When this connection happens, man is said to be enlightened or in eternal bliss or in nithyananda. nithyananda means eternal bliss. Through listening to all the lectures and practicing all the meditation techniques, we become more and more aware of this connection and try to experience it with more awareness. This is the sole purpose of all our efforts. I always say: there are two types of people: those who fight with others and win and those who fight with themselves and win. It is easy to fight with others. It is not a big deal. But it is difficult to fight with yourself. When you are courageous, you will fight with yourself and win. You will destroy what you are not and emerge as a blissful being; you will flower.

The greatest challenge for man is to realize his entire potentiality. This can be done only when he moves inwards and keeps purifying himself again and again until he becomes intelligent enough not to gather more dust inside. Actually, the word Swami means one who has realized his full potential. All our difficulties on planet Earth are because we are not able to realize our potentiality. There is a saying that goes: the lion that is not allowed to be a lion will become a fox. If we are not allowed to realize our true potential energy, we will start expressing it in a wrong way either self-destructive or destroying others. So the creative energy, or the potential energy, should be allowed to express itself in a free-flowing way.

Society should allow us, that is one thing, and we should also know the technique to express it. Swami means a man who has realized his potential power, who is expressing himself as he is; who is completely in tune with his being; who is blissful! You have tremendous potential in you. Time and again psychologists and mystics have said that man is not living up to his full potential. Where are we missing it? Where are we stuck? Why are we not able to realize our full potentiality? We need the courage to let go and explore, that's all. We will then know the answers to all these questions. When you start exploring sincerely, you will experience a shift in consciousness and this shift will open a space in you for you to flower.

When you flower, you become a king. You will then live like a lord on Earth. People may have all the possible comforts, money, knowledge and what not. But they will remain beggars if they have not found their inner space. To find your being is to become rich. Inner richness is real richness. We have become so caught up with what goes on outside us that we remain completely ignorant of our inner selves. We are so caught up in the outer world adventure that we miss the wonderful adventures of the inner world. We miss what the great Rishis and Masters experienced in their lives. This experience is what I want to share with all of you. Question: Swamiji how would you define spirituality in a nutshell? Spirituality is nothing but the flowering of four things in you: physical health, mental health, smooth inter-personal relationships and the ability to respond spontaneously, what I call responsibility.

Physical health is being free from disease. When you visit a doctor, he should give you a report saying that you are clinically alright. The second mental health, is being free from all subconscious and deeply engraved negative thought patterns and being free from worries, pain, jealousy, discontentment, ego, lust etc. The third interpersonal relationships, is having smooth relationships with everyone around you. It is not enough if you are merely cordial with everyone. You should be able to go through any amount of interaction with any kind of person, without feeling pressure or pain. The moment you feel pressure or pain, it means that there is some block inside you, some block in your mental health. The fourth The ability to respond spontaneously, is what I call responsibility.

When you are able to take on responsibility, when you are able to say yes to anything spontaneously, you will expand that very moment of saying yes and energy will flow through you to accomplish it. Of course, it is up to you to use that energy to accomplish that task. When you keep doing this, you keep expanding.