inside. Wherever space is, there the point also is, because a point is nothing but a
part of space. Where is the point of concentration? It is outside, or it is inside.
This is a general definition of the location of an object of concentration. But we have
to say something more about this point. Are we meditating on a point in the sense of
a dot or an ink spot? Or is it something else? This point is not merely a dot. It is a
figurative term used to designate an ideal which is in the mind. It is not a physical
dot in the sense of a full stop that we put when we write a sentence. It is a
metaphorical expression intended to give the characteristics of what we ought to
think in our mind for the purpose of achieving our result. So, before we actually sit
for meditation or concentration, we have to have some idea in our mind: “What is the
matter with me? What do I want?” What is it that we want? It is not uniform to every
person. It varies from one individual to another.
Therefore comes the necessity for initiation. We cannot have a wholesale mass-
initiation given by a Guru to thousands of people. That is not possible because the
needs of individuals vary from one to another. We cannot announce through the
broadcasting station: “Let all take this medicine.” This is not possible, because how
can we prescribe a single medicine to masses of people, not knowing what diseases
they are suffering from? It would be a foolish broadcast. Likewise, we cannot give a
mass initiation. Each individual is a specific character by himself or herself. Thus,
when we come to this point in the practice of sadhana, we come to an individual
issue—and that is the need felt for initiation by a Guru. What is it that we need? What
are our requirements? Why are we concentrating the mind? This will reveal many
other things also, simultaneously. The method that we have to adopt in meditation
also varies.
There are hundreds and thousands of methods of concentrating the mind, according
to the way in which the mind works at a particular given moment of time. It is not
one single method. Also, the method of concentration has to be accompanied by
many other accessories, such as a particular physical posture. A single posture
cannot be prescribed for everybody. There are various other moods of the mind that
have to be adopted, as well as the type of atmosphere in which one has to find
oneself. Many other things have to be considered. Hence, we are here at a stage when
personal guidance is necessary. It is not easy to give a public lecture on this subject,
nor can we find this information in textbooks, because it is all general information
that books give. A very detailed analysis of the individual situation cannot be found
in any textbook, and it is not possible to listen to it in a lecture. But this is the crucial
point and most important thing to be remembered and taken into consideration. The
objective of meditation is ultimately the realisation of the Supreme Being—God-
realisation, the realisation of the Absolute. This is known to everybody, and this is
perhaps the aim and objective of everyone born in this world.
So far, it is general information that is given to people. But we know this Absolute is a
terrific Reality, and we cannot conceive it in the mind. Who can conceive the
Absolute? Thus, we have to approach it in an appropriate manner, on the basis of the
level of mind that we are in at this moment. Though the Absolute is the Supreme
Reality, omnipresent and transcendent, it is also immanently present in the very
level of thought which we are capable of entertaining in our mind. Hence, we can
spot out this Absolute and put our finger upon it at every condition of the mind,
because every condition of the mind reflects the Absolute in a particular way, though