3. U S 77 - 39 not be discouraged to take part in the chanting. Suc h a person must be encouraged to take part in the chanting but could be very tactfully asked to keep his voice down a bit so he doesn't disturb the rhythm of the others. OK. A nice point to remember, a practical point. Fine. So that is as far as the cha nting goes, but we could go into far, far deeper details of it. We could write a book on it. But I just wanted to give you some of the basic principles of it. CHELA: Do the words have some significance? GURURAJ: The words do have some significance... ah, very good point raised which I almost forgot to mention. That if you know the meaning of the words then it would not remain a chant which will separate the big I from the small I. Because if you know t he meaning of the words, then you will start contemplating. Now there is a difference between contemplation, concentration and meditation. And chanting is a form of meditation. Fine. Now, the sounds that you use is the exact manifestation, the represent ation of all manifestation. In other words, if you could bring your mind to a level, to a subtler level and could hear manifestation or creation, these would be the sound that you could hear. This is interpreted on a more grosser level so that it could b ecome utterable. But at its deeper level, and as you become more established in the chant you will experience the deeper levels of the sounds that are heard all the time because [at the?] mantra meditation you know that our system depends entirely on a pe rson's vibration. Good. Now, the composition of the entire universe is nothing else but vibration. And it is the nature of vibration never to remain static. Wherever there is vibration there is motion, and wherever there is motion there has to be sound. So the entire universe is in a state of motion all the time. This bench here, this table... you think it is standing still, but it is not. There are millions of molecules swirling around, there's motion all the time. We think this planet Earth we are standing on is standing still. It is not. It is hurtling through space. So like that, in everything, and physics will tell you this, that everything is in motion all the time and wherever there is motion there has to be sound because motion creates soun d. Good. So when the universe was manifested... I rather prefer that word than the word "created"... when the world was manifested, it manifested in sound. [At ???] a very, very subtle level. And all scriptures verify this. In the Bible it say s, "Firs t was the word and the word was with God and the word was God." And so the scriptures, too, verifies this. So by doing this chant and as we reach these deeper levels, as in our mantra meditation, we can experience a very subtle level of all creation. No w the difference between the chant and a mantra meditation is this, that with the mantra too we reach a subtle level and then we go beyond subtle level, fine, to the state of being which is normal called transcending. In

7. U S 77 - 39 in life in any undertaking, in whatever job you do... it could be a professor, could be a carpenter, it could be anything... the difference between success and failure is due to lack of concentration or concentration. Failure is because of lack of concentration in any undertaking. And success is due to making a concentrated effort. And through this practice you become so habituated that when you put all your mental energies in the thing at hand... what we are doing instead of the mind flying th is way and that, all over the show. Good. Now, that is one of the practical benefits. The other benefits is that here between the eyebrows, the center of the forehead, we have a chakra. Now this is an entirely different subject on the subtle body and the various chakras which fall under the category of kundalini yoga and other yogas. Nevertheless, we have a chakra here. In Sanskrit it's called the ajna chakra, and normally known by the layman as the third eye. Fine. Everyone has heard that expression , the third eye which is the psychic eye or the intuitional eye. Good. Now, by doing this practice, by focusing all our energies to one point, just here, outside the forehead, we are exercising the ajna chakra, and by exercising the ajna chakra, or the t hird eye, we are actively opening the third eye. So you will find after some months of meditation on tratak, after some months of doing tratak, you will find your sense of perception deepening. You'd find your awareness expanding because you are not only using two eyes then, but you'd be using three eyes. There are many things that would come in life which you would just know. The sense of knowing [END SIDE ONE] without any rationalization... you just know that this is right. You just know that this is wrong. That happens because the third eye is being opened. That, of course, also comes in degrees and stages, and the more it is opened the deeper the perception, which is also one of the basic steps for people who want to develop powers of a clairvoyan ce... which I do not advocate developing any form of siddhis, but this comes along on the path... that you walk down the garden path and you observe the flowers and all the shrubbery and so on. And you enjoy them. Good. So this is also one of the steps whereby you develop the powers of clairvoyance where you could look at a flower with open eyes and then you close your eyes and the details you have missed with opened eyes you will pick up with closed eyes. That means you are perceiving the object with a sense which is higher than the ordinary five senses. Good. So you open the third eye. Now, it has been proven that the psychic third eye, which is on the subtle level, also has its physiological counterpart. And the physiological counterpart is the p ineal gland. Now, you must have all heard of the pineal gland which is more or less here in the center of the brain. Now, when a person dies... there have been so few experiments on the pineal gland. As a matter of fact, western science knows very littl e about the pineal gland because when a person dies the pineal automatically becomes calcified. And they could do very little research on it. But with the latest advances in science they have found that doing this exercise of tratak, doing tratak, the pin eal gland is stimulated. The third eye is opened and its

8. U S 77 - 39 counterpart, the pineal gland, is stimulated. Now, when the pineal is stimulated, it creates a substance which they've termed melatonin. And this substance, in turn, has a great influence upon eve ry secretion in the body. And it influences every secretion in the body in a very, very beneficial way. It has a regenerating and a rejuvenating effect. So the practice of tratak helps you physiologically; it improves you biologically; it has its psychol ogical benefits. It helps you psychically and also takes you toward a greater integration within yourself. So, you would find that all spiritual practices are never involved or never difficult. If anyone gives you a spiritual pract ice which is very diffi cult, try and shun the teacher and his teaching. Spiritual practices are always very simple and they have very, very far reaching effects. Look at the simple exercise of tratak. When you get taught tratak, the teacher will instru ct you how to do it and will go into deer details. I'm teaching of the benefits of it. Good. Now, that was tratak. And then, of course, some have practices where certain chakras within the chakric system of man are to be activated; and for that they have certain practices. The reason for that, there is a psychic flow within man's body, a vital force that flows within the nervous system. Now, the physiological body has nerve complexes that too have its counterpart in the subtle body, a subtle nerve complex. And so many times t here are certain blockages, if you wish to use that word, in the subtle body. And through certain practices that are given, those blockages are removed and dissolved so that the energy in the subtle body could have a free flow and when that has a free flo w it tunes one to the spiritual body on the one hand and to the physical body on the other hand. The subtle body of man is the connecting link between that which is very gross, which we call the relative, and that which we call the absolute. That here the subtle body is used as the connecting link, connects you with the absolute and the relative wher e life could be lived in a totality, in a oneness. And in a integrated form. Now, these are some of the primary practices that are given out, and as far as meditation is concerned, there are hundreds of systems of meditation. The whole idea is to give t he proper program to the right person, the proper person. It is like the way a doctor operates. For example, any one of us could write to a pharmaceutical firm for a catalog of their medicines and any child could memorize the name of each and every medic ine, but it's only the doctor who knows which medicine to give to who and for what purpose. Now, in like manner, a program is worked out within the individual person. There are a few general practices, like tratak, it's a general practice. But when it c omes to activating certain forces within oneself.... For example, in the mantra practice, it is very, very rare that two people would have the same mantra. There are some systems in this world that have a list of mantras gained from books. You know, per haps twelve or fourteen or sixteen or twenty that are dished out on age basis. In our system, we don't have that. The person's state of evolution has nothing to do with his age. A very young boy could be born enlightened or a state of near enlightenment .

9. U S 77 - 39 So we don't use these general systems. It's like I said yesterday, I think, that those systems are very similar to having on e bottle of medicine which is a cure all for all diseases. And that does not work. We know it does not work at all. So certa in systems, generalized systems, might have certain particular value, might have some value, we don't deny that. To some people a mantra might be given which might just by chance be good for that person, but I do not think in the spiritual life we should take chances. It's like having a whole shelf of medicine bottles and trying each bottle, one after the other. And then one might just be the right one. But before you reach the right one you might have caused yourself a lot of harm. Good. Fine. It's like if we have a doctor at hand who looks at the whole shelf of medicines you have and says, "That is the one you need for your particular problem." Then it becomes much easier. Then the medicine, or the practice in our case, has its optimum value. And that is why we have found that the thousands of people in many, many parts of the world are progressing so well and benefitting so beautifully. The reason why we started this foundation was this, that the ancient teachings were misused and abused, and te rribly abused. It was made a business where they were more interested in the commercial and sales side of things rather that benefitting humanity. With our practices you find that two things happen, that the heart unfolds and the mind expands. And they. .. we discussed this yesterday I think it was, where with the opening of the heart and the expansion of the mind then progressing simultaneously at the same time a person becomes more integrated, [???] this person, and all his energies, and there's a whole reservoir of sublime energy, divine energy which is at our disposal. But one thing is sure, that to get water in our kitchen tap from the reservoir, there has t o be a big pipe and from the big pipe smaller pipes follow which eventually brings water right into our kitchen. And that sublime energy is there within us and we have to use these various systems, and a system which is most suitable to us to bring forth... to allow expression to that divinity that is within us. And that is the aim and the goal of life. So these are a few of the practices, I've described the "practical" value. Practices must have a practical value. In the word practical, the word practice is there already. Fine. Otherwise, all these various theories and philosophies are just men tal gymnastics and worth nothing. Now, I met a man who was so engrossed in all the metaphysical and philosophical theories of the world that from morning until night he would be busy with Hegel and Kant and Schopenhauer and Nietzsche and wherever... Nietz sche... with all the various philosophers and what have you.... theory after theory. You could ask him anything and he would tell you, "Ah, Hegel said that and Mahob said this and Knob said that... [chelas giggling]. OK. Right. And yet this man was so knowledgeable. Knowledgeable. Now I don't know how he spelled "knowledge." I think he missed the "K" no ledge, nowhere to stand on. [Laughter] Unpractical. Unpractical because his wife and children were starving. Now, what is the sense of that? To have your wife and children starving and yet, you are hobnobbing with Hobbes. [Chelas laughing]. What is the use of that?

10. U S 77 - 39 So our philosophy and our teachings is totally practical. It must be practical. It must be beneficial to our daily living a nd that is life. Did Christ not say that "I am the way"? By the "way" meaning showing the path, showing techniques, perhaps, for however you wish to interpret that. And that way is the life. It has to be lived. The true life that has to b e lived. And if the true life is lived automatically, that is the truth. Because life is truth, we cannot deny. As I said before, it depends where we put the emphasis. And with these practices we are led to put proper emphasis on the proper things. Emphasis on tha t which brings us greater harmony and greater peace. More and more peace within ourselves because isn't that what we really want? True peace within ourselves. And that peace which we can gain goes beyond all analysis and all mental gymnastics. It is co mmonly said, "Peace that passeth all understanding." So that is true. That is what we want. So through this [???] here I am giving you a summary of some of our practices. And those of you who are not on the full practice, you'd be initiated soon and a pr actice is something that has to be practiced. That is regularity and you all know that we can only get out as much as we put in. If we don't put in, what can we get out? OK? [????] [Chela asks a question that is inaudible] GURURAJ: Pranayama? Ya. Good. We can speak about that. Now, pranayama is a word which spelled prana means the vital force and the outer expression of this vital force is the outer breath. But within the outer breath that we breathe in there is life giving, a vital force which i s life itself. And we would find [??????????] where this is allegorically or metaphorically said in [????] "And divinity breathed life into it." What was meant was not the breath that we know of, the vital force, the life force. So "prana" means life for ce and "yama" means control of the life force. The basic pranayama that is given to people to start them off on the pranayama practice is four, sixteen, eight. Now that means you inhale to the count of four, you retain the breath to the count of 16, and you exhale to the count of eight. Now, there is a ratio and rhythm to this. Now, if you can stand apart from the universe and if you could observe the universe, the rhythm that would be found and which seers can see and have found and have discovered, is that the entire universe is pulsating in the same rhythm, four, sixteen, eight. When we do this practice the most important part, as I said before, is the exhaling. Because, when we retain our breath to the count of sixteen, many people would tend to ex hale immediately and that is where the control is required where you breathe out to the count of eight. Good. Now, that is the universal rhythm, that is the rhythm of the universe. Now, when we do this practice, and then after awhile it just becomes auto matic to you. When we do this practice, then what we are actually doing is attuning our little individual self with the universal self. In othe r words, we attune ourselves to the higher uplifting forces. That is one aspect of integration where you becom e one with

12. U S 77 - 39 a practice, they practically, most times, become entirely oblivious of their minds and bodies and as if a force higher than themselves, or a different force, just flows through to them and they are nothing but instruments. So, if you would come again to the analogy we used before, that could bring the water from the reservoir... you hav e the big pipe and from the big pipe, sub pipes and smaller pipes until the water reaches out to the tap. You call it faucet, don' t you? Right. So, that's the way it works. I, myself, am nothing but a channel. And I use myself as a channel. It's all w hat I am. Very, very ordinary person like each and every one of them and I do the things which all people do and when I'm hungry I eat and when I'm thirsty I drink and I also go to john. [Chelas laughing] I'm a very ordinary person. Like a hollo w piece o f wood made into a flute and divinity blows its melodies through the channel of the flute so that the world could enjoy it. OK? It's so simple. OK. One o'clock. Ya. CHELA: I have a question. If... I've got a friend that during the chant this meditat or would have a much greater [????] with each member of the group. But, is it good to do it by yourself [????]? GURURAJ: Ah, you've come to a very important point there. Now, by doing it in a group you'd find that the vibrations are heightened in the home. The grosser vibrations are overcome and vibrations are heightened so it becomes very, very beneficial in the place that we do our chants, for one. The other thing is that where people are gathered together for one purpose then each helps the other by creating heightened vibrations. Someone might be lagging behind, and doing these practices in a group you are actually lending a helping hand for the person that is lagging behind. So it is very, very beneficial. As far as the chant is concerned, the re is one thing that I forgot to mention to you. Sometimes your mind is filled with a thought and that thought is just whirling and whirling and whirling away in our minds. Now, most people think that they think. They really don't think. They only think that they think. So what is happening in their minds is that one thought keeps on repeating itself over and over and over again and you're caught up in this whirlpool of whirling thoughts. And the other kind of thought that people have are normally asso ciation of ideas. You think of the yellow flower and immediately your mind would flit away to the yellow dress you have and then when you think of the yellow dress and you think of next week's party and you start thinking of next week's party and then you think of what Jane's going to wear. And "I hope she doesn't have the same kind of dress." And that is how the mind progresses from thought to thought and thought. Here you have started with a flower and you've ended up with cocktails. [Chela laughing] That is how the mind functions. Association of ideas, [of course] there's no thought, and most of the time whirling thoughts... three or four kee p on pestering the mind... churns and churns and churns and turns and burns. So, during the day, during the day when this

1. U S 77 - 39 [Tape is difficult to hear and accuracy is questionable] AMRIT: Three questions... Someone read that out last night... GURURAJ: [Interrupting. He asks Amrit a question, but it is very muffled]... and of course those people that are not here, they could [muffled]. Let's start off with talking about chanting. Good. Now, we did seven rounds of chanting and as you progress in the chant you can increase three rounds. Now, the system we have in England and South Africa and other countries is this, that people get together once a week... Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs day, which ever day is convenient. They have a chanting session and then they listen to one of the tapes and then they have a discussion after. And then they break up with their coffee and it really becomes a nice social evening. Good. Now, how many peo ple noticed that after about three rounds of chanting... first I want to ask you this. Is this the first time that all of you have done chanting? [Many "yes" from the chelas] Most of you. Fine. How many people noticed that after about three rounds of c hanting the chant just went on its own? [Chelas reply with different answers.] After doing about three rounds thereafter, most people do get the experience that they are not doing it and it's just happening on its own and you are observing it. Right? F ine. Good. Now the reason for that is this, that here, too, is a separation of the big I and the small I. Remember last night we spoke about the ego sense, the mind that separates man from his real self? So, when the chant takes place on its own, it me ans that the real self, the big I within man, is observing the small I operating. So as you get more and more established in the practice, it has great practical value in daily life. We can observe ourselves acting and speaking and doing whatever you hav e to do and yet you are standing apart, observing it. Now, the practical advantage is this, that it does not form any deep impression on the mind. Now, any deep impression that's created in the mind must have its reaction. So in other words, every caus e must have its effect. Now, when a person becomes established in the big I, then he becomes a law unto himself. Any action he performs, by not creating this impression in his subtle body or his mental body, if you wish to put it that way, will find that he is not bound by karma. And when a person stops being bound by karma, then there are no effects to be had. In other words, you are finding freedom in bondage. You are bound by relativity. You are living in a relative world, and you can't deny it. Y ou have to eat, you have to sleep, you have to drink, and you have to perform all biological functions. And yet, you are not bound by it. Because up to now what is happening to us is this, that between the relative and the absolute we are more ruled by t he relative and not by the absolute. The emphasis is on the relative and the emphasis is not on the absolute. So what we are trying to do is to take a hundred and eighty degree turn where the emphasis would be more on the absolute, upon the reality that is within ourselves rather than the phenomenal world that we live in. In other words, we are changing to that

2. U S 77 - 39 changelessness that is within us, and yet, being involved in all the changes around us. And as it is so beautifully stated in the Bible, "To be in the world but not of the world." Now, in the simple practice of chanting one is led gradually to be established in the changeless where you stand apart and you observe yourself within the chant. It goes on automatically. Good. Now, that is, of course, the philosophical and integrating aspect of it. But there are other aspects to chanting as well. This chant has been so worked out, so scientifically worked out, and you must have noticed this, that when you do the chant you would find that there is a to tal expellation of breath. You are expelling, exhaling. Fine. Now, most people do not know how to breathe. Most people breathe wrongly. And when you breathe wrongly you make your mind... you keep your mind in a more turbulent state and your body does not benefit. And it makes the body more prone to diseases, for example. Now, in this chant the syllables are so worked out and so scientifically measured that when you do the chant you are emptying your lungs so completely. Now, in breathing, the most im portant thing is exhalation and not inhalation. If you exhale completely, then automatically you will inhale completely. Most people breathe just here from the chest, very shallow breathing. And that is not the way to breathe. Now we're talking from co mpletely physiological point of view. Now, the best way to breathe is to get the air in down to the stomach and the stomach is pushed up to the chest. And after a bit of practice you'd find it would come very naturally. And you won't do it consciously a nymore and it would become habitual. It's like starting to learn to play the piano where you would start pressing a key at a time.. finger, finger, finger. And then once you become established and you know your keyboard, you can play Mozart or Bach or Bee thoven and yet at the same time hold a deep philosophical conversation. It becomes [chelas laughing blocking his word] Now, the same thing happens... now if you watch me breathing you'll see how it works. The stomach is filled up, the lower diaphragm, the higher diaphragm, the lungs are so filled. That is the proper way of breathing. Nevertheless, that would come under when you talk about pranayama. Fine. This here helps that... like I said, scientifically worked out so that in the chant you are ex pelling air totally and thereby you are getting rid of a lot of toxins in the body. And by getting rid of toxins naturally the body becomes more healthier. And this is understood... getting rid of carbon dioxide... is it carbon dioxide? [chelas answer, "yes"] Good. And you're taking in fresh oxygen which is revitalizing to the body. The rhythm is very important because you're creating a certain rhythm within your system and that is also very scientifically worked out. Now, sometimes in group chanting you might find one person in the whole group who might have a discordant voice. That person's voice might happen to be the loudest voice. So that could put you off the rhythm, but such a person should

4. U S 77 - 39 chanting we unite ourselves, one w ith all creation, because the creator, although being immanent in creation, is also apart from creation. These are the two different levels, but on one level you reach the state of really recognizing duality at its finest level. At the other stage is whe re you recognize the unity of all levels. Fine. So that is the difference between the chant meditation and the mantra meditation. Of course some systems may give it names such as GC and TC and UT. [Chelas add other initials while laughing] But we are more interested in WC. World Consciousness. [Inaudible discussion with chelas] No, chanting is the experiencing of duality at its finest level. While with mantra meditation it is reaching the absolute level and from that level experiencing the unity of everything. So that is the basic difference between chanting and mantra meditation. Now, let us talk of tratak. Now, many of you here perhaps, I don't know how many, are still on the preparatory technique, and they would soon be organizing that so we wil l soon have a full counselor here. Amrit will be coming down to teach the full techniques. The preparatory technique means to prepare, the word explains itself. Now, when you lie down to do the preparatory technique, you're lying down in an asana. Now some of you that know hatha yoga will know that the pose you have when you lie down with yourself totally flat on a firm surface, comfortably firm surface, you are in the pose of savasan. In other words it's called the death pose. You're lying down. Whe n you stretch your limbs, here, and then you just flop down, it is an aid to relaxation because with all contractions and expansions, with tension after tension comes relaxation. So when we tense our limbs we can relax quicker. Good. And the death pose is primarily meant, in hatha yoga, to give you that relaxation. Now, while you are in that pose you are asked to watch your breathing. And, while you watch your breathing you will find that your breathing starts to slow down. Gradually the breathing slow s down which in turn means that there is a drop in the metabolic rate. And when the metabolic rate drops, it signifies that the muscles and all the limbs and all the various parts of the body have reached a deep state of relaxation. Now, when the body rea ches a state of relaxation, and this hatha yoga will teach you where they start off with the external self to the internal self, whi le in mantra yoga and other yogas you start with the internal self and extend it to the external self. Good. So, when you sit.. when you are lying down and watching TV, everything slows down. The body goes to a deep state of rest. Now, the body is is not separate from the mind. There is no difference between body and mind. The difference is only in degree when the body i s at a gross level and the mind is a continuum of the body but from a subtle level. So when the body gets in a state of relaxation, the mind too slows down. So, [???] Now, having the mind, and having a conditioned mind, it is filled with thoughts. Now y ou are asked to observe the thoughts. When they come and go we don't interfere with the thoughts. You let them pass by, and you watch them. By watching a thought, it means that you are objectifying a thought. Now what this really means is like going to a cinema and you are watching the screen. Now there's nothing you could do to encourage what's happening on the screen, and there's nothing you could do to discourage what's happening

5. U S 77 - 39 on the screen. So if you can objectify a thought and just observe it, then you do not become emotionally involved in the thought. And that, too, leads you to the stage where, not being involved emotionally in thought, the thought loses its sting . And by losing its sting it does not leave an impression on the mind and ever y impression that is left on the mind... the deeper the impression, the longer it lasts... it forms a samskara. A samskara literally means impression. An impression left on the mind must express itself in the form of reaction. So that action of the impre ssion expresses itself in a reaction. It always leads to the same, some are elementary practices and then, of course, as you progress further you come onto more and more advanced practices. Fine. And then, of course, you have started off using a sound. And the sound that you use forms a link because here you are also, at the same time watching the thought, being aware of the breathing and directing thought. Now your mind could never remain vacant. It is only a highly trained yogi that could achieve a bsolute blankness. It is not necessary for our purposes at this present moment. Good. So, in order to... by watching the thought, you have taken the sting away from the thought, and at the same time you don't want to leave the mind empty either. Right. So, you replace the mind with some syllables which is connected to the guru. And it forms a psychic link with the guru. In other words, you are attuning your mind with the guru and thereby you are receiving the energies which the guru is sending out to you all the time. The guru is there like the well filled with water all the time. It's an eternal spring which knows of no birt h and no death. The real guru in embodied form the embodied form is not important, but the real guru that resides within is the important thing and we use the external guru to awaken the internal guru. And once the internal guru is awakened, you can discard the external guru. It's like a housewife. Before she goes shopping to the supermarket she makes up a list of the things she wants to buy, and after the things are bought she doesn't need the list any more. The list can be discarded. If you want to climb on the roof you use a ladder, and once you are on top there you do not need a ladder. Fine. So in that way.... I've said this over and over again, that the real purpose of an external guru is to awaken the internal guru. When you're sending a child to school the child needs a teacher to teach the child the ABC's and how words are formulated, how words are recognized. And once the child learns that, then the child starts reading on his own. And so we are all like that and therefore we use the assistance of the guru. So in the preparatory practice a link is formed, and because of the link that is formed we channel ourse lves. We form a direct hotline to that universal force which the guru represents and we find infinite benefit by it. And you know from experience of thousands of people how beautiful they feel. How energized they feel by being in touch with the power, t hat divine force that is higher than ourselves because we have not as yet culminised it. We can use electricity, but there's not a single person here, perhaps, that knows what electricity really is. Good. So in that way this is how it works.

6. U S 77 - 39 Now, then this practice which is commonly given people, we call it tratak. Now tratak is a practice that involves using a candle. In this practice, which the teacher will explain to people who are initiated into it... if they need the practice, t hey will be initia ted into it. It's a practice whereby you, for a few minutes, 2 to 3 minutes, you just gaze at the flame. You don't concentrate on the flame, you just gaze at it. You take your attention to the flame. Now, what happens is this, that most people in the w orld... 99.99999% of the world's population scatter their mental energies. It is scattered in all directions. So by just gently taking our attention to the flame, taking our attention to the flame, we are gathering our mental energies to one focal point. This requires a little practice as in everything else. Now, by gathering our mental energies to a focal point we are learning to concentrate without concentrating. Now, we are learning to concentrate without concentrating, and this is very useful in da ily life. I mentioned yesterday that half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening is good to meditate, but the results thereof must be practically felt in the other twenty three hours. And if meditation doe s not produce positive results in the other twenty three hours of life, then it's not even worth meditating. Now, that is a fact. I always say, " The proof of the pudding lies in the eating." And the eating is the twenty three hours, the waking state and the sleeping state where sleep becomes more deep and more profound and the waking state becomes more harmonious, more smooth, more everything. JERRI: "When we got our [???] meditations in the evening, or, well, once a day, and you're talking about twice a day?" [Two chelas are talki ng simultaneously] GURURAJ: You only do the mantra meditation once a day. If you are given two practices than you do one each. So you are still meditating twice a day. Now the mantra practice is an audial practice while the tratak practice, usually wit h a candle flame, is a visual practice. JERRI: I just thought you just said the mantra practice twice a day. GURURAJ: No. No. No. Now those that only have the mantra practice, they do the mantra practice twice a day, but if you are given two practices then you do one each day. Now, to come back to tratak. What we are doing is focusing all our mental energies to a focal point. Good. And by doing that it helps us immensely in our daily life by habitually concentrating our energies. So here we are lea rning concentrating without concentrating in the true sense of the word. To concentrate on something is an expenditure of energy. But by just gently taking your attention to something it is conserving energy. Fine. Now, the difference between success an d failure

11. U S 77 - 39 the universe and the other aspect of pranayama is also to purify oneself. When there is a rhythm created within oneself, then we become immune to various kinds of toxins. Especially in the times of pollution, I believe that is quite a problem i n this country, pranayama is very important where you successfully expel these toxins from your physical system. Because, as I said, your physical system is very closely related to the subtle system within us. And that, of course, in the continuu m is conn ected to the spiritual self. These breathing exercises are very important. Pranayama is a [????] very, very deeply and in believing this [????] there's over a hundred books on it. And I'm sure quite a few books on pranayama [???] that would give you an in depth explanation which you can study and [????]. And there are a few practices where that within oneself, and that attunement with the universal self could be obtained, could be had with just the practice of pranayama, which might be suitable for som e and might not be suitable for some. The other thing that it helps us with, that after doing our mantra meditation we drop the metabolic rate. So after doing pranayama, after our mantra meditation we do six rounds at the beginning. A round means inhali ng, retaining and exhaling. That is a round. And when we do this after meditation we very slowly and gradually bring up the metabolic rate. So you are filled with vitality because we have activated the vital force, the life force within us. We're filled with vitality and our actions in life become dynamic. So pranayama is very important. There's another thing to remember. If you are given a program of three or four or five things to do, please do them. All those things are interrelated to each other. Interrelated to each other. Someone came to me one day and said, "Gururaj, I don't like my mantra. I don't like my mantra." And so in our system mantras are based upon a person's own vibration. Good. So the most harmonious thing to oneself is one's ma ntra. So this person, coming from a certain kind of background, certain kind of religious background, and that was not really interested in self integration or unfoldment and just came for the sake of curiosity. And so she says, "I don't like my mantra." And I discussed things with her and I told her, what you are saying is like what a patient would say to the doctor. That, look you don't prescribe bitter medicine to me you prescribe this medicine to me because I like that sweet medicine. [???] So, wh en mantras are given, they are very carefully given so that the person would gain the maximum benefit. And if we want to do meditation, we want to do it to benefit ourselves and not use it as a sort of a pastime, rather play patience than if you want to u se it as a pastime. So, that is a very, very rare case that I'm talking about. And then when I discovered really what was happening that she had a totally wrong impression of the mantra. And that happens. And all our teachers are trained and they have a good amount of background knowledge, but you might have the rare exception that might not be teaching over the practices as they should be taught. But that is something very, very rare and not to be taken as [???] whatsoever because all our teachers are very qualified and they are empowered with certain energies that flows through them when they initiate that many of our full counselors, when they initiate a person into

13. U S 77 - 39 is happening, you just chant to yourself and you don't need to do it loud, just within the mind. Or if you're in an office o r somewhere, where you won't be disturbing anyone, just chant aloud or even while you're driving the car get into a merry old chant. [Chelas laughing] Get into a merry old chant and merry old soul was he. And you become a merry old soul. Right. So, as we said, the mind can't remain empty. Now, by doing this chant, and especially because of its structure and its vib rational value, it pushes out those whirling thoughts. It brings a great calmness to the mind and by bringing calmness to the mind, those thoughts that were turbulent just disappear and you feel so much better for it. So, at times during the day when you are alone, do a chant when your mind feels so troubled. And you'd be fine. OK? Fine. Just one more very quick. Ya. CHELA: Very quick. The last round we did male and female.... GURURAJ: Ah, yes. Ya. The last round we... the last round we did mal e and female. It is a beautiful interchange. It's a beautiful interchange and even from the psychological point it is beautiful rounding off between the two aspects in the universe, in everything so that the male and female aspects have... those two aspe cts, the polarity... where both polarities are stimulated to form a oneness. And it's very harmonizing. Now, Susan.... **** END ****