Now as I said, in anger the fists clench automatically. But it is not necessarily the case that you can bring on anger by clenching your fists. We can put on an act of anger when there is no anger whatsoever within. Yet if we want to provoke anger within, clenching the fists can be helpful, but we cannot say for sure that anger will result. If we have to choose between clenching and not clenching the fists the possibility of bringing on anger is definitely greater with a clenched fist. This little help is possible.

When a person is in a state of tranquility his hands will take on the necessary mudra. If a person practices the formation of this mudra of the hands it cannot be said for certain that his mind will become peaceful, but particular states of the body do help the mind to be peaceful. The body will cooperate readily, then it is left to the mind to respond accordingly or not. But changing the body does not mean that the mind will change, because the state of mind precedes the state of the body. So when the mind changes the body follows suit, but an initial change in the body can at best create a possibility for a change in the mind. It is not a certainty.

So there is always the danger of delusion. A man may keep on performing asanas and mudras and think he has done everything; such cases have happened. For thousands of years people have been doing asanas and mudras thinking that they were practicing Yoga. Then gradually the concept of meditation was lost in Yoga. By the words yoga sadhana, what comes to mind is asanas, pranayamas, and so on. If you ask someone what Yoga is, he will think of asanas, pranayamas, and so on. Therefore, I always insist that if the requirements of a meditator are properly understood certain body positions can prove helpful to him. But the result is not certain. This is why I am always in favor of working from within and not from without.

If something begins from within we can understand its meaning. Suppose a meditator sits in meditation and I feel that inwardly he wants to burst out crying but he is holding it back. I can see that if he cries for ten minutes he will also begin to move and catharsis will take place. However, he is afraid that he may burst out crying so he stops himself. Now if he is told not to stop himself but to cry, he will at first pretend to cry. But within two or three minutes it will become authentic as the impulse to cry pushes to break out from within. The process of crying will break the barrier and what needs to flow out will do so.

Another meditator feels to dance but he holds himself back. If we tell him to dance, at first he will only be acting, the dance will not yet have arisen from within. Once he begins to dance it will give the dance an opportunity to break out, soon this will start and the inner dance will merge into the outer dancing. But if there is no cause for dancing within him and we tell the meditator to dance, he will continue to dance but nothing will happen.

So many things have to be considered. There are many many conditions to all that I have told you. If you keep these in mind you will understand. If you do not want to be burdened with all this, the best way is to start from within and let things happen spontaneously. Do not stop the outer expression, do not fight with it. Then things will happen by themselves.