basic things suddenly you will see the decision making will be revolutionized. The cognitive shift will happen in you. The way in which you think and the way in which you make decisions, the way in which you try to find out solutions for your problems will be different. Means, you will start working towards the right solutions. The right solution for that person at that moment is just to tell him, 'Wake up!' That's the right solution; instead, if you try to find any other solution it will only lead to more and more problems, more and more difficulties. Here, all I want to tell you is--in a ten hour dream, ten hour of deep sleep you live ten years. Means, many time you fall asleep and come back. When you come back, naturally in all this four episode, even though there was a break you saw the same world. After break seeing the same world cannot be the quality to define it is reality. That is what I mean. Please, understand: after a break, if you see the same world, that cannot be the scale to define or say this is the reality. Because this happens even in the deep sleep, even in the dream state this happens. Even in the dream state, after the break when you come back you see the same world. So, just because when you come back from the deep sleep you see the same world cannot be the reason to say this is a reality. How only when you weak up from the whole night sleep you realize you dreamt ten years of your life just in ten hours, same way, only when you weak up from this dream suddenly you may realize you dreamt 90 years of your life, maybe in few hours, who knows?! Who knows, this whole thing can be one more long dream. Realizing, understanding, there is a possibility this can be one more long dream will turn much of your attention and awareness to the center, to the consciousness. I can say, that is the first step in spirituality. That's the first step for psychological revolution. Again and again, our sufferings are giving a clear statement: we are holding on to emptiness. Our suffering is nothing else but a clear statement from the reality: you are not living with the reality. But somehow we know how to cover. The first chapter of the Gita is called Arjuna Vishada Yoga, means depression, confusion. We also face the depression and confusion in our life. I call this depression of successes. After achieving what we want to achieve, but realizing what for we want to achieve has not happened a kind of depression will happen in us. Very few rare intelligent people only understand that 'I am facing this suffering or depression because I am not living with reality.' Here, all what I am trying to tell is just because you are seeing do not think you are living with reality. Usually I face another one question on this same line. 'Swamiji, not only I am seeing this world, even the people who are living around me are seeing this world same way. How can you say it is a dream? Understand, in a dream if you are seeing particular city, if you are dreaming that you are going to that city with your whole family, not only you, the family which is with you inside your dream also will see the same city because they are also projections of your mind. So, just because the people who are around you seeing the same scene does not mean the scene is reality. Even the people around you whom you are seeing can be the projection of the same scene, can be the projection of the same scene. Sometime it frightens; if you go little deeper it frightens. It feels like everything in front of you is melting like a vex.

The ultimate truth is--the stuff out of which your dream world is made the same stuff out of that same stuff this waking world is also made. If your attention is centered on the stuff naturally, the inner healing cannot happen. If your attention is equally distributed on the consciousness and the stuff, that is what I call healthy life, balanced life. You'll have physical, mental health, and the life. If your attention is totally centered on the consciousness, not on the stuff with which these worlds are made, this is what I call Living Enlightenment or jivanmukthi. Weather you want jivanmukthi or not, or weather you want enlightenment or not is secondary. But if you can turn little bit of attention towards the I-consciousness, towards the truth, towards the center, suddenly you will see--the tremendous inner healing happens. I always tell people: realizing this whole world is one more dream brings tremendous healing effect in you. Understand, for example, if you are facing some very big difficulty or depression, very clearly, consciously if you realize--this whole thing is a dream, you will see such big, relaxed feeling or the inner healing happening on you. We can say that inner healing is what I call meditation. That restful awareness which happens in you is what I call satori, the first glimpse of samadhi. A basic cognitive shift ora basic psychological revolution with the simple understanding that what you are seeing may not be reality as you are thinking can bring so much of inner healing inside you, so much of restful awareness inside of you; more and more restful awareness being added to you is what I call inner healing, or health, or raising the quality of consciousness. Instead of dream state penetrating waking state while you are driving blissful state can penetrate your waking state while you are driving. Because so much of your time, even though you are out of your bed, is occupied by your dream state--because of your law awareness. People come and ask me: 'If I start meditating what will happen. I will not have time to do my business.' No. It is nothing to do with a separate time; it is something to do with inner understanding. As of now so much of your time and energy is being spent by dream state possessing you. Instead of that you can allow the turya state, blissful state possessing you. You can just change the attitude, you can just shift the energy, you can just go through big transformation. That is what I call psychological revolution.

Here is one more question: How can we select our god and goddess? They are confused because more deity in our tradition. I always tell people: towards some part, some god, some technique suddenly you will feel very deep connection. That is what I call 'falling in tune', 'feeling connected'. You feel connected to some part; choose that of that god, that deity. If you don't feel connected to anyone particularly do not choose anything, continue your seeking. Continue your seeking; let the seeking become your god. Seeking can become your god. Let the seeking become your ishta devata. No need for particular devata.

She is asking: I always... I have longing for chanting shasranamas, but my concentration is scattered. How can I concentrate on all the slokas. This is another big problem. Sometime you will enjoy some stotras and chanting. Then you start deciding: Oh, such an ecstasy and bliss and joy. I should have this always. Let me start chanting every day. No. You missed the whole thing. The moment you decided let me chant every day you created a routine. Understand, bliss happens to you when you are in choicelessness. The moment you choose the bliss you've chosen suffering. Because all choice, including choosing bliss is choosing suffering; because choice is suffering, choicelessness is bliss. The moment you choose--now I am going to do every day this--you made it as a routine. I've seen people chanting Sahasranama. They will start with a full speed: Vishwa Vishnu Sahatkaro Butha Bhava Bhavat Prabuhu.. After two page, Rama Rama Rama Rama... speed will increase. After three page, I've seen, they would just see the numbers continuously, "Oh, 700 hundred is there, still 300 is there, still 400 is there, still 100 is there..' I alwayes tell people, 'Do not bother about completing this thousand names at all. Take up the book; God is not sitting there and counting like a bank balance, have you done all thousand names. Forget about it. No. Sit in a real beautiful mood, in a very loving way; if you can chant even five-six names perfectly allright. OK. That's enough. The moment you feel bored close the book and stop it, and say namaskar and move. Do not do chanting or puja when you don't feel connected, when you don't feel that joy. If you are doing it without feeling the joy you are abusing it. Chanting some mantra, chanting some sloka without feeling joyful, without being in ecstasy is naturaly abusive. When you sing your concentration is scatered. It means what? You are not enjoying. The moment you feel you don't enjoy, relax, stop. No need, no need. Do not do it for the sake of accounts.

Q: Could you, please, explain what exctly intensity... the meaning: intensity of what, intensity how? A: When people ask me about intensity I tell them: feel intensely that you are not having intensity, that's all. Just feel... you see, usually we feel that terrible restlessness towards outer world: I have not done this, I have not done that. The same restlesness, if it is directed to th einner world it is called intensity. You do not know what is happening, you do not know what should be done, but the deep disatisfaction about what is there in the inner space I call intensity. You may be thinking: I am supose to teach satisfaction; why am I teaching disatisfaction? I tell you, first thing: your disatisfaction functioning towards the outer world has to turn towards the inner world, then it will lead to satisfaction. First thing which needs to happen is not satisfaction; the direction turning, the psychological revolution... Restlessness should become intensity. If it is towards the outer world--your consciousness is constantly moving towards the outer world--it's called restlessness. If it is moving towards the inner world it's called intensity. The meaning of the intensity is feeling that something needs to be done immediately, to break free from the clutches, or to break free in the inner world. Intensity of what? Do not bother about what. It should become quality, anything you do... if you touch something or somebody or some object, let the intensity be there even in that touch. If you are talking let the intensity be there. In everything--in your relationshisps, in your decisions, in your memory, in your thinking, in your desires, even in your fears let it be intense without escaping from this moment. That is what I call intensity. You are saying how. If I give that method how the whole intensity will be lost. Intensity will increase when you have the desire but not the technique. That's a right way to develop intensity. The moment the technique is given your mind will start working around the technique. Technique sometime gives an escape, gives a method to escape for your mind. Your mind will start saying, 'O, I have done the technique, that's all, that much only maximum can be done. Nothing else needs to be done.' That is why in Ayurveda, when we give medicines we say: This medicine is not enough; whole day you need to work with this medicine. Means, whole day you need to be intense, telling your body and mind to heal itself. Technique is not like alopathic medicine--you will swalow and forget about everything. You say: This much has to be done, what else to do? What I can do? No. Sometime the desire should be awakened, the desire or seeking should be awakened towards the inner world . And the person should not use any technique. Only then that seeking will start radiating in every action. Technique should not curtaile or stop your seeking, reduce your seeking; it should deepen your seeking.

Q: I am already doing some meditation given by some other master. Can I do th eone You gave here. A: You are welcome. I always tell people: Try to collect the best flowers from all gardens and make a beautiful bouquet for you. You do not have to think: i fI learn from one source I should not learn from another. No! It's not like a shop, if you come to this shop, don't go to that shop. No. Go to all possible sources and learn all the best things. Pluck all the best flowers and mak a beautiful garland for you. I always tell people: Your ego is such it cannot be broken by one master. Now you need so many blows from so many different directions and so many methods from so many different sources. So, do not think, if I learn from one source I should not learn from another source. No! Learn from all possible sources and raise yourself.

Q: Should we focus on oursef while doing action or merge completely in action? Which one leads to meditation? A: First thing, you cannot completely merge yourself in action, in inaction. Because, once the tamas, letargic energy in you is exhausted, you see... your body is made of rajas, tamas, and satya; 33% peace, silence, intelligent energy; 33% restless, very agressive energy; 33% lethrgic, very sleepy, low kind of resting energy. After that 33% of lethargy is exhausted you will not be able to be in inaction. People come and ask me: If I start meditating will I just leave my job and just rest? No, you cannot. You cannot. I tell them: If you have that fear, just take vacation, lie down for ten days, you will understand. Eleventh day you'll run for yuor job. You will run for your job. That is not going to be the real need; that is not going to be solution. No need to completely merge in inaction. I can tell you, you don't need to bother about action nor you need to bother about inaction; all you need to bother about is psychological revolution. What goes on inside of you whole day--that is what you need to attend. You need to put your awareness only on that. When you can drive your car in the dream state, that is what you do usually, why can't you drive your car from the turya state?! Even though you think you are doing your actions in the waking state 80% of your actions are done by the dream state overtaking the waking state. Instead of that, let the 80% of you action be done by the turya state overtaking the waking state. That's all you need. There is nothing else. These are the questions which happens before even you enter. These are questions like hypothetical questions. Somebody came and asked me: If everybody bacame Swami how will the world run? I asked him: If everybody dies how will the world run? He said: No, everybody won't die. I said: The same, everybody won't became! That's all. Hypothetical questions cannot be answered. I told him: Do not bother, God is not depending on you to run the world. He is not depending on you to create and maintain the world.

Q: Can we really experience the blissful state after learning? A: What for you think I a conducting the program?! He is asking: Can we really experience the blissful state after learning these meditation techniques? What do you think I am sitting and doing here? Person who creates a formula to reproduce experiences of the outer world is scientist; person who creates formula to reproduce the experiences of the inner world is a mystic. He is the master. These methods, the techniques which you are going to learn these three days are time tested, full proof, created after great research and development by thousands of masters in thousands of years of research and deveopment, and verified an dexperienced in my own personal life. So, be rest assured... be intense, that's all I am asking you. That's all you need to do, nothing else. Just be intense, you will see, you will experience what has happened in my very inner space in your inner space.

Q: Is psychological revolution you refere to is sankhya yoga, sankhya--knowledge of self, yoga--renuntiation of action? A: See, the word sankhya, the word yoga--both are two different expressions. Maybe I can say by the psychological revolution word I mean sankhya, yoga, and something more. And something more. When you undrstand these ideas about dream and waking state and superconscious state, every time when the low mood, or depression, or disturbance comes to your inner space because of the waking state bring this understanding into you. Use this like a key and allow that psychological revolution to happen; you will see, not only you will come out of the problem, even two-three times if you come out of your sufferings you will have so much of courage and energy to apply these techniques again and again, to evolve yourself again and again. Beautifully Krishna says: Utarayad atmaananam atmaanam avasadayet, let you raise yourself by yourself. If you raise yourself by yourself you are the best friend for you. If you don't raise yourself by yourself you are the worst enemy for you. So, I can say, the word psychological revolution which I am uttering is sankhya, yoga, and something more.

Q: I have learned vipasana but I am unable to practice it effectively; not sure why. Is it that I am doing it wrong, is it a wrong technique for me? A: Neither you are doing it wrong nor it is wrong technique for you. The ven, means the time you learned is wrong. First, you should have learn the psychological revolution, clarity about you, world, and God. Then, technique should have be added to you. Without that clarity, if the technique is directly added it leads to boredom, dullness, and naturally, you drop the technique. I always tell people: any study, any journey you undertake, any book you start reading even if you don't understand single word do not skip. If you don't understand single word and skip slowly you will see that words which you did not understand will become more and more like a load and your very interest in further reading will disappear. Same way, in the inner journey, without going through the psychological revolution, means, without going through the understanding, if you just jump, skip the understandings and enter into the meditation technique--this is the problem. Even when I speak and explain the concepts, I've seen many people thinking and sitting, 'It's OK, what You are telling it's OK, Swamiji; let's go to the technique, Swamiji.' I've seen people telling me: 'I understand, Swamiji, let's go to the technique.' They think they are vey intelligent. They think stright away technique can help. Technique is not alopathic pill. You need an understanding before because the understanding starts the churning. Understanding starts the churning. Then technique is like addition for the alchemy process.

Q: When meditating, lots of negative thought arouse. Weather it will come to the reality. A: Don't bother about its coming to the reality. You are not that powerful, fortunately. Fortunately, we are not that powerful to project our thoughts into reality. Then we would create long before worst hell than what we are having now. Fortunately, God did not give so much of energy to us to project our thoughts into reality. If sometime your thoughts have become reality, if you have seen your dream or thoughts becoming reality do not use that power; try to divert that energy into your consciousness. Means thoughtless state.

Q: Can we practice different types of yogas? According to me surely authentic yoga methods do not contradict each other, they only complement each other. So you can practice different yoga methods. Only thing, do not mix and make masala and create your own technique. Practice it independently; 20 minutes and finish it. Then, go to the next, then go to the next. If you mix everything and start thinking 'I know all these things, I know th ecore thread, I think I can make my own,' that is where you will miss.

Somebody is asking the persnl question about their sickness. After themeditation you can come here for the darshan; that time you can ask me. Maybe I will be able to heal or help or answer; I'll surely try to...

Q: You said karma means unfulfillment of desire and experiences. But if you suffer from poverty our saint elder says it is because of karma. Will any soul be willing to experience poverty or illness. ... this become unfulfilled desire. Please, clarify. A: First thing, I want you to be very clear--if somebody is in poverty, they consciously chose it. Please, understand, even if it hurts you I have to tell the truth. That i swhy I am telling. Let me give one small incident. It really happened in my life. It's little mystical, but exactly as it happened I am narrating. I can say, I can take an oath I am stating the simple straight facts. You can make out what you want to make out of this incident. In USA one child, autistic child was brought to me for healing. They are from North Bharat settled in USA; maybe some 7-8 year old child. They brought the child and asked me, 'Swamiji, he is autistic. Please, heal him.' And not a single person in their family or their surrounding knows Tamil. I put my hand on the head of the child and start healing. In a pure village Tamil, in singular, not even in plural, in singular that boy said, 'Remove your hand'. He just said in Tamil, 'Remove your hand'. I was shocked. Because the whole family--they are North Bharatn family--not a single person knows Tamil; and they said, 'No way that this child can hear Tamil word. Because none of us speake and none of us know Tamil. He is going with us.' I thought maybe some spirit or ghoast has possesed him. I asked him: 'Who is speaking?' He said, 'I am one in this body speaking. Don't you understand?' In Tamil he started speaking. I asked him, 'Why are you asking me to remove my hand. I am healing you.' He said, 'I don't want to be healed. It's not Your business, just get out!' I was shocked. He said, 'I do not want to take the responsibility of my life, going through the regular routine. I just wanted life, comfortable life, somebody taking care of me. That's why I took this kind of body and mind.' I was shocked. I told, 'That is OK. You have freedom, but your parents are such nice people; why are you torturing them? Why did you took birth? They are such nice people...' He said, 'I took birth because they are nice people. They will take care of me. They will not put me in the hospitals or asylums or somewhere else. They will take care of me. That's why I took birth in their family.' This incident gave me a very big opening of clarity. Every soul consciously or unconsciously, knowingly or unknowingly chooses its place, birth, and the life style. That is whhat we call prarabdha: when you come down, create the body, you design... For some people it hurts. Understand, it hurts because you are not able to tolerate that you chose what you are having now. I tell you, we choose poverty sometime because it is a big freedom. With wealth, too much responsibility is there; it's a big bondage. So, understand. Start looking at yourself: why you chose what you chose? Maybe that can help you to enjoy and celebrate what you chose. Instead of constantly turning your attention and awareness towards cursing and abusing what you chose, if you start looking why you have chosen what you have chosen you will see suddenly new things revealing. And you are exactly where you wanted to be. You are exactly where you wanted to be. That is the ultimate truth. Weather it hurts or heals, truth is truth. Usually, with little patience it heals; it never hurts. That is why I say: karma is unfulfilled desires and experiences; your life style and everything is straight away consciously chosen by you. And your present is tthe totality of decisions you made in the past; your future is going to be the totality of decisions that you are making in the present. So, if you want, consciously you can alter, rearange, edit, reduce, delete, or recreate. You have freedom.

Q: How to start meditation? At what age one should start meditation? A: You are in right place, you will have answer. In few minutes we will enter the technique. Come tomorrow and day after tomorrow, we'll be entering into deeper and deeper levels of methods and techniques.

Q: We always dream because we are away from reality or try to achieve dream reality. If we do not dream, then what is life? A: This is one of the worst lie thought to you. Because you universities and schools in the society are not able to teach you superconscious state, they thought you day dreaming state. Understand, just because they are not able to teach, just because they compromise let you not waste your life. Let you not miss the truth. Let you not miss the reality. Life can be lived without day dreaming, with superconscious vision. I always tell people: with day dreaming, these desires before fulfillment will give you deep restlessness; after fulfilling, sudenly you will see, they are showing you emptiness. With vision, means superconscious life style, thoughtless awareness life style, before fulfilling those visions we empower you, we show the direction; after fulfilling they will give you deep satisfaction. There is a big difference between day-dream life and superconscious life. There is only two choice: either you will live superconscious life or day-dreaming life. If you are not living superconscious life be sure, you are living day-dreaming life. But there is a great fear: if I start... if I stop day-dreaming how will I do next planning? How will I decide how to invest? How will I decide what my plans should be next? How will I invest, how will I decide what my life should be? Sometime if your workers or subordinates convince you without them your business cannot run, if you are convinced they will start exploiting you. Same way, your mind has convinced you, without it you cannot run your life. That conviction is what I call suffering. That is what I call the root of suffering. I tell you, when I say I really mean: you can live without your day-dreaming. And you may ask: how do I plan for my tomorrow? Usually you are not planning, you are worrying. You are not planning, you are worrying. And even with your planning you are reproducing the past into the future; you ar elimiting your growth by planning. Because you do not have courage to live with the spontaneity, to live with your spontaneous visions happening, to live with the spontaneous revelations happening. Constantly you are struggling with your day-to-day planning and your life. Who... people who have courage to trust their vision, their spontaneity, only they become genius. Only they become genius. Please understand: your little courage, little courage to enter into the life without day-dreaming can just revolutionize... I can say, this is what I call psychological revolution. Just try for ten days. In ten days I don't think your whole life will be taken away from you. In ten days if it can be taken away then it is not worth having; let it be taken away. So, just try for ten days life without day-dreaming. Suddenly, you see the quality of spontaneity and everyone of your visionaries... because of your planning and day-dreaming the quality of having visions is suppressed. If you just remove the day-dreaming, if you just remove the day-dreaming and have little courage towards that quality of creating visions in you, quality of living with spontaneity you will see, suddenly the visionary in you is awakened. People who live with superconsciousness never fail and miss in their decisions because the depth of dilemma or the oscilation, mood swings will be very less; it will be very limited. When the mood swing and the depth of dilemma is limited suddenly you will see, so much of energy is saved and decision making became so sharp and straight. I always tell people: Having freedom without intelligence is the worst suffering. Whenever these thousands of people are living in our ashrams around the world, when they don't listen to what I say I tell them, 'Alright, give them freedom. That is the worst suffering, that is the worst punishment.' Just by the dillema he will die. Just by the dillema he will die. Nothing else needs to be done. Without intelligence, when the freedom is gioven it will lead only to suffering. Our day-dreaming also is nothing but dilemma. The intelligence is not there, but the freedom is there. That is what I call day-dreaming.

Somebody is asking: Is a blissful state in one one in which breathing pattern changes; it's deep and slow, and I can feel a wave of energy on the face. Is this a blissful state? A: I can say, this is one of the symptoms of the blissful state. In the blissful state actually the breathing pattern changes and and the whole body feels the wave... This is one of the symptoms of the blissful state.

This question I answered: We always dream because we are away from reality and try to acheive dream reality. If we do not dream what is life? So... Only kids need to dream to cope up with reality. If even after growing we need to dream to cope up with reality we are mentally retarded. We've not grown after the childhood or beyond the childhood.

Q: Can the experience of enlightenment be transfered through touch? Can we enter the turya state under th einfluence of the Master? A: It i spossible. From the time immemorial the first goft was always given by the push from the Master. But to stay in that state you yourself should have gone through the psychological revolution. Ramakrishna was able to give only one glimpse to Vivekananda. But Vivekananda has to go through the psychological revolution to retain it. So, the experience can be given, a glimpse can be given by the touch of the Master. But if you need to retain it surely you yourself have to go through the psychological revolution. Means, living these great truths in reality.

Q: If a person focuses on his work with intensity doeas that person need meditation? A: This is again a hypothetical question. 'If a person focuses his work...' Nobody can focuse without meditation. So, if you think 'If a person focuses...' Actually the question with 'if' cannot be answered; the question with 'if' cannot be answered. It is like a high... [?] It is like if it is, if it is. 'If it is' cannot be answered.

Q: Will meditation at the beginning produce any bed side effects? A: No! No side effect except bliss and health.

Q: Is there any meaning in the dream I am seeing? A: There is no meaning even in the world which you are seeing; what about the dream. Even the world which you are seeing has no meaning. So, forget about the meaning of the dreams which you are seeing. People come and ask me: 'Swamiji, I saw this dream, I saw this dream. Please give the meaning about it, explain. Hare, the world which you are seeing is itself useless. So, why waste time in interpreting the dreams?!

Q: What is the way to spiritual progress, shortcut? A: If you want an honest answer I should say, I don't knw. I don't know is the honest answer. Because, according to me, the spiritual life itself is a simple, straight path. See, shortest distance between the two points is streight line. So, there is no more... there cannot be any other shortcut. Shortest distance between two point is straight line. So, I can say, spiritual life is straight line. That is the straightes line; that is only shortest rout.

Q: Please put some light on what is it that tells me that I had a good sleep in the night. A: Maybe the time you spent in deep sleep is more than time you spent in dream state. That is what you feel in the morning that you have good sleep or rest.

Q: Swamiji, clarify that there are so many methods of meditation; which is the excellent method? A: I can say I've chosen three methods, three techniques. These three days you will be learning. Today will be like a preparation, introduction, entering into meditation. Tomorrow it will be deeper, cleansing. And day after tomorrow deepest level, unclutching, means experiencing the true self. So, we'll enter into the meditation. Just a few questions I will attend and we'll enter into the meditation.

Q: Does not living in high intensity cause tiredness? A: No. Living in high intensity causes more energy.

Q: How do we know that there are only four states of being? What if there are ten states? A: Don't bother about it. If there are ten states I'll have seven day classes. (Laughter) There are four states thet is why I have three day classes. Don't bother about it. I think now working on the four states is more than enough. If there are ten states... maybe after you see th efourth state we can start looking into it.

Q: Many times dreams are considered to be symbolizes of future happenings. Then what the dream is? A: I don't think your dream should be symbolizing your future. Your future is not that bad or that low that it can be predicted or planned in your dream. It should be predicted an dplanned in your waking state. Understand, if you rfuture is predicted and planed in the waking state you know where you are going. If it is predicted and planned in dream state-- understand, where are you going, where are you heading? You don't even know where are you heading. I think it is very dangerous. Better not to be planning and predicting your future in the dream state.

Maybe now we'll enter into the meditation technique. After that you can individually come and ask the remaining questions; I'll answer you. Taking a few minutes... And tomorrow we'll enter into the session, working on samskaras. Today we had some clarity and understanding about different states we go through every day. Tomorrow, in the different states how our mind works, how our samskaras, the engraved memories function inside us--we will work on that, study that, and go through meditation technique to remove the samskaras. Now, very simple meditation technique, just to prepare you and lead you to the fourth state, turya state. What is exactly turya? I was explaining you: there will be awareness, but there won't be thoughts. So, now, you are supposed to throw away, move away from your thinking system to the deepest silence--with awareness. This simple technique--this technique is basically from Tibetan Buddhism; of course in our Tantra it was used in the name of Brahmi mantra; in Tibetan Buddhism they call it Maha mantra; very simple but very powerful technique, to go into the awareness with silence; going to thoughtless state with awareness, without thinking but only having the consciousness, th efourth state. Let me describe the technique. If you can, sit in vajrasana, means on your knees; if you can't, sit comfortably in the chair. First step: your head, necj and the back should be in the straight line. Second instruction: close your eyes, not just eyelids; these two means, after closing your eyes stop allowing th emovements or visions in your mind. The inside TV should be also switched off. If you close... if you open your eyes you will see all this; but if you close your eyes you will see television... the whole thing wil go inside. Stop seeing what is going on inside. That is second step. If you just give little pressure on your eyeballs through mind, not through hands, mentally if you just give littel pressure you will see th emovement in front of eyes will stop. Third step: intense humming from your naval center. Let me show you (Swami demonstrates deep and intense humming) Understand, the intense humming will stop thinking flow, the thought flow. First stepp--your head, neck, and backbone should be in the straight line; second step-- close your eyes and stop the pictures moving inside your mind, brain; third step--intense humming for 21 minutes; fourth step--just sit silently for ten minutes. In the fourth step you will see the thoughtless awareness happening in you. You don't have anything to do, it will be happening in you. You will see deep silence, a settled feeling inside of you. Let us enter into the technique, then we'll go for darshan. You can come for darshan. Please, close your eyes and sit straight. If you can sit in vajrasana you can sit, otherwise just sit in a very comfortable way and please close your eyes.