So when sitting for meditation, the positive way is not to say, "No thought should come, no thoughts should come." The positive way is to put your whole attention into one object of thought. Negative thoughts, negative way of thinking always has an adverse affect. This is all a feat, as I told you, of attention or surat. True worship is to be wholly, solely devoted to one. This will be developed by regular practice in the accurate way. If you will do it accurately in that way, continually for some days, for an hour, two, four, five, like that, continuously, naturally Mind will have the habit. Mind wants bliss, joy, and it will taste that bliss. Mind will not permit you to go that way, because it knows when you get to that blissful state that you will never want to come back, to recede from there.
    So make friends with your mind. Make friendship with your mind. "All right, dear friend, wait, wait; we'll do that (what you want), but let us do this for a while." How to explain, so that this may be clear? Make friendship with the mind. "You want to eat something? All right, we'll give you something to eat. But first, for a while, let us do this, then we'll give you what you want." Do you know in the Bible what Christ says? "Wait, Satan, wait. Wait for a while." That means, wait, we'll attend to you. This will help you. Mind wants something to be done. Again you sit, again mind drags you. "All right, wait, friend. I'll be with you; wait, wait for a while." By repeating the same thing daily, it will turn into habit; and habit will turn into nature. So regularity, the word "regularity" means not only sitting physically, but sitting wholly and solely.  I always use the words "wholly and solely", not physically. I never mentioned physically. Even if you are physically there, you may not be wholly and solely there. The longer you can stay wholly and solely devoted to one object of thought, the more progress will come. Of course, one thing standing in the way is clutching. You become emotional. That very emotion is your ego attention. The longer you can stay there, the better the results will be. When you go out into nature, seeing nature, enjoying, that's all right. There is some power working behind Nature. Turn to that Power, then sit down in your meditation - you'll enjoy both - outer as well as inner.
    So the positive way of thinking is always helpful, you see? If you hear, "Don't look, don't reach the other side," you'll naturally say, "What is the other side?" Look wholly and solely into what is in there and the other side will come. There are very minor things. Doing the same thing in one way is binding you; the same thing in another way relieves you. If your whole attention is devoted to one object, wholly and solely, and you're truly cut off from all the world outside, that is true renunciation. What is renunciation? To be cut off from all outside. Not leaving hearth and home. You may go to the wilderness; even then you'll have the outside if your attention is there. So true renunciation follows when you are devoted wholly and solely to one thing. That's a training. That is why it is said, work is worship. You train in this way, then train in the other way. Man learns swimming in water, does he not? So meditation, true meditation - I might further add the word true - is only to be at one point, wholly and solely. That is a training ground in the worldly things and is good; then go on. Then you'll enjoy more, I tell you, even outside. Also, you'll find pleasure in work. Many engagements you will have; that will be the training ground. So true renunciation does not mean leaving hearth, home, this and that, eat and drink. It is only when you are devoted wholly to one point, when you are absorbed, cut off from all outside, even from your body. So regular practice will make you an adept in this. Today, you may stay absorbed two minutes, then with practice five minutes, then half hour. Out of the whole time you sit physically, say for four hours, if you are there for even a half hour, you'll be more successful. So at night, always repose in your meditations and lie down relaxed. Go in to sleep with that very thought of God. Even if you go in to sleep, that thought will be reverberating with the circulation of your blood. When you rise in the morning, you'll feel you had been doing this remembrance all through the night.

But how can we remember Simran in our dreams?

    That won't come in a day. Dreams and visions are two different things. Dreams come up as a reaction of your uncollected, unregulated thoughts. At the time you do not remember what you've actually seen. In the morning, you might have some vague memory of it. That is a dream. When you have a vision, you are conscious at the time. You're talking, you're hearing. You'll also remember everything. That is not a dream; that is withdrawal from the body. Even in dreams the withdrawal is from the body. The difference is, that in light sleep dreams, you go to the gullet and to the navel in sound sleep dreams. In that case, when you become empty you remain conscious; sleep is there, but you remain conscious. "My body sleeps, not I"; then you have visions and they are true. Sometimes the initiate cannot rise above and He comes down to help him. So those are real - that's the difference. When you see anything, continue looking, that's the only thing; then that will become clear.

    That will help you. If you continue like that, you'll be successful. In the beginning, when a man learns how to swim, he makes effort. When he becomes proficient, he simply swims with no effort, with one leg here, there, going on like anything. I have been swimming in rivers. I'm very fond of rivers. In the Jhelum River there was a very big flood. I would just go to the top and in the middle of the river I would swim. No fear. It is your own fear that kills you. The water won't let you down. Only little effort is needed. So this comes only when you become an adept. Regularity pays, in the accurate way; that's all I can say. Physically sitting at the Door and your mind running away to all sides, the four sides of the world, is no meditation. That is why Kabir says, if your body is sitting by God or by the Master and you are running away to the outside things, that is no company of the Master. Company of the Master means when you're wholly and solely There. That sort of absorption will give you more, better, effects. You'll learn more. That is why it is said an hour of sitting like that with the Master will give you more than one hundred years of regular penances. Penances are done only to come up to that state. There you sit by fire. Otherwise you are thinking how the fire is made; how we are to strike one stick against the other; how to kindle it.

In the beginning, You recommend that we sit two hours a day. But what if we can't sit that long wholly devoted? Would you recommend that we start with a shorter time and break it up when thoughts are coming and then try to lengthen it?

    Tithing has been the custom all through life. To give out a tithe, tithe of money, tithe of time - two and one half hours; tithe of everything. That has been the custom all through history. If you sit for two hours or two and a half hours, you may have some five minutes like that in true meditation. All right, then if you can devote wholly and solely for ten minutes, and increase like that, that's all right - I have no objection. Purpose is there. That is why I say, don't go to meditation as an imposition. Go fresh and buoyant, just as a son goes to the mother. This binding is sometimes necessary; you should at least put in that time (two to two and a half hours). Out of that time, I think you'll have some minutes like that. But if you've put in only five
minutes, then of the five minutes - maybe one fifth of one minute you are There. Hafiz says, "Paint the whole wall." Do it--to help  yourself!! Even if you cannot paint the whole wall, you can do something at least. You are to jump,  five feet for instance, or ten feet. Have the ideal of five feet, then you'll jump at least one or two feet. Do you follow my point? Try to follow. If you have got something higher before you, you'll always try to come up to at least half of it. If you've always got the lower ideal, you won't even reach that lower and you will go down still further. At the same time I'm telling you, if you can put five - ten minutes in that way, wholly, solely, then increase. That's all right. But you'll find the other way. Now you have got two hours; you may be sometimes successful, sometimes not. But when you have five or ten minutes, "I had to put down (record in diary) only five minutes." That is the reason underlying. Everything has something underlying.
    A man cannot become an adept in one day. If you can do it, well and good. I'll be most happy. If you can put in ten minutes today, wholly, solely, twenty minutes. Increase ten minutes daily. After one week you will have seventy minutes. I wish you to do it. And after fifteen days, one hundred fifty minutes. Do that - I will be glad, you see. I don't want work done in a slip-shod way but in an accurate way. Mind will question so many things and involve you - induce you - not to put in two hours. So start with five minutes. All right, do it. I quite accept that from today. You accept it? (The person agrees.) All right, take up that way from today. Your mind will delude you - Don't listen to him. All right, you'll agree to sit fifteen minutes at a time? (Person speaking with Master agrees to sit fifteen minutes at a time.) Now what further thing will come? If you succeed in putting in fifteen minutes, if you succeed, I am adding the word "if," then after that when you reach the place where you can water, would you not like to dig further? But you reach there, then recede, again dig another hole for fifteen minutes, leave
there, then dig. All right, I'm very glad. Let's start from today in your case. I am agreeable to any way. But do put in time, please. I don't think you'll find any friend like that who'll allow you every concession. But if you do agree to this, be sincere. Don't deceive your own self. Put in fifteen minutes at a time, honestly, wholly, solely. You'll change.
    First thing, sit relaxed, quite relaxed. Then put in fifteen minutes. You'll do wonderfully. Now all bindings are gone, you see. But at the same time, keep the higher ideal, naturally you'll do less. If all of you start like that, I have no objections. Fifteen minutes at a time, wholly, solely.
    I'm ready to adjust myself to anything you like. But accuracy is wanted. Then you don't deceive your own self. Mind is very tricky. When you are sometimes drowsy - will that sitting count? That won't count. Sit fully conscious. If you are drowsy for half an hour, then...? Start like that, then you will have one hour full meditation which will give you more. You will have more then, naturally, you will want more. You will have some bliss and you'll get more, too.
    We think of how much time we have put in. Sometimes we look at our watch and see how much time has passed. That counting won't do. Sit, cut off. You are going to die, once and for all. That is meditation. You may return or not return. Mind is very tricky. Always like a gentlemen it will say, "All right, why not put in five minutes at a time?" So, all right, I quite agree with your mind. I know it's tricky. Anyhow, I'm glad it raises its head. When the serpent raises its head, you see that there is danger. So tell your mind today to put in fifteen minutes, wholly. That is what is wanted, you see.
    When you stay there longer periods, that will give you more progress. Now follow the injunction of your mind today and see that he does not further delude you, play tricks with you.