Group meditation will help you with more power to overcome obstacles very quickly. So most of the problems you have are self-created. After initiation, if you follow the precepts, if you follow the pure vegetarian diet, and if you go to group meditation, you should have no problems whatsoever.
After a really good meditation session, you stand up like a saint, and no one dares touch you. If you really have a good meditation and sincerely practice, people sense that, and feel that, and they have nothing for you but reverence and love. And you have nothing at all written on your face except love and purity. And that I can see very, very clearly, like reading a book. Do you take notice? Those who meditate a great deal, and sincerely practice, you see their change? Yeah? That's why when you come here, you should, you ought to meditate all the time, whenever you can. Not only sitting there meditating, but in your mind, you must concentrate. Don't try to find friends and,... idle gossiping everywhere. Even if I don't see you then, when I see you, I see. All the people see. It's written on your face very, very clearly. I tell you from all honesty of my heart. There's nothing you can hide, nothing at all. It's written on your face, in your eyes, on your forehead. It's a sense around your body, doesn't matter what kind of perfume you spray, no difference, really. So, very precious is the meditation.
That's why I tell you go to group meditation, because here you have the truest friends. Then if you have problems, or maybe sometimes you make mistakes, because of many friends, they can talk to you, and they love you, encourage you. You will come back again to the correct direction. Having group meditation is just like having an unconditional good friend or a good beloved; and we all grow together, we share together some problems and happiness. This is very good for the human psyche, even not talking about spiritual practice.
So you see why we have to practice now, or why we must go to group meditation; because we are weak. Sometimes we go alone and if someone tempts us, we will fall. But if we go as two, three or four persons together, and if we want to be tempted, our friends say, "No, no! It's no good for you. Come back!" That's why we must have friends to practice together.
In this life everything is like that, even with politics. If a man wants to be president, he must collect a lot of followers who have the same ideal as he has, and who support him. Everyone knows that. Otherwise, do you think one person alone could create a particular movement? Or could one person alone change the whole of a country? There must be a lot of people to support! So, when we blame one person, we have to think more! It is a shared ideal, it is a responsibility of a lot of people, not only one or two men.
So it's the same SAME with every ideal, the same with every goal we reach for, we must have supporting friends in order to go the same way. So when we fall, when we are weak, our friends will help us, or carry us. So, we must have friends. That's why we must have group fellow practitioners to encourage each other, because this is like a big family. When you come in and you meditate together you also share the spiritual energy together, not only the mundane problems; and then everyone just connected together. The stronger ones help the weaker ones, and then we have less weaknesses. Then we can come together at the same level. Everyone is happy. You are cleansed, and you become happier and happier; and you feel lighter and lighter everyday.
