The sadhanas of japa mantra, meditation & pranayama

Guru: Now, here you’ll find beads around my neck. I promise you it is not to be fashionable! It is only for me to concentrate and know that I am chanting the name of the Lord or the Divine Mother 108 times.

Can you imagine me with some other beads around my neck if I were to say, “I hate, I hate, I hate, I hate, I’m angry, I’m vicious, I’m mean, I’m brutal?” Now the vibration I’ve set in motion is different from the one that I’m going to chant now.

Guru chants: Om Maha Lakshmyai Cha Vidmahe/Vishnu Pattrinyai Dhimahi/Thanno Lakshmi Prachodayath/Om Maha Lakshmyai Namah/Om Maha Lakshmyai Cha Vidmahe/Vishnu Pattrinyai Dhimahi/Thanno Lakshmi Prachodayath/Om Maha Lakshymai Namah

How does chanting a mantra affect us?

That’s a mantra to the Divine Mother. Now, the whole system of the human being becomes mild, sweet, and gentle.

It changes the aura around the human being because the impulses generated by the mind, the electrical impulses, are far better for you than when aggression and anger are stimulated in the mind.

That is why we call these [beads] japa mala. Japa means to chant the name of the Lord. You can chant the Lord’s Prayer and all mantras on this very same mala, 108 times.

On the same [mala], you can chant any holy text again and again. What it does for the human brain is that slowly the aggressiveness diminishes and is pushed away and the higher nature surfaces in a human being. That is why we say to people if they have a little bit of time, chant the name of the Lord. 

If you have a little bit of time before your meditation and your worship, chant the mantras that you know in whatever religion you know.

That is why as soon as I came down the stairs and I sat here I said, “I want to see how many of you I know.” Do you know what that meant? Not the people I knew before (ie: the names and faces of the people sitting there).

Become embodiments of love

I wanted to look at your aura. What anger, what love, what compassion, what sweetness do you have in your life? For those are the credentials you give me to know who you really are. That is my job – to know who you really are so that I can slowly change your whole manner and your aura until you are the embodiment of love.

God is Love. Love is God. You will transform all your [lower] natures until you know love. Love is what you must aim to reach out to get, for it is compassion. It is understanding. It is forgiveness. It changes your whole nature to become sweet.

I say this to you – the past is beyond recovery; the present is at hand. Sanctify it. 

That is what I want. [That] through whatever devotion you have, whatever mantra you have learned, [that you] chant it, apply it, be successful, and experience the Divine – that is invaluable to you.

Tips for meditation

Find a place where you are going to meditate. Reserve it especially for yourself and don’t allow other people to go into that room. The reason for that is that other people will come and leave their vibrations there. As soon as you begin to meditate you will pick those vibrations up.

You will be inclined from time to time to have your friends to supper or dinner. Don’t take them on a conducted tour of your meditation room. I wouldn’t even entertain gurus in there. I would keep that very close to your heart because that is where you go to talk to God.

Choose whatever picture, image, or light that you want to put in your little shrine or altar that will stimulate your thoughts and take your mind away from the world of illusion.

When you have [sat down and] found a place, get clothes [to wear] especially for meditation. Don’t wear them elsewhere. Have a bath, because you will remove the vibrations that surround you in that aura because water is a good conductor. It will remove the obstructions to your meditation.

If you have driven on the motorway and return home give about half an hour before you go to meditation. If you have lost your temper or you are deeply in love give time to cool off. Because you won’t be meditating, you’ll be seeing stars!

Take your shoes off and when you remove your shoes I want you to practice one important facet. Leave the world with your pair of shoes outside your door. Then go inside and sit quietly for a few minutes before you begin to do pranayama. 

How does the practice of pranayama affect us?

Why does a person do pranayama? Most people breathe badly; they are like fish, they go round like this (sounds of imitation), occasionally going to the surface to get a bit of air.

I want you, by taking your breath properly, to stimulate each and every cell and also your brain.

The level of oxygen that is carried through you, into your bloodstream, and into the brain is too little for meditation. That is why a lot of people feel drowsy and go to sleep in their meditation.

The brain is not active enough. The brain is deprived of oxygen. How am I meant to concentrate when my mind is elsewhere?

You have all the good reason in the world to have a lovely, comfortable, warm room!! I love the fresh air. Keep your room less warm and it will be very good for you. If you are too comfortable you will go to sleep and your brain will have a job coping with this battle that is going to rage within yourself saying, “I want to meditate, I want to still the mind and now I’m falling asleep!” Then you give up and go. 

Now, after you have practiced your pranayama, then you chant any name of the Lord – or any prayer that you know of the Lord or any aspect of the Lord that you worship. Chant that. Very important. See how important it is to have a bit of fresh air, you won’t be yawning very soon. 

Why is it necessary to do that? To protect yourself from the outside forces that may want to interfere with your meditation. You will be more vulnerable at that time. If a mischievous person like me were to see you meditate I will get into your mind and create havoc! There are naughty people out there waiting to get into your mind. 

There are many vibrations that can influence you at that time of meditation.

Chant the name of the Lord.

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