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Oṁ Namo Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. Haṁsabdaś Prabhusaraṇ Parāyaṇam. Oṁ Namo Śrī Prabhudīp Nārāyaṇam. Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī, Blessed Self, Spiritual Seekers, Dharmapremī, Sabhī Bhakt. Sajjan, Parampitā Paramātmā kā, Subhaśrībad. Today I would like to inform you about mantra. Many Bhaktas around the world would like to practice Mantra. And many know how to do it, and many do not know. Sansār mein bahut se ādhyātmik jijñāsu haiṅ, aur aise bhī log haiṅ jina ne jīvan mein kabhī sunā bhī nahīṅ hai ki mantra kyā hotā hai. Around the world, spiritual seekers would like to know what the mantra is, how to practice, and how to get the mantra. Many people did not know there is a mantra, because everyone is not born in India. Not everyone has the opportunity to receive mantras. So in our webcast, in our programs, often people ask how to get the mantra. Mantra, jo man kī tṛpti kartā hai, vahī mantra hai. Vashnāo kā nāś karnā aur man ke andar ātmā ke andar santosh prāpt karnā, gajdhan bajdhan aur ratan dhan khān jab āye santosh dhan sabse badhkar dhūl samān. The mantra means which gives us contentment, peace, and happiness. It is said that you may have the golden bulls, you may have the diamond mines, but if you have no contentment in your heart, everything is just like dust. If you get contentment, then everything becomes like dust. Mantra is the essence of all spiritual or holy scriptures. Mantra is like a seed, a huge big banyan tree, and it has its seeds very small, but in that small seed, the entire tree is hidden. Just as a small seed exists inside the banyan tree’s trunk, and within that seed, the entire banyan tree is contained. In the same way, all the scriptures, dharma scriptures, Vedas, Upaniṣads, all of them have a mantra. The mantra removes the desires of the mind and takes the mind towards God. Therefore, the mantra purifies all the desires and inspires and leads the mind and concentration towards God. Mantra. There are many kinds of mantras. But the main mantra is the Guru Mantra. Guru, the Master. Guru means darkness, Ru means light. The mantra should be received from that enlightened master. In Sanātana Dharma and Vedic Dharma, in Hindu Dharma, there is a lot of tolerance. Everyone has the freedom to choose their own master, but you should choose only one and do not change again and again. In life, you have only one father and one mother. We may respect all other men as brothers or fathers, and all women as mothers and sisters. But the real mother, the blood relation, blood is thicker than water. Therefore, in the same way, unless you find some master, you may get some mantras and practice something, but we should have a great divine master who is Connected to the spiritual lineage, like our masters here, you see on the altar. You and I, we are only disciples. When your heart and your intellect, in your mind, in your consciousness, in your feelings, You have the contentment that, yes, I would like to have that master. Brahmaniṣṭha Śrotriya, knower of the Brahman, and who can inspire us towards the Brahman. The time the master shall give you the mantra, every master gives, maybe, different mantras. That is everything for the disciple. So it’s called the Guru Mukhī or Man Mukhī. Guru Mukhī means one who heard the mantra from the mouth of the master, that disciple is called Guru Mukhī. Man Mukhī is a self-made master, always thinking, "I know everything, I don’t need anything." May you know that all mantras, but it is not fruitful. They will not lead you to your destination. Therefore, every master gives us a mantra, and we should practice it. Don’t be in a hurry. Take time to find the master. It will come to you. But you can go to every master, every satsaṅg, to listen to the wisdom from them; it is only a benefit for us, nothing is a harm. But still, you should know which becomes a hero of your heart, the guide of your soul, the light of your consciousness, and unity with the supreme, the cosmic Self. When we get the mantra, then there are different kinds of techniques which we should practice. These are the levels of practicing the mantra. The first comes Likhith, which means writing. Tell your master how to write that mantra exactly. Then, every day, for a few minutes or hours, when you have peaceful time, write your mantra with beautiful letters, with full devotion and full concentration, because it is an Akṣara Brahma. That Akṣara, that alphabet, that letter is Brahman because that sound, the Nāda, the Rūpa of Parabrahman, that sound is created through that letter. In your mother tongue, whatever language you speak, you write it and then you read it so that you can speak. That’s a guide for your speech. That’s why we have to learn the alphabet; we have to write the letters. While writing, this letter will go into your consciousness, into your subconsciousness, and into your higher consciousness, and it will create within you a beautiful resonance. Then you know by heart your mantra, and when you repeat the mantra or change the mantra, you will see your letters, the alphabets of your mantra. Then those letters will change their form. It will merge into the light. It becomes one with it. That time, now you know that you have to go to your second step of practicing your mantra. And that’s called Vekrī Uccāraṇ. Truth is not there, the pronunciation should be correct. Very clean, very pure pronunciation of your mantra. So that pronunciation, then it’s called Vekrī Mantra. Oṁ Śoham Śrāguṇ Brahma Śrī Dīp Paripūraṇ Nārāyaṇ Namaḥ. Or Oṁ Śrī Deveśvar Mahādevāya Namaḥ. Oṁ Prabhudīp Nirāṇyan Sabudhukubhañjan. Oṁ Śoham. Oṁ Śoham. Ahaṁ Brahmāsmī, etc. These are the bīja mantras. Others is a kīrtan or big mantra, like "Oṁ Bhūr Bhuvaḥ Svaḥ Tat Savitur Vareṇyaṁ Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi Dhiyo Yo Naḥ Pracodayāt," the Gāyatrī Mantra. This is a form of chant. It takes too long to make a mantra, a long mantra, then you lose your concentration. You can’t enter the meditation. Oṃ Bhūr Bhuvaḥ Svaḥ Tat Savitur Vareṇyaṃ Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi Dhiyo Yo Naḥ Pracodayāt. You are extroverted. The mantra is perfect. The mantra is good. It gives you inspiration, it gives you spiritual energy, but you can’t proceed towards your higher consciousness, because as sūkṣma, as a small, as a tiny, that will go with us, the essence, the essence. But still, your master will decide which mantra you should practice. So, Vekrī Mantra means uccāraṇa, speaking, singing, loudly. When we practice the Likhit Mantra, writing the mantras, at that time we become one with those letters. And from those letters will come the resonance, and from that will come the light. Then we begin to chant. When we chant our mantras, each and every cell of our body will resonate. Our brain centers will get harmony, balance, and tranquility, and the heart will open the door to happiness or joy. But if there is a Guru Kṛpā, then you can proceed further, otherwise you cannot through this mantra. Any mantras. Therefore, Akṣar Brahma, Nāda Brahma. Akshar is a form, but that Saguṇa form merges into Nirguṇa. How? As a Nāda, the sound. Sound we can’t see, we can’t touch. Only through the jñānendriyas, our ears, can we hear sound. After that, the Vekārī mantra comes upāṁśu. It means, now you are chanting your mantra, but the sound doesn’t come. The tongue is moving, the throat is moving. That becomes finer and finer. It goes through our mind, our body, our consciousness, our intellect, our vivekā, etc. That awakens that energy, the hidden energy, the dormant energy in our cakra, and it filters all the negative energies. Unless we have purified our chakras and those vāsanās, vāsanā is impurity. And that impurity is called āvaraṇa, mālabhikṣepa and āvaraṇa. Mala is impurity that creates the disturbances and then creates a kind of curtain, so that you cannot see through your curtain. This has to be purified. Māl, vikṣepa, āvaraṇ, likhit, vekharī, upāṃśu. That will remove that, then the fourth level will come. That’s called mānasik. Now, you are not moving your tongue, you are not moving your lips, you are not chanting, but inside you are hearing the sound of your mantras, and it directs you, guides you, creates a concentration, and leads to the higher level of your consciousness. Mānasika. Mana hi mana. Kisī ko patā nahīṁ ki āp man mein kyā soch rahe hain. Nobody knows what you are thinking, but thinking creates the karma. Tan, man, bachan, or dhan. There are four different kinds of karmas which will never leave you free. Mānasik. Whatever you think in your mind, that creates energy within your own phenomenon. Negative thinking will create darkness. Pain, suffering, confusion, troubles, and positive thinking will enlighten thy phenomenon. Clarity, joy, happiness, peace, love, understanding, kindness. So these two different kinds of energies are going parallel in our life. In every chakra, there is something hidden which we do not know, but it is there, and that will be the cause of our next lives, leading where and how. The fifth state of the mantra is called Ajapā. Oṯ jībā ale nahī, bin japyā jap hoī, ajapā jisko kyā japhe, bin japyā jap hoī. That is the last level of the mantra. That will lead you to samādhi. But if you have thoughts, if your tongue is moving, if you have to concentrate to remember, then you are still only in the concentration level. You are not in the meditation. You may close your eyes and say that you are meditating, but that is not meditation. So much you think in your meditation, there are lots of vṛttis, lots of thoughts; that is not meditation. Meditation is emotionless, without any thoughts. Then this jīvātmā makes its journey towards the Supreme. So when the master gives us a mantra, then the master will give you this kind of mālā. This is called a mālā. No more photos, boys. So this is called a mālā. Some call it a rosary, some call it a necklace. This mala for yogīs especially should be called Rudrākṣa. There are two kinds, one is called Bhadrākṣa and one is called Rudrākṣa. We don’t know which is a Bhadrākṣa and which is a Rudrākṣa. Outside, it looks the same. But when you buy or get a real Rudrākṣa, it should sound like stones. And Bhadrakṣa, it is just like a dry piece of wood. And in that rudrākṣa, there should be seeds inside. You hear? This Rudrākṣa grows on a big tree, available in India and some other countries too. There are one hundred and eight seeds, or beads, or pearls, whatever you call them. Hundred is for counting, from one to a hundred. And after a hundred, you come again to the one. Eight are counted for the eight cakras, for the purification of your cakra. Mūlādhāra, Svādhiṣṭhāna, Maṇipūra, Anāhata, Viśuddhi, Ājñā, Bindu, and Sahasrāra. This is Sumeru, the end of the Yamala, that’s called the Sumeru. And that is the Sahasrāra Chakra, that is the Guru. Our aim is to come to that highest point. One hundred is for counting. Nine is for all, eight, sorry, is for our eight chakras. 8, 9, and 8. 100 and 8 becomes 9, because when we have 100, we don’t count the 0, we count 1. So 1 and 8 is 9. The 9 is the highest number. 9, if you put 20 times 999 and you count it, the result will be only 9. That’s why some sādhus, they write the name 108. It means 9, the highest. Some would like to be 1008, but there are only two zeros, which are not counted. Again, one and eight is nine. That is according to the philosophy of the numbers, which numbers have their own meaning for our whole body, for all the cakras. When this mala is hanging on two fingers, then, with the middle finger and thumb, we hold the beads. This pearl we hold like this. The tarjanī aṅgulī, the indication finger, should not be touched to this mālā. Therefore, this finger should be free. And if you take a joke, then it’s for your ear, but it’s a joke. This index finger, thumb, index finger, middle finger, the ring finger, and small finger. You hold this mala hanging on your two fingers, holding it with the thumb and middle finger. Now, for example, you tell your mantra, "Om," and with your middle finger you pull the bead inside, "Om." Om, om,... om. Now we are here at Sumeru. We should not cross this. Don’t go continuously like this. But you come only till here and then turn back. How? The finger is hanging here, but you will turn like this. You go your thumb between and hang it on the thumb, and hold again with the middle finger and thumb, which will give autonomy. The marks are the beads, and we are going so, "Om, Om,..." When we come near the Sumeru, Sumeru is the highest peak of the Himalaya, the mountain, and then you turn back again. This finger is always untouched; you are not touching it. But this finger, you can rest on your thumb, like this. Rām... Rām... Rām Rām... Shyavara Rāmacandra Bhagavān, during the practice of the mantra with your mālā, it is best to keep your hand near the anāhata cakra, this mudrā. But after some time, your hand will be tired. So you can put your hand on the knee or on your lap. But the mālā should not touch the ground, your toes, or your feet. So, therefore, put some cloth so the mala can be like this on your dress. Some people use a kind of glove, thālī, that’s not necessary. Koi chorī thodī kar rahe, kī gupt thodā hai, koī gupt nahīṁ hai. Apnā sab khulā hai, apnā hisāb khulā hai. Therefore, it’s not necessary to keep this. Wo to nature dikhāv rahā hotā ki, chalda chalda. So this mantra, this is how we then practice. It has 108 beats, and 108 becomes 9. Mantra should be taken from Gurudev whom you trust, whom you believe, and whom you think. It will give me ātmā śānti, ātmā prakāśa, and ātmā-Paramātmā kā milana. When we are in the mudrā, then these are the three fingers. Three fingers are called Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. These are the three guṇas: sattva, rajas, and tamas. When the sādhaka prays, meditates, and practices mantras, if you are involved in these three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—you will not proceed to the highest level of consciousness. Therefore, it is said, One with the Paramātmā, and that’s why we keep this mudrā. This is called chin mudra. The index finger and thumb together create an energy that reduces stress, increases concentration, and purifies the vṛttis, the thoughts. So yoga is a science of body, mind, and soul. It is a way to the supreme. There is no other way. Even your prayer, that is yoga. If you read all the scriptures, it is yoga. If you do good work, it is yoga. If you think positively, it is yoga. Everything that is yoga. If you help someone, it is yoga. That which is opposite is not yoga, so that leads to darkness. Therefore, my dear ones, this was the glimpse of the explanation of the mantra: what is the mantra, where we can get a mantra, how to practice the mantra, how many levels there are for practicing, how to hold the mālā, and how to practice. Generally, we ask normal people who are very busy to do at least five mālās in the morning and five mālās in the evening. A sādhaka, a bhakta on the Guru Pūrṇimā day makes the saṅkalpa. Gurudev, all my spiritual property I offer to Thee. And I make a saṅkalpa, I make a vow: till next Guru Pūrṇimā, I will make one lakh, one hundred thousand mālās, or ten thousand mālās. That depends on you. So every day we make ten mālās, five in the morning and five in the evening. That makes three hundred sixty-five days. How many malas have you done? Three million, six hundred and fifty thousand. Sitting in one seat for one or two days, it will not be possible to make. You will be tired. So, you fill the pot with drops, one by one, drop by drop, until the pot is full. Abhyāsa karte jāna chāhiye. Virāma nahīṁ denā hai. Your saṅkalpa, your promise, your vow which you have, you should continue to do. Therefore, it is said that self-discipline is the key to success. Self-discipline is the key to success. And when one day you don’t practice, you have broken your discipline. Your lock will not be opened, so this is about mantra. Continue tomorrow. Something more: mantras and chakras. If I am here. Deep Nayan Bhagwānakī. Devī Svara Mahādevakī. Madhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān kī. Satya Sanātana Dharma kī. Oṁ.