1. UK 80-6 Gururaj. I've been asked this morning to do a session of quick questions and answers because I'm sure many teachers would like to know some things and it could be very, very useful. So, you do not need to come to the mike, just from where you are, if you, if there is anything you want to know, please do ask. Questioner. Guruji, can you tell us something about the giving of names when you give a name like Raman or something? Gururaj. Has that anything to do about teaching? Voice. No. Gururaj. No, of course not. I have made a tape on this. When a person is born, he is born with certain characteristics inherent in him, good, and names are given to develop those particular characteristics. Now when a person is really on the path of developing those characteristics, I do give encouragement so that they might be fully developed. Good. Apart from that, there are many facets to it. Firstly the vibration is taken into account and then secondly the person's state of evolution is taken into account and there are several other factors. And it works totally different from the vibration of a mantra. So when a person repeats to himself Kummell, Kummell, Kummell, you know he hears it all the time. Right. Kummell stands for purity. So with that kind of affirmation, greater and greater purity would come because he is reminded of that purity. When I was born, I was given the name Purshotam. It means the best among men and I have tried very hard to live up to that name. Oh, good. Next. Questioner. .... (Inaudible) .........could you say something about how to ideally combine being a housewife, mother and teacher. Gururaj. Ah, yes of course. Now that question does weigh on the shoulders of many people. If a person can be a housewife, you can go to work and for your own evolutionary progress, you can devote some hours a week to spiritual work. Now you'd find a person going out for a night of bridge or going twice a week to the cinema or theatre or whatever. Good. So if that could be cut down a bit and those very few hours spent in teaching, it could be very fruitful and very, very satisfying to yourself. Now this does not apply to a person who is full time, who is a full-time teacher and we have very few full-time teachers, only the administrative staff, the rest are part-time. They run their businesses or their work or

2. UK 80-6 whatever and just a few hours a week is required. If you initiate six people in a week especially the prep teaching, you could very easily organise the six people for one evening to teach them the Prep. Technique. And like that time can be divided up and if you want to have something done, give it to a busy person and it will be done. We know that. So it is not such a great sacrifice of time in reality. Now in your case it is different because you and Ravi are running a centre full- time and both being totally dedicated, I know you stretch the twenty-four hours into thirty. Yes. So we do not ask anyone to leave their homes and throw up their work and start starving to teach. No, that's wrong. Be a proper householder and just spare those, some hours as many as you can manage. You know how we dawdle away time throughout the day. We do not make maximum use of our time, no one does really. So those few hours a day could be used for spiritual purposes in helping someone, helping mankind, putting them on the path. So that's how it works. And everywhere I found even in Capetown, South Africa, the other centres, none of them are full-time workers, part-time and they are doing very well. So you do not neglect your family. Your family comes first. Charity begins at home. And after doing that, there's always plenty of time. You multiply every hour by sixty minutes and twenty- four hours by that too and you'll see how many minutes a day you have. And do you know half of the waking day we dawdle away. Can anyone here tell me that when they go the office, that every minute of those eight hours is used for the boss's work? No. Half the time you are daydreaming, other half the time you are phoning your boyfriend or girlfriend. Other times you are doing this - if you have to spend five minutes in the loo, you'll take ten minutes to smoke your cigarette. You see how we waste time. And then if we complain that we cannot spend four, five or six hours a week in doing spiritual work then that is totally unjustified. It doesn't make sense. Right. Next. Questioner. Guruji, you have given us a special technique for healing people. Can you give a precisely a special technique for peace in the world - down with the weapon? Gururaj. I can't. You'll never have total peace in the world at any time. You'll never have total peace. But you can create peace in your environment and within yourself. Now if everyone would do that then the world would come to great peace. Because its individuals that composes the society and various societies put together composes a country and various countries makes the world. So therefore it is such, it is so important for teachers to spread this message of love because that's the only thing that could bring peace. So in the beginning, we start with ourselves and then we share that with those that come to us or those that are nearest to us, our environment and if man does that only, he has done his duty in life. But if we try to find a solution whereby total peace could be brought to the world, that is a dream. It has never bee n and it never will be. There are forces which keep on balancing up and down like a seesaw and even during what we call

3. UK 80-6 peace, there is greater war, greater war, greater conflicts of minds. Rather the war with the machine guns than this kind of war that is going on in the world today, total unrest in people's hearts, minds in turmoil and in confusion. That is a fa r greater and more damaging war than those with bombs and guns. You see. So the idea of bringing total peace to the world is impossible. But one can bring peace unto himself and those around him. Even, even I, I don't think I could really reach four thousand million people of the world. But if I can reach ten million, I've done something. OK. Next. I think it was Ivor there and then Peter. Questioner. Good morning, Guruji. Guruji, of late at our new Centre at Wilford Green, we've been teaching people that belong to the Spiritualist Church. Quite a few of these people in York, they do spiritual healing once a week as part of their normal weekly practices. Now they've had their Full Techniques and on their Forms you've made a mention of the fact that they are healing. And they have asked me if in fact their healing was okay, should they continue. Now because I didn't know - I had told them yes, because I felt in fact these people were in fact, were healing in the right way such as their motives were pure and therefore it was good for them to continue. But I would like some guidance from you on this matter. Gururaj. Good. Beautiful. Yes. Now the whole basis of healing is thought force and if thought force is directed properly as a prayer then it is good. But if people do indulge in all kinds of Abra Kabrabra, that is no good. That is no good. But if it’s a pure form of healing, where prayer is involved, it’s nice to pray if not for oneself, for others. It’s even better to pray for others and then that very prayer rebounds on you and benefits you ten fold. So if this spiritual circle indulges in those trumpets and moving up of tables and all that, that is rubbish. But if it's a.. (Inaudible) ...... they get together. And w hen people get together, a greater force is generated and they have a pure form of prayer to help others, it is very good. We always encourage prayer in whatever form, in whatever language as long as the sincerity is there. So it is good, encourage them to pray. Fine. Peter first. Peter. It’s really in reference to the last two questions, Guruji, would it help mankind, would it help if we, all members meditated at a particular time, on a particular day, say eight o'clock on a Sunday night? Gururaj. Beautiful, beautiful. We have an Eastern tradition on the day of Thursday, which means 'Guruvar', the day of the guru where people all over in the various Ashrams go through extensive prayers. Now it does not need to be Thursday, what is a day, in any case every day is the same. A day only matters when it comes to the pay-packet. (Gururaj laughs)

4. UK 80-6 So, so any day could be organised where an hour is set where all meditators pray and form that combined union, although they might be far away from each other. It is a very, very good thing. Brilliant. I would encourage that. Questioner. We'll set it up and put in the next Newsletter? Shall we? Gururaj. What does everyone think of that? Very good. Questioner. Guruji, would the chant be part of that? Gururaj. That is, if groups get together, then they could do a chant. But if people in outlying districts that are alone, then of course that might not be possible. So simple meditation and a prayer, sending out good thoughts to the world. May there be peace and happiness to all. It’s good. Questioner. I'd like to continue from Ivor's question. We have people who are interested in spiritualism and involving mediums, also other practices to do with Astrology and Horoscopes, Tarot Cards, the I Ching. Could you comment on which of these are to be encouraged and which are not to be encouraged? Gururaj. None of them are to be encouraged. None of them are to be encouraged because they take you on to devious paths. They are certain mental practices, which in the long run could bring imbalances to the mind. There's nothing greater than God and love. Good. So you can't stop them and they might come to you for initiation - you initiate them - but what they are doing in their homes, you can't stand behind them as a policeman all the time. But it is not to be encouraged from BMS. You tell them that 'Look these things don't have real value whatsoever. You're looking for psychic abilities and occult powers'. And after all what does occult mean 'O Cult' (General laughter). So, you see. So it’s absolutely useless. But as I said, we don't encourage it and what people do in their homes or together, we have no control over it. Questioner. Guruji, I am just going to start teaching. Although I know that the link between the guru and chela is spiritual, I'm still not sure in myself how to put across to people who are going to learn that it’s just spiritual because for me the physical is still important.

5. UK 80-6 Gururaj. Oh yes. Oh yes. Now there is one thing I always say that you cannot separate the physical from the mental and neither from the spiritual. It is a continuous whole and all our practices are so designed that it benefits the body, it benefits the mind. And of course when the mind and body is quietened, then the true spirit within is reflected. It shines forth. So as far as guru-chela relationship is concerned, because these things will be taught to you by our teachers, and I am sure you have gone through a Course, it is just a question of love, that's all, nothing else. That's all love and that love brings about faith and trust and when they start experiencing things, automatically that comes about. For example when you started meditating, you didn't know me. Who is that chap from South Africa? Right, and today you love me. See, because you have some experience of what love is all about, what devotion is all about, how that closeness could be there, that spiritual bond that could be formed and how it could be strengthened. You've experienced that so therefore you are here. See? But you must tell them that it has its physiological benefits, it has its psychological benefits because people are more interested in that than finding the path to God. But equal emphasis must be given, as a matter of fact more emphasis must be given to the spiritual path, that by finding that Kingdom within, everything can be smoothened out. There's no impossibility because it is all-powerful. So what is this little sore, bit of arthritis or whatever problem and its going to be all sorted out. And gradually they will disappear as greater and greater power and force of the Divine is infused in our daily lives. Some people might require diets for various things. Some people might require giving up age- old habits which are harming them. That we leave to the physicians. You don't need to be too concerned about that because 'Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Give unto God what is God's'. So if a person has a, cancer or some disease, we don't tell them that look meditation, meditate for two weeks and all that will be gone, its impossible. It doesn't work that way. Meditation aids you to develop that strength but for your disease, go and see a doctor. Oh yes. Because everything in this world has some use. A teacher has his uses, a carpenter, a plumber, a bricklayer, a doctor all have uses. So we'd be doing a person great harm if the person has some disease and we say 'Oh, don't go to doctors, you know just meditate, you'll be fine.' Okay, that works too, that works too, but has the person reached that stage of really finding that 'within-ness' so that he could conquer anything. People haven't reached that stage, so let them be helped through other sources where the body is concerned. Right. If a person requires surgery for something, we don't stop them. We'd be doing them harm. The person might die while that operation might save the person. But while going through the operation - and we have hundreds of letters on file - that when they meditate and do their gurushakti practices, they become so fearless and calm and quiet, that they face the operation.

6. UK 80-6 In Capetown, I'm very, very often called to our local hospitals there. The Groot Schoor is a very famous hospital where they do heart surgery and many times the Surgeons and the Cardiologists phone me and says 'Look, we have a person who is in a state of turmoil and we have spoken to them but of course we can't calm them'. And when a person is in a calm state, the operation does become more successful. So I go and visit these patients. Every morning, that is my work, I visit these people. I speak to them, put them through meditational practices, bring to a nice state of calmness and give them that hope and that courage through the mind, plus of course give them practices and things. And they practise and they become in such a lovely state that they gradually submit themselves to the operation and with such great hope and with the conviction that 'I am going to be OK'. You see. That's how it works. OK. I think there's someone this side. Questioner. Guruji, ... (inaudible)..... when one is beginning to teach the Preparatory Technique to someone, one finds that every time they begin their techniques, they are overcome by compulsive sobbing or something of the sort. Could you give some guidance ......... (Inaudible) Gururaj. Right. Sometimes a person comes to learn meditation. Now people want to learn meditation for various reasons. Good. When they enter the meditation room, so many thoughts start flooding their minds. Many people feel all kinds of guilts and they want to start meditation to resolve themselves of the guilts they suffer from. So when they go into a crying bout, leave them alone. Let them cry and when they calm down, few words of comfort helps a lot. And then you put them through the paces and they become calmer and calmer and calmer. Good. Now you'll find that with this relaxation, they start facing, the mind is stilled and the body to a certain extent, they could face themselves better. Diagnosis is half the cure and people analyse themselves, diagnose themselves. They see the wrongs they've done and the wrongs that they are doing, so that comes to the fore. They are not altered in mind or body whatsoever but their faults are mirrored to them. And that is why they feel regrets and they feel all these various guilts. So as a little time goes by and as they are helped by the grace, they will feel less and less guilty. So therefore these talks we give, a lot of tapes we have made on guilt and what it really means and growth and things like that and it would be nice if they could listen to these things and gain some insight, gain some understanding that no hope is lost. You could have been the vilest person on earth but Divinity is there. And to that Divine force, you are all good because God can only see good, He can't see wrong. In this play, children are playing, sometimes they're naughty, okay, so they get away from naughtiness. The whole idea is to gain that inner strength and through the inner strength, the mental strength, the right attitude towards life, then any calamity ceases to be a calamity. People have the

7. UK 80-6 habit of turning a molehill into a mountain. What we are doing for them is this, is making the mountain into a molehill. That is the value, that is the value of our teachings. So it is not spiritual practices only and meditation only, it is also helping them to gain certain insights, which means certain realisations which come about through listening to our tapes or reading good books, through self help, trying to better themselves with some little conscious effort. And that's how life improves. That's how life improves. If any person thinks that 'Oh, let all this go on, I want to see God', he won't. No one can really. He has to see the living God in his daily life, then you are seeing God. God is not a separate entity somewhere there outside where you say 'Good morning or Namaste.' No, no, no. That God permeates our very being, every cell of our body. Every little cell in this brain box is permeated by that Divinity. And the more we display that Divinity in our thinking and action, the more we are seeing God and living God. You see. Who is next? Would you guide who's next or not, that may be better? Questioner. .............. (Inaudible) Gururaj. You do not need to fill that at all. But if you found some little oddity or something, very good, just a line or so to say, which is very helpful. You know if you find that a person has a certain problem, certain problem which you know about and the person is too shy to write on the form - although you do tell them that the forms are confidential - but you find people that don't and then you just put in a line that this person - this, this, this, this. That's all and if there's something good about the person, too, that you must mention also. Okay. Questioner. Gururaj, when I speak to new people about Gurushakti, I know what I'm talking about but when you mention grace, I'm not sure what grace is and what's the difference, if it’s different from Gurushakti or is it the same? Gururaj. Same. Same. Questioner. Which word would you rather we use? Gururaj. Gurushakti. You see, you got to judge the person, what would be most conducive to the person. The electricity is there but you need the light bulb to have light. The guru acts as the light bulb, that's all. He is not the electricity.

8. UK 80-6 Questioner. (Inaudible)..... feeling about it. The word, I mean. I'd rather leave it alone because I don't really know what I'm saying. Gururaj. Do you know what Grace really is? Do you know what Grace really is? It is a word which is indefinable. But let me use an analogy. You plant a seed, the plant starts growing. Good. Just the right amount of minerals go to the roots, just the right amount of sunshine it gets. Just the right amount of water, rain, fertiliser, what have you, for it to grow. Because if you have too much water, a plant will die. Too much minerals, the plant will die. Now what is it that gives the plant all those things in its right proportion? What is it? That's Grace. Do you see? Questioner. Gururaj, could you tell us about Initiation, what it means from aspects of teacher and how does the Initiation operate on your level? For example, the true Initiation begins when you get the Forms, isn't it. Is there a special Initiation like we have or is it different? Gururaj. No, it’s totally different. I go into a state of meditation and I'm lost and I become totally one with the person to be initiated. And I feel the totality of the person, his mind, his physical self, his spiritual self, his state of evolution. I feel that in all that he's vibrating. For example if we should take a person's mind, body and spirit and if there was some way of reducing it to sound value, then that would be the kind of sound that would be heard, which is received on a very subtle level. And then from that subtle level, it is brought to a grosser level so that it could become audible and speakable. So as a person carries on in meditation, like an ice cream cone, as a person carries on in meditation, that very mantra that is given becomes subtler and subtler and subtler until just an impulse remains. My personal mantra which my guru gave me has thirteen syllables and I experience all thirteen syllables as an impulse. As a matter of fact as I am sitting here I'm feeling that impulse all the time, even while talking to you. So the whole idea is to become that impulse, then you have reached the word. That's how it works. Now someone would ask why this ceremony, why not just pass it over. I've seen one Swami that we visited in America - Savita was with me - he had a stack of cards there and people go to him and they prostrate themselves at his feet. Of course there's a basket in front, they've got to throw in something. That particular day while we were there, there were five gold rings, his secretary was telling me and all kinds of things. And then they prostrate themselves there and then he takes a bunch of feathers and bops you on the head with it. We've seen this; we went to visit this Ashram. There were about six of us that went, Roopa, Gori, Savita, Amrit, Gita. We had a few days to spare so I said 'Look, let's go and visit these Ashrams and

9. UK 80-6 see what they're all up to'. (General laughter) Right and then he has this stack of cards and then someone asks 'Oh Swami so and so, give me a mantra.' He takes a card. A shame in the name of God. Shame. So now, the ceremony we have, it is actually totally unnecessary. I send the instructions and you can sit down over coffee and hand over the instructions to the person. But then the, the sanctity of it is lost. You see. For example if you walk into any church there is that atmosphere because of constant prayers and things like that like in our Initiation Rooms or wherever. There is a certain atmosphere and that atmosphere with prayers and things when a person is initiated drives home deeply the instructions that are given and many people feel various kinds of things. I get so many reports when you are initiating someone, the person actually feels the force of gurushakti. Some of them report they actually feel that I am there and things like that. And this is an impetus, it opens up faster. Otherwise you could give the instructions over a cu p of tea you know 'Oh, there is your mantra and blah blah blah.' No, you see. So there has to be the sanctity because it is something very holy. It’s not something that we play the fool around with and anything, which is holy, must be treated in a holy way. You see. Because people are not at that stage where they are totally holy. Like we met a Swami, I was invited to lunch, Swami Bhajan, Yogi Bhajan. What was the place we went to for lunch? Here in London somewhere. So he says 'Oh', he was a very humorous chap, 'Oh, people call me holy. I've got nine holes.' He's referring to the nine appertures. He says 'People call me holy, I've got nine holes.' How could he inspire that holiness? After all it’s a spiritual path and you start it off the right way by having a little prayer ceremony. And there is never anything wrong at any time in prayers. Right. Questioner. Guruji, when I was coming home after Teacher Training in London and as the train comes into Lewisham, one of the landmarks is the lights of the maximum-security prison which we have there. And I used to look at that place and think I know they will never experience love and who perhaps would be very open towards Gururaj and it seems sometimes that the rest of the world is unaffected by this. (Inaudible) .......... and I wonder at which time we would be ready to actually go into places like that. Gururaj. Right now. Right now. Oh yes. Right now. How is your cold, Norman? Norman. It’s a lot better thank you. I missed sitting in yesterday because I was sleeping. Gururaj. Good. Good.

10. UK 80-6 Norman. There still seems to be a slight paradox it seems to me, in regard to that individual vibration that we all have. Now if that is already resonating on a subtle level and you tune into that, you give it back to us, we say it on a gross leve l and it becomes subtle again. How on earth does it help us to evolve? Gururaj. Oh yes, because you're becoming closer to yourself and by becoming closer to yourself, you are evolving. You are far away from yourself. So what we want is the small 'i' to merge into the Big 'I' and when one really merges away then you are not Norman anymore. You are that vibration. The primal vibration. So in other words you become the mantra. Questioner. Guruji, can I go back please to the question that Jacqueline raised about Grace because I am still a bit confused. Because in the beginning of BMS, in the early days, Amrit gave a talk which was taped, in which he spoke of the Law of Karma and the Law of Grace. And he said that if certain conditions were satisfied by the meditator, then the guru could invoke the Law of Grace and enable one's karma to be worked off in an easier way. And he quoted Yogananda's account of Bapuji burning the arm of one of his disciples. But at the same time, Amrit spoke of gurushakti as being something that flows spontaneously. I find it difficult to reconcile the idea of gurushakti flowing spontaneously and a Law of Grace which has to be invoked. Gururaj. Those are Amrit's theories, aren't they? (General laughter). Gurushakti and grace are synonymous. It’s the same universal force. The day you will understand grace completely then you will understand God because God is grace. You see. Now when it comes, why we use the word gurushakti is this, we could have used the word grace, the same thing. Why we use the word gurushakti, is that a true guru has the ability to gather certain energies, helpful energies, spiritual energies and direct them whenever required. Yet this gurushakti is universal. It’s a universal force. It is there all the time but why do we add on the word guru, that wherever needed, the guru can consciously direct those energies. And that is why I encourage people to write letters so that it becomes a focal point and as I'm reading a letter, there's prayers welling up all the time and energies are sent. And those that are established in gurushakti practices, don't even need to write because just taking the mind, the thought to the focal point, they automatically draw. That's how it works. Questioner. Guruji, as soon as we start teaching people in areas such as prisons or hospitals or just even people who come to us who have a lot of superficial stress, its obvious that we have to spend a lot of time on a one- to -one basis with them to help them with their individual problems. And how much time can we afford if you like to spend with them if it means that other people who perhaps we could be teaching a group could be using that time? How much.. (Inaudible) ....

11. UK 80-6 Gururaj. Right. You might find that many times very severe psychiatric cases coming to you. Now when that happens, when that happens, you give them a few sessions, build up the hope and faith and love in them and after that refer them to a Psychiatrist. Because not being, not being qualified Psychiatrists, we can teach them a technique which they must follow and that is from the one angle and from the other angle, the Psychiatrist or Doctor would help. So here the person is tackling his problems from various angles. It helps. But if you are going to cure this person of all his psychiatric problems, it is, it’s a full-time job. And we have in the organisation a few people that is occupying the time of one of our teachers, just three of them, full-time, full-time. So I told these teachers, I says 'You don't do that. You don't do that. Firstly you're not qualified to do that. You're qualified to teach meditation. You're qualified to give a person that hope and courage and encouragement, things like that.' And then you refer them, tell them 'You must go and get expert advice on your problem. But while you are going through that treatment, you carry on with our meditation and it will give you greater strength to face your problem and it will expedite the cure for you.' Questioner. I wonder though, if we have the choice say, if we have the choice of going in and starting a programme in an area like that, whether as time is always so limited, whether one should do that knowing what it was going to involve? Gururaj. Involve? Mind you, it is only the sick that goes to the physician or the physician comes for the sick. Right. So help as much as you can. There are thousands and thousands of people in this world that need this peace of mind. Why concentrate on those that are just overboard, over the board? Why concentrate on those? There are thousands of people that need this peace of mind and if a person that has very severe psychiatric problems come along to you, you don't turn them away. No one must be turned away. No one leaves our home empty-handed. They leave our home with some encouragement and love. Most people suffer of psychiatric problems because they feel they are lost. They are loveless. They are not wanted. They are misfits. Those are the basic problems. You can ask any Psychiatrist. So make them feel at home and gently encourage them to go and have expert advice. And meanwhile when the Forms come, I would be able to know if they should go on to mantra or this or that or just onto some other kind of practice and that will help them. Questioner. Guruji, is there any danger in that situation that if you refer someone to a Psychiatrist, he could accuse you of meddling or mucking about with someone's deeper level?

12. UK 80-6 Gururaj. No. No. There's no danger whatsoever. Because what are you basically teaching is to find the Kingdom of Heaven within. You are teaching religion. That's what you are teaching. You're not interfering with the person's mind. Questioner. Things do come up once they start meditating. Gururaj. Not necessarily, not necessarily. Not necessarily. And then of course they are under expert psychiatric supervision. So your responsibility ceases. And you are not responsible in the actual sense of the word. You are not responsible at all. You are teaching the word of God. You're teaching them to meditate, how to reach within. So with such people that are severe psychiatric cases, you adopt the religious line and give them hope. Questioner. Can one always teach the full Preparatory Practice or are there cases where we should just ask the person to fill in a Form before teaching them anything? Gururaj. Now that's a very important question. Where you find a person to be severely troubled or undergoing severe treatment, just send the Form along without the Preparatory Practices and it will be returned to you to tell you to teach this or teach that or teach that. Questioner(Cont’d). And does this apply when a person is on heavy drugs? Gururaj. It all depends what you mean by heavy, heavy in the sense of psychiatric treatment or in the sense of addiction. Questioner. (Cont'd). I did teach one man without realising that he was on heroin or cocaine. If I had known, should I have continued? Gururaj. And you did not know and of course some of them hide things away and it makes it difficult. Questioner. (Cont'd). It came out at a checking meeting. Gururaj. Yes, but these are rare cases, really. Inherently people are honest, you know, I have so much faith in people. They are honest. Now and then you might find a case and then when you find out afterwards, you tell them that 'Look,

13. UK 80-6 you must do something about this, about your intake of these unprescribed drugs. You must do something about it.' And then you take them off the mantra or other practices and put them back onto Prep. Questioner. (Cont’d). And should one teach them the Preparatory Practice straightaway or just .... (Inaudible) Gururaj. No. You said something different actually. You said, you, only after teaching the Preparatory Practice, you only found out afterwards. Yeah. So if you find out afterwards and they have received their Full Techniques, then put them back on the Preparatory. Questioner. (Cont’d). And if one discovers before teaching the Preparatory, should one teach them the Preparatory? Gururaj. If they are very severe then just send in the Form, if they're very severe cases. Questioner. Guruji, as Preparatory Teachers, we don't read the Forms. So you know we say this is confidential, we presume that people write down if they are on heavy drugs. But if we are going to say to them afterwards 'Now if you are on drugs or if you're having psychiatric treatment, will you tell me' then surely this is as bad as reading and it’s no different from reading the Forms. Gururaj. That is a problem. That is a problem. But mind you there is one thing that before teaching, you normally have a little chat. And it’s not so mechanical that a person walks in from the door and into the meditation room and 'Come lie down and you, ah, ah, ah!' You normally have a chat and from, from, from the chat one could very subtly ask the question 'Look, do you have any real problem?' or something like that. But then again the Preparatory Practice is very harmless. It’s totally, totally harmless. It is just a means whereby one achieves a state of relaxation and forms a link with the guru, a psychic link, if you wish to use that word. That's all. So it could really do no harm whatsoever. Its only when the Full Techniques come with, that has to do with their vibrations and things, then if the person is a case where mantras are not to be given, then we don't. But the Preparatory Practice is just, and if you feel that a person is very ill then you could very easily ask, I'm sure, 'Look, is there anything really bothering you because these Forms will take four weeks, six weeks, two months but in the meantime is there anything I could do for you?' Okay. Questioner. If they find the Prep. Technique mantra too strong, what do we do then? Do we just give them breathing or just focus on the breathing?

14. UK 80-6 Gururaj. I have never come across any case where they find the eh, you see the use of the word Gururaj Ananda is just to focus their mind, focus their mind, it steadies the mind and a link is formed which is always beneficial to a person. But now if a person finds it too strong, you will find that they automatically without you saying a word they will stop doing it. You'll find that. Questioner. .............. (Inaudible) Gururaj. What a pity. Were you there for a long time? Questioner(Cont’d). I was there for about five years. Gururaj. Five years, lovely, lovely. Questioner(Cont’d). Guruji, is it possible for someone who is deaf and dumb to be taught the Prep. Technique. How would you go about it? Gururaj. If they are deaf and dumb you could write down Gururaj Ananda on a piece of paper and give the instructions written because they are deaf and dumb or if you know the sign language. You are looking very well, Bill, looking very well and you write beautifully too. Yes. Yes. Bill had a bit of a problem with writing but now he writes so beautifully. I'm proud of you. Yes. Who's next? Questioner. Is there ever a point in meditation where a little effort will improve the quality of meditation or should it always be absolutely at its best? There seems to come a point where you can sit there and can indulge in thinking or just turn the mind and it will ...... Gururaj. It all depends what you mean by effort. There can be effort but it has to be effortless effort. (Gururaj laughs) Now you know you've brought up a very good point there. On some of the Progress Forms which I have read, some of the people mention that I sit down to meditate and their mind is filled with thoughts. There's nothing wrong with that. Let the mind be filled with thoughts. Let the mind be filled with thoughts because meditation is an alternation between thought and mantra, thought and mantra. And one flows smoothly into the other. Now if the mind is filled with thoughts and you

15. UK 80-6 become conscious or you take your attention to those thoughts, then the thoughts will naturally multiply. So just leave the mind alone. You are not interested in the mind. Let it do what it wants to do. You know my usual analogy. There are monkeys on a tree jumping, you go and shake the tree, they are gonna jump more. Leave them alone and they'll settle down. So don't worry, don't be concerned about thoughts that come into the mind. Those thoughts are necessary because the mind cannot remain a blank. For example in Nirvikalpa Samadhi, where you go even beyond the superconscious level of the mind, where there's a difference between - this could be a good subject for a talk sometime - there's a difference between deep sleep where you are unconscious, totally non-conscious rather, unconscious, that's Jung and Freud. (Gururaj laughs) Yah. In deep sleep (The bell rings for lunch). Ah, in deep sleep one goes through a stage of no thought. That's non-consciousness in ignorance while in Nirvikalpa Samadhi there is non-consciousness in knowledge. That's the difference. So if a person goes into Nirvikalpa Samadhi and if he stays in there for more than twenty-one days, his entire body will disintegrate. Do you see? So what I'm trying to say that thoughts have to be there. You have these little gaps where no thought, no mantra, you know all about that. Don't try for it, let it come automatically. Then it will come. So if thoughts come, let them come, have fun with them, watch them as on a cinema screen. So thoughts are very pleasant. I don't know if I should tell you this. A young lady from England writes to me, she says 'You know when I sit and meditate, you know all my thoughts are just of sex.' So when I saw her, I said 'Yes, okay, project it on the screen. (Gururaj laughs) Yes. Objectify them, look at them on the screen, then you don't need to go to Soho.' (General laughter). So don't, apart from joking now, don't worry about thoughts, let them come and just leave them alone. Let them carry on and you see how they quieten down. And if they don't quieten down, they will assume a different quality. Fine. Do we have to go to school, the bell rang? END