1. UK 76- 2B Aide. This is the British Chapter. The organisation is called the International Foundation for Spiritual Unfoldment and the person is Gururaj Ananda Yogi. So this is a very special beginning of the movement right here in Brighton. Now tonight we are going to have what’ is called a Satsang, which means that it’s a kind of question and answer, a discourse if you like, which lies somewhere half way between an actual lecture and just a kind of chat. Which means you can ask any questions that you have on your mind, about any subject, and then in response to that, we will be, Gururaj rather, will be answering your questions. And in this way a kind of dialogue can get started which will make it warmer, nicer, more intimate, and more concerned with the things that are on your mind, than if he simply gave a lecture. So you should feel very free to ask any questions that are on your mind. So those of you who are not acquainted with the British Meditation Society, this is an organisation which exists ba sically for the purpose of making available to people instruction in very personal techniques of meditation, that is techniques of meditation that have been designed for their own unique individual qualities. This is a very important thing because each individual human being has their own unique and basic resonance. In handing out spiritual techniques, it's very important that the techniques that we receive should harmonise with our basic unique individual vibration. And this is the purpose of our organisation and of course the effect of these techniques is in various ways to help people grow mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. So having said all this, I think we'd like to go right into the actual question and answer period. I notice that the front seats are full, filled in tonight. Usually, usually when one holds a lecture on meditation, people think 'Oh, this must be some strange bizarre kind of subject' and they're a little bit afraid. So the first group of people will sit in the back seat, the next people will sit in the next to the back seat, and so on. So I have a friend in the United States who’s designed a special lecture hall. He's an architect and he's designed this special lecture hall and all the seats are on moving rollers. Someone comes in and they sit in the back and the lecturer reaches over and pushes a button and the seats start rolling forward. (General laughter). We didn't have to do that tonight. So I might just before turning the meeting over to Gururaj , just mention the meaning of the term Gururaj Ananda Yogi A guru of course, is a spiritual teacher, one whose whole life is spent in giving people spiritual guidance and instructions in meditation and so on. The word Raj, which many of you have heard before, means Royal, or it could mean a King, so we could say the King of Teachers or Spiritual Teachers, and the second phrase meaning Ananda. Now the word Ananda means bliss or universal love, and this is the quality which traditionally the great Spiritual Teachers, going

3. UK 76- 2B Say a young man is born in some slum, and the environment is such, where it would be more conducive for him to develop negative qualities, and by developing these negative qualities, could it be said that those are his tendencies? Now, there is a difference between proper tendencies in a human being and assumed tendencies, or tendencies which are superimposed upon him. This we have to discuss. Really speaking, if one goes to the core of the human personality, through various methods of meditation, one would find that the essential tendency of man, is to reach back to the source from which he has come. That is the basic tendency of man. Man comes from, and through so many evolutionary processes, he wishes to return home and that is the basic tendency of man. But then, there are other tendencies which are superimposed upon this tendency, and it is the superimposition of lesser tendencies that create havoc or stress or suffering in man's life. So the first dharma, the first duty of man, would lie in finding what the real, the essential, tendencies are, and in trying to find the real tendencies in man, he has to overcome the lesser tendencies. The lesser tendencies might deviat e him, he might find a detour instead of reaching his goal. Instead of meeting his maker, he might drift away in the opposite direction. Now, we have found through various meditational and spiritual practices that we do come to a realisation of what our real tendencies are. Now to find what our real tendencies in life should be, or what our dharma, as you have put it, should be, one has to delve deep within oneself. And how does one do that? One does that by certain specific spiritual practices, whereby one can go beyond physical needs and the requirements of the body. One can go beyond the thinking animal called the mind and going beyond these things, one reaches the source or the core of oneself, the core of one's personality. And this is what meditation does for us. And once we are in touch with the core of one’s personality, then we feel, intuitively, that my path is there to lead me back home to my Maker. Now, mental analysis, there could be many pros and cons that the mind could bring forward to deny this. The mind could say, ‘Why must I go back to my Maker? What an effort? Let me live in this life and just have a nice time’. The mind could say that. But yet man having come from, there is an innate desire in him, there is an innate compulsion in him that wants to drive him on, drive him on to reach back home and this he pursues. Man consciously or unconsciously has the desire to reach home and this is proven by his quest for happiness, the core of the human personality, that which is within. The Bible says "Seek ye first the kingdom that is within, and all else shall follow." So man, because he originates from something divine, he would always have the instinctive or intuitive desire, to become one with the divine again. So this would be a compelling force for him, that will spur him on and on.

4. UK 76- 2B And that is the basic reason why man is looking for happiness, because that which resides within one, the within one, the nature of that is joy, is happiness, is bliss. So when man strives for happiness, he is striving for something that is within him, and that inspires him. Never mind how much he tries to cover it, never mind which path he chooses, but he still has to reach that Divinity in order to find happiness. Now, we find human beings, and human beings are the same everywhere, they feel that the happiness can be found by external means. So they go chasing after money, they go chasing after a woman, they go chasing after various sensual pleasures, which they think will give them happiness. And we do know that the man that chases money, if he makes a million pounds, then he would have the desire to make two million. There won't be satisfaction. And once he has two then wants three, like that it will go on and on and on. Yes, he tries to find happiness with a woman. He thinks that by finding the right woman, he will find happiness. Now that is a good desire, but how does he approach it? What does he look in the woman that will give him happiness? The real purpose is many a times lost because he might say he loves the woman, but does he love the real woman? He might like the woman’s pretty face, lovely nose, lovely hair. He might like her very much as far as her external appearance goes. He might like, her mode of thinking as far as her mind goes, but what has he discovered, the spirit that resides in the woman? Because, when man loves a woman or vice versa, the woman loves a man, real love could only come in totality, otherwise it is partial love, and any form of partial love, that touches the, the physical and the mental only, can only last very, very temporarily. Because the nature of the mind and the nature of the body, is forever and ever changing. But there is that quality within the woman or the man that is never changing, that is always constant. So in the pursuit of happiness, the man thinks he will find happiness by loving a woman. Now he can do this, he can do this, but he has to find the spirit first in the woman, the divine essence that is in the woman, because by finding the divine essence that resides in the woman, he will find the divine essence that resides in him, and that is where unity takes place. The union between man and woman on the physical level only, could be lust. The union between man and woman on the mental level only, could just be a mental appreciation of some form of intelligence, some special ability. But the union that takes place between the, the infinite, the, the Divine spirit in the woman, if that union takes place between the Divine spirit of the woman and the Divine spirit of the man, then oneness is found. So the search at first becomes external, he tries to chase money to find happiness, which is not successful. He tries to chase women, for the external values only, which is not happiness producing. He tries to find name and fame, which is

5. UK 76- 2B not happiness producing either. I have not really met very, very famous, or very rich people that we could sincerely say 'Ah, he is a happy man'. No, because if a person gains a certain amount of fame, ten million people have heard of him, so he desires a hundred million people to hear of him. It is forever, that desire, that desire is forever perpetuating itself, because those desires are based on his personal ego. And the ego is a very selfish animal. It will do everything in its power to preserve itself. So with our meditational techniques, we start the search, not externally but we start the search internally. And there are scientific methods devised that might have nothing to do with religion. Even an atheist could practise these scientific methods, whereby step by step he goes deeper, and deeper, and deeper within himself. He goes beyond the body, beyond the mind and finds the light there. The purpose of finding the light there is to draw that light out into daily living. Once reaching that light, that light permeates the mental self of a person and from permeating the mental self of a person, it permeates the physical self of the person. And by doing that, his life assumes a better quality. The better quality can be judged by how much more happier he can become, how much more joyful he can become and how, by his development, his environment also improves. For example, a flower. The nature of the flower is to grow beautiful, and the flower grows beautiful in the garden. That is the dharma of the flower to grow beautiful. But another thing happens, that by the flower growing beautiful, it also enhances the beauty of the garden. So by we becoming beautiful, by we improving ourselves through the simple effortless methods of meditation, we are not only helping ourselves, we are not only finding our dharma, and our duty, but we are also benefiting the environment. And in benefiting the environment, we start off by benefiting those that are near and dear to us. And then from the home it leads to the village, to the environment, to the country. And with this development, the heart expands, the heart expands to such a level that it could embrace the entire universe. Fine, so once having found this secret of being in touch with the essential nature of man, then we use that secret, that touching of the core of the human personality which is Divine. Then after the inward probe, inward search, and inward finding, we go outward. What we did at first was, that we tried to find things outwardly. Now what we do, is first find it within ourselves and then carry it out. By finding first, to repeat again, the message of the Bible, 'Find ye first the Kingdom of Heaven within', this is the way, and ‘Then all else shall be added unto thee'. And all else is added unto thee because you have now uncovered, found the secret of diving deep within. And after touching that divine source, you will find the external search so enlightening, so life giving, so invigorating, so stimulating, so fulfilling. And then our eyes change, our perception changes. There is greater love, because the source that is within is known to us as love. Do we not say 'God is Love'

6. UK 76- 2B and 'Love is God'? Now by touching that source which is love, it automatically is brought out externally and when it is brought out externally, we start loving people. One day a young girl comes to our centre in South Africa and she says "Gururaj, I don't know what is wrong with me but nobody loves me." Nice young lady, nice young lady, nice mind, brilliant mind, pleasant looking. But she says "Gururaj nobody loves me, what must I do?" And a person cannot live a lonely life. As we know, that no man is an island unto himself, man wants to communicate, man wants to communicate. And so I say to her, I put her on a practice to open the heart and in a few months time when her heart was opened, she started loving. She started loving all around her. She started seeing everyone with kindlier eyes, with more compassionate eyes, with more loving eyes and when she started loving, she could not help becoming loveable. Do you see? So the secret of communication, the secret of becoming loveable is first to start loving. Now these are the things that meditation teaches, because meditation takes us right within ourselves. Now, to come back to your question, it actually means that if man asks what is my dharma in life, then the answer, to put it in a nutshell, is this, that man must find himself, question number one. Then question number two arises from that, is that after finding himself and of course whichever method he chooses, and meditation is the easiest one, after finding himself, he automatically translates, interprets, that which he has found within himself, to his environment. So he makes himself a better person, and he makes his environment better, because society cannot be changed collectively as a whole. Society is composed of units and to improve society one improves oneself. So the dharma of man, the duty of man, is to find the goodness that is within himself, and by doing that, he will do good to others. He will become loving to others. And that is the only way when we can truly practise the Commandment 'Love thy neighbour as thyself'. Now, if we study that, ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself’, up to now that only remains a mental concept, because nothing or no one in our environment can force us to love our neighbours. Nobody can force us, nobody can channel that quality in us if it is not there. To love our neighbour as ourself is a spontaneous action and it must happen spontaneously. It cannot be contrived. If loving one's neighbour is contrived then it is hypocrisy. It must well, it must well up within ourselves, very, very spontaneously. And the way to do that, is by delving deep within ourselves and draw out that quality of love, because the nature of the lord is love. And drawing that quality in our daily practical living then only do we know the meaning of 'Love thy neighbour as thyself' and we not only know the meaning but we live it. And that is our dharma and purpose of life. Okay. Very good. Anyone, anyone else?

7. UK 76- 2B Aide. We’ll wait and see if we can get another question and if we don’t we can come back - another question here? Gururaj. I try to do, what I try to do, the same question could have been explained in very deep high philosophical, metaphysical terms. But metaphysical and philosophical terms and philosophical language could just remain mental gymnastics. What we are after is to take the highest profoundest philosophy into its most practical day to day value. Therefore we try and be as simple as possible. Okay. Good. Over there? Questioner. I would like to ask a question about the specific aspect of meditation. I mean if I want to go to London I can go, I can walk or go by train or go by bus, but I may be the kind of person that doesn't have strong legs. In that case I may want to go by train or bus or I may be the kind of bloke that gets car sick, so in that case it means I will want to go b y train. Now what I'm wondering is whether of all the various kinds of meditation that there are, whether, for say a majority of people there are quite a number of methods they could follow or whether its the case that for each person there is a best method of meditation? Gururaj. A very good question, very good question. I do teach one thing and it is this, that all these methods and all these paths, are like rivers coming from different directions, which ultimately become one in the same ocean. Now, it would be wrong and this has always been the fights and the squabbles between various religions, whereby one claims that 'My way is right', and the other says 'My way is right', and they fight. It is like, a little story where four blind men came up into a forest, and there was an elephant in the forest. So one blind man grabbed the trunk, the other one grabbed the leg, the other one grabbed the tail, and one grabbed the ear. And here they started fighting. The one that grabbed the tail says 'Ah I have found truth it is like a rope'. The other one that grabbed the leg says 'Ah I have found the truth it is like a pole', and like that they argued, until a man with sight came along. He stood at a distance, and he having sight and standing a bit farther away, he could see that these people only know a fraction of the truth. They do not know the whole truth. To be able to know the whole truth, one has to stand apart. So it was, the man that could see the whole elephant could say, that this is the whole elephant. And that has been the trouble with religions, they grab one section of a truth and claim it to be entire truth. My teachings are these, whatever path you take, I am not interested. You might take a path from here to London, you might take the, the road that has a lot of robots and plenty of traffic Aide. Excuse me, robots are traffic lights?

8. UK 76- 2B Gururaj. I'm speaking South Africanese. (Gururaj laughs) That, that might, that might have a lot of traffic lights, yah, an d a lot of traffic and it will delay your journey. It might take you a longer time to reach London, while there might be a highway from here, look I don't know England really. Okay there might be another road, a highway which is very clear and where there are no speed limits and you can reach much, much quicker to London. So the man must decide for himself which path he wants to take. All paths are good. There is not a single path, there is not a single worthwhile religion, that does not teach you, that does not say you must not love, or you must not have charity, or you must not have compassion. All religions and all teachings say this. So, the path a person teaches, the path a person practises, he practises because his own temperament has a particular inclination towards that path. What I would like to see, is the upliftment of mankind. I'm not concerned about paths. If one practises a certain form of meditation and he does it honestly and sincerely and if there is any value in his form of meditations and if he finds progress in himself, I do not convert him to my way of thinking. That would be wrong. If the man progresses well, by all means do that. But I would say that we should all have an open mind? We knew one road to London before that was filled with a lot of traffic, and it took us four hours to reach there. There might be anothe r path, a smoother one that could make us reach there in one hour perhaps. So man must decide upon, man must decide by himself, and to decide by himself he should have an open mind. That is the primary quality. Because when the mind is closed, he becomes dogmatic. He becomes fanatical and becoming dogmatic or fanatical it could impede his progress. His car might get punctures. Yah, yah. So one must have an open mind. It should be, each one teaching his method should be given all the opportunity, and all the privilege to present his views and it is us that must decide for ourselves that, shall I take path number A or path number B or path number C or XYZ. That depends on us. But that also should come with a certain amount of rationality. Firstly we rationalise, we intellectualise, we weigh the pros and cons, and secondly we base our judgements on experience, on experience. Because to find the Divinity within us, to make our lives smoother, to find that, the intellect only goes part of the way. The finite mind cannot comprehend that which is infinite. We know that. But the infinite can be experienced. Now if there is a direct road to the infinite that is within ourselves, by all means we should at least try. We should try, and that is why I always say that we do not condemn, nor condone any path. The whole idea should be, let humanity be uplifted, let their minds be, minds and bodies be more and more refined, let all humans become better human beings.

9. UK 76- 2B That I think is your answer? Yes, yes, you have teachers, and teachers, and teachers. You have some teachers that go upon a stage and would say, 'Everyone else is wrong, only I am right'. And perhaps he might be more wrong than others. The finding, the finding of salvation, the finding of a man and his salvation should always remain a very, very personal thing. If there are four thousand million people on earth, there should be four thousand million religions, or way of life. Each man must formulate his own plan, his own method, his own way for his salvation. Yes, each man must do that but of course he can take the major religions as a guide. He uses the major religions as a guide, draws from them, and formulates his life to greater and greater and greater good. That is his dharma, that is the purpose of life, and that is how we reach the Maker. Now, we might have people in the audience here, who are not interested in religion, they're not interested in religion, okay, fine. We, those that are not interested in religion I don't think that any man should have the right to shove Divinity down his throat. No, no, but meditation is such a process. I have started to talk from the angle of Divinity, because we have some people here and on whose faces I could see very, very clearly, that are very, very devout people. And it is so clear and apparent on their faces and therefore I spoke from this angle. But if I had to be amongst a crowd of agnostics or a crowd of atheists, for that example and I would not even mention the word God. I would say practise meditation. Now, what meditation will do for you is this, that through meditation, you will achieve a calmness of mind. Meditation is a scientific process, which will take you step by step to a calmness of the body and of the mind and they want all that, because most of the atheists their minds are in turbulence. They are troubled, right. We show them step by step that how by meditation their metabolic rate drops, all scientifically proved. They like charts, they like these things. Everything must be in a test tube. We give that to them as well. Right, the, the, we show them how metabolic rate drops of the body which signifies complete relaxation of body. Fine. When the body relaxes the mind also relaxes, the mind relaxes, the body relaxes, the person becomes more happier. Now, because of the mind and the body gaining deep rest, then we tell them, by this deep rest your, your high blood pressure will drop. Ah that they like, yes. The high blood pressure drops. Many o f their illnesses because of this balance that is created, many of their illnesses disappear, organic illnesses and most of the illnesses of the body, are mostly psychosomatic. They stem, they root from the mind. Now, when the mind finds an equilibrium, when the mind finds a nice calmness, then that is the way where many of the neurosises disappear. So their minds benefit. There is a greater clarity of thinking. When the mind is calm, they can

10. UK 76- 2B think better. Through the practices of meditation, their powers of concentration improve. There, because of the deep rest gained in the body, they become more vital, more energetic. Fine. Now the agnostics, the atheists want that, they want things for the mind and body. Now meditation helps those areas too, and at the same time they might not believe in Divinity, they are very steadily and slowly led to Divinity. Yes. So all these things, all these curative powers of meditation, how meditation helps the mind and body is done by some power that is within us. Man can acknowledge it, or not acknowledge it, but that divinity, that power exists that permeates every cell of our body. In our body, there are billions of cells, galaxies, and each minute cell works on a system. The cells that belongs to a certain organ, the cells of the liver are not going to get mixed up with the cells of the heart. The circulatory system functions as it should function. I was told by a scientist that if the human body, had to be reproduced in machine form, then it would require a factory that will occupy four square miles of space. Such a great factory would have to be built to be able to accommodate the workings of the body. So to those people we show them the benefits, that could be accrued to the mind and body, and later they might start thinking that this has happened, there must be something. Now with all these various systems in the body, he will start thinking that how is all this regulated? There must be some regulator, he will start thinking. And as we know who the regulator is, that you can put any name to it. You can call it a law, you can call it a Divine law, yes those are labels, but the regulator is there, that regulates all these things within our systems. So the unbeliever, or the atheist, too, slowly comes to recognise that there is a regulator within the system that regulates the mind and body. Because now his body has improved, his mind has improved, and because of activating through meditation, those powers resident in him, he becomes a more integrated person. And an integrated person is a balanced person, and a balanced person can live a life more harmoniously. And when man finds through meditation harmony within himself, then automatically he becomes harmonious in his environment. A month ago, a month ago daddy was very horrible, so irritable. We couldn't come near him, but a month after meditation, daddy is so nice, the children want to sit on his lap. He becomes more loveable. He becomes more loveable because he has too become, he too has become more loving, because he is now a whole person. He is a self-integrated person. Now these are the purposes of meditation, and coming back to your question, man must find his way himself. And spiritual teachers, gurus, are there to show ways, and it is not necessary to accept the teachings of a particular guru. You can accept the teachings of any guru, if they suit your temperament, and having an open mind, you analyse which could

11. UK 76- 2B suit your temperament most. In our methods of meditation, which is a scientific method, people, we have hundreds, and it is not necessary to accept the teachings of a particular guru. You can accept the teachings of any guru if they suit your temperament and having an open mind, you analyse which could suit you're temperament most. In our methods of meditation, which is a scientific method, people, we have hundreds and hundreds of meditators - oh thank you very much - we have hundreds and hundreds of meditators in England and of course our organisation has extended to what fourteen countries in the world now, and people within a very short period of time, within seven days, they do find some benefit. So and, and that, so that has nothing to do with me. I'm just an interpreter of eternal laws, and how eternal laws can be used, how they can be activated within ourselves, and how they can be displayed or used for the common good of man and his environment. Okay. Thank you. Aide. You have a question over here. I’ll get back to yo u. Questioner. I have the sort of nagging question. I can't work out myself. It relates a bit to what you said about the ego being self-perpetuating. I mean its main motive being to perpetuate itself and how selfish it is. What worries me is how movements like this one, in common with religions and other movements and things can start with something which is really good and really sincere and pure and then you know like tonight with personal contact and are all in it together but then as it grows, it gets more and more impersonal and it becomes more and more organised, and again it becomes its main principle ... Gururaj. It is so, so, so very true and that is the tragedy, that is the tragedy where these movements start so beautifully, so sincerely perhaps. I have seen movements like those, and they assume the massive organisation and the real essential teaching is forgotten. They start off teaching, they start off by teaching annihilate the ego, but they in turn develop the biggest ego. You are right. I agree with you young lady, you are quite right. This is a tragedy and this is something that we have to avoid. It must be avoided at all costs. Questioner. How can it be done? Gururaj. It can be done by the people that run the organisation and, and if the head of the organisation is a man of some realisation, then he would not let the organisation deteriorate. He would not.

12. UK 76- 2B Aide. I just wanted to say the whole structure of the organisation is based on the individual's relationship with the teacher, with you. The techniques being taught individually and the people relating with you individually, that the whole structure of the teaching courses and so on and, and any of the teachers teaching in the organisation are simply a vehicle for your love, your compassion and your wisdom come through to the individual. So that it isn't really in a sense teachers like us teaching currently are simply a channel for your race and your love and your individual practices. ...... (Inaudible) ... The whole concept is .... (Inaudible)... Gururaj. That is very true. In our movement the system has been, has been devised that we have people thousands of miles away in America, in Australia, in Japan, all over the world and they are taught techniques. They call it initiation. That they are taught techniques directly by me. And we have a method whereby every person, never mind how many thousands of miles he or she is away can be reached. Because in that state of meditation there is no distance, it is all here and now. That is how it is done, and, and before this, I don't even like to use the word movement or organisation because it might have, because of previous organisations or whatever, it might have other connotations. So I don't like to use these words, but one thing we have insisted upon is this, that it is a teaching given for love and by love, and therefore it is never sold. There are no fees or charges. I have experienced the joy and the glory that is and I have started this. Please when I say, ‘I don't’ it is not an expression of any form of ego but there is no other way of expressing it without using the personal pronoun. So we have started this organisation to spread this love. It is to me a sharing, a sharing. You experience the bliss of and you can't keep it to your self. You share it. By keeping that bliss to yourself, you become selfish. Fine. And, and if you are selfish, you could never experience that bliss. So the whole basis of it is selfless selflessness and in the selflessness you share, so it’s a sharing. Okay. Fine. Questioner. May I ask if a branch were formed in Brighton, specifically how would it commence and how would it ... (Inaudible) .... and is your meditation done corporately at all or is it done individually only? Gururaj. It is done individually. Now Amrit Bellin here is the president of the BMS, British Meditation Society, and up to now there's about fifty nearly branches. Aide. About that, just about that. Gururaj. Yes about that, fifty branches. As a matter of fact we have just finished a Teachers’ Course at what Grey? - Grey, at Greyshot - a Teachers’ Course just finished this afternoon, where Teachers were trained to do certain work and

13. UK 76- 2B Walter and Margarite Bellin head the movement here in Britain, under the title of, British Meditation Society. And when you talk of opening a centre, a subcentre here in Brighton, I think you should answer that, Walter. Aide. What’s involved is actually very simple, that if you wanted to begin a subcentre here, first you've got to have a few meditators. So some people have to be interested in starting meditation practices. Questioner. ............ (Inaudible) Aide. Oh I’m sorry. Yes. I was planning on doing that sir, it’s alright. Okay. We have a teacher down here which makes it much simpler. What’s involved in getting started with the practices is that you would make an application to come in and see one of the teachers. We have John Bennett sitting over here who will be handling the first course of people who want to start down here. Then you would fill out an Application Form, rather extensive and include on that Form your own photograph, a recently taken one, within the last several months, also without spectacles. And then wherever Gururaj was, most of the time in South Africa, but he may also be travelling around the world, the Forms would be sent directly to him. And meanwhile for about a month, you would be doing a Preparatory Practice, a very simple kind of meditative technique that was uniform, each person would be doing it. And then when Gururaj received the Form, he would go into a state of a deep state of meditation, a state of Samadhi as its called, and from that state of meditation, he would tune into you as a, as a unique individual, understanding you we could say as intimately as you would know your own self perhaps even more intimately, because some of us don't know our own-selves that terribly well. And then from that level, would select for you techniques which uniquely suited your individual characteristics. Now, generally these techniques are done twice a day for periods of twenty to thirty minutes and there may be other little special practices you’d do a few minutes at various times during the day. Perhaps something you do for two or three minutes before going to sleep at night. So that's the basic structure of the course. The Forms would be sent back and you would be trained in these forms of meditation. Now in addition we have evening group meditations, where we might play a tape by Gururaj or have an advanced lecture. For instance, I often would travelling round the country or I would be giving an advanced lecture at the local centre, and there we would also do group practices, group meditations. We also have Weekend Retreats or as we call them deepening Courses or call them advanced if you like. But in any case the, the weekend Courses would involve some special group practices too. But the important thing to remember, and this is ..

14. UK 76- 2B Questioner. You know - you can carry on? Gururaj. They can, they can all be reached Aide. Thank you. In fact just as it is right now, if we're rushed we can handle about five thousand a month. He said he can do about five thousand a month. So that's all ready now Gururaj. And then from the level that we operate from, cannot be measured in worldly time and space, an entirely different level, where you could be thousands of miles away and I would communicate with you, not by letter, but by different methods, where you ask a question and immediately an answer dawns in their own heart? Okay. Good. Aide. Are there questions? Are there questions? Questioner. Could you talk about the individual in relation to the eternal? Gururaj. The individual in relation to? Aide. The eternal, to the eternal. Gururaj. The individual in relation to the eternal. Is there any specific factor you would like to know or in general, how the individual is related to the eternal? Questioner. Is individuality a real thing, individuality a real thing? Gururaj. Is individuality a real thing and, and if he is a real thing, is he related to the eternal? Yes, does that sum up the - yeah. Now the individual is definitely related to the eternal, because individuality is a conception made by our intellect. What tells us that I am an individual? What tells me that I am an individual is my mind. My mind tells me that I am an individual. What are the characteristics that the mind works upon to say that Mr Jones is an individual? The

15. UK 76- 2B characteristics would be, a body firstly. Secondly, it would be his mind, and how his mind functions in relation to the body. The relationship between mind and body forms a third factor, which is called the psyche of the individual. So with these three factors, the personality is formed and I recognise you, as Mr Jack Jones, because of the personality that I see, I perceive with my mind, with my mind. That we must remember. Fine. Now, individuality and the eternal is inseparable. Now you are sitting there, and I am sitting here. Now we think that we are apart, ten feet apart. But science will prove to you, that there is a substance called ether, a very fine matter, whic h connects everything to everything. Now the ether not be perceptible by our five gross senses, hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, tasting. Fine. But it has been proven that this ether is permeating every bit of existence, is permeating every bit of existence. Ether is subtle matter, while the bodies we see are gross matter. We can use the analogy of water vapour. The water vapour is subtle, it can become water, which is more grosser and the same water can be solidified as ice. Now of the same principle of H20, the basic principle, the basic constituent, of water remains the same, but that water is perceived by our five gross physical sense senses, to be three separate things. But the essence of the vapour, the water, and the ice is the same, H20. So however form, whatever for H20 takes, does not matter, it is form but the essence is forever unchanging and because the essence is unchanging it is eternal. So between the individuality of the vapour, of the water and of the ice, it is tied together by that one principle of H20. In human beings we use this analogy to illustrate that the infinite power, that which you call eternal, that which you call eternal, is infinite and that permeates all individuals. That permeates all individuals. The individuality is seen only on surface level. The waves of the ocean seem separate from each other, but dive a little deeper and the ocean is just one mass of water. And then when those very turbulent waves, I believe you have a beautiful seaside here, right, when those very turbulent waves subside, become calm then you perceive that as one complete mass of water. Then individuality ceases and eternity takes place. So even here, while we are sitting in this hall and you seem to sit ten feet apart from me, but you are joined to me by matter, by ether, do you pronounce it ether or ether? Ether, ether, ether, ether. My English is very poor. We are joined together by ether. So every thing in this universe is one compact whole. There is no separation. Individuality, yes, in the form of a temporary bubble, and the bubble bursts and becomes one in the basin of water. The wave subsides and becomes one with the eternal ocean. So there is individuality in the relative sense, in the worldly sense, in the grosser sense we will find individuality. But, when we go to subtler levels of existence, once we go deeper

16. UK 76- 2B and probe deeper and into subtler and subtler levels, then individuality disappears and universality remains. Then the individual becomes universal. Now even science proves this, that if you can discover the working of an atom, you will know the secret workings of the entire universe. And philosophically speaking, the entire universe is contained in that single atom. So, we have to admit from the relative level of individuality and that which is eternal, individual, universal, from the relative level ther e seems to be a separation, but from the view point of the universal, there is no separation and no individual. It is one ocean. It is one ocean, forever existing, forever and ever eternal, ever lasting, all the time, all the time. And once one realises the eternity of things, then life becomes joy. It bubbles over with joy. So much happiness, then truly my cup run over, yes. Okay. Good. Anyone else? Questioner. Gururaj, what is the purpose of daily activity and daily work? In our modern civilisation which seems to be in such troubles, and so on, is it gradually going in the wrong direction or is it we who are bad drivers of it and will it continue to go in the direction of technology and so on, until we become better drivers in the future? Gururaj. Fine. It is a very valid question. Now if you talk of technology, now this question I could answer from so many different angles. I could take it into very deep philosophical, into its very deep philosophical aspects, metaphysical aspects, or just ordinary practical aspects, and shall we stick to practicality? Okay. Would that be better? Yes. Aide. . ........ (Inaudible) Gururaj. Okay, I don’t mind. Now people talk of evolution, people talk of evolution, that man has evolved, but I don't see any evolution at all. Can we say that the man existing today is a better man than the man that existed during the time of Christ? No. Technological process, technological processes, and progresses has not improved the quality of man. During the time of Christ, there were thieves and robbers, Philistines and what have you, and we have them today too. We have the same human mind and mentality. Perhaps we think because of inventing motor cars, and aeroplanes and atom bombs, we are advanced. We are not advanced. The evolution of man is not dependent on technology because technology is dependent on mind. The evolution of man occurs from the heart, from the

17. UK 76- 2B unfoldment of the heart? Not development of the heart, unfoldment. We call our Foundation, International Foundation for Spiritual Unfoldment. The spirit within man is forever unfolded, is forever pure, it is just us that must remove the veils a nd let it shine forth in its own expansion. So technologically we have progressed to a certain extent, but we have progressed, to our detriment in many instances. It required a lot of thinking, it required a lot of high-powered brains to invent the hydrogen bomb, but what have we done with it? We misused it, where millions of people were killed. So what is the use of this technological progress? I would rather like to live in the time of Christ, and do things by the hand, instead of the machines. If technological progress was so important, then it should have been important in the unfoldment of human values. But we see so much strife and turmoil in this world, the reason being that the human has become more mind orientated. He has concentrated more on developing the mind, and has forgotten how to develop the heart. Now you take a mad scientist. He can, he can, he can invent with his powerful brain some instrument, and being a mad scientist, he will use the instrument for the destruction of the world. But, with that high development of the brain, if the heart too was developed, unfolded, then the combination of mind and heart, would have, would have prevented him from destroying the world. It would prevent him. He would use all his laser beams and hydrogen bombs to help the world, to help humanity, to make the life of humanity easier, more smooth, more joyful. So the present condition of the world is definitely dependent upon us and our minds. The mind tries to find comfort, as we said, in answer to the first question, by outward search, by outward glorification, to glorify itself, to build up its ego more and more. And it does everything in its power to find the individuality and develop individuality, forgetting universality, with the development of the ego and forgetting that which is within. And these things happen. Therefore, we cannot say that the world today is a better world than what it was and most of the troubles in the world is caused by man. Man and his mind. There is a lovely saying, that 'God plus mind makes man; man minus mind makes God'. Yes, so the troublemaker is the mind, the mind, and the basis of the mind, the, the power giver of the mind is the ego. That gives the impetus, and the stimulus to the mind. That you have a motor car, so my motor car must be better although I might not need it. Right. And it is this striving all the time to better, better, better, not betterment of ourselves but to seem better. That is what we are doing. We want to seem better to the world. So if Mrs Jones can do that, Mrs Thomas must do better. She has a little Austin motor car then the other one should have a little what, Hillman motor car. Fine, whatever. You see the point? Yah, yah.

18. UK 76- 2B So all the troubles created is by the mind, the human mind and if through the practices of meditation, we can bring a greater calmness to the human mind, by bringing it a greater calmness, it will have a better power of thinking. It will thin k in the terms of greater equilibrium. It will through meditation, be empowered, be stimulated by the heart quality and when the mind and the heart can work simultaneously, then man evolves, man develops, man finds the beauty in living. Then man finds beauty in existence. People today just exist, because they have to exist because they are born and many of them feel, "Oh, this terrible life". Many of them pray when will it end. They do that every day, they struggle everyday. Went to work this morning and the boss was terrible, came home and the children were terrible, and the wife was nagging. And the wife says, ' Oh my husband is so inconsiderate, he doesn’t care'. All these troubles. Why? Because of our basic instability. The unstable person is the person that always blames the other, he blames his wife, he blames his children, he blames his boss, he blames his motor car. And when he can't, when he can't get the golf ball in the hole, he blames the club. (General laughter). Yes. Always blaming others, always. So therefore I would say whatever form of meditation you want to follow, please do it, please do it. It brings wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful peaceful stability within ourselves. It brings wonderful stability and from that angle of stability, all our actions becomes more dynamic, more vital and that is the way, whereby we can reduce the tensions in the world. Tensions in the world can only be reduced by individual effort. When individuals become less tense and less nervous, then there would be less tension in the world. You can't reduce the tensions of the world collectively. It has to be reduced individually, and we must make our start. We make our start, even if we are not those do -gooders for others, forget that. Don't worry, don't worry about that. Let us do good for ourselves, and automatically it will reflect in the environment and we will be helping humanity. So, this world has not really evolved since those times, it has not really evolved. Evolution is dependent on heart quality, and we cannot say, that people today are more kinder, or more loving, or more charitable, or more compassionate, than those people that lived a couple of thousand years ago. Now technology is a very, very wonderful thing, if it is rightly used. The hydrogen power can be used as fuel to provide electricity, to provide light, to provide the, the current that is required for the surgeon's operating table, to help someone to perform an operation and save someone's life. And the same energy can be used for destruction. It is like

19. UK 76- 2B electricity, it is the same electricity that heats the stove, and the same electricity that gives the coldness to the fridge. It is how it is used. And the way the world is going today, they are not using technology, but abusing technology. They try to make things more easier for the housewife and for themselves by all these modern inventions, but at the same time that is good but it must not produce greater tensions. It must not produce great tensions. For example, we have television. Beautiful, some nice programmes you see, some lovely concerts, beautiful plays. Fine. But then what I hear, television just started in South Africa very recently now - but what I hear in England that people go buy ready-made dinners and the art of cooking is being lost. They buy those little TV dinners. You come home, plonk down, open the, you open that and they feed themselves and then who knows what? (General laughter) Aide. They don't taste the food because they are watching the screen. Gururaj. Yah, and who knows how the food was prepared? Right. Can food not be better prepared by the wife, with all her love and with all the cleanliness of her kitchen for her husband and for her children? How much more beautiful, how together that family remains instead of sending little Johnny out to the corner shop to buy four TV dinners. (General laughter). Right. Now, now, but now this is of course an extreme example. Do not take it seriously, we got to have fun, not be serious all the time, but what I'm trying to point out, is that technology can be harmful and it can be useful too. I t dep ends on us how we use it. And to find the secret of using, technology to its fullest value, to its best value, is by creating a stability and harmony within us. Fine, and that can be created and by meditational practices. Okay. Good. We've got plenty of time still. Who's next? Questioner. Well I wanted to ask a question but can't ... (Inaudible) .....It’s really a comment on what you something you said earlier on about – well, yes. Gururaj. Please do make comments. You’re welcome, perhaps I might learn something from you. Questioner(Cont’d). I disagree with what you said about life in general about people. I just feel, you were saying earlier on about the man who blames his boss, his car, and all these things which make you very frustrated and unhappy and the answer lies within himself, if he could keep calm, evidently he could take all these things in his stride and I think you would have to be vary, very strong, don't you.

20. UK 76- 2B Gururaj. Yeah. You have to be very strong, you are quite right otherwise you could never take it in your stride, but then therefore these methods of meditations are there to make one stronger. It is a process undoubtedly. We don't expect miracles. There is no instant realisation, like in instant pudding or instant tea. No, no we don't have that. It’s a process, a very easy process and within a short period of a few months, a person can see the betterment in himself. He can find in himself a greater tolerance. He finds himself a better perspective at looking at things. The trouble most times lies with perspective. There is a lovely stanza which I am very fond of, it says, ‘Two men behind prison bars, one saw mud, the other saw stars’. Now, the two men are placed in the same circumstances, yet one could see gloom, and the other could see glory. So with meditational practices, we gain the mental equilibrium, we gain that inner knowledge, whereby the perspectives change and suffering is lessened. The circumstances might not have altered, but our attitude toward circumstances might have, would definitely alter. So then even the nagging wife becomes a living wife. No, you even find laughter in the nagging, so she gets tired of nagging afterwards, and she stops it. (General laughter) Aide. Okay. We'll see first is there anyone else who wanted to ask a question, anyone else? Questioner. Unveiling, this process of unfolding is unveiling? Could you talk a bit about what the veils are that have to b e unveiled? Gururaj. Good. Are there any specific kinds of veils you'd like to know about? (General laughter) Are there any specific kinds of veils you'd like to know about? There are veils and veils and veils. Questioner. If there are so many, perhaps you could speak a bit about Gururaj. Hills and vales and dales, yes. Questioner(Cont’d). I'm thinking about stress on the nervous system. Gururaj. True, true Questioner. ...(Inaudible)

21. UK 76- 2B Gururaj. Good. Good. A beautiful question, a beautiful question. Sometimes when you talk of unveiling, people normally associate it with a person who is dead and his statue is to be unveiled, Fine. Veils that are around us. Now veils represent certain machinations of the ego. It is the ego, and the workings of the ego that put veils around us. Now if you use a analogy of an electric bulb, you put around it so many pieces of cloth, the more coverings you have around the bulb, the less light filters through. Now, as you start removing veil after veil, more and more light filters through, until all the veils are removed and you have naked light. Now that is the dharma, and the purpose of life, is to know and realise that pure divine light that is within ourselves. Now what are veils and where do they come from? Yes. That is, that is a question which philosophers throughout ages have been battling on. That is one of the biggest problems of philosophy. Where do these veils come from? Now veils have from the time of creation, from the time of creation, the whole. (Interruption) Good, ah lovely, do you feel comfortable now? Good. Yes, lovely boy. Now we have to go a bit further back to study this problem. From the first time of creation, when a person became an individual being. Now you must know that this whole universe is nothing but vibration, the whole universe is a set of vibrations, and when vibrations congeal or become compacted, only then would they become perceptible to the five senses. Yet vibrations can exist in a far, far more subtler level. Now at the beginning of creation when we became individualised or individuated, then that very motion of the vibration produced a sound. Fine. Now likewise there were so many other individuals being created too that drifted away from that one source. Now the combination of all these different vibrations, for example say, there were five individualisations, now the five individualisations created other sound and other vibrations. They in turn intermingled, they in turn combined and produced the eleventh vibration, from the ten produced eleven. That in turn combined and produced still more and more vibration. And that is how because the vibrations are self-perpetuating, these vibrations created more and more vibration from the primal cell, to the present highest level, which is regarded to be man's existence. Right. So man is a combination of all those vibrations that took place, from the primal cell right through to the plant kingdom, then to the mineral kingdom and from the mineral to the present state of man. So man within himself contains all those elements. Man within himself contains mineral elements. He contains within himself plant elements and he contains within himself animal elements. And we do know how vicious some people are exhibiting the animal elements. Good.

22. UK 76- 2B So man is the sum totality, since the beginning of this cycle of creation, he is a sum totality of all those existences. Now, with the perpetuation of the first cell, of the first vibration and it forming all the various combinations through millions of years of time, certain circumstances were produced. We could use two different elements and create a third element, like H20, hydrogen and oxygen, combined together produces a third element called water. Yet hydrogen on its own is not water and oxygen on its own is not water but the combination of the two has produced a certain third element. Now likewise within the laws of nature which allows for all these combinations, these veils have been formed. Now up to the animal stage, up to the animal stage when things evolved within the laws of nature and naturally there were no waves. But when it came to the stage of man, and the difference between man and animal is just the thinking principle, man can think, animal cannot think. So when man started thinking, there all the trouble started. The trouble started because of us. Now we have been endowed with the power to think, and because we have being endowed with the power to think, that same power could have been used for a far greater diviner purpose but man, you know the story of the fall of man, but man being what he is, used that thinking principle, thinking power in devious ways and he deviated from the path towards the goal. And in his deviation, all things that he did produced veils upon veils, which obscured his true nature, which obscured the true self- luminous light existing within him. So the obscuration of that luminous light was caused by man himself. Man was endowed with a beautiful instrument, with a beautiful instrument but he misused the instrument. He was given, with the instrument, free will, with the rationalistic, rationalising ability ...... END (The Tape Ends) Next Part is a Repeat of the beginning of Tape UK 76-2A Questioner. When we face our weaknesses why do we get some nasty surprises?

23. UK 76- 2B Gururaj. No. When you face your weaknesses it is not a nasty surprise, it's a very uplifting experience because firstly to be able to face your weakness, you require a certain amount of strength and facing the weakness and recognising the weakness you are activating the strength that is within you and the very act of activating the strength is exhilarating, uplifting, always, always. Questioner. Gururaj, why is it a strain trying to be good? Gururaj. Don't try, just be - if it’s the trying that produces the strain. (Laughter). We don't try, we just do good. If we can condition our minds into things which are not good then we can also condition our minds into things that is good until it becomes such a natural spontaneous way of living that no trying is required, the spontaneity is there. Sometimes too much trying and improper trying can lead to inhibitions and repressions. Questioner. You mentioned conscious effort in the waking state. Gururaj. True, there must be a constant effort in the waking state. Right, but how to make the conscious effort, how? Could the conscious effort lead to inhibitions or repressions or could the conscious effort lead to realisation? There lies the art of discrimination and the skill in life and the skill in living, and the skill in effort. Okay. Questioner. Do you believe in a vicious circle? Gururaj. If you believe in a good circle, there could be a vicious circle. I haven't come across one yet though. Questioner. We appear to be in a vicious circle that you cannot break. Gururaj. No, you can break anything. Good can overpower evil. Yes, oh yes. Questioner. By what? Gururaj. By what? By practising your meditations properly and regularly, honestly and sincerely.

24. UK 76- 2B Questioner. If a vicious circle is a vicious circle then something stops you breaking it and that which stops you breaking it is what stops you - helps it to remain a vicious circle. Gururaj. True, true. What's stopping you? Questioner. Breaking you? Gururaj. No, that's not a question, it's a conundrum. But I know what you're trying to get at. There is actually speaking no vicious circle. Vicious circles could be very, very imaginary and they could be hallucinations, too. Now we first have t o develop the power of discrimination, to know what constitutes the vicious circle and once we can discriminate or find out or unfathom the constituents of the vicious circle then only then can we determine what the vicious circle is. And after finding the constituents of the vicious circle then the sting, the very discovery will take the sting of the vicious circle away. Then the vicious circle will remain a viscous circle no longer. Then we come to realise that it is because of our own personal weaknesses that we found this to be vicious; it was essentially good. So we train ourselves to find the goodness in things and not the viciousness. Okay. Contemplation sharpens ones wits. It could sharpen one’s thinking power and so I'm sure there will be very profound questions this afternoon. New Satsang Session You could see that even ordinary music as apart from meditational sounds could really take a person into far greater depths than just sitting still. Listening to good music is also a form of meditation and you would find - we have a Psychiatrist in South Africa, Professor Lynn Gillis, he was here in London - and he made some experiments for three months and he found that by sitting down and listening to some quiet music for about half an hour could lower the metabolic rate and wonderful relaxation could be found, even in listening to music. Fine. So how much greater is it not when you are given a sound based upon your own personal vibration? How much greater relaxation can't you find and how deeper can't you go within the very, very depths of your soul and thereby find so much greater joy and peace? Good. Questioner. How is it that nice people seem to suffer most and evil people seem to get away with things?

2. UK 76- 2B back since the beginning of time, have always manifested this quality of universal love and compassion. And basically it was this that was responsible for bringing them into the world, making instruction in meditation and spiritual guidance available to people. And then of course, the last word Yogi, which means ‘one who is in union with their deepest innermost self’, the real source, our inner spiritual nature whatever name you want to call it. You could call it the soul, the universal mind, whatever name you want to call it. So that’s the definition basically of Gururaj Ananda Yogi, the King of Teachers, whose nature is universal love or compassion, or bliss we could say, and who is in union with his deepest innermost self. And so having said that, I'd like to now turn the meeting over to Gururaj and anyone can begin by asking any kind of question that's on their mind. Gururaj. Thank you. So as you've heard, I've not come to lecture to you but to communicate with you. When a person lectures, then he is there to teach you what he thinks about things and the subject he would lecture on, would be what he feels he should talk to you about. So in these Courses what happens is this, that you ask the question and I try to answer it, so that we would be talking on what you would like to hear. So who would like to start off with any question? It could be a question of any nature, any deep philosophy or any practical problem, whatever it is, it would be nice to discuss it with y ou. Questioner. Can I ask two questions? Gururaj. Sure. Can you start with one first? Questioner(Cont’d). Yes. I'm not sure of how one is sure of what their Dharma is, what one is meant to do in this life. How do we know what we should flow into, what we should dedicate our time to and our energies? Gururaj. It's a very beautiful question. The question is, how should a human being know what his Dharma, dharma means duty, what his duties are in life and how he should live up to those duties, how he should discover those duties, and what he should do? Firstly to find what those duties are, and secondly how to fulfil those duties. Now when man is born, he is born with certain tendencies, tendencies which might go back into many previous lifetimes, if one believes in that, or even tendencies created by hereditary, by inheritance, which he inherits by, from his parents. It is no t only that factor, but the environment also in which he is born influences his tendencies, and could it be said that the tendencies of a person is his dharma or his duty?

25. UK 76- 2B Gururaj. Now when we say 'Get away with it', I wonder what they get away with? A person can get away with a million pounds but you can't get away from yourself. END