Interviewer: This is a very simple and basic question, but I would like to ask what meditation is and how one can reach the state of meditation.

Sri Chinmoy: Meditation is conversation with God. Here I am conversing with you. You are a human being and I am a human being, so we are using earthly language to talk to one another. Similarly, when we meditate, we can speak to God and He can speak to us, and we can understand one another. If we practise this conversation with God every day, as we practise other things, we can easily make progress in our meditation. The first thing we need to do in order to meditate is to silence our mind. This is first and foremost. Once we see that the mind is silent, we allow only divine thoughts — peace, love, joy and oneness — to enter into us. Then we try to assimilate them and make them part and parcel of our lives. Finally we try to offer to the world the same joy, love and peace that we have gotten from our meditation.