Meditation is not concentration. How many of you think meditation is concentration? (Many in the audience raise their hands) You'll be disappointed because Meditation is not concentration. Meditation is a deep relaxation, and it is happening to us many times but we don't realize it. Little meditations have happened to all of us here and there, now and then when we felt some happiness. Every time you felt a deep sense of happiness, fulfillment or satisfaction, know that you have somewhere touched that level of meditation.
They are not contradictory, in fact they are complimentary. If you talk to any accomplished scientist, you'll find in them this quality of innocence, like a child. Any genius in any field for that matter, if you sit and talk to them, you will feel that there's a genuineness and a childlike simplicity in them.
Somewhere people think that childlike simplicity is contrary to being intelligent. I usually say that intelligence which is accompanied with cunningness is good for nothing, and child-likeness which is full of ignorance is good for nothing. We need that perfect combination of innocence and intelligence. A pure heart and a clear mind is a part of intelligence.
Through Meditation. Today scientists say, if you meditate even for eight weeks at least once a day, the grey matter in the brain increases and the structure of the brain changes. That's what I have been saying for the last 35-40 years. Today scientists have said the same thing, they have authenticated it in some way – that meditation does so much good to your nervous system and it does so much good to your brain. It creates a positive energy around you, it uplifts your spirit and alters your behavior pattern.
World Health Organization says that the biggest challenge that mankind is facing today is depression, and by the year 2020 depression is going to be much more prevalent. If half the population are on anti-depressants, then that is going to be terrible. Even anti-depressants work for some time and then they stop working. So, we need to bring a lifestyle change in people by making them understand how they can handle their own mind, their energy and their vibrations.
We live in era of quantum physics and today quantum physics says this is all about vibration. The whole world is nothing but vibrations, and this is what spirituality also says – it's all vibration. So, we need to teach people how they can shake off all the stress that accumulates on a day-to-day basis.
30 years ago, when I would talk about yoga or meditation, people would say, “Wow, that's not the normal thing to do. Someone who is crazy would go for all this”. That was the paradigm, that was the assumption people had. Today it has changed. Today, big companies like Daimler Chrysler, Benz, etc., show someone in a meditative pose to depict happiness in their advertising. Relaxation and happiness has become synonymous to meditation. I feel there's a big change in the mindset of the people.
There are different types of prejudices in different places in the world. A progressive society should just do away with prejudice.
In Norway, I am sure many people meditated. The others (who are not for meditation) are either misinformed or not well-informed about meditation. When doctors are telling you that with meditation your BP becomes normal, your blood sugar becomes normal, your heart rate becomes lower, then it must be good for you. Paradigms keep changing in the world and the intelligent people take to it faster than the others.
More and more people today want peace of mind. They want conflicts to be resolved. There are other people who are just struggling to make their ends meet.
There are two different aspects:
1. The physical requirements of people.
2. The mental requirement. Many people want solace.
People continue to feel lonely, after 40-50 a sense of depression dawns in them, and they feel they're not wanted by their family, people and society. This sort of anxiety has taken over some parts of the world.
We need to work on both levels. We need to give opportunities to people who are struggling to make ends meet. The Art of living is making some efforts in this direction by educating children, bringing education to unskilled people and unemployed people and giving them some hope to live. At the same time, those who have enough, we give them inner solace and make them see what life is all about. And we tell them that there is no point in crying and being worried all the time.
I know Americans are very intelligent people. I will let them decide what they want. I shouldn't be imposing or influencing them directly or indirectly about my opinion. There are very different people on this planet with different mindsets and ideas, and you never know what works, when and where.
I would like you to be a sincere seeker of truth. Don't label yourself as a theist or an atheist. It's very difficult to be an atheist, do you know why? You say that something is not existing. When you say that something doesn't exist, you should know everything about the universe to be able to say that, and it is impossible to know everything in the universe. The same is with a theist also. Believers or non-believers, they are on the same boat because both of them think they know it all. I would say, it is better to be a seeker of truth. If you are a seeker of truth, you don't have to believe things that you don't know.
You know you exist and you believe you exist, then explore who you are, forget about God, keep God aside. Let's just go with this self-inquiry ‘Who am I?’
