2. UK 77- 26 together”, there's great truth in that. So, as I said before, the children require some form of encouraging for them to persevere. Even if a child enjoys homework that he brings from school, there are times when he just does not feel like doing it. And even in their studies, if the parent participates in the homework and gives the required encouragement, the child would enjoy the homework. After all there is only one difference between work and play, one seems to be a drudgery and therefore we call it work and play seems to be fun and therefore we call it play. But play can be work and work can be play. For example, say a professional cricketer, right to him, that is not play, that is work, fine, because it's his job, he makes his livelihood out of it. So for him, play becomes work. And for us the very same game of cricket would be play because it is recreational, it is something that diverts our mind from the ordinary everyday things of life. And whichever diverts our mind from the ordinary things, it’s always recreational. In other words, it recreates in us the energies that might have been sapped in the ordinary work kind of life. And yet if you look at it factually, you will find that you use up more energy playing a game of cricket or a few sets of tennis than what you would do in the whole day at the office. You use up more energy but yet that you find more pleasant and more pleasing because of the attitude we have towards it. Now, in the same way, the same principle could be applied to children where we participate with the children. And what would seem to them to be arduous could be made very, very enjoyable. So, that is the way to encourage children. It's not to tell the child, 'Do this and do that.' It doesn't work because they might rebel against it. Many people don't like to be told, 'Do this or do that,' but if you say, 'Come let us do it,' you know it assumes a different tone altogether. There the ‘una’ ceases and the ordering ceases. By telling a child 'Do this' or 'Do that,' you are ordering the child, but when yo u use the word 'us', then it is that togetherness where orders cease and there is a beautiful participation between parent and child. And this is important in every field of life and more so in one's relationship to one's children, where in every form of activity it is, as I said, a participation, a togetherness, an ‘usness’. And then the child would willingly and so so joyfully do it, if put forward in that way instead of as a command. Good. Instead of telling a child, 'Eat, you eat’, why not ‘Let us eat?' It sounds nicer too. And meanwhile it is always nice to sit down to eat together with your family. It is something good. It is also sharing; it's a sharing of the Lord's blessing. Many homes miss that, many homes do miss that and some of them of course can't help that because working hours might be such that wherever possible, if that togetherness is maintained in every activity, that would form a beautiful unit. And that is how society is bettered, by bettering our home. And therefore the old saying, ‘Charity begins at home’. It always does. If we are charitable in our feelings towards those in our home, then we go beyond the boundaries of the

3. UK 77- 26 home, to the whole neighbourhood and the town and then the city and then the country and then the world, and then the whole universe, where the whole universe becomes our home, not my home, our home, that is the whole idea. So participation is the basis of communication. Communication is the basis of togetherness and in that togetherness all the separations cease and oneness begins. And when oneness begins, there could never be friction, and where there is no friction, there is joy and love. So step by step it is very, very logical, the only thing is to do, to put these principles into practice. Otherwise they just remain theories and on the mind level and they could just become intellectual gymnastics. But the practicality of life starts from ourself and from our homes. And that is how we progress i n life and find evolution and the purpose as you know of evolution is to find increasing joy in life. The same thing applies when two people want to get married, and of course the marriage is not for the purpose of physical union only, that is only a by-product, a side-line. The p urpose of marriage would be to find that togetherness, to find oneness. That is why people are led into marriage, to find a unification with something or someone, that is exterior to oneself. And one begins with one's husband or wife in finding that union, which is not only of body but mind and spirit, and when that is found, it is the biggest step and the easiest step to find total unity with the whole universe. So everything in life goes step by step by step. And once one progresses to a certain extent by these small steps at a time and then the progress begins in leaps and bounds. But the start is made step by step. So thereto the question of participation, when we participate, we communicate, and that would be a good motto: 'To participate, we communicate’. Good. The same thing with children. And that is how if children are brought up in the atmosphere, in the meditative atmosphere, where thoughts are of a better standard, then the children when they grow up, would always have those thoughts in their mind. They would increase those thoughts, they would add on to those thoughts, they would refine their own thoughts and their quality of life would be bettered. And that's the greatest gift we can give our children really, not to leave them a million pounds or properties or what have you. I've never seen ever yet the children of millionaires really becoming spiritual giants or intellectual giants. Very rarely that happens, very rarely that happens. And in my association during business days, it was with people in those categories and unfortunately the children have not lived up to what the parents had expected them to live up to, because the whole basic training was just one of indulgence, indulgence, indulgence all the time. We've got to give the child fuller scope to develop itself, but in t he scope that is given, there has to be some guidance. As I said the other day, freedom of expression is necessary but it should be like a poem within a metrical pattern, governed by the metrical pattern, and yet absolutely free to express. And

4. UK 77- 26 that is how children grow up, that's how children bloom into beautiful flowers. And that's what we want, to get those beautiful flowers all put up into a garland of life. So lovely. Right. Good. Questioner. Gururaj, could I ask if a God-realised man has recall on his inner being and if so, is it a pleasant experience, if as many people believe that the actual process of being born for the baby are very traumatic and painful time? Gururaj. Experience. That question comes from a person who is expectant. When a child is born, of course it takes birth with a cry and the cry we find, the cry of the child, we would think comes from a traumatic experience. It is not a traumatic experience. It is an experience which could never define, which could never be defined as trauma because trauma leaves an indelible expression, impression on the child's mind which could effect it very much in it's grown-up days. But one thing that happens is this, that the child has found great security in the mother's womb. It has found a certain kind of warmth and that warmth has given it security. Once it leaves the mother’s womb, it instinctively feels that the security which is there, is not there any more. Good. Now when a mother cuddles the child after the child is born, what the mother is actually doing, is making the child re - ex perience the security it had in the womb. That is why the cuddling of the child, fondling the child, holding the child very close to the mother's breast is so important. Good. While the child is in the mother's womb, the child feels the mother's heartbeats. As a matter of fact, its own heartbeats are guided by the mother's heartbeats. So when a child is held close to the bosom, it feels secure in listening to the same rhythm of the heartbeats it experienced in the mother's womb. That is why a child is always held close to the bosom, near the heart, where the heartbeats are heard. Fine, so having spent nine months and so many days in the mother's womb, the child gets accustomed to a certain rhythm, a certain pattern. Fine. Now, when the child is separated from that pattern, it feels insecure. So that is why, that is why a child is picked up and as soon as you pick up the child and hold it to your bosom, the child stops crying. It stops crying because it is now back within the rhythm that it had become accustomed to in the mother's womb. Good. Secondly, it also feels the warmth, it also feels the warmth that it had experienced in the mother's womb, by being very close to the mother's breast because the bodily temperatures are close. If you want to put a child to sleep, you cover the child, you cover the child because to remind it, to make it re-experience the warmth it has been used to having. So in like manner, we could use many, many instances why the child feels insecure when left alone. So the first thing the mother does is to provide security for the child but that security has to be given to the child in very slow stages. I have known mothers where the

5. UK 77- 26 child is just a few weeks old and is left at home with someone else and the mother would go out on late nights and things like that. The child is not ready for that kind of separation yet and then the child could express, could express that insecurity in so many different forms. It could express that insecurity in certain kinds of illnesses. Good. We think that only grown-ups could suffer psychosomatic diseases or be psychologically affected, but not so. A child too can express organically that which it goes through psychologically. So therefore, the security that a child is to be given is of primary importance. It is very, very important that a child must be made to feel secure for it to grow up healthily and holistically. Good. Now, you'd find, say in the primitive races, in the primitive races, you would find the incidences of illness to be far less than amongst civilised society, because from childbirth, from when the child is born, their way of life is such that the family operates as a whole. Even an African woman when she goes to work in the fields, she has her child tied to her back, has a child tied to her back. In other words, this could be an extreme form, which we cannot practise in modern civilisation and it is not necessary either, but in the backwoods, or in their form of culture, this would be necessary. Therefore you would find their children growing up more healthier than our children. They do not know the diseases that we know because their minds are conditioned in such a manner not to experience those diseases. Good. So with the development of the mind, with a greater analytical power, with greater powers of observation, we also have it's counterpart in developing a kind of sensitivity that could result in various forms of diseases. For example, say among the very primitive people, the incidence of madness or mental imbalance is not as great as we would find in civilised societies. Good. There, if a person becomes imbalanced, it is because of a certain superstition within their culture, within their tradition, which the person feels that the person has been possessed. Good. So that brings about a mental imbalance. So what they do is take the person to a witch doctor. Right. Now the witch doctor does not do anything actually to cure the person, the chucking, the throwing of the bones and what have you is just sheer mumbo jumbo. Yes, yes. But what the witch doctor does is this, that that primitive man has faith in the witch doctor. He has so much faith that the witch doctor can cast out evil spirits. Firstly he's convinced that he's possessed by evil spirits that are non -existent and secondly he has faith that the witch doctor can cast out the evil spirits. So in other words, a non existent form of therapy is used upon something which is non existent and therefore the cure comes about. Right. You see? So, it is all, - that is a lovely laugh, - so it is all to do with the mind and how the mind is conditioned. And it is important for a mother to condition the mind of a child into a sense of independence, into a sense of self reliance, good,

6. UK 77- 26 but that has to be done in stages and in a progressive manner. Good. Firstly the child is born with a sense of dependent security. Now we have to lead the child to independent security, which sounds opposite to each other. Here a child in the mother's womb is automatically fed, automatically fed. It has all its wants, it has all the warmth and nourishment that it needs and it is entirely dependent. So after the child is born and we do not in the beginning stages give it still the same feeling, then the child can go through traumas. Then the child can experience traumatic feelings, right but the birth itself is not traumatic. But the mother, by the treatment it gives the child, can put the child through traumatic experiences. So traumatic experiences in the child is an after-effect by the sheer negligence of the mother or perhaps ignorance of the mother. Good. Yet a mother does not require any great education to do this. Many mothers go to perhaps clinics where pre-motherhood education is given, you change nappy this way, and you change the nappy that way, fine. And the advantages of using one pin or two pins; hogwash, eyewash! Every mother knows instinctively how to communicate with a child. Every mother, if innocent enough, knows how to communicate with her child, requires no tutoring and no educating. And yet before a mother gives birth, she’ll run to bookshops and buy all the books on child care, child upbringing. And those that read too many books on child upbringing are the greatest failures, because here they are using their minds and going by the rule of book. Step number one, pick up child. (General laughter) Step number two, put left hand back of the child. Step number three, with your thumb and forefinger grip the child's upper arm. Right. While you are doing that, step number five, dip elbow in water. (General laughter) And if elbow gets scorched, the water's too hot. (Gururaj laughs & General applause). Questioner. ............ (Inaudible) Gururaj. Naturally, I don't need to read books. I look at them and I know the contents. And then after that of course you dip the child in the bath and they even give you steps how to rub the soap on the child. All so unnecessary. Meanwhile th e publisher has made his money. So to bring up a child none of these books are necessary. It is just the innocence and the love the mother has for the child which will naturally, which will very, very naturally allow the mother to bathe the child in the proper way which is necessary. So where do books come in? Even Benjamin Spock had to apologise after thirty years of teaching. If he had only left things to the mothers perhaps that generation might have been a better generation. You see? So, what is important here in bringing up a child is cultivating, cultivating the mother’s instinctual, intuitive ability. And that can be cultivated, enhanced and brought to the fore by our meditational practices, where the intuition just opens

7. UK 77- 26 up, the heart expands in such great love that even an unwanted child, an unplanned child becomes the greatest joy in life, becomes the greatest joy. And many have experienced this, where they have not planned a child and yet the birth of the child has brought so much joy and so much togetherness, that the rift that was developing in the lives of two people have been mended by the birth of the child that was unplanned. That we could call some grace of the Divine, grace of the Divine that the child, although unplanned, arrived and caused such togetherness between the parents. So how much has the child not done for you, if that is the case? Good. So, childbirth is not traumatic, but how the mother brings up the child in the early stages can become traumatic to the child and the child can be affected in its later life by what is done to it in those growing up stages. And the first fe w years up to the age of about five to seven perhaps, depending on different cultures of the world, those are very, very important years for a child. Those are the years, those are the years when the child is really moulded. Those are the years, like a sapling, when we plant and the sapling grows, we have to perhaps put a stick, tie up a stick next to the - you all know about gardening, I don't - you tie a stick so that it could grow straight. And then when it develops into a strong tree, that stick is not necessary, that guide there is not necessary. Among the Hindu people, they have a certain system and I tell you this just for the sake of knowing about it. Good. When the woman is in the seventh month of pregnancy, they perform a ceremony where various mantras are chanted and of course family and friends are invited to the ceremony. Good. The main symbolism of the ceremony is this, that according to there ancient beliefs, that from the seven month, seventh month, the child becomes very, very receptive to the thoughts of the mother. There is a development in the brain cells of the child which creates a certain kind of receptivity, so that all the thoughts and feelings of the mother are impressed in the child's mind, while it is still in the womb. Good. After that ceremony is over and this applies mostly to the first child, the mother or, the pregnant woman does not live with the husband, good. She goes and lives with her parents because it has always been a Hindu custom, where the husband does not come to live at the woman's home but always the other way round, where the groom takes the bride to his home, because he is the provider, the protector. He provides the home to which he brings the bride. Fine. Now when the woman is in the seventh month then she leaves the husband - of course the husband goes and visits her every day if he wants to, if it is convenient enough, - and she is cared for by her own mother, because those are supposed to be delicate months. From the seven month to the nine month, those are delicate months, where the woman should not pick up heavy things, where a woman should not do very heavy work which could harm or damage the foetus. Good. So there is one thing that they do believe and this might be applied everywhere, that a mother can look after a

8. UK 77- 26 daughter far better than a mother- in -law. You know this old mother- in -law joke and it's forever happening, forever happening. So the own mother can look after the daughter far better than a mother- in -law could, although of course there are exceptions. So, from seventh month onwards, the Hindu woman is expected not to do strenuous work, right, and to have as much rest as possible apart from some yoga exercises which are given. And there are certain exercises for pregnant woman, oh yes, certain simple Assanas, which brings no pressure on the womb itself. That is a different subject. Good, right. Now the mother looks after the daughter who is pregnant, is not given any hard work to do but the daughter is expected to do one thing and that thing is this, that from that ceremony, the ceremony marks the day and the date, from that ceremony onwards, the daughter, the pregnant woman is expected to read as much as possible of holy Scriptures, be as much as possible in holy company, meditate as much as possible according to the methods they meditate upon, be in prayers as much as possible, because the theory is this, that the thoughts and the feelings of the mother from that stage onwards, has a lasting impression on the child's mind. Good. So if the mother’s mind is filled with good scriptural religious thoughts, thoughts that are positive, uplifting, beneficial, loving, then there are, these impressions are upon the mind of the child in the womb. So, when the child gets born, there would be certain tendencies created in the child in that field. And that is how the Hindu woman tries to start off her child into a more religious spiritual life, even before it is born. Now th is is described very well in the ancient Vedic text, texts, although this might not be practised, but we are talking about the ideal, because if every Hindu woman had to do that, she would be producing a spiritual genius, which is not the case. Good. We human beings are practically the same everywhere and none is better than the other but I'm talking about what the Scriptures say and how the life is planned. There are so many stages in the life of the Hindu man or woman and they are required to observe these various stages and all these various ceremonies, good and this pre-birth ceremony is one of them. Fine. So if the mother's mind is filled uplifting thoughts then its care for the child after birth would also be of a n uplifting nature, which would not produce any traumatic conditions in the little child's impressionable mind. So it has a very, very practical purpose. And as I always say philosophy is of no value if it is not brought down to day to day practicality. Okay. Bless you. Next . Questioner. Some of us have been invited tomorrow to go to the temple, Rama Krishna temple. Is this advisable? Voice. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.

9. UK 77- 26 Gururaj. Hare Krishna, the Bhakti Vedanta, yes, those - (Gururaj chants), ‘Hare Rama, Hare Krishna, Hare, Hare, Hare Krishna’. Yes and you know it's a lovely chant, that. And through that chant one can get into a beautiful mood. So if you want to get into a mood, I have no objection. Questioner. .......... looking forward ...... (Inaudible). Gururaj. By all means. I know where I am going tomorrow, I am going to Stonehenge tomorrow to meditate there. That’s what I am going to do. Good. In our movement, as you all know very well, we do not stop people from doing anything which could be good and we don't even stop them from doing anything which could be not so good. What we expect them is to meditate and make some effort in improving their lives, so that lives become better. So I received a letter from these people asking me to visit them, but when a message was sent back to them that Gururaj would be happy to come and if you could organise a Satsang, they would not accept the idea saying, 'Oh, we have our own guru,' which I think we would not do. If some person came here, another guru, I would gladly sit there at the feet, never mind who it is, and listen to him. As I always say, 'If the sun can give light to the whole world, a little lamp can give light to a little room.' So never mind who it is, can impart some little truth according to his understanding and we should always be of an open mind. So when this suggestion was sent to them that Gururaj would gladly love to come and join you, and have Satsang with you, and that idea was not acceptable to them. So the people in charge here felt that it would not be nice for me to - to me everything is the same, I don't mind anything. So whoever wants to go does go if you like, I have no objections to that. I've no objections, but I'm going to Stonehenge to meditate there. So any others...... Questioner. Can we go to Stonehenge with you? Gururaj. Pardon? Why not? I don't stop anyone on to anything. Whoever wants to go, by all means and we can, whoever wants to go, we could even have a Satsang there sitting on the stones, what's wrong with it? (General laughter and applause) But don't forget to bring your own lunch with you. Aide. .. (Inaudible).... if half the people go to Stonehenge ..... (Inaudible) Gururaj. Ah yes, yes. So in other words the staff can’t get away, could they.

10. UK 77- 26 Voice. If we could find out how many would like to go.... (Inaudible) Aide. The people at the Hare Krishna are letting us have a meal there. ..... (Inaudible). Gururaj. I believe there is something normally done where they have open house and anybody is welcome to go and eat there, something, but you of course people just don't go to places to eat. Aide. We found ourselves the other day when we were with them; we found them so childlike in their attitude, looking at ourselves in say a previous existence as children on another plane. This is how I personally felt about it. Gururaj. Yes, well, their form of worship is based entirely on devotion and a real devotee should be one who becomes childlike, innocent as a child. Oh yes, that is there path and all blessings to them. We never discourage any path whatsoever. Voice. They believe very, very ..........(Inaudible) God being in the physical rather than in the abstract. Gururaj. In the abstract, yes, they do, yes. And of course they believe in Krishna consciousness. Yah, we acknowledge Krishna consciousness but at the same time we say Krishna consciousness is Christ consciousness, and Christ consciousness is Buddha consciousness and it's all one consciousness. Other paths don't perhaps, might not say the same. To me Krishna, Buddha, Christ is one consciousness and all pure consciousness is one consciousness. And that is why whatever path anyone follows, we don't deny them, we never condemn anything. We don't, we don’t. If a path is good for you, you find benefits by it; by all means follow that path, and one day you will turn to a path which you might fin d to be better, later on. One can always start with mood-making and then transcend moods and really experience oneself as one really is. And as one really is, is Divinity within oneself. Good. Look at the comfortable way the child is sleeping. Gone asleep? Beautiful, beautiful. Lovely. Just look at the lovely relaxed position. Questioner. Guruji, talking about Stonehenge, can you tell us anything of the mysteries? Gururaj. No, I've not read up anything but I've heard so much about it that I'd like to go there just to feel the vibrations and meditate there. That's what I'd like to do. Last time we were very near it, in Glastonbury but then we were so rushed with

11. UK 77- 26 the tour that I think that the very next day we had to be somewhere else to have a Satsang and then of course we couldn't stay on, time was very limited. Voice. We are going to do a performance ...... (Inaudible). Will you be back in the evening? Gururaj. Yes. I'll be back in the evening. Yes. No, no, we are definitely back. We are definitely back by then, yes. Questioner ................. (Inaudible). Gururaj. Oh yes, you can play tapes or do whatever you like. That's fine. Of course, of course. Questioner. Guruji, when you come back from Stonehenge, will you tell us about then? Gururaj. We'll see. We'll see. I could tell you now, before going there, the answer’s very simple, I'll feel good! (General laughter) There was something in the whole atmosphere when I went to Glastonbury last time. I felt very, very much at home, the vibrations seemed so, so, so wonderful there. And unfortunately time was limited and I couldn't go to Stonehenge. So therefore with your permission if I might have a morning off, I would like to go there. So tomorrow continue the programme of tapes or whatever the case might be. It would be nice. Yes. Aide. How many would like too have group practices tomorrow morning? Would you raise your hand if you’d like to be? Do you want to have them here or the chapel? Voice. Chapel. Fine Chapel gets it. Gururaj. Did you count? I have someone’s beads here to be blessed. ..... Doing me a favour, giving me a rest. Questioner. ......... (Inaudible). Aide. Testing. Today I did a little session here with Robert Phillips and Robert told me of some experiences that he was having, lovely experiences, so he'll recite some of those experiences now.

12. UK 77- 26 Robert. I took the Mandala Practice about two days ago and during my afternoon meditation, I left my body for the first occasion, just a few inches and with that came a tremendous sound in the ears which panicked me somewhat and brought me straight back in again. And then I was meditating again, going along with the mantra, and all the time Amrit here was giving me Satsang but I can't remember a word of it. And again I started to leave my body. I got a little bit further this time and the ringing in my ears got louder and louder and I panicked again and I came back. And I thought, 'Something’s going on'. (General laughter) So if it happens again I'm going to remain calm; and it did happen again. And the ringing became so loud that it seemed as if my whole body was vibrating. And I seemed to leave it in this position as if you dive into water. And I went straight out of my window and through the woods, down there. And then and then there was some noise outside and I came back into my body and I came out of my meditation. And the very first person that I met, Bill, who’s here somewhere, Bill, Bill there, said that he'd thought he'd seen me in the woods with somebody else. I don't know who was with me but I was round there somewhere. Aide. I was with you during the Satsang. Aide. With a lady. Yes. Aide. Also you talk about the experience ...visual .....(Inaudible). Robert.(Cont’d) I've been doing the practices for just about a year now and my Tratak experience; I very, very rarely see a candle image. Most of the time I just see white light which fades and sometimes turns to colour, usually a red or a purple. I also ...... Aide. Excuse me. Would the colour sometimes be lilac, a sort of lilac cast? Robert(Cont’d). Yes, yes, lilac-y. And also they would move. Aide. ........... (Inaudible). Robert(Cont’d). The initial one very, very much so. Very brilliant, brilliant white; and sometimes forked lightening, if you know what I mean, just. (General laughter) I also experienced a sweetness in the throat, which comes down through the back of the passage which tends to give you a lot of saliva and I've also become

13. UK 77- 26 Aide. Intensely sweet Robert(Cont’d). It is sweet, yes. Aide. Can you describe the sweetness? Robert.(Cont’d) Honey, like honey. Like sort of Aide. Nectar. Robert.(Cont’d) Yes, nectar, nectar. Nectar, honey like. Aide. Like Amrit. Robert.(Cont’d) It's very much like the taste of honey that remains in the mouth after you've taken a spoonful, after some time, that sort of taste. And also I've become constantly - well throughout the day, I'm very aware of my breath. It doesn't seem to go away, the awareness of the in and the out. Aide. He doesn’t have that practice. Robert.(Cont’d) That’s all. Aide. ... there’s the........ Robert.(Cont’d) Oh, my ringing. In the morning and in the evening especially, and sometimes in mantric meditation coming out of the meditation, I get ringings in the ears, both ears, sometimes very, very loud, very, very loud sometimes. And this can vary in tone, or do I mean pitch, I don't know, I'm not musical - higher or lower, sometimes flute-like, sometimes like, not wind, but like the breeze through the leaves of a tree, that sort of 'shss' thing. Aide. Is it an attractive sound?

14. UK 77- 26 Robert.(Cont’d) It's very pleasant, it’s not unpleasant. Sometimes the loudness freaks me out a bit. Aide. Is it ever musical like ..... Robert.(Cont’d) Not, sometimes, sometimes it varies in as much as it might be on within one octave going up and down, but not playing a tune, not that I recognise anyway. Aide. ......... okay. ......................... (Inaudible). Robert.(Cont’d) Nothing else. Voice. This sense of awareness of breath, does it extend to any other thing besides this breath? How about activity in general, do you feel that you are aware in a perhaps detached way? Robert.(Cont’d) Yes, it goes through stages. For instance sitting here in Satsang listening to Guruji, the breath can be very quiet and very still and the awareness is there. At other times it can be very strong and it will reverberate in the ears at th e same time. Voice. Forgetting about breath altogether, does it have any other sense of awareness attached to breath? Robert.(Cont’d) I don't really understand your question, I'm sorry. Gururaj. I think the question means that, are you aware of two things at the same time, in other words listening to the Satsang, what I am talking about, registering that, and yet at the same time being aware of the breath? Robert.(Cont’d) Yes, yes, yes. Aide. Anyone else? Questioner. Would it be pertinent to ask what happens in sleep, is there any sense of awareness in sleep?

15. UK 77- 26 Robert.(Cont’d) Not recently, no. It's usually just complete blackout. (General laughter) I have had waking experiences in sleep, but not recently. .......... (Inaudible). Vo ice. It must be very disappointing now. Robert.(Cont’d) It's really nice. Aide. That’s lovely. Any other experiences? Gururaj. The experiences are wonderful. You'll be here for the next Course, won't you? Robert.(Cont’d) I'll be here for the next week. Gururaj. For the next week. We'll go into greater details and we'll add on to some your practices. You don't even need to go away, send your subtle body away. You can send your grosser body away as well. Aide. We ask one other question? How many on this Course have had experiences that are in any way similar to the ones that were just described? Raise your hands or stand up so that we can see how many have had that. Questioner. On this Course or others .......... (Inaudible) Aide. It can be any time you started to meditate. Aide. Quite a few. And how many since they have been on this Course have had those experiences? Several. One other experience. How many have found themselves going to sleep and then at a certain point in their sleep, they realise that they were awake within their selves somehow and yet they knew at the same time that their bodies were sleeping, that is there was a sense of the body being in complete restful sleep? How many have had that experience on the Course? Voice. ............. (Inaudible).

16. UK 77- 26 Aide. Particularly since meditating. Right. Quite a number, Guruji. Yes. Yes. Questioner. Guruji, all last week when I woke up in the morning, it was as if you had been giving me a Satsang all night, and it seemed very real. But I wondered if it was a dream, and I can't remember what you said to me. Gururaj. Use a tape recorder. (General laughter) Now Keith might be able to devise something that can pick up the Satsang from the mind or perhaps Shoki could. Brain impulses. Questioner.(Cont’d) Is it left over from eating? Gururaj. Yes, that could be one reason, or else during that awareness in the sleep, you are picking up thoughts that have been circulating or floating around, thoughts that I might have spoken about elsewhere and they are still in the atmosphere. As I said that nothing is destructible, everything exists forever. And in that yogic state of sleep, one can be aware of all thoughts that have been put out. Now during the day listening to the Satsangs, naturally your mind is tuned in that direction and therefore you pick up extra Satsangs as a bonne cela. Yes. Good, good, very good. Questioner. Gururaj, could you offer some words of condolence to those of us who are not getting these? (General laughter) Gururaj. As a matter of fact any of these so-called subtle, psychic experiences are not necessary for a person’s evolution. A person can be evolving to a very, very high state or can be a very, very evolved person and not have any of those experiences whatsoever, because they are not a necessary must. Some people are born with the inner senses, - like for example the eyes, ears, nose and smell, taste, what have you, has it's own subtle counterparts within oneself - and some people are born with those counterparts, that those counterparts would have a tendency of being activated. Right. And through meditational practices those tendencies are activated. Therefore they have these extrasensory perceptions. But that has nothing at all to do with the person’s evolutionary status. So if a person has these experiences or has not these experiences, it is not important at all. Now a person’s evolutionary status is not measured by these experiences, they are not measured at all. A person can be of a far lower stage of evolutionary and yet have fantastic experiences. I don't know if I spoke to you about a

17. UK 77- 26 meditator in Cape Town. Good. This fellow comes to me and did I tell this story of no experience. No, no, no, good, it’s worth hearing. Fine, so this chap comes, he says, ‘Gururaj I've got a problem’. I say, ‘Yes, fine, what is the problem?’ He says, ‘I sit down regularly like clockwork to meditate, twice a day and just nothing happens. Nothing happens. I sit down and when the half hour is up I get up and I have experienced nothing whatsoever. And my meditations are an absolute failure. Am I doing anything wrong? Am I not meditating properly? I hear of people talking of fantastic kinds of flashes and visions and all kinds of things and I'm getting nothing. I am beginning to doubt meditation’. Now he says, ‘And please check my meditations for me. If there’s anything wrong I’m doing, please correct me. I am prepared to do whatever you say, you guide me’. I say, ‘Fine, sit down, let’s talk about it’. Now I’ll ask Melanie to bring in some tea and have some tea together’. He felt relaxed and then we started talking of his various facets of his life, his work and working day life. And so he is a Sales Manager and it is a business which has a General Manager and under the General Manager there are various departmental managers and he is a Sales Manager. He says, ‘Before I used to get so mad that, my Sales Manager has, my General Manager rather has a habit of shouting this and shouting that and not a single day would go by, where I would not like to punch him on the nose. But I need the job and therefore I continue with the job. And fine, but now lately even if he shouts, I just don't take any notice and I carry on with my work’. And then the same thing used to happen with his subordinates, his sales staff. He said, ‘They used to make me so wild that I just felt like firing them all the time. But now I don't do that if something goes wrong, I go up to them and say, ‘Look try doing it this way or push this product in such and such a way or if you haven't done sufficient coverage here and try and do it in such and such a way`. And I, I increased my sales and a better relationship started with my subordinates. And when my sales figures increase, my General Manager started liking me more also. So there was a two-way benefit’. Then we started talking about home and I asked him, ‘How's your Mrs, and how are things with you?’ And all these little things because the guru’s duty is not only to teach meditation. I think I've said this before that he feels himself responsible for every hair on the meditator’s head, because the meditator is not apart from him; the meditator is part and parcel of him. So therefore every aspect of his life is of the utmost importance and concern to a true guru. Fine. So he told me about his wife and he says, ‘You know we, because things were so bad at the office, I used to get home, not that I don't love my wife, I love her very much and we used to get on each others nerves and little irritations and

1. UK 77- 26 Questioner. Guruji, this is regards children and their starting to meditate, being initiated and also the fact that it seems to me that quite a considerable quantity of them don't just seem to continue with their meditation. Gururaj. Objection! (General laughter) (referring to a baby who is crying) Questioner. How important is it that they do continue and what should our attitudes as parents be towards this situation? Gururaj. Good. Now the children have a practice which is very, very enjoyable. Good. The practice of children is such that it creates a certain kind of creativity in them. Good. The practice also includes a kind of Pranayama which is very, very healthy for them. And it is on the whole something so enjoyable that they could do it in the bathtub, or they could do it while they are playing around, or whatever. (Baby cries) I don't mind that at all, it's music to me. The lovely, innocent laughter of a child, what greater music could there be? Good, fine. So, the best way to encourage a child to keep on with meditation would of course be the parents. Now if the parents are regular in their meditations, then children would also tend to be regular. And not only that, we do find in the homes of meditators that the whole lifestyle, the whole conversation in the house tends to be of a different category than the ordinary run of the mill. But of course household problems are discussed but even in that discussion, there is always an awareness of something that is ever present in the household. Now this would tend to, as we would say, to rub off on the children. And that is how children would continue to meditate. But as children are children, they do require a bit of pushing and the method of pushing would be to join them in the practice. The mother bathing the child in the bathtub would join the child in doing the practice, and it could be a great source of fun, a great source of loving. (Baby cries) You agree lovey, yes, that's right. Yah, so it could be a great sourc e of fun for the child and not only that, with the parent being with the child, doing the child's practice, it's a lovely form of communication between parent and child. And that is missing so much in many homes. It is missing very much in many homes and then if we do complain of juvenile delinquency and all these various other factors that make children not to grow up as they should grow up, then of course we would blame the children. Actually it is us to blame, because what we expected our parents to do for us, we should try and do for our children. So it is a law of exchange - do unto others as you would expect to be done unto yourself, for example, which would verify this. So if the parent joins in with the children and there's an old saying that, “The family that prays together, stays

18. UK 77- 26 we had little fights and little squabbles. And it was not always very pleasant but lately we don't seem to have these little fights any more. We don't squabble, if she says something, I just don't take any notice. Then if I say something, she doesn't, and you know we can turn an ugly situation into a nice laugh. We both laugh over it and nothing happens. And before Sunday afternoons, with Sunday meal, I loved my scotches and what have you, and then after the Sunday meal, I'd love having a nap. But now you know I don't go for the scotches before the big heavy dinner any more and I take the kids for a drive on a Sunday afternoon. Its so, so enjoyable’. And then he was telling me, ‘Last Sunday we saw etc, etc, etc’. Like that he went on. His quality of sleep has improved, he feels more relaxed. He seems to sleep more deeper and he told me of his daily activity. So then I asked him, ‘I say, are your meditations not successful?’ It is not the one hour spent in meditation that is important, or the flashy experiences that are important. It is how the twenty three hours of the day go, that is important. And in that half hour morning, half hour evening, you have visions and flashes and all kinds of lightning, forked lightning, all kinds of lightning, that’s not important, it’s not important. The important thing is how the twenty three hours, the waking state and the sleeping state, has that quality improved or not? Now if that quality has improved then be sure to know that even if you experience nothing in your meditation, that something has worked and is working, because even without those experiences, you are setting up a harmonious vibration within yourself, because your mantra, if you’re on mantra, if you are on mantra, is based upon vibration. And you are tuning all the various vibrations in your body into a harmonious whole, thereby making your life a symphony, a melody. And the best way - an unheard melody is of no value, a melody must be heard melodiously and appreciated in the waking state of life. So when that happens to our life, if any kind of experience comes or not, it is not important. Th e greatest criteria is, how, is our daily life improving or not? And if it’s improving, then your spiritual practices are successful. Yeah, that's how it works. Now are we going to have the.........? It is ten past ten. .............. (Inaudible). END