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If you wish to succeed in your meditation, to reach a higher level without becoming lost, you should have one mantra—a Guru Mantra—which you receive from your spiritual master. It is said, Patañjali said, and many others, that without a mantra, meditation is like a body without a soul. Mantra is very useful and important. It creates positive vibrations. Mantra is practiced through five different techniques. The first is called Likhit—writing. Write your mantra every day for a few minutes in one copy, nicely, slowly, and beautifully. Concentrate like a painter creating a portrait with precision. Do not hurry to write quickly. Write in such a way that you become one with that writing. It is called Akṣara Brahman; the writing itself is like Brahman. The second step is chanting. Sing your mantra with your own melody. Do not hurry, and listen to your own voice. It does not matter if you are a good singer or not. When a child begins to speak a few words, it does not speak clearly, but the parents feel immense joy: "Oh, our child is speaking my name!" We understand. It is said, "Mommy, mother, mother"—that's it. So, if you are a good singer or not, that does not matter. Love is what attracts the attention of God. Love is the door to Brahmaloka, heaven above heaven. And attachment is a rocket to hell—not merely a highway, but a rocket. Attachment is the way to hell, darkness, and suffering, while love is the path to the supreme. Therefore, when you practice your mantras, do so with love from the heart, with devotion—bhakti. Thus it is said: "Lord, bless me with devotion." Bhagatīro Daṇḍata Dijiyo—O giver, please give me devotion. It is a beautiful bhajan. I am not asking for a husband or a wife or children. I am not asking for money. I do not even ask for gold like whole mountains, nor for the kingdom of the whole world and universe. All this is nothing compared to devotion, bhakti, that love. And so, nāda-rūpa-para-brahmā, akṣara-brahmā—that akṣara, the form, now changes into sound, nāda. Then slowly, the third step comes: Upāṃśu. The first is writing, Likhit. The second is chanting. The third is Upāṃśu—inner, happy. When you are very happy, you know only why. You can see, "Oh, you look very happy today," but we do not know why. One day, a lady came, and she was so happy. I said, "You look very happy today." She said, "Yes." "May I know? Perhaps it is very private." She said, "Yes, Gurudev. After four years, I got my job again." Can you imagine her happiness? That's it. So, happiness is that which you were expecting, and it came. And it should happen. The fourth technique is called Mānasik. Mānasik means mentally. Direct your mind towards the supreme goal. If in your mind, in your thoughts, negative thinking arises—which I spoke of before—it will lead you nowhere. So, enhance with concentration and with feeling, repeating your mantra. At the time of mantra initiation, the master will give you one mālā. This is the mālā for yogīs and for all, best called a Rudrākṣa Mālā. A Rudrākṣa Mālā takes unnecessary heat out of the body. It grants calmness, and the vibration of the rudrākṣa beads recharges energy in your blood cells. If you wear the rudrākṣa mālā constantly around your neck, it is said that you will be protected from throat and chest cancers. A real, good rudrākṣa—even a small one is very good. You can have only one good rudrākṣa. Wear it, and it touches your Anāhata Cakra, and from here the energy radiates beautifully. Yes, it has a radiance. Different mālās have different radiance. You may wear it outside or inside your clothing. This mālā has 108 beads. One hundred is for counting from one to one hundred, and eight is for the eight cakras, purification, or Aṣṭaprakṛti, Navanidhi, and Ṣoḍaśa-siddhi. The Aṣṭaprakṛti—the eight kinds of nature; the nine kinds of nidhi—the treasures; and the sixteen kinds of siddhis. These possess the yogī—that yogī who is never angry and sits in front of the master, like this, not like that. Many of you are sitting like this, straight—the meditation posture. You never know, master? Basic: close eyes. Then, one hundred and eight, according to the science of mathematics and numerology: one hundred and eight becomes nine, and nine is the highest number in mathematics. Therefore, one hundred eight becomes nine, and the ninth one is called Sumeru, the last bead which unites both paths—both sides, both threads in oneness. That's called Sumeru. Sumeru means the highest peak of the Himalayas, and that is called the seat of the guru, the Gurudev itself. Our aim is to reach the highest peak of our consciousness: Samādhi. This mālā, when the master blesses and gives it to you, becomes like your spiritual passport. When you wake up, you must see the mālā, take it and greet it here on the forehead, on the Ājñā Cakra. When you wash yourself in the bathroom, take a shower, then put your mālā aside. If you do not wish to wear it all the time, keep it safely at home. It can happen that the thread breaks. This does not mean bad luck. It means something—that the thread was old and broke. So it has another meaning: now put a new thread. That's it. Today is Friday the 13th—it is true. And the mālā broke, and the cat crossed the way. All this means someone says, "Oh God, something will happen." And then you drive nervously, so it didn't happen because the mālā broke or the cat crossed the way, or it's a Friday the 13th. But this happened because you are nervous. That's it. So, this mālā practice: hang it on these two fingers in your meditation, holding the beads with the middle finger and thumb. The index finger is touching the thumb, and with the middle finger, you repeat your mantra. Once, for example, "Om," and cross the bead. "Rām" or "Hanumān" or "Jesus" or "Allah"—anything which you have as a holy mantra, a holy name for you. That one which your master gave you. Your highest mantra is that which your master gave you. While repeating, each time you repeat the mantra, cross one bead. Then you come near here: "Oh, oh, oh, you made it to one hundred and eight." Now do not go over like this, but turn back like this, like that. You will get practice after some time. It is not difficult to turn. Om, om, om, om, om, om, om... Om, om, om, om, om... While doing this: "Karat karat abhyās pyare"—a fool becomes wise through practice. Practicing, a foolish person can become wise. When the rope is constantly coming and going, coming and going, touching the stone, then that rope is capable of cutting the stone. It is very gentle but constant. Practice, and you will know how much you have been practicing on your mālā. Master can immediately say how long you practiced. Then it is called Ajapa. Mahāprabhujī said, "Neither lips are moving, nor is the tongue moving." And spontaneously, your mantra is going with you 24 hours; it does not disturb you. You work whatever you want to work, but your mantra is going on inside spontaneously, like you are breathing. No matter what you are doing, you are breathing. Similarly, whatever you are doing, your mantra is going within you. Mantra practice, first of all, will purify your consciousness. What does it mean to purify consciousness? The consciousness is like a film, like a fog, and suddenly the sun rises, and the fog disappears. Or you put a lemon in the milk, and the milk spoils. Similarly, all the āvaraṇa—the curtains of the consciousness: mala, vikṣepa, and āvaraṇa. These three: mala means impurity, impure thinking, and sin; vikṣepa means that restless thoughts will be balanced through your mantra; and āvaraṇa means the curtain. That āvaraṇa will be removed when you practice your mantra systematically, as your master instructed you at the time of giving the mantra initiation. He also told you to follow fasting once a week. Fasting. How many people are really honestly fasting after having mantra, dīkṣā, and instruction of the master? It means not taking any biscuits, any salty things, anything which is made out of any kind of grains. You take liquid: water, juice, a piece of fruit—that's all. Many people are very disciplined. It is called anuṣṭhāna—that you are following, for example, 12 years of fasting every Monday. Our 12th year becomes one mini yuga. And then you make a kind of pūjā ceremony, mantras, celebration to Sadāśiva. If you break one day, you made a mistake, then all 12 years are gone. That's it. Mostly, girls are doing this when they are about to begin, when they are eight or ten years old, and doing good practices to get a very good husband: healthy, wealthy, wise, beautiful, and social. Or a good wife: healthy, beautiful, wise, capable, and good. There is nothing against wife or husband, girl or boy. The thing is that if both are like your two eyes—if one eye has pain, the other eye is not happy either. Husband and wife are the two wings of the bird to fly. When one wing is injured, the other wing cannot let you fly. Lucky are they, blessed are they, happy are they who have such a husband and such a wife. And you have to do some saṅkalpa and some anuṣṭhāna. It will come. Do not worry, it will come. Do not think now: "I am 18 now, I am 19 now, I'm 20, I'm 32, I am only 40, 50, 80, 90." And in 90 years, you will see some good person who will love you from the heart, because love is from the heart. Love is to understand you; that love is the medicine of immortality to remove all disease. Not only that. Love—physical sexuality—it does not mean that. So wait, do good saṅkalpa. But if you do not do it and you break it—one day, two days—your boyfriend did not come. You make SMS; he does not phone. SMS; he does not make you an SMS again. SMS, then you do not eat; you are not focused. And then after, the other boy comes. He said, "Let him go away. I go with him." Where is your broken? Do not give conditions. Unconditional love has no conditions, no promises. No, there is understanding. So the consciousness purifies through that mantra. Fasting. Fasting is not only that you do not eat. But this is a way, a technique to develop discipline: Atha yogānuśāsanam. I have many disciples around the world. They are very disciplined, except one country which I do not want to name. Because now, disciples from that country all the time have something to eat in the pocket—in this pocket, in the bag, in the car, in the suitcase. When they come to India and the ashram, whenever the mice are there... When these people come, the mice are there. And why is that? Psychologically, these people are not guilty ones psychologically. This country was suffering very much between the first and second world wars. At that time, what hunger means, they suffered. Their ancestors or their parents, so it is imprinted in their subconscious: always eating. And when you go, they will say, "Please eat, we have enough. Take more. Eat, please. We have enough." These words you hear in that country. Okay. So, therefore, I have understanding for them. But I hope they can correct themselves one day. Fasting purifies your body. Fasting keeps your jāṭharāgni—digestive fire—strong. And fasting will lower your blood pressure if it is too high. And if you have low blood pressure, then it will go lower. For that, you may drink black tea or a little coffee so that it will come up again. If you are pregnant, do not fast. If you are taking some medicine and you have to eat something, do not fast. These are the individual instructions. What I am talking now is general. So, mālā and mantra for meditation are very important, and mantra should be received from Satguru Deva, from the real master—not someone who is just teaching you Haṭha Yoga and doing some āsanas and saying, "I am your master." Wait, the master will come in your life, I am sure. And where your heart surrenders, then is your master. Now, all who are sitting here, and also brothers, sisters, practitioners of yoga who are listening to me, if you wish to sit in meditation posture and take the mālā in your hand, put some cloth or something so that the mālā does not touch the floor. The mālā should not touch your shoes, should not touch your feet, should not touch the ground. And then it is called straight, upright, straight. But there are two things. One thing is straight means you sit like this, but how long? After five minutes? Like a flower without water. So, do not sit like that. Sit naturally straight. That's all. There are different postures for meditation. First is Padmāsana, lotus sit. So, our Satvapurī will show you the lotus sit. Please sit here. That's it. So, please look at Satvapurī. He will show you how to do the lotus posture. So, for each leg, explain and speak. Hands on the knees. Thank you. The second āsana is called Siddhāsana. Satvapurī will also demonstrate that. Please, cameraman. But not too far. Your heel should not go too far towards the anus muscle, okay? Thank you. And the third posture is called Vajrāsana. So, explain, please. Stand up. Vajrāsana is a sitting posture where you just sit, you bend your knees, and then knees go on the floor, and you sit on your heels, and heels are a little bit apart. They do not see your heels. Go down and put your shirt a little up, please. Thank you. Yes. And hands on the knees. The fourth posture is called Sukhāsana. Always relaxed. And the fifth posture is for the handicapped or the elderly people. Handicapped means those who have problems with the knees, such as difficulty bending the knees, ankle joint problems, or hip joint problems. They should sit on the sofa, please. Yes, so sit comfortably. You can lean if you want. That's it. Very good. Thank you, Sattvapurī. So, these were five postures for meditation. Also, you can meditate lying on the back in Ānanda Āsana and relax. You can meditate, like doing Yoga Nidrā, but there is one danger: after some time, you fall asleep. Then sleep and meditation are quite different. So, we have been practicing since we were born—I do not know about my mother's body, but we have been practicing sleeping since we were born. And so, we are now very expert in the techniques of sleeping. So, meditation is now a little different. Now, in meditation, there are different mudrās. So, Satyapurī, please. We call this mudrā Chin Mudrā. It means the index finger and thumb touching together, and three fingers are separate, and palms open, facing upward, and hands placed on the knees. You receive the cosmic energy through your palms, and you release your energy through the palms. This index finger indicates the individual self, the individual soul. The thumb indicates the supreme, the Brahman. Three fingers indicate three guṇas: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas guṇas. Sattva guṇa is pure quality. Rajas guṇa is aggressive. And Tamas guṇa is lazy, drowsiness, and negative. So, a yogī, when he is meditating, should be above three guṇas. It means that a yogī should be lifelong above three guṇas. It is said very nicely in a mantra: separate from three guṇas. Satgurudev is one who is above three guṇas. So, it does influence our consciousness when we sit like this. Now, if you come to the science of acupressure, then it is said here that when you touch the thumb and the finger, it is calming down. It is a point that calms down; it means it invites you to meditate. Can you feel like this? If you do it very gently, you will feel inside a small ball or like a round grain of sand. Touch. Do it. Come on, practice. Yes, like this. And the same thing: you can put your left hand like this, and put your right hand, this finger, the middle finger, and touch your palm, and then roll slowly like this. You will feel inside like a little ball, a round stone. It creates the energy. It awakens the energy in the centers. So very sensitive. There is immense energy. So, in meditation, sit like this. And some people would like to sit with palms touching the knees. It means circulating the biorhythm. Circulation is within you. Circulating. You are not releasing it away. If you sit like this, you get fresh energy and you use energy away. If you sit like this, it is also very good, but energy remains more within you. The second is called Jñāna Mudrā or Siddha Mudrā. With one hand above the other hand, and sitting like this and meditating. These are two very important mudrās for meditation. Now, mostly when we meditate, we should repeat mantra. Therefore, one hand, the left hand, is in mudrā, and with the second hand, we repeat the mantra. The best is like this, not like that, but touching your hand to your chest, so that your shoulder does not get tired, or put it down, but under the... The mālā should be on some cloth. Sitting straight, now when you close your eyes, you should know what to do. We said, "I will meditate." I close my eyes. Now, what to do? And that is very important: what to do when I close my eyes? First, before doing meditation, I will greet and adore my master. When you go to the karate club or judo club, before and after, they greet the master, looking to the north. And then you take your mālā and begin to repeat your mantra. This is the second step. Third, make yourself comfortable. If something is not comfortable, you move a little like this, or put a little cushion, a pillow or blanket under your buttocks. Like I have here, one pillow, I will put under like this. Now, immediately, my back feels relaxed, and it is very beautiful feelings. Then, the third step. What was the first? No answer? What was the first? Greeting the master. Did you say greeting the master? The greeting, master, greeting the master. Second, mālā. And third, checking the position. Also, the fourth step: you close your eyes. Before you close your eyes, make sure that your door is closed, so that some stranger's dog does not come in, or your cat does not run out. Make sure that your windows are closed, so cold air does not come in. Make sure that everything is in order, so nothing will happen. Make sure that you did not forget your rice cooking on the fire flame. Yes, many things happen: candles, this, that. Or do not forget that little baby you put in the bathtub, you know, and then you sit in meditation, and after two hours, my God, the child is in the bathtub. It happens. It is a very nice... I was surprised. It was very good in America. When you buy the washing machine, on the washing machine, instructions are written: on the washing machine, "Do not put your child in," yes. Because maybe it happened: someone put the child in to wash with the machine. That's it. So there are many things people do not know what to do, and therefore, make sure everything is secure, calm, peaceful. Telephone put off, this and that, and you close your eyes, and then check your breath. Open your belt, much better. But not so good. Open one button of your pants and sit a little down. Now is good. Therefore, a yogī must always have nice and loose dress—long and loose. Your skin should be covered with nice natural material and loose cloth. Do not practice yoga with only your underwear, or the ladies with bathing suits. That is not good. A bathing suit is good, but not for practicing yoga. So when you sit in meditation, then you take your meditation shawl. The first benefit, you know what? Mosquitoes will not bother you. Some people like when the cold air and too much noise outside, then they should sit like this, yes, because it protects you from the outer sound, cold air, or if it is very hot, then it circulates nice air; you feel cool. When you go to the Arabian countries or India, you see people are very clever. They have very nice, long, and loose dress. And I think when the Europeans will go there, they will have nothing on. One month is little warm, 30 degrees, and everybody is lying on the beach without anything. F kaka, this means they do not understand the body. That's it. Always try to cover your body nicely. And if you have no cloth, Cidānanda can happen. No, then nicely yogīs were putting the Lakṣmī ash nicely. Anyhow. Now you check your breath, and then that, you know, you are inhaling and you are exhaling. Three breaths, and you feel the atmosphere of the room where you are sitting. Nothing is bad, everything is good. If the bad is there: it is myself. My thoughts are bad, my feelings are bad. So harmonize yourself with your material life. The room does not matter how it is. And you want to meditate, and your neighbor is boring. Why not? It means he needs to work; he needs to repair something. He is working; he is not making a noise. Therefore, that is another joy of your meditation. At least one is working, and you are meditating. That is called being positive. Do not be selfish. That's it. So it means, in meditation, I harmonize myself with my outer world. If I cannot harmonize myself with my outer world, I cannot harmonize with my inner world. And so I harmonize everything. I take it as it is, and I check my breath. And then comes the next very important part of your meditation that I will tell you tomorrow.