This discourse reviews how to implement the Iśwara samāpatti (engrossment in godliness), and thereby develop the practice into an effortless meditation on God. His Holiness Swami Vidyadhishananda explains how samādhi (absorption) is easier attained by those who practice Iśwara-praṇidhana since early years in life, however, it is never too late for those who have intense devotional surrender. By repeated experiences of devotional sublimation, engrossment grips and guides the contemplator to bring about a mature personal relationship with God. Herein the thesis, I am He (God), is the method of meditation to bring about merging, because God is an outside discrete entity in the mind of the contemplator. In this method, the I-sense needs to be located through a subtle feeling in the heart. His Holiness elucidates how to develop a complete feeling in the heart space. Therefore, dhārana (a steady ideation) that develops from the repeated attainment of samāpatti (engrossment) effortlessly combines āsana, prānāyāma and pratyāhāra (subjugation of sense organs).

Recorded live at the Hansacharaṇam Retreat held in Southern California on the occasion of Guru Purnima, 16th – 19th July 2016