1. UK 79- 10 Gururaj. (General laughter) Why the laughing? I've just been to a children's party. It's lovely. And I only found one skeleton in the cupboard. It’s funny enough after the brain, the skull gets emptied of that grey matter and everything that's emptied, this is what man is left with. Yes. And we don't attach so much importance with what is left. Makes good fertiliser. Good. Shall we start with questions? Questioner. Guruji, can you talk to us about conception and birth? When does the soul unite with the physical body? What state of consciousness does the child experience whilst in the womb? Is the child affected by a mother's meditation? When do the veils begin to fall and in relation to these points, if the child is born with the seeds of karma, how do these arrive in the physical body? Gururaj. A beautiful question and it's quite obvious why you asked the question. (Gururaj laughs) At what point does the soul enter the womb? To us, people normally understand where the sperm becomes one or penetrates the ovum that conception takes place. Now this is very true on the physical level, but when it comes to the level of the soul, at what point does the soul enter? Now there are people that would give you all kinds of theories that the soul enters at the time of a certain stage of development of the foetus. The real truth that lies behind this is this, that everything around us including you and I, we are all totally porous. The wall that is seemingly solid, is not solid at all. If you examine the wall through a very powerful microscope, you'd find that even it is so porous you could practically walk through it, if you can bring your body to a subtle state. If you study through a microscope an atom, you will find there are vast spaces in it. I had this beautiful experience when I went to Disneyland in America and there is one ride where they take you through a snowflake. It is very, very beautiful. You could see as you're going through this ride, all the wide-open spaces that are contained in this one little snowflake. Of course the whole thing was magnified and made to a degree whereby you can gain this experience and out of the whole visit there, that was what I enjoyed the most. Fine. Now, where is the soul or souls of people that want to reincarnate? Is there a place in a different world where these souls are waiting to come down to this world? That is not possible. For as we sit in this very room, there are millions and millions of souls floating around here. Millions and millions of them are floating around here and souls do have certain evolutionary categories. So, all those souls that would attach themselves to you or float around you would be the souls of a like nature. Birds of a feather flock together. That is the principle. So, every person as he walks around, he is walkin g around with millions of souls around him. Because those very entities, although on this earth as on every planet, they are always attracted to that which is similar to themselves. Good. In other words it means that, those souls are of a similar

2. UK 79- 10 evolutionary status. They don't only surround you, but they interpenetrate you. They're floating through you all the time. All the time, all the souls are floating around through you. Fine. And they are of like nature. Sometimes you might get a feeling of not feeling too well. This too could have a great influence of you not feeling too well because although those souls are very similar to you as far as evolution is concerned, they too have a structure in which certain negativities are more dominant than positivities and without you knowing any reason for it, you might feel low as the expression goes. You might just feel low and then to alleviate that lowness you are in touch with people of a better a higher evolutionary status and that lowness just disappears, because that power that force that light is so powerful that it washes away some of the characteristics that you are gathering around you. In ordinary language, people understand it to be environment. But what is really the environment? The environment is a mixture of thought forms and thought forms are souls. You enter a room and you, you go into someone's home and you feel that you want to leave immediately, you don't want to stay there. There are certain thought forms which are not conducive to your nature. That is why you don't feel comfortable. Then you go into other homes for example and you could sit there for hours and just not want to leave. You feel so comfortable - the thought forms there and thought forms are souls, are there which are conducive to you supportive to you, makes you feel nice and you want to remain there. Same thing applies with human beings. You meet a person to whom you take an instant liking and would like that person to be your friend because that person is of a similar evolutionary status and not only that, that which that person emanates, the force that person emanates, plus all those thought forms that are surrounding him and interpenetrating him, are conducive to those that you have. So, the moment of conception is at the time of at the time when the sperm enters the ovum. Now, the soul is not carried to the ovum from outside. The soul is in the sperm itself. The soul is in the sperm itself because the soul being s o fine, that thought form, that collection of all those experiences which form the result of all the experiences that forms this form called the soul, is contained within yourself and expressed through yourself, through the sperms. Now, have you ever wondered that in every ejaculation there is five hundred million sperms ejaculated. Why does only one a particular one reach the ovum and not the others? So the thought forms that, the soul forms that surround you and interpenetrate you are very much alike, they are very much like you but yet there are certain subtle differentiations in qualities. Now her e is where the woman plays the part in influencing which sperm is going to impregnate. Because the woman too sets off a certain aura, a certain magnetic force whereby that particular sperm, one only, will reach its destination and the rest, four thousand nine hundred and nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine are discarded. They are discarded and this one unique

3. UK 79- 10 sperm, this one unique soul contained within the form takes life by - it is life itself but it penetrates the ovum so that it could become what we know today as the human being. Now this happens not only to humans, but this also happens to animals because there are animal souls as well. Nothing is devoid of that life force called the soul. And that soul as far as the human being is concerned contains all the impressions, all the karmic values of all the lives it has lived. Now I might have spoken of this before but we choose our parents. Our parents do not choose us. We in that subtler state of that thought form - this is not the right word really, but for want of a better word the proper word would be Jivatman - that Jivatman which combines all the experiences of all those past lives, all the impressions and the net result of those impressions is that soul in another dimension wanting to take birth so that it could work out its karma so that it could reach back to its primal state of innocence. Now to recap the soul is in the sperms already. In the five hundred million sperms, there are in that single ejaculation five hundred million souls. Just imagine one teaspoon containing five hundred million souls. Imagine the enormity, imagine the enormity of God, of grace. Good. So now the mother because of her particular characteristics will influence the reception of that one particular sperm. Good. Now the human being has built within himself the genetic system and the chromosomes which you all know about and which elementary science will tell you about. Now when the soul finds its proper vehicle to be able to be born to take birth in this world it is attracted to that person and persons which are similar to that soul. But now, that soul because of the certain experiences it has to go through in this lifetime, because it has certain lessons to learn in this life to evolve, to reach an evolvement - evolution means to reach back to one's primal purity - would have certain characteristics which has to be worked out. So, the very soul influences the genetic combination within the parents. So many people think that certain genes combine by accident. It is not so. There is no accident in life. Life itself is a purpose. Life itself is a process. Life itself is truth and there can be no accidents o r coincidence in it at all. So, because of the power, although so fine subtle the microscope, the most refined or the highly developed microscope cannot detect that soul. They need such a powerful microscope to magnify an ordinary sperm. It looks like a tadpole with its tail moving around. But they can still not detect the soul that is there. And that is why science cannot prove that which is beyond the physical body. They will perhaps in time to come. We don't know. So because of what the soul has to experience in this life, it chooses its parents and by choosing its parents, it chooses its environment which is conducive to its development. If because of certain karmic values, the child has to be born to poor parents, then it will be attracted to that condition. If a child has to be born to rich parents, it will be attracted to that condition. If a child has to

4. UK 79- 10 be born into unhappiness or happiness, it will be attracted to that condition because that condition is the net result of tha t soul's own personal making. And therefore parents are nothing else but instruments bringing forth that soul into this world. So, now whatever dominant characteristic - few of these points I would have to repeat over, it is a totally new thought in modern times which has never been expressed before. So therefore a few points I will have to go over and over again, so it could become more and more clearer. So, this soul because of its dominant characteristic and what it has to learn, influences the genetic combination of the parents and that is why, that is why the child comes with certain characteristics. Now, for example a set of parents have three or four children, you would find those children not alike. Why are they not alike? The reason is this, that although they are very similar to you in evolutionary status, their requirement in life would be different. And that which is prominent in that other soul of the second child, will influence the genetic combination that exists between the parents. And that is why you find the two children different. And then you'd find child number three different, and you will find child number four different. We have seen many times a child is born in a very wealthy home and turns out to be a ‘Nincompoop’, yeah, while we have also seen that a child born in a very poor home that has no facilities even for its education, turns out to be a genius. Why? Why? Why? It is born with the quality of genius and it requires that experience of poverty, that will push him forward to express that genius he has. You see the beauty how the subtle laws work which is beyond logic. It boggles the mind. So, that is the secret behind conception. The soul does not come from outside to penetrate at that particular moment or at any other moment to enliven the foetus. That soul is conveyed through the sperm itself and the mother plays the great part in being receptive and in organising to a great extent, the combination of the various genes and chromosomes that are involved. The tree that grows, the entirety of it is not contained in the ground. The entirety of the tree or the plant is contained in the seed. Good. But for that seed to germinate, it needs all the conditions and minerals and what have you of the ground. So, this is a very necessary combination, female is not higher than the male and the male is not higher than the female. Each have their own duties to play, to work, their own particular dharmas, their own ways. The ground has to have its qualities and the seed too has to have its qualities. Without the ground, the seed can't grow and without the seed, the ground cannot produce. So, the role of both parents are equally important. So, at conception the soul is carried to the ovum in the sperm itself. It does not come from outside you. It is thousands and thousands and thousands of these souls are interpenetrating you all the time. They're floating in and out of you, in and out of you all the time. That is why conception

5. UK 79- 10 could take place morning, noon or night. There's no particular time in that dimension. It is just there. It is just there all the time. So, everyone sitting in this hall has all these millions of souls around them. Just imagine how beautiful? Lovely. Just as there is millions and billions of bacteria floating around here, so are souls floating around too. You see how fine it is, how wonderful nature it is and how wonderfully it works. And yet within this minute thing called the soul, so minute tha t it is not observable even with all the finest instruments of modern technology, contains within itself the entire experience of the universe since the universe began, since the present cycle of the universe began. That is why we say that if you can understand a grain of sand, you will understand the entire universe. How much not more so of the soul because if you understand the grain of sand, you will understand the physical universe. But by understanding the soul, you will understand the life force that enlivens the physical universe. Now, this is a known fact that for the soul to evolve, it has to assume a body and therefore physiologists will tell you how the foetus develops until a maturity comes and when the child is born. So, from that minutest level here we are sitting and reaching a height of the intellect where analysis can take place. But in the first place, the soul being beyond analysis, the mind cannot fully appreciate it. It will just have a certain inkling that there is something more powerful there than just the mind or the physical body. Now how does meditation affect the foetus? Among Eastern peoples, they have a system. In all cultures there is good and there are things that are no so good. When a woman reaches the seventh month of pregnancy, this is among the Hindus, they perform a Yagyah, a ceremony. Yagyah really means offering to the Gods. And this intense prayer ceremony is held and then the wife is not allowed to live at the husband's home any longer. She goes and lives at the mother's home. This applies especially with the first child. Now the Indian system of life is this that the son- in -law does not go and live with the daughter's parents. This very seldom happens. It is always the son bringing home the wife. So when the woman is pregnant in the seventh month, they have this prayer ceremony and after the prayer ceremony the woman goes to her mother's home. Because they maintain, there's some logic and truth in this, that a mother- in -law can never look after the woman better than her own mother. Good. They do this and then she goes, of course the husband goes visiting, that is fine. They do avoid sexual contact after the seventh month. The woman is required to spend all her time reading Holy Scriptures and doing her prayers, her meditations, her chantings, whatever she has been instructed to do by her guru. Good. Now, at that moment, as all Psychologists, Physiologists will tell you that the child's mind in the foetus reaches a maturity of receptivity, that every thought that is thought by the woman has some influence on the child. We know

6. UK 79- 10 physiologically how connected the child in the foetus is with the mother's body. But we also know that there is a mental connection. For example, if the mother is very upset or has eaten foods that has upset her and then feeds the child after the child is born, you'd find the child would diahhorea or whatever because the mother has eaten the wrong foods. See how it carries through the milk, moreso in the foetus. Every thought of the mother has a great influence on the mind of the foetus on the mind of the unborn baby and therefore it is repeated over and over again that during those last months, the mother must try and be as calm as possible, never get emotionally upset, read good literature, be in the company of holy people, perform their meditations. By meditations, we do reach that inner depth that place of silence and reaching that place of silence that which is so deep within that overflows, not overflows only to the environment but more so to its immediate self which is the foetus. So, this has a great beneficial effect upon the foetus. And we have seen some BMS children. I was just busy before coming here in a little children's party, little babies that were born recently and where the parents were sincere meditators, you could see it on the children they just shine, they just shine. They just shine and they become so, they are not so troublesome as other children are funnily enough because they have a certain serenity within themselves because their parents have been meditating and in this case the mother more so. I have been playing with a little child in Spain and here, so calm, so serene, so beautiful. Even while the child is teething now, I think she's got about eight, even while the child is teething now, she is not so troublesome as another child would be because its quite irritating when the teeth tries to burst through the gums. So, the child has born within itself an inner serenity. The future of society, the future of a community, the future of society, the future of the country and the future of the world is dependent not so much on the father but more on the mother. The father goes to work, he's the breadwinner. Of course the mother has to help also by going to work but the mother is the real moulder of the child. If you want to produce a good society, produce good mothers. Yes. Yes. And I have, we have worked out statistically that over sixty percent of the people involved in spiritual and meditational practices or that are in search for something higher are women. I told this in the beginning when BMS was started that, if you work out the ratio, you'll find the ratio sixty forty, sixty percent women, forty percent men. So they say yes. I said that's very good also because the woman can be a great influence on the men. (Gururaj laughs) Not only on the children, not only on the children. So, the women, the mother of creation, the Eastern Scriptures say that where, ‘The home where women are worshipped, the God's are well pleased’. And it is a very true saying. Keep the woman's mind in a joyful condition. The man can help unless the woman is a bit wacky then you can't (General laughter) then try as you much, you really can't do

7. UK 79- 10 much about it. But some little thing can be done, just admit that fact. So keep the home happy. How can you keep your home happy, is by keeping the wife happy. It’s simple logic. And then she in turn reacts by making you happy. Yes. And the reason is this that the woman is more sensitive. It’s inbuilt in her that sensitivity, that tolerance, that creative ability because she is a creator by nature. She has the gentleness, the tolerance, the patience. How many fathers have the patience of washing the baby's backside? But the mother has. The mother has. And nowadays of course parents do feel so responsible because husband and wives are both working people in many instances and if the baby cries at night both do share looking after. But in other societies where the mother is forbidden to go to work and the husband is the breadwinner, the husband is never allowed to wake up to look after the baby. The mother does that because she knows that my husband must be well rested, for he has a hard day at work tomorrow. But this depends upon the structure. Different structures of various societies, so different rules apply. Fine, so to repeat this again that at that time when it reaches about the seventh month, the woman should do her meditational practices regularly. There are certain pregnancy practices that we have, that are given which is combined with their own personal practices and they are very, very helpful. And we have observed this from the children that have been born of the mothers and fathers that have started meditational practices. So, so to repeat another thing again, that the woman plays a very, very important part in making this world or trying to make this world a better place to live in. So we look after them with all the tenderness that we can, because they are the reflection of tenderness. They bring out in us that tenderness. We men are really essentially hard, logical, calculating. We are that. Yes. That's inbuilt in us and we need that combination. You can't have two softies all the time. While the woman's nature is soft and tender and very forgiving, moreso than man. The only thing that women can't do is this. They can forgive, but they can't forget. (General laughter) While the man again can forget but he can't forgive. (Gururaj laughs) You see one is ruled more by the heart, while the other more by the mind. And this is good. This is how it should be. There has to be this combination of heart and mind. And blessed are those men or women that could combine both together. Blessed are those who live on mother earth that could combine heart and mind together and bring it out in their daily living. That's practical religion and that is the practical reality of the presence of God. Good. So meditate regularly and for the husband at those times when things are a bit difficult for the woman. A pregnant woman reaching a certain stage, do tend to get more tired than usual. No great demands should be made of her really, if one can help it. Things should be made a bit more easier and the great joy the man can feel in doing that. He'd say 'Don't worry love, you know I'll see to the dishes', you know and things like that. 'Or you're not going to cook tonight, I'm going to try out something special and I'm going to do it. You relax a bit'. Things like that. Now, to be able to do that, you

8. UK 79- 10 are not doing it so much for your wife, you are not doing it so much for your wife. The wife is the object to bring out that tenderness within the subject which is you. Do you see? So, how much you benefit. How much you benefit. For every good deed done to others always rebounds on you ten-fold. You are the gainer. The taker might be the loser, but the giver is always the gainer. Like in this play by Victor Hugo where this thief hides in this church, this novel by Hugo, 'Les Miserables', where a thief hides in the church running away from the police and then before he leaves he pinches some of those silver candlesticks and the priest saw him doing that. And the priest told him a very great truth 'That life is made t o give and not to take'. So beautiful, isn't it. And here when a woman is pregnant she is giving forth to the world a unique entity. She has served as the ground for that seed to germinate. Imagine all the things - it cannot be reproduced in any form whatsoever. It cannot be reproduced. The test tube babies still rely upon the woman itself and because it cannot be carried, it’s a matter of transferring it into a tube. But that's besides the point. The thing at issue is, that look at that Divine mechanism contained within the woman to be able to issue forth life. And the greatest joy is to hear that first cry of the baby. Here is life. Why does a child cry instead of laughing, when it gets born? Why does it cry? It cries because instinctively within itself it realises 'Ah I've come back to school again'. (General laughter) And many of our children rebel they say 'Oh going to school again, I'd rather sleep late'. Yes. Yes. And that is the instinctive quality or inbuilt quality in every human being to rise above the wheel of birth and death. That is why the child cries. People talk of traumas the child goes through during the birth process. There are no traumas the child goes through. It’s imaginary. It is put forth, this kind of idea is put forth by people that don't know. It’s a natural process. How can you measure a traumatic pain the child is going through? How can you measure that? We know the pains of the mother yes. And it is all so worthwhile hearing the baby's first cry or taking the child to the mother's bosom. It is worth all that pain. It’s worth ten times that pain. But how do we know the trauma of the child? No. It is a natural process that the child has to go through. And because its intellect is not developed enough, it is not developed so that it does not feel the pain really. It does not feel the pain. There is one thing it senses it is this, that it is leaving a certain particular warmth into an outside cold world. Now I know in many countries perhaps in England too where doctors suggest that a child, first child or whatever should be born in hospital. They have their reasons for that. But I don't know what the systems are. But from what I have seen is this, that immediately the child is born, it is taken away to another cold room, a label is attached and put into a cot. I don't know if it’s changed, if it is not, it should be changed where after the birth the child must, even before washing it, the child must be given into the mother's arms so that its head could lay on the mother's breasts. So it does not feel isolated because while the child is in the foetus, it is conscious in its own

9. UK 79- 10 particular way of the heartbeats of the mother. And let it still feel those heartbeats of the mother even being outside of the mother now. Let it still feel the warmth of the mother. Right. People believe in weaning the child, breast-fed child being weaned away, why not do the womb weaning away also? In the beginning when the child is born show that love, show that closeness to the little baby. Give it that comfort for it too recognises a certain kind of comfort and when it recognises the comfort, it builds within itself its own form of confidence. And then slowly, gradually the child can be washed and all the other things that have to be done should be done. But this idea of getting the child away into some cold impersonal atmosphere almost immediately, is not the right process. I don't know, I'm sure the doctors would know what is being done nowadays. But in past times and not so very long ago, this was the usual thing as if it’s a little animal and just add a tag to its wrist. I personally am still a believer of birth at home. I am a believer of that. When my wife gave birth, - three boys we have, right - two are University students and one is a toddler of twelve. As a matter of fact he wanted to come with me now to give a few talks. He speaks very well. Perhaps on a future trip he can, while I have a rest, he can keep you busy. Because the only thing he thinks of is Go d. Right. At the birth of these children, I was with my wife all the time. The mid-wife comes and does her work and I'm there with her holding her hand, comforting her, speaking to her in a nice soothing voice, loving voice, because all expressions of love are soothing. Even your voice becomes soothing. It automatically, spontaneously becomes melodious, soothing, comforting. The mother feels the security. My husband is there with me holding my hand and the birth becomes so easy, so easy. Half of the pain is gone and you say 'Try a little more, a little pressing. It’s alright, okay love. It’s fine. You're doing okay'. Things like that it works. But then of course in certain societies, in certain countries there are very strict laws where home birth is not encouraged. What we did really, was every month she had her doctor's check-up and when the child was due, the doctor was informed in the morning that the labour pains have started and they are at certain particular intervals so you can more or less expect what time and if your away from your surgery, leave your phone numbers wherever you are going and we will know how to get hold of you. So the family doctor is a friend. As a matter of fact a family doctor should be a family friend as well. Otherwise he is not a family doctor. He should be able to be contactable any time, anywhere as a friend if not as a doctor. So, if there are any complications then he's available. There never had been any complications in my experience. So that's how it works. The most important thing that we have discussed now is when does the soul enter the foetus or the forming body, and how the mother has to be cared for. Right. What, is your machine giving birth? (General laughter) Yes. So what we

10. UK 79- 10 have discussed this morning - ah its just about one - what we have discussed this morning is when the soul enters the body to develop as a being, how the mother has to be cared for, how the mother should really never try to miss her meditations and her prayers. How the mother should never go through states of being upset, especially emotionally upset. How the mother should always do reading of a good nature that elevates the mind, inspiring. The Bible is nice to read for example, or any of these Scriptural books of any religion, inspiring, uplifting thoughts and this has a great influence on the foetus. For then we'd be doing our duty even before the child is born and thereafter there are certain duties involved that we have to do and we all know about them. Good. So it’s one minute to one and thank you very much. Namaste. Questioner. ....... (Inaudible) Gururaj. I didn't get that, is it the same five hundred million sperms around you all the time? Questioner.(Cont’d) Souls. Gururaj. Souls. They intermix, interchange, they're floating in and out of you all the time. Yes. So, here's a point to remember, that although in your uniqueness, there are so many millions of souls that are at your category too, your category of evolution or at your stage of evolution and yet each one is so different and unique. Okay. END