Talks Excerpt 408. Swamiji gives advice on a concentration location for meditation.

From Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

[During an Upanishad class Swamiji said]

The Universe is Infinite. There is no beginning and no end to it. [Swamiji told us it’s not even ‘a’ universe but infinite multiverses.]

Upanishad Commentary: Infinite proceeds from the Infinite.

Remove the infinitude from the Infinite and what remains? Brahman alone.

We see, we give, we take, there is appearing and disappearing. Beyond these is Brahman, the substratum. As Brahman is Infinite, so is the soul Infinite. Soul disappears – what remains? The Infinite.

Take the example of a clay jar. When it is dark, I cannot see the jar. When it is not in jar form, it is still a lump of clay.

To sharpen the intellect – and to give yourself a clear idea how you came to this conclusion – think that everything is the Self, and nothing but the Self.

[Swami Yatiswarananda says in his book, ‘Meditation and Spiritual Life‘] You must have a fixed centre of consciousness – and awaken the spiritual consciousness there. A fixed centre of consciousness is very important in meditation – not one day here and one day there. [Swamiji points to different locations in his body.] If you are happy to meditate in the heart [anahata chakra] or the forehead [ajna chakra]; keep to that. Don’t change it.

Control of food is very, very important. If you are living a spiritual life, you must practise this. You must understand your true motive in all circumstances – you must adjust according to your environment.

You must take a particular consciousness to unlock that consciousness, or, as Sri Ramakrishna said, ‘to awaken the spiritual consciousness there.’

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These recordings or the excerpts from them, were made from the early 1970s onward, by Mother Radha, a close devotee of Swamiji’s and edited for uploading here by our gurubhai and her son, Brother Tim. Please be mindful that what Swamiji was saying may have been specific to an individual or a group of people with him, at the time.