This process itself is very simple; it is the preparation for the process which is complex. If you want to shake hands with the President in the White House, it is very simple. Nothing to it! But, although the ultimate process is simple enough, yet all the red tape and all the hurdles that you have to face and surmount in order to get yourself into a position in which you stand before him and merely have to raise your hand and clasp his, all this preparation may take many months. You have to have all your credentials and the date of the interview fixed by the President’s Office; then you have to book a seat on the plane or train, reserve your accommodation in Washington, and then, even if you do actually enter the White House, you may find that there are others who have come before you and a long wait may ensue before you may actually see the President.

In the same way, if you want to go into the Holy of holies by the simple process of plunging into deep meditation, the preparation for it may well take much of your time, energy and effort. You may have to seek out and talk to a dozen different teachers on the subject of meditation; discuss different methods with other seekers who are practising meditation; carry on research of your own in books and lessons; and experiment and learn by trial and error. The process of meditation itself is simple, but the preparation that leads you into it is lengthy and complex.

First and foremost, the mind is in a state of grossness. Gross minds cannot still the thoughts; it is only the fine mind that can concentrate, and it is only the pure mind which is fine. The impure mind is gross. The stuff of the mind, which is called “Chitta” in Yogic terminology, is gross when the nature of the being is not fully purified. What does this mean? Does it imply that a cleansing, like a soap-and-water scrubbing, is required? It means that there are blemishes in the human nature and these blemishes have to be eliminated.

This is a scientific fact. In order to meditate, certain conditions have to be eradicated. These blemishes—the impurities of human nature—may be anything from harshness, irritability, a little petty envy to greed, passion, hatred, lustfulness, anger, arrogance, haughtiness, delusion or covetousness. All these blemishes make the nature extremely gross, coarse and base. They are totally unspiritual and they make the mind unstable and cause it to oscillate. They, therefore, have to be totally eliminated and this is the ground-work, the spade work, the preparation, which is no simple task. This discipline, though apparently just an ethical one, yet has a direct bearing upon the scientific technique of Yoga. This constitutes the basic foundation upon which the structure of Yoga is raised.

The great science of Yoga, which leads you to meditation, is based upon a pattern of perfect moral rectitude and the life ethical. It refers constantly to a life of perfect-goodness, to an example of perfect character, to a course of perfect conduct and the highest virtue. Virtue is the sheet-anchor of all great attainments, all worthwhile attainments that do not vanish into thin air, that do not last only upon this earth-plane, but are enduring and for ever. The total removal of all blemishes is the very basis and foundation of all higher achievements, and if meditation is to be successful, the mind has to be pure, and if the mind is to be pure, you must grow in goodness, grow in virtue, and eliminate hatred and harshness from your nature altogether.

You must be kind to others—kind in thought, word and deed. Your speech must be sweet and your actions compassionate. In fact, you must become godly in your nature. This is essential because it is only a divine being that can experience the Divine. You have to reflect the nature of God. When God looks at you, He must feel the reflection of His divine nature in you. That nature should grow, unfold and bloom forth like a divine flower upon the soil of human nature. It is this growing forth into a life of virtue that is hard, for habitual traits in human nature die hard. However assiduously you may try to root them out, again and again you will find them cropping up in some form Or the other.

Lust, greed and covetousness have to be patiently and earnestly rooted out of your nature. The great Master of meditation, Patanjali, has said that the most effective way of growing into the divine nature is not so much by picking out your little weaknesses, like a monkey picking off lice (which is a waste of your time and energy), as by filling yourself with virtue.

Therefore grow in goodness the positive way, the forceful way. Be more and more truthful, exercise compassion, at every step create opportunities to demonstrate fellow-feeling, selflessness and the spirit of service. You thus grow in virtue by cultivating it positively and practising it actively. If you develop a tremendous passion for goodness, the negative side cannot remain. If you bring in the light, darkness cannot stand before it. Even so, if you thus fill yourself with perfection, you will crowd out all blemishes. Go all out an grow in this way into an ideal being.

This has a direct connection with meditation. One of the very great aids in meditation is to develop yourself into a pure and perfect being. The two processes are mutually inter-acting. In order to reach the highest stage in meditation you have to become a perfect being, and in order to grow into perfection, meditation is the greatest help to overcome all the weaknesses and defects in your nature by augmenting your will-power, by giving you clarity of thought, by sharpening your intellect, and thus increasing your power of discrimination. You are better able to discern what is proper and what is improper and you are better equipped to analyse yourself, because the mind becomes integrated due to concentration and meditation. It becomes subtle and sharp.