1. U S 86 - 27 NATURE OF BALANCE/ CONTEMPLATION JASMINI: England, Ireland, Denmark, and Spain, they all extend a warm welcome to all of you at any time. So just come over any time. You'll get such a warm welcome like we did from you. We've been thinking about [????] and I know their thoughts are wit h us and they would just to meet you. And our phone never stopped ringing once they knew that we were coming. And they'd love to meet you. Listening to tapes you get to know the voices, and it's so lovely for us to put faces to those names. RAJESH: I think we've heard the majority of your voices, like I sort of remember hearing Tamaji's voice and then sort of a bit later Guruji said Mataji or Tamaji, and I thought, "Ah, right, that's Tamaji. So we went on from there. JASMINI: They'd really love to h ave you on one of the courses. So if you have the opportunity, please come over. RAJESH: Yea. JASMINI: Was there anything else you'd like to ask us about England? Even in Denmark, a lot of them come and they don't speak the language but they still ju st join and we have so much fun. And there's a communication just feeling that love. And eventually they start picking up words and we start picking up words, and it doesn't matter. And so many of them come over from Denmark. Ireland... sometimes 15 to 25 people from Ireland take such a long journey from Ireland across the water on the boat, a long train journey and in the cold and then get on a train and ride the train and they're there. RAJESH: To get to the Hays they have to get four trains and a fe rry from Dublin which is a nuisance a whole night through a very rough sea, and then they have to get three or four trains to actually get to the Hays. So it's pretty good. They're doing very well, in fact. Is Gururaj here? They started and you can im agine it's a very staunch Catholic country, extremely staunch Catholic. They've taught about 250 people now there. So they're really doing well, very well. JASMINI: And we always look forward to Jammu and Amita every time and every course. We can't im agine an English course without them.

2. U S 86 - 27 RAJESH: They're what in England we call "old timers." JASMINI: And it's just so lovely when they arrive just to say, "Ah, they're here." We just know. RAJESH: [??????] just to creep up on them and they said, " Ah, you're here." But BMS is... we're very pleased with what's been happening there. We have a firm firm foundation. I mean no spiritual movement is solid. It'll always be fluid therefore flowing. But we have now quite a solid foundation which we can build on. And we're pleased for that. Are we having a cue? VOICE: The meditation societies in all of the different countries over the years have gone through drastic changes. I wonder if coming over here you notice any kind of a difference in attitude or approach that the American Meditation Society has compared to the British Meditation Society? You know what I'm saying? That... it may have to do with generating different ideas about what it's all about and could possibly cause any changes? RAJESH: I think what we spoke about this afternoon about the sort of teaching aspects, that's the only difference that I've noticed. Our approaches all seem to be the same. JASMINI: The unity of the family no matter what country you're in is the same, that love just emanates. And we just help each other. We just know that we're there. You just feel at home as soon as you're coming, as Amita and Jammu will say when they come to England. It's no different. It's just ok, we may speak with different a ccents, and some of them, as I said, don't even speak, and that's what's important. VOICE: Do you think over the years we've become more the same all over regardless of what country we're from? JASMINI: I find that we're stronger now because... RAJESH : I think all the societies have become much stronger. And as you said, there have been drastic changes but there's changes in our life so that must reflect in our movement. But they seem to have become more stable over the last five to six years.

3. U S 86 - 27 JAS MINI: And even the change that went on it's like nature it's necessary. It's like the trees. The branches come down but they're not really lost, they go back into the earth and then they rekindle and come back up again. So it's not really lost as we were saying today, nothing is ever wasted. So it's become stronger through that. That split made us stronger. And this is where gurushakti became more people are really using gurushakti from the word go. Where before they were a bit timid about speaki ng about this beautiful technique, simple technique, very profound technique that we've got. And now that they're using it they're feeling it and they're emanating it. The one thing I did notice here that could help is if we more or less got together for everything. I mean, Guruji is here for one week and we are here for one week. Let us use everything together. At group meetings, anything that's going on. Be involved, because you learn every time. We learn from each other. But when you sort of think, "I'm not going there today" you're losing out. You're missing something. And that also creates a bigger bond because where more energies are gathered together and the more sharing and the caring that adds to the strength. RAJESH: Also I think, Peggy, what you were saying, I mean all the changes that have gone through I'm sure in America as well as England has made us become stronger, on a firmer foundation. So we welcome that. And if we have to go through that again to find an even firmer foundation, well then let it come. Why not? Any other questions? I'm sure there's lots you want to know. As I said, it's really the same. The core structures are the same. We have dinner around the same time as you and we do group practices in the morning at the s ame time as you. But of course, each course takes its own individuality. No two courses are the same. JASMINI: Because each time we're learning something else and it's helping our group. Each course is different. So this is why at our introductory co urse we really emphasize the importance of darshan being in the presence of. RAJESH: Yea, we've really come strongly across... JASMINI: And by bringing that into a satsang at the end of the course we involve them in that. Lend them tapes. So there fore when it's near to a course time you usually get two or three new meditators starting. And once you go to a course, you're hooked. For want of a better word. And we always say to them, "Don't read." From our experience, we can only teach from our e xperience. But one course we almost couldn't make it. We were burgled. And Divinity even through that adversity gave us the money to come on the course. But learning from that experience, we started putting away money every month so that's the course m oney and we don't touch it. We put it straight in for the course. And we

4. U S 86 - 27 say to people, if you can put away a pound or five pounds you don't miss it. You spend 10 pounds in a pub for a drink. And this is something that is priceless that we have. So as I said again today, just make that aim, that goal, one person to bring on the course each of you. And if you have that aim and that goal you'll find that next time it becomes two and then three. RAJESH: And there are courses larger they don't lose any of the personality. The force is always there, regardless of the numbers. You think maybe it would be less personal with large numbers. It's no different. Just as personal. You have more people to meet and say hello to and things like that, but it's j ust as much fun, isn't it. GURURAJ: I have a question. Why do you want to meditate? [silence]. VOICE: I don't know. Why not. GURURAJ: We are all trying to change our lives. There is only one way. You see, there is only one way of taking that off. [refers to Rajesh's struggle with mike]. There is only one way to improve our lives is to come closer and closer to our source fro m which we originated. We are the origins of the source, and we are the originators of the source. And we float back very gently through meditation into the source. So you have never been far away from the source. You are the origin, the originator, an d then finally through all these struggles that you have done, you reach back home where you started. You become the same source again without the mental origination. So what we do get rid of is the origination that we brought about within ourselves. A nd when you originate something there are bound to be changes. When you originate a painting, you feel, "Oh wait, another stroke there, or another stroke here," and that is how one that does not know how could muddle up the painting; and in desperation yo u throw the painting away. That same thing applies to a writer where he will type pages upon pages and throw them into a trash can and start all over again from the origin. And that is what we have to learn because people are very, very impatient. They w ant things to be done overnight. That is not so on the spiritual path and all what you want to do can be achieved if you have that truthfulness, sincerity of purpose, that perseverance until you have that burning desire and burn, burn all the karma away a nd then only the purity is left, the source that does not even know that it is the origin. That does not even see the origination. And when you merge in there again neither would it know that it is the origin of you all that are sitti ng here. So, you mer ge back into the causeless cause. People talk of the first cause in the creation of the universe. There is

5. U S 86 - 27 no first cause. That's a fallacy perpetrated on man by various theologians of various different religions. Because a cause has to have a beginnin g. While that which is you, the real self, the origin, has no beginning and no end. So you are beginless and endless. You do not start from a beginning. You have always been there and that is why you could never end. So have a brave heart, my lads and lasses. There are no Scottish people around here now? Have heart. The only two things that could be in your minds is pessimism and optimism. This is the only two things that could be in your minds. Nothing else. And they bring about the various circum stances, the various thoughts, the various happenings, good or bad or otherwise. That's all there is. And really speaking they are not two things at all. They are two sides of the one coin. The only thing, through spiritual practices, is you have to lea rn to spin the coin. And if you spin it fast enough, then neither the head nor the tail would be seen. Only the coin is there. That's all. Nothing is destructible, even the pessimism is not destructible. You shed away the pessimistic energies. So that it would attach itself to those of a pessimistic mind. And that's how when you are pessimistic you become more and more pessimistic because the thought forces around you attach themselves around you. And the more you are optimistic, the more optimistic or good thoughts will also surround you and strengthen you. So spin the coin. And the coin will always land on its head. You'll have heads up. Yes. Every time you throw a coin, say ten times, you will find six or seven times of the ten the coin will land heads up. If you are a gambler try it. Just bet on the heads, not on the tail. Yet people add more importance to the tail instead of the head. An d that tail has to do with all the different foods, and all the ingestions of food and thought. And since childhood you have that within you, him? Oral gratification and anal gratification, that is why your mind is led more to the tails. Remember that. Thanks for speaking to your brothers and sisters, my children [to Rajesh and Jasmini] What was I going to speak on tonight? Read out the question. VIDYA: We have a question, and then you were going to speak on contemplation. PRASEELA: Dearest Guruji, you have so often told use to seek balance. Can you tell us more about the nature of this balance and h ow can we best find it? GURURAJ: Would you like to go through that door and come back in again? Don't close the door. Right. You're out. Now you come in, just leave the door. Balance! It has come to its right place. Only thing, you added momentum to it. That's balance. So come back to where you originally were and you create balance. Imbalance has been created by us

6. U S 86 - 27 where the conscious mind (I've said this many times) and the subconscious and the superconscious mind do not work in harmony and ther efore imbalances occur. I'm talking of normal human beings and not of psychotics and neurotics which have imbalances due to so many other reasons: thought processes or chemical imbalances. We're not talking of them, we're talking of the normal average hum an being who regards himself to be average, and by regarding himself to be average, he is definitely in a state of imbalance. Do you see? Now, how do we distinguish balance from imbalance? Is it a feeling you get that tells you that you are in balance? Is it the motions that goes through you that tells you that you are in balance? Or imbalance, of course. Or is there another factor that tells you that you are in balance? Feelings, being of a changeable nature, and so are emotions, they could never ans wer the question am I in balance or am I in imbalance. The only factor that could answer the question is this: of how much peace I am at within myself and with the environment. That is the nature of balance. Because balance is composed of... integrati on is composed of these factors: love, peace, where it just wells up within yourself. And you cannot contain that peace, my cup runneth over. And the cup of pure water runneth over also waters the ground on which it stands and makes the grass grow. So yo ur peace becomes unselfish. It also benefits those living things like plants and insects that are around your cup that runneth over. And that is the measure of balance. For example, a sick man when he walks with a lame leg he is in a state of imbalance physically. His mind would be in total balance. And if his mind is in total balance he does not pay much attention to his infirmity of his legs not functioning as they should. But that does not stop him from trying to do something about his legs. Last time I came here I had to use two walking sticks. I went into three months of semi seclusion and did certain kinds of practices and here I'm as strong as an ox. Not so strong, but well. Now how do I measure that I am well? Do I measure it by my body? N o. By the well being. Remember the word "being." For being is always well. And that is well being. So I measure my strength by the fullness of the well being that is within me beyond all feeling and emotion and just there. So the process to the state of well being is (as I said to a group tonight) yama niyama. Observance, discipline. How do they title that article in your yoga magazine? Observance and restraints. Where you restrain yourself. I was speaking about this very thing earlier on this ev ening where you restrain yourself. If you feel like having a certain kind of food and you know that food is no good for you I feel like hav ing a sweet and a nice cup of tea but I know its not good for me because of diabetes. So I will not drink tea with sugar. So I am restraining myself, and yet I am enjoying the tea. Because after a week or two I got used to drinking tea without sugar. I don't miss the sugar. So that restraint that you have put on in the first place requires some effort. But the eff o rt afterwards becomes effortless. So all restraints that you put upon yourself would, definitely would, become effortless. That is the procedure.

7. U S 86 - 27 And after that you regulate your body by rhythmic breathing. Now, by rhythmic breathing, which we call pranay ama, by pranayama what happens is this: by rhythmic breathing your entire bodily system comes into a rhythm. Now when the bodily system is in a rhythm, then the mind automatically becomes quieter. Do you see. Now breathing is just the outer manifestatio n of the vital force which we call prana. Prana means the vital force and yama means control of the vital force. So when you breathe 4 16 8 as you have been taught, when you feel upset and not calm, do that. Or you can do the chant. Many of you might n ot know how the chant is properly done, let me just do it once or twice. [He chants] You see, with the syllables you are expelling all the breath, expelling toxins. That's the most important part. When you expel toxins, the inhalation after exhalation becomes automatic. And there are certain more advanced pranayama practices which will be taught to you. Where you have kumbhaka. Kumbhaka, just to tell you what it is, is drawing the vital force from the breath and allowing the vital force to circulate everywhere around your body, every cell, and rejuvenate it. A very simple example, and do it with a little practice you will succeed. If you have a headache, for example, direct your mind with your mantra which helps a lot the vibrational part of it. Direct it to your toes and your headache will go away because the headache was caused by excessive blood pressure on the brain itself. So now, here by thought force, you are moving that blood, the excess, to your toes. Very simple. Do it sincerely, and you will see it works quicker. Requires a bit of practice. So that comes in the area of Kumbhaka, how to retain that vital force. For example, in India, you've read about this, you have people that could be buried for 21, 30 days under ground. Of course a lot of them are tricksters with underground funnels that come out a half a mile away. We're not talking of them, we're talking of the real guys, the genuine ones. And they go through so many practices, which I would not advise you to do. Because why d o you want to be buried underground? For demonstration purpose? To collect a few pennies? I could perform so many of these psychic things for you. What for? What's it going to help you. Hm? Do things, give people some wisdom and knowledge, and the p ractical side of it, which will help. Instead of me showing you all kinds of psychic things where you could read the page of the book. Now, you could read me a page and I will repeat the book word for word verbatim after hearing it once. So many other t hings. But what's its going to benefit you? Ah, Guruji can do this, and he can do that, but it's senseless because it just uses up psychic force which is a far, far lower form of energy while we are aiming for the higher forces. Do you see. So, now, tha t vital force can be utilized and that vital force is also called prana. In the Hindi language you would say [ishprayanago?] meaning his prana has left his body, which means he has died. You cannot live without the vital force, and that vital force is br ought within yourself through breathing. But the art lies in how to extract the vital force and retain

8. U S 86 - 27 it within yourself and allow the other stuff to just evaporate, or disseminate. There lies the secret of utilizing the vital force to its maximum. So that is the difference between breathing and the vital force and the prana. Now, to become integrated and to become balanced, to come back to your question, all these methods are to be used and they are incorporated into the practices given to you. If I should one day go into the technical side of it, you will find it to be totally, totally scientific. Not only mystical, but totally scientific and each practice is connected to the other. L ike gurushakti which Rajesh and Jasmini was talking about, is co nsciously drawing that grace to you to make your life smoother. And it does. So when the mind feels imbalanced or in turmoil, you use gurushakti, you use pranayama, you use the gap technique to whom it has been given, and of course, your mantra. And the talk of this kundalini in these yoga books, there is no such thing. Where the serpent coiled 2 1/2 times somewhere near your butt. And then you use certain exercises to awaken that snake. So it's a snake. And then there are two tubes running up here, one is called the ida and the other is called the pingala. And you picture those centers or chakras at certain places. The swadhishthana, at the coccyx; the muladhara, between the genitals; the manipura; the anahata; vishuddha; the sahasrara; the ajna; the seven chakras. Actually, there are 700. And these are done for the purpose of concentration. There are no sleeping energy in the form of a snake that crawls up the one tube, the ida, and comes down the other one called the pingala. There is no such thin g. What it actually is, now the vortexes of energies which are functioning in your mind, and we know, for example, here is the solar plexus with a bundle of nerves there. What we do is, if it is prescribed to you, it might not be good for some, it might be good for others. By using your own vibrational force of your mantra you unloosen the knots and give it free flow. And then they tell you also that you must sit up straight, neck straight, spine straight, so that snake can creep up. The energy is so s ubtle that you can twist yourself into a ball and the energy will still be flowing. Hm? So that is how a lot of ritualism came about, and that is how many schools of thought and philosophies were founded. When they had nothing really much to say, they introduced all these various other things to make it bulky. Large course, large money. Do you see. Don't take any note of that. Just do, and you will find spiritual practices are very simple practices. People that mix them up and try to make them more technical and difficult, it is done because of their personal motivations. The spirit itself, that which is really you, is pure, uncompounded. It is simple, so why should spiritual practices not be simple? They are very simple. The only thing is, you have to do them. You can sit with a beautiful plate of food in front of you at the table, but if you do not pick up your knife and fork, the food is not going to jump into your mouth. But the effort you are making, you know, in picking up the food with t he fork and cutting it with the other... There is one thing about the American way of eating that I still can't understand and no one has explained it to me. They pierce

9. U S 86 - 27 the piece of food left hand and use the right hand to cut it. Then afterwards they p ut the knife down and transfer the fork from the left hand to the right hand and then put it in their mouths. I don't see any logic in it. [END SIDE ONE] Perhap s there is one logic there the more energy you spend transferring the fork from one hand t o the other, the quicker your digestion. So, things are in reality, very simple to regain the balance which is your birthright. Like that door, you just gave it that momentum and it came back in place. Because that spring of balance is already within you , as that spring of balance is already within that door. But you've got to give it some momentum, a little push, and it all comes right. Do you see. And by balance we term it integration. Where the conscious mind and the subconscious mind, and the one thing which the spiritual practices does firstly you start it off with the conscious mind of course, but the greatest work it does is in your subconsci ous mind, where all your karmas and samskaras and impressions are embedded. And that is where the clearing house, that is where the clearance takes place of the dirt and debris. So that the thoughts filtering through your conscious mind will be more power ful, pure, more conducive to the harmony within yourself. And then it goes in two directions, when the subconscious is cleared. And that is what the psychoanalysts work with. They try and ask you a million questions and make you talk, things like that, and they try and analyze. Meanwhile, they can't analyze their own minds and they want to analyze yours. It works in two directions: one direction helps the conscious mind, and the other direction goes to the superconscious, from where the energy is draw n, to help the subconscious mind clear itself more and more. So the conscious mind feels the effect, which is translated into daily action. So you become a karma yogi, your actions are right. And if you do your karma properly, if your actions are right, automatically you become a bhakti yogi. Because you do that action with feeling, with devotion, so you become a karma yogi, a bhakti yogi. Right, now with that, an understanding starts developing of what you are doing and you become a jnana yogi, the yo ga of wisdom. And all these put together you become a Gururaj yogi, raja yogi. Raja yoga, the royal path, which is a combination of all the paths. So that is how one brings balance. But one thing, never think you are imbalanced. Always say I am in bala nce. On a rough sea the boat might sway this way and that way, and yet it preserves its balance, and if it did not it will sink! So let it sway, it is its nature to sway because of the ocean. And you are living in this world, the ocean of this world, an d your boat is sailing along. But please do have a good pilot that knows how to steer the boat of your life and take you to the other shore. Otherwise he will be lost and so would you. So all these mental ramifications, they are of no use. You know, ther e was a village on one side of the city. And on this side was the village and on that side was the city ([To Joy]: We've been waiting for you my joyous Joy. You've missed a lot of this talk but you can catch it up on the tape or video.) So everyday a boat comes to take the village workers to their jobs in the city. Now there was a clever pundit...

10. U S 86 - 27 You know a pundit is supposed to be a learned man of scriptures like a priest or rabbi or monsignor, whatever, and this poor peasant who used to go and work in the city, he used to expound all his philosophies, and talk of the Rig Veda, and all the Vedas and Fedas and all his philosophies and these people were getting fed up listening to him. So one day a storm came up and the river was in flood. And the boat s tarted sinking. So the one peasant says, "Can you swim?" So he says, "No, I cannot swim." So what is the use of the knowledge of all your Vedas if you cannot put it into action. And you know you are traveling that river every day and night to your work. So you become practical, and by becoming practical you will find the "im" disappearing and there is balance. Practicality, spiritual practices, proper attitude, restr aints, to a certain degree, discrimination between what is right and wrong. Just a littl e common sense, that is all that is required. It doesn't require an Einstein to have discrimination in your daily lives. You'd be surprised the amount of mistakes Einstein made in his mathematics. Wish he was here because I'll tell him what he couldn't finish doing, his unified field theory. Do you see. So that brings balance to life. So if you are limping down the road with a stone in your shoe, take off your shoe, throw the stone out and walk. It will be a comfortable walk. You do not need that sto ne in your shoe, because firstly, the stone does not belong to the shoe. It is something from outside. So it means, be yourself. And being yourself you are really on the path to greater and greater balance within yourself. That is happiness, that's joy , that's peace. Is that right, Joy? It is joy. So simple. Good. Now we were to talk on contemplation and the methods of how to learn contemplation. We have talked many times on concentration and on meditation, but we have alluded to contemplation so we will talk about that. There is a poem which I composed last night for you. And I will show you how you can contemplate on that poem as an example because the same principles can be used in everything. [Gets mike cord longer, blackboard, etc.] I nev er memorize my poetry, I'll have to read it. Fleeting time knows it all Winter, summer, spring and fall While life's tidal waves find the shawl Covering the mind, but to unwind the love in all From below and above showering the parched earth Death comes to flow in birth. This is me, I am all. Bubbling like the shimmering brook

11. U S 86 - 27 All this am I, and I am it all The kiss on pallid lips, the fleeting look That love am I, How, can I ever ask why? Now, in contemplation what you do is this, you pick out the ke y words. I won't tell them to you, it is a practice you have to do yourself. Good. You pick out the key words. Um, there is a lot of nature described there. This poem could be a very long one but I tried to make it short. It's composed in a certain m eter which combines Western meters with Sanskrit meters and all my poetry is a combination of both. "Fleeting time knows it all, winter, summer, spring, and fall. While lif e's tidal waves find the shawl covering the mind but to unwind the love in all." Do you see the thought process there when you do contemplation. That even in spite of the winter, spring, and fall, which is subjected to time that knows the seasons, time knows seasons although it is temporal and temporary. And yet, through that time, a ll the problems, the tidal waves, find the shawl not mine where is it the shawl of courage, of hope, that covers the mind in its meanderings. "But to unwind the love in all." It unwinds the love in all. That means you love all because it's unwound. "From below and above, showering the parched earth," Rain coming, and we always picture rain as coming from above. But the rain is also below, deep down in the earth. Those two mingle for the plants to grow. "From below and above, showering the parche d earth, death comes to flow in birth." It means that there is no death, for what we know death to be only flowers itself again in birth. "This is me, that I am. I am all." You are divine, you are Divinity itself. "Bubbling like the summer brook" her e I am under the tidal waves and yet I too can bubble like the shimmering brook. (Whoever wrote this shimmering) The moonlight is shining, the brook, the shimmering brook. The shimmer adds life to it. Bubbling like the shimmering brook. All this, all t hese parts of nature that we've talked about, the tidal waves, the summer, winter, spring and fall, the above and below, the rain, the parched earth, the shimmering brook, all that I am. It is you all. I am it all. "The kiss on pallid lips, the fleeting look." The kiss on pallid lips. Those lips that were pallid with that kiss I make it radiant. And the fleeting look, just a fleeting look, brings the conclusion of things. This is wrong. That love am I. How, comma, (perhaps I never did put that in) "H ow, can I ever ask why? "Who am I, how can I ask it. Can your eye see itself? No! When you are it, there's no questions asked anymore. You are it. Now in the process of contemplation you can use any poem that you like, or something that you have made up. The profounder the better. And then you mark off certain words that strike you, not necessarily the same words for everyone, but whichever strikes you. You combine them and you allow the mind to flow. If you start just thinking, pondering and wonde ring of what the words say, then you will be thinking. Hm? While thinking and contemplation are different to a

12. U S 86 - 27 great degree. Thinking is a directed thought, while contemplation is an undirected thought which just flows. So you allow the mind to flow, l ike in your word association. And you'll find yourselves becoming poets too, perhaps. So, allow your thoughts to flow. Here "showering the parched earth" might go to rain, and how rain makes the wheat grow, things like that. You just allow the mind to flow in the beginning. And when you get accustomed, with a bit of practice, for the mind just to flow. First, of course, you read it slowly and understand the import of the poem, and then with the practice of that, you start practicing for the mind just to flow. And after that you revert back (it takes a little time, spend about two weeks or three weeks on each section of contemplation) and then, say in the third week, you come back to the poem. And that poem, you can read or memorize it, doesn't matte r. But it must flow in such a way, like pouring oil from one vessel into another vessel without a break. That is contemplation. Where the thought has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Only the beginning is seen and the end is seen, the middle is not. Because then you'd start becoming conscious of it. So, when one achieves that continuous flow of thought without interruption, (with practice you will find other thoughts won't come into your mind at all) what happens mostly is this, that you'll be thinki ng of one thing and then another thought comes into your mind. You are thinking of Gururaj and then you'll start thinking what should I cook for Harry or Larry or Jerry, whoever. That would happen in the beginning. But bring your mind back to the origin al thought so that with practice you will find the mind sticking to the original thought all the time. That is contemplation. And when you are successful in that, then anything your heart desires, anything your mind wants, will be achieved. Because there would be a force in the flow, because of its continuity. When we make films, you know, we hire a girl that does continuity only. She sits with a pad... so today Merrill has a blue shirt on, so in tomorrow's shooting he mustn't have a red shirt on. Becau se that would not go with the same action, because sometimes to film ten seconds might require a whole day. You shoot over and over again until the director gets exactly what he is trying to get. That makes a good director. So the continuity girl makes notes: Merrill had a blue shirt and grey pants, whatever, so that to preserve the continuity tomorrow when that shot is furthered on, you would have the same clothes. So today's scene would have him coming from that door and going through that door, right, with a blue shirt. That scene is done today. Tomorrow's scene, you must still see him walking out the door from the other angle of the camera with a blue shirt and not a red one. Do you see? That's continuity. So the tho ught has to be continuous in its flow, and that is contemplation. Do you see? And contemplation comes after a certain amount of concentration. Then comes contemplation. Then comes the real meditation. Then the real meditation comes where you become to tally oblivious of the flow. You are the flow. That is true meditation. Hm? People are still learning. It's not something acquired overnight. But as your concentration becomes stronger, you'll find your thoughts

13. U S 86 - 27 more powerful. As your contemplation becomes stronger, it will move smoothly. Like, as I said, oil being poured from one vessel into another without a break. And that adds smoothness to your life. The power of thought where by you could banish the darkness of imbalance, by a concentrated m ind. And with contemplation the path becomes smoother like that oil, it makes it slip, smoother. And then, the cherry on the cake would be real samadhi, real meditation. Where you become the flow, you are non separate from the flow, for you have always been it. You are only re recognizing it. That is the flow of life. So these things are important on the path of meditation. And they are not difficult. An hour, half an hour or so used everyday. Even contemplation during your work. Say you are an accountant and you are writing up a set of books. You can let your thought flow. I can't do it anymore, I'm out of practice. But when I used to practice as an accountant, I used to take... in those years we had pounds, shillings, and pence. Now we have rands and cents. I used to take three fingers, one on each column, pounds, shillings and pence, and run my fingers down the whole cash book page and put the total at the bottom. Total absorption and concentration. Do you see? And it flowed because of t he ability of contemplation. Do you see? And then when you get your total you are in meditation. That is the totality of life. There is a stage still furt her than that. We'll come to that in due time. Where you go into the void. Into the land of no mind, which in reality is the totality of mind. Good. Twenty five to ten. You have an idea. Any questions, please? Do not hesitate. I tried to be as simple as possible, but if there are any questions, do ask me. ROOPA: Well, if you are in this smoot h even flow, how can you also have a part of you monitoring to check out if you are in the smooth even flow? GURURAJ: You don't monitor. ROOPA: So you just go for that smooth even flow and forget about everything else. GURURAJ: Right. With pract ice you would forget. In the beginning, as I said before, you would have extraneous outside thoughts entering in between. Like I said, you are thinking of Guruji and next moment you are thinking of what you're going to cook for dinner and this and that. These thoughts will intrude because the mind is not tuned. Hm? Yet. But

14. U S 86 - 27 when it becomes tuned, with practice, you will be in that smooth flow. And this applies to your workday life, whatever you are doing. You could be a student or a carpenter, you c ould be a professor. You could be a doctor, you could be a spiritual master, you could be anyone. It applies to everyone. Yes. And I show it to you in practical demonstration. All the time. I don't prepare notes and things when I present a talk. I sa y, "Look, what shall we talk about today?" And I can carry on talking for a few hours. Do you see why? Everything I teach comes from experience and I just flow. Do you see? Just flow. And even Roopa that was speaking to us, has a friend that is a very well known journalist who writes for a prestigious magazine, says she wonders how I can just sit down and say what shall I talk about. And the talk would have a structure, she said something like that, beginning, middle and end. A flow. There is no think ing. The mind is set aside. Although, of course, the mind, the brain, is required to portray, to express. For everything needs expression. What's the sense of me loving a woman and not expressing it? So everything works that way. So, fundamentally, all laws of nature are the same. There is no difference. And understanding that, you do not need to be bothered about any imbalances. Because in that imbalance there is a balance. You have a grandfather clock and the pendulum is swinging. There is motion there and that motion can be taken as imbalance. It swings to the right and then to the left and things like that. But it keeps perfect time. So even that motion of your life has a balance to it, by giving the clock perfect time. For without that motio n the clock won't run. And life is like that. You got to have that motion for the clock to run. The clock of life. Hm? Yes. And then, of course, you do set the alarm on, and you have to wake up to go to the office or to work. And that's the time you start cursing: why did they invent an alarm clock. Because you felt like sleeping. There's yama niyama, discipline. Where the discipline can be inborn, you don't need the alarm clock. Before you go to bed at night, just program your mind. Your mind is one of the finest computers in the world (Jamie will tell us about that he's a computer expert). Program your mind. Repeat to yourself before you go to bed several times that I will be awake at four o'clock or whatever time. Repeat that quite a few ti mes in your mind and you'll see, you'll be awake at four o'clock. Your clock will be wrong but you will wake up on time. Do you see? Now, our life can be programmed toward balance that you spoke about. It's a matter of programming. So if you have any pr oblems, go to Jamie. He's an expert programmer for computers. That's how life works. So do not bother about imbalances, they have to be there. Hm? But recognize! Do not put emphasis on the imbalance, but try and find out the cause of the imbalance. Be cause everything in this worldly life has a cause. Find the cause, which is not difficult. Through the quietude of your meditation you will know the cause of the imbalance. And yet, even if you do not find the cause, remember that I'd rather suffer all the imbalances of the world than to have balance if it would make me a better person. A lunatic in the asylum, he's got no worries at all. Now, do you call that balance? That's not balance.

15. U S 86 - 27 No. So whatever imbalances there are, whatever discrepancies there are, or may be, take them in your stride. Life will always be in the process of evolution, a hill that you have to climb. It can be exasperating. It can be tiring. But once y ou reach the peak and see the vast panorama, you will say to yourself, "It's really been worth it. I was a fool to complain along the way. It's really worth it." O.K. my beloveds, that'll be it for tonight. **** END ****