Q : In certain types of meditation, I was told that I should force my mind to be free from thought. I could come nowhere near doing this and felt it was a failure. Why, in the SKY, you do not give such advice?

A : Stopping the mind is an impossibility and any effort in that direction will do the aspirant no good what-so-ever. What you have to endeavor is to streamline the functioning of your mind.... This is definitely possible through our system of meditation and introspection. Ordinarily the mind will not stay at one place because it is used to work only in the aggravated or accelerated states. Let me give you an example. The rain falls on the roof of your house and the storm water flowing out of the drain pipe cuts a channel in the soil and goes its way under the Law of Gravity. When the rain comes again, the water goes along the beaten track. Because, it takes the line of least resistance. The mind does likewise. Having learnt meditation you have to coax and train the mind away from its earlier track. It will take sometime. In order to change the direction of flow of a stream, you have to dig another channel first and deepen it to an adequate extent so that is may hold the water. Meditate and meditate and your mind will touch subtler levels and pick-up energy. There after, it would be easier to keep the mind on this new path. In the initial stages, you should not miss your practice in Group meditation as the atmosphere and pressure will be enhanced due to the presence of the advanced aspirants and will help you. Later on, you have to do your bit to help juniors, just as you yourself have benefited from others. Therefore, the value of the Group Meditation should never be under estimated