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Chakali namusafir gondagiri. The practice of mantra, or mantra japa, is like an anuṣṭhāna. You all know what anuṣṭhāna means. Just as we have two kinds of incarnations—Nitya and Naimittika. The Nitya incarnations are always coming, always here. The Naimittika come from time to time. Both are the same, but the Naimittika avatāra comes for a very short time and brings about a great purification. Similarly, when you receive your mantra, once or twice a year you undertake an anuṣṭhāna. You make a saṅkalpa, a resolve, for one week or ten days. For example, you may resolve that throughout the whole year, due to your ignorance, you probably did not complete your mantra mālās. Or you may do it for a specific purpose, such as a healing process—to cure certain diseases, family problems (direct or indirect), health problems, financial problems, mental problems, or many other things. You make a saṅkalpa that these problems should be purified. Every problem has three causes. They are recorded in the three tapas (sufferings) and reflect on us through them. These are Ādhibhautika, Ādhidaivika, and Ādhyātmika. In your book Hidden Powers in Humans and in the Yoga in Daily Life book, these three tapas are explained very clearly. So, to calm down these three kinds of fire, we practice anuṣṭhāna. As our dear Satgurujī Swami Madhavānandajī said, all three tapas and the causes of sins, these pāpas, are removed. Avicelya sukha pavaya paramānandana—that permanent happiness you realize. Isī Mantra Se Hove Man Manjan. Through this mantra, "Oṁ Prabhu Dīp Nirañjana Sab Dukha Bhañjana," all negative energy is cleared up or purified. Generally, people make a saṅkalpa for one week, or during what we call Navarātri—the nine nights of the Divine Mother, or the nine days before Guru Pūrṇimā. They make a saṅkalpa to repeat their mantra 125,000 times. We call it savalak in Hindi, and savalak means 125,000. Now, you divide this 125,000 repetitions by 108 (the number of beads in your mālā). That equals 1,158 mālās. Numbers are very important, as I spoke on the first night about yantras, maṇḍalas, cakras, tantras, and so on. For instance, the Gāyatrī Mantra, Gāyatrī Yantra, Śrī Yantra, and Śrī Yantra Mantra. The Śrī Yantra is said to bring more money—I don’t know from where, but try it. It may solve your money problems, help you find a new job, a good business, or even suddenly find a rich husband or a rich wife. Śrī is a mantra. Śrī means wealth, prosperity, and happiness. Śrī is Lakṣmī; Śrī is wisdom. Therefore, in Vedic tradition and according to Vedic science, in front of every name we write Śrī, and so Śrī must be written. Children are called Pitā Śrī, Mātā Śrī—always Śrī. So when you write, speak, or pronounce it, it influences you too. The very writing of Śrī is a likhit mantra (written mantra). Then there is the yantra. We spoke about the corners or angles and how they influence energy. So why do we have some kind of disturbances and problems at home all the time? Because some energy is disturbing. Let’s take a simple example: you have a candle flame burning, and you open a window. If the window is not properly closed, there is always a draught, and the flame goes out. Or you have a ghee lamp, and the room temperature is below 15 degrees; it is frozen, and the flame goes out. Or you put a glass over it, and there is no oxygen. So a yantra directs energy and blocks energy which is harmful, which is always removing your luck. Therefore, yantra is very scientific. Now, where to put the yantra? The best place is where you meditate or pray, on the ceiling. If you have exact measurements, you can also paint it. In many temples, they have very nice glass mosaics with the Śrī Yantra. Or you can put it inside, above your door on the ceiling, or on the altar. It doesn’t matter how big it is; it is a matter of quality, not quantity. That will help you purify the negative energy from your house or apartment. Similarly, there is the Gāyatrī Yantra, Śrī Yantra, Vyāru Yantra—there are many, many yantras. You should know which one to use and which ones go together. Otherwise, it’s like having two boxes: in one is a tiger, and in the other is a goat. They are placed side by side. The goat is hungry and has grass to eat inside, but she can’t because she is afraid. The tiger is hungry and knows there is a goat beside him, but he can’t catch it. There is disharmony. That’s why many people make a mistake in their spiritual life, which then disrupts their health, their household atmosphere, their mental atmosphere, their intellect, and so on. So, regarding the anuṣṭhāna you will do: you make a saṅkalpa, and for what? When you repeat a mantra 125,000 times, how many mālās do you have to make? It is 1,158 mālās. How many mālās can you do in one day? To finish in one week, or let’s say nine days, you divide 1,158 by nine. That is about 129 mālās per day. Now, how many hours does it take to do 129 mālās? Ask your knees. Ask your back. Therefore, during the anuṣṭhāna, the first thing is purity. Don’t mix others’ energy inside. Don’t mix energy from others. During these nine days, have no bodily connection, and no one else should sit on your āsana. You should have your own seat. Whenever you go to the bathroom or toilet, you must wash your hands, feet, mouth, and face. Before you begin your morning program, you must take a shower, and also before going to sleep. Furthermore, you have no time to speak; therefore, observe mauna (silence). Eat little, as eating will disturb you because when you eat, sleep comes. The best is to have fruits or salad—a vegetable diet. During these nine days, avoid garlic, onions, mushrooms, any kind of grains, no salt, and of course, no alcohol. Keep your body light and clean. At the end of your anuṣṭhāna, you will perform all ceremonies, pūjās, prayers, and distribute prasāda so that you receive blessings. If you miss even one mālā, your anuṣṭhāna is not completed. Ninety-nine cents is not a euro. Is it in Germany they say, "Okay, 99 cents is one euro, no problem?" No, it is a problem. Therefore, your anuṣṭhāna is incomplete. If you stop it, it can affect you in the opposite direction; the problem may increase. Herr Gott! Yeah, that’s it. Therefore, it is said, as Mahāprabhujī very clearly states: Dhīra dhīra cāl, gagana ghara caḍhanāre bhāī. Dhīra dhīra cāl, gagana ghara caḍhanāre bhāī. Gagana ghara caḍhanāre bhāī, dhīra dhīra cāl, gagana ghara caḍhanāre bhāī. Mahāprabhujī speaks in this bhajan: "My mind walks slowly, carefully." It means do not hurry on your spiritual path. Those who try to hurry fail. "O my mind, walk slowly. We have to climb to the peak of the mountain." But not that mountain; Gagangar means into the Brahma Loka. According to yogic and cakra anatomy, there are 72,000 nerves in the human body. These are like rivers in the body—seventy-two thousand rivers. It is not easy to cross. Lumbī-lumbī khai, and there are many deep cliffs. Śāstra koś, gagana ke upara—thousands of miles or kilometers above this sky that you see—is the Sahasrāra Cakra. Vahāpara hera gurai above, there is the Lord of Raghu, God Rāma. Mana vā dhīrī dhīrī cāl. O my mind, walk slowly. Pāca pachīsau bhelī hokara, mohana rāga sunāī—all these, our senses, our vṛttis, our buddhi, and so on. The karma indriyās, jñāna indriyās, prāṇas, apānas—all prāṇa—all these twenty-five together (five indriyas and vṛttis) come together and sing a beautiful, sweet melody to you. Temptations. Many temptations. And that temptation is so sweet, it always attracts you. Pāca pachīsom belyī hokara mohana rāga sunāī. Mohana is also the name of God Kṛṣṇa. Mohanī means one who will attract you, who can misguide you in the wrong direction—illusion. Mohanī rāga—melodies. "Yes, I love you. You are the best one. You know, we are the good, the others are the stupid." We don’t want to go there; we go to the other side: money, house, this, that—kusaṅga (bad company). Therefore, our ten horses, as well as our mighty elephant, need a good rider and a good mouth. Rāga sunāī mohe tera manako—such a melody will attract your mind. You will forget your real path and go again to the kuṣaṅga path. And what is there? That is very interesting. The night is dark—there is ignorance—and the streets are very narrow with deep holes and a very slippery path. Agar se rapté pāva tomāro—if you will sleep there. Paḍoge uṁḍī khāī—you will fall into such a dark hole you can’t come out anymore. All your practice is gone. Years of practice are gone. There is one song; I will find the text for you. It is a very well-known and famous song. Maybe our Indian guests here know it: "Tūṭa gaī he malā, motī bikhar calē." Do dina rahakara sāta jāne. Kidera calē? Hekanī? Tūṭa gaī he malā—the mālā is broken. Mālā je roztrhnutā. Motī bikhar calī—the pearls are just destroyed, scattered. Who knows where they have gone. So, people who think that on their spiritual path they have received everything—"I have my mantra, I know how to practice, I don’t need this and that"—they fall into darkness again. They have to begin life again with reptiles. It is a hard nut to crack: God-realization, spirituality. One fox found a coconut and wanted to eat it, but he couldn’t open it. The fox goes away, but his nose pulls him back because he can smell it. Again, he bites but can’t open the coconut. Again, he goes away and comes back. This is human life. We are fickle, and now we have found the name of God, spirituality. We try for some days, months, years, and then we go away. Then trouble comes, and again you remember, "Oh, I should go to my satsaṅg and Swāmījī." So someone said, "Rāma nāma nāriyela hai." Mana siyara guḍayōṁ lejata, phoḍiyo to phūṭī nahīṁ, girī kāna se khāya. That Rāma nāma nariyel—the coconut is the name of God. And the fox is our mind. It tries to roll and break the coconut, but you can’t open it. If you can’t open it, you can’t eat the nut. Galiyā, choṭī rāta andherī raste meṁ ciknāī, agar se repatī pāva tumhārā, paḍegā uṁḍī khāī. Don’t make a mistake. Like a new driver in the first winter, driving 120 km/h on a narrow curve, then realizing it’s a curve, braking, and then going clockwise and anticlockwise. Luckily, nobody is there. So, newly, people who come to the spiritual path read many, many books. "I know everything, I don’t need any guru, alright?" Without knowledge and guidance, those who try to climb up will fall down. Without Gurudev, you cannot realize this, and the path is very narrow. Deva Purī Sahāya, Sāheba Sataguru Merā, my Satguru Dev, Deva Purī Jī. Svāmī Dīpa Sanyāsī Bholē, Guru Kṛpā Se Pāī—all this you can receive only through Guru Kṛpā. Therefore, the final judgment is this: Guru Kṛpāhi Kevalaṁ, Śiśirake Ānandamaṅgalam. So, the anuṣṭhāna is beautiful. After anuṣṭhāna, you feel very relaxed, very pure, spiritually uplifted, and many sorrows are gone. But you have to follow the discipline. That’s why Patañjali said it begins with discipline. And "Atha" means now—and now, not tomorrow. Just now. Don’t say, "Oh, next summer when I come for anuṣṭhāna, I will be disciplined." You don’t know what will happen in one second, and you are talking about tomorrow and next summer. Therefore, wake up now. Begin now, in this minute, with "yes, I will have my discipline." So if you make a saṅkalpa to keep mauna, then you must keep the mauna. If you break it in the middle—you speak—you are breaking your anuṣṭhāna. For example, you are making your anuṣṭhāna, and your husband is listening to the television loudly. You become so angry, you get up and go, "Stop your television!" You broke it. That was some disturbing energy that came to your buddhi and gave you such an impulse inside. You went to the other room and said, "Stop," and then came back and began again. But those negative energies are happy. "We are successful. We didn’t want this person to progress further to positive things." So, how is it that negative energies, the Rākṣasas, Asura vṛttis, can destroy everything? Therefore, sattvic food, light food, makes you sleep, and you feel very relaxed and fresh. And no one touches your āsana. There are many principles for that. Then the anuṣṭhāna is finished. That is mānasika japa. Then your wish will be fulfilled, but you have to do it exactly—no compromise. You have a petrol or diesel engine. If you make a compromise and instead of petrol, you fill it with water, nobody prohibits you. It’s your decision. But the engine will say bye-bye. This is the principle of anuṣṭhāna. In Indian culture, in Indian blood, this is very clear. You need not explain. But in Western culture, it is far behind, ages behind. We don’t have that kind of discipline. You must have discipline like in an operation theater. A surgeon, a nurse, a doctor will not let anybody inside, even if it’s your dear father or husband. And when the surgeon or nurse touches one towel, they will not use it again; they will just throw it away because the most intelligent in this creation is the bacteria. They are quick; they find a place very quickly, and their families grow very quickly. So there is a discipline, and the same discipline is in spirituality—that no bacteria comes in. That bacteria is Kusaṅga. As Mahāprabhujī said in that bhajan: "The mind told, but I was doing everything." Mahāprabhujī said, "Yes, you were doing everything, but you lost everything in Kusaṅga." What did you lose in Kusaṅga? Jñāna, dhyāna, bhakti, sabhu, khoī, cala, rayo, kudhaṅga. You lost jñāna. You lost your meditation, and because you lost your devotion, bhakti. And you are now going in the wrong direction. So, anuṣṭhāna and mantra are beautiful things. Without mantra, meditation is like a body without a soul. And without mantra, life is like a body without life. The mantra is the prāṇa of spirituality, and mantra is a protection. In the next program, we will continue, especially in the V.E.P., next weekend. So, I hope that finally I can finish these five parts of mantra techniques. And today we finished because many people are in a hurry to go to the bus and have to go home. I wish you all the best and a good journey. There is a question: Is it true that Dhanavad Pranam is only for a man? No, for both men and women. Dhanḍa is the stick. So the stick is for men, but praṇām is for women and men together. Kali Yuga is a woman’s Yuga. So they are in the majority; we are in the minority. Kali Yuga is a shadow of the Śakti. And man is that light trying to come under the shadows, above the shadows. Swāmījī, you said that in Upāṁśu we are using a short mantra like Oṁ or Rām, but are we not also doing Upāṁśu with our full, long mantra? Yes, you have to do the full, long mantra. That was an example, a general example. You can say "Rām, Rām, Rām" because this is very easy for the lazy. So, always when we are talking about mantra, it means your full guru mantra. So, mantra, yantra, and these cakras are all very useful and very good. But don’t buy clothes with yantras on them—neither a hand towel, nor a bedsheet, nor a t-shirt—because you never know where you put your t-shirt, and on your bed you sit and sleep. This can turn energy in another direction. Therefore, don’t buy these cloths and shawls with "Rām, Rām, Rām" or "Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya" or "Hare Kṛṣṇa" written on them. Don’t buy this because many people put it on the bed as a bedsheet and sleep on it. That’s not good. So, no pictures of the gods on such items. If you buy a t-shirt with the picture of a god, then wash it separately. Buy it separately. And don’t wear this t-shirt and go into a restaurant to eat fish and alcohol. Or even if you are not eating and drinking alcohol, your other friends are sitting at the same dining table. Somebody might take a picture, or not, but Kṛṣṇa—you have a nice Kṛṣṇa here—and Kṛṣṇa will say, "Thank you, my bhaktas, you brought me here. I have to be here now? Oh, stinky meat. Oh, that alcohol smell." But you can’t hear him. Therefore, we must respect holy symbols. Okay, so don’t buy such things. Now, I will have a hard time because there are shops outside, and they have many things like this. So you can buy them and keep them nicely at home to support the shopkeepers. But please don’t use them disrespectfully. And tell everybody, all shopkeepers everywhere: we will not buy such things. Please don’t manufacture this. For death, it does not matter how you die, but the main thing is that you die. For greedy businessmen, it does not matter how you utilize the things; the main thing is that they get money. So people have Gaṇeśas on their suits, and someone was making a case in Austria in court, and he won, and it was banned then. Many people have Kṛṣṇas and Śivas and Gaṇeśas on their undergarments. Don’t buy; don’t support. Otherwise, the whole world will become crazy. And if you bring such items into your house, you will definitely have disharmony. So it doesn’t matter from which religion, which spirituality, which saint—we should not humiliate them. Either keep the holy symbol respectfully, or don’t do it; don’t bring it. So you do anuṣṭhāna next time; either you follow the discipline, or you don’t do it. Therefore, before coming to anuṣṭhāna, practice fasting five months before. Every day, eat a little. Then, for one week, eat a little normally. Then after one week, eat normally. Again, for one week, eat little. You have to train, but pregnant women should not do this. A diabetic person should not do this. And those who have very low blood pressure should not do it. In doubt, consult with your doctor, yoga doctor, or yoga teacher. Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ.