QUESTION AND ANSWER WITH SWAMIJI
(From Madhuchaitanya )


Question : I wish to achieve a high level in meditation. What should I do about it?
Answer : You should meditate regularly. If you feel that something is not right somewhere, then pray for it:

• Do not try to get dhyan; listen to the cassette of Swamiji's discourse for half an hour everyday.
• It is necessary to be mentally prepared at least 20 minutes before we sit for meditation.
• Enjoy the chaitanya (energy) you have received after performing aarti. Do not waste it by talking and chatting.
• Happiness is an inner feeling within you.
• If your Guruji is a good person, then why don't you also become good!

Question : What is the need for a Guru?
Answer : If there was no need for a Guru then there would be no need to have schools either. Everyone would buy books and read them. By reading books one learns how to recognize something, but one doesn't receive the knowledge of how to obtain it. Yogic postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayam), and meditation are all different. One can reach a thoughtless stage through meditation, and one can control one's chitta through meditation. The path to reach Paramatma is facilitated in the proximity of the Guru; and one doesn't have to wander here and there in search of it, as sometimes one's life comes to an end as one wanders around.


Question : Does meditation always draw a person towards asceticism?
Answer : There is a difference between meditation and asceticism. Regular meditation teaches a person the art of living in his family, in society, and in this world, and bestows the spiritual experience of Paramatma on him. It makes the flower of spirituality bloom in the ocean of life, like the lotus.


Question : All saints and sages reduce the quality of oneness in Paramatma and create their own spiritual movements. Why does this happen?
Answer : The Guru is a medium who keeps on descending into society according to the demands of time, and guides his disciples on the right path according to their state. The spiritual state of all souls is not the same. Each one's state depends on his tastes and liking, and accordingly he is pulled in the direction of his Guru-Element. But the destination of all Guru-Element is to achieve Paramatma, even though the paths may differ. I wish to make all sadhaks their own Gurus so that they won't be dependant on anyone.


Question : Most Gurus begin life like ordinary persons, and then they move towards luxuries and enjoyment in life. Why is this so?
Answer : Even an ordinary human obtains luxuries and comforts in his life; therefore Paramatma will surely make the remaining portion of the life of a person who has surrendered his entire life - first of all in quest of Paramatma, and then in conveying the knowledge to each and every human being, very much easier with the best instruments of comfort, whether he lives in the jungle or in society.
I used to obtain the best fruits even in the jungle quite easily, and I receive the best even in society because sadhaks believe that Swamiji should first receive whatever is the best in life and then it should come to them.
I live with all these excellent luxurious articles and yet I'm not in them. It makes no difference to me whether they are present or not. Even today I wish to return into the lap of the Himalayas. Wealth and riches is a by-product of meditation. The saint has wealth and riches but he is not present in them.


Question : Is this shibir the last and final shibir?
Answer :

1. Kundalini awakening is happening through the video-shibirs in foreign countries. Now-a-days one is able to obtain spiritual experiences just by listening (to my discourses). Sadhaks just keep waiting for the shibir throughout the year. They don't try for self-progress on their own, and depend on the shibir for it. I don't wish to make them dependant on the shibir.
2. I wish to write about whatever knowledge I have obtained through the Guru-Energies and convey it to future generations. Sadhaks of the present time will be able to get the benefit of shibirs. But the future generations should not be deprived of these spiritual experiences and therefore I wish to give more time to writing.
3. During the shibir I have to depend on the sadhaks' capacity of absorption. If the sadhaks are in a good spiritual state, then my discourse will also be good; otherwise my singing will be according to your accompaniment. Then I too won't achieve a sense of satisfaction.
4. I have to depend only on myself to write about the spiritual experience of knowledge. Whatever I write is superior and the best, and that gives me a lot of happiness and satisfaction.

Question : What is the connection between the classical music programmes that are held and meditation and spirituality? Please explain.
Answer : All our classical musical programmes that are held are based on classical songs. All the classical songs are connected to various ragas, and the ragas are connected to each of our chakras. You must have often seen that classical music programmes are held here. They are held here and we also invite artists during the Chaitanya Mahotsav and other programmes. I am aware that everyone doesn't have much interest in them. I use the programmes in the form of a good medium to spread my vibrations. For example, there is a good sitar player or maybe a good singer. Through the medium of his singing he tries to convey a good effect, a good energy upto you. Therefore whether you understand it or not, even if you just sit with a calm and peaceful mind and listen to it you will obtain a good state. The whole purpose is that you should receive good energy and vibrations; and classical music is our national heritage. We have to preserve that legacy and take it forward. That too is our goal and we have to preserve it.Thus we have to preserve all our traditional techniques. Isn't meditation (a legacy) of the same kind? It is our heritage, a national heritage. We have received it for the past 800 years and we have to convey it to the future generations.
The case of Ayurveda is similar; Ayurveda is also our ancient method (of medicine). That medical technique has also to be preserved and taken forward; it has to be enhanced. This is a special quality about India, and the day it ends the very soul of India will be gone.


Question : Oh Gurudev, how can we develop the woman-power (Stree-shakti) which is hidden in us? How can we recognise it and what should we do about it?
Answer : Look! First of all you'll have to meditate and after that you'll have to go within, go inside yourself. As you go on descending inside, you'll realise that the nectar-filled vessel of Stree-shakti is inside yourself. You will achieve this realisation that it is inside you slowly, very slowly. Then after that realisation you can guide it in the proper direction, you can direct it on the right path. In the process you will not only reap benefits for yourself but for others too.
But it is absolutely necessary to have a feeling of surrender to go inside, to go within; and this feeling can easily be obtained by Stree-shakti.
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Question : Sometimes we are placed in situations where we can't understand which is the voice of our soul. We receive guidance about several people at the same time, so how can we recognise the voice of our soul?
Answer : It's not like that. If you have surrendered to one Guru only  the word for it is infinite faith then you'll never hear ten different voices. The fact that you can hear several voices means that your chitta is divided. It is divided in 10 different places; we believe in 10 ten different people. It means that we are connected to 10 different places, and we are absorbing energy from 10 different places. Thus if you behave like this, what will happen is that you won't get a whole rupee from any place. We place surrender worth 10 paisa (1/10th rupee) in all places and expect one rupee's worth in return. How will that be possible? You will get one rupee's worth when you make an offering of one rupee at some place.
Similarly, when we concentrate everything we possess only in one place, we'll get 100% results; otherwise you'll keep on getting such voices. Then you'll continue to get confused about whether this is right or that is right. Therefore get connected to one collectivity only with a feeling of full concentration. Look! You can get connected to any medium; but get connected to that completely, to any one place. You get connected to 10 different places and then you get disturbed and it does not yield any results.


Question : Everyone has expectations from us regarding our behaviour. How should we interact with them?
Answer : It is but natural for our parents to have expectations from us. It is good if we try to keep them happy. When it comes to social interaction, then that should be left to Swamiji, so that we can remain balanced. First of all we should accept the fact that there are some faults within us and try to improve ourselves. Do what your elders ask you to do, if you feel that it is the right thing. But never do anything that goes against your Atma.


Question : I don't know whom I should trust in my life.
Answer : First of all you should have trust in your own self; after that you should trust in your Guru and your parents. Surrender all the bad things, all bad incidents of your past. The day you stop remembering your past life, you will realize that you have surrendered it.


Question : The period of youth has been called the best period of a human being's life. Why?
Answer : This is because your body is strongest during this period of youth. During this period, you have the wealth of time; that is why it has been called the most important period. And if you really meditate during this period, you will never do anything wrong in your life.


Question: Swamiji, when we meditate in the morning we can reach a thoughtless state, but during the day when we move about outside, our chitta wanders to what other people are saying and social activities. What should we do at such a time?
Answer: First of all you should move around everywhere in a thoughtless state. You must keep your attention on the top of your head (crown). The crown of a small child's head palpitates gently, and similarly our chitta should always be there. You can keep on working through your daily routine, but your chitta should always be at the top of your head. You will remain in the present when you keep your chitta on top of your head. If you think about your home, or your friends or worry about the future when you are working in the office, you will not be able to work in the present. At that time our attention should be on the Sahastrar chakra. Because of that we will remain in the present and will be able to work with our full energy. If you keep getting a lot of thoughts at some time, then just place your right hand on head for a short time and your attention will automatically go there and slowly your thoughts will decrease.Once the maintenance manager of a company came and started telling me, Swamiji, people approach me every day with complaints and problems. What should I do at such a time? I told him that whenever he is seated in his cabin, before calling anyone inside, he should place his right hand and draw his chitta to the Sahastrar chakra and calm his mind. Then he can call inside whoever has come to see him. What will happen is that if you are calm at that time, then the person facing you will also calm down. For a short time he will forget what he has come for. And be sure that even if he has come with some problem, your chitta will not go there. We often go for a social visit to someone's house and if that person is imbalanced then our chitta goes there. We absorb their dirty energy and our balance is also disturbed. If at that time we remain calm, then even if the other person is in a bad state he will calm down when he approaches us. What you can do is to place your hand on your head and control yourself. Secondly, it is human nature that you chitta will follow wherever you place your hand. If you place your hand on your legs your attention will go there, if you place it on your chest it will go there; and if you place it on your head then your attention will go there or you may immediately reach a thoughtless state and balance yourself.
Question: Swamiji, whenever I do any work I get fully involved in it. Even then I don't get the desired results. Is my Vishuddhi (throat) chakra blocked?
Answer: No, your problem is different and the answer for that is also different. Whenever you do any work you do so with the expectation that should get a particular result. And the moment you have expectations, dissatisfaction will follow. And the moment there is dissatisfaction, you will become imbalanced and your level will go down. When you meditate regularly, things start taking place in your life and the feeling that you are the doer ends. For example I teach people how to do meditation. After that I don't think whether they are practicing it or not. If they meditate that's fine, if they don't meditate, that is also fine for me.



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Questions & Answers with Guruma

Question : When ever we forgive someone or surrender our problems to Swamiji the surrender is genuine but only for a short while. Then we begin to lose our faith. How can this be helped?
Answer : Keep on repeating it. There could be various types of issues - you may have forgiven somebody but someone caused you a great loss; someone trapped you and caused you pain; someone ruined your trust in him  yet you should forgive him. Keep forgiving him and don't stop after you forgive. Add one more thing to your forgiving, pray to God for his progress. Keep praying until you really feel light, because when he really goes out of your mind he will not come back again. He will be out of your mind and you will not be angry when you see him. If you superficially forgive the person who has done you wrong, then whenever he meets you will remember instantly what he had done to you. Then the Soul will question you didn't you forgive him? and you will tell a lie yes, I had forgiven him. If on seeing the person who troubled you, there is no emotion, no anger, no ill wish for him in your mind, then only you have truly forgiven him.Or else, keep forgiving him in your mind till you feel that your mind is relaxed and that you can easily make friends with him; you can as well talk to him and also pray for his progress. Do pray for him regularly. Pray for the welfare of his whole family, for his well-being. Do not think that only you have bad experiences, they happen to everyone. In this I am including myself as well. It has happened to me too. I am living in society, as a part of the society. I too used to go to work. It happens sometimes, it does. As an immediate reaction, it is natural to get angry. It is absolutely natural. But if you slowly train yourself for this, your Soul will not allow you to get angry. It takes some time to reach this state. But it doesn't matter. The beginning will be to pray from your heart for his full family - if he has a daughter of marriageable age, then pray to God that she gets married into a very good family. Pray that he gets a good daughter-in-law. If his son is studying, then pray that he studies well, gets good marks, gets a good job. Do pray for them. Be sure that the day you are able to pray for their progress from your heart, along with his progress lies your own progress. God, to whom you have prayed for his progress, will not look at the person who had caused loss to this true child of His own (you), but will bless you first. So you will progress first. He will progress and you too will progress.

Question : People say that one cannot have a second Guru if one already has a Guru. Is it true? The second question is that I used to chant  Om Namah Shivaya continually, and now it is   Jai Baba Swami. What should I do?
Answer : Live in the present. If  Jai Baba Swami is right, it will continue. This is the answer to the second question. The answer to the first question is  look - the greatest of all Gurus is our Soul. We have many Gurus in our life, whether we accept them as Gurus or not. Our first Gurus are our parents.Then we go to school and those who teach us are our Gurus. If you consider them only as teachers, it is up to you. Then we consider a spiritual person as a Guru. Just as when we study in a school, and pass from a primary school, we understand that we have passed from one class. When we go to the second standard, it is not necessary that the same teachers will teach in second standard as well. They do change. From primary to secondary school, teachers keep on changing. They change when we go from secondary to higher secondary school and they also change when we go from higher secondary to the college. So, as the Soul passes from one level to another, its teachers do change. If you are at the same level you do not need another Guru; it is all right. But if you feel happy with some other Guru, you can go to him. This is how I think and Swamiji�s experience too has been similar to my thinking. Swamiji also has had many Gurus. He has studied under many Gurus. Now it is going to be your own decision whether to follow one Guru or .. what this means is, you are not being told to show disrespect to your previous Guru. Actually it should be a matter of joy for him and it surely will be. It is we who feel that the Guru will be displeased. But the Guru is very happy when, as the saying goes, the Guru is like jaggery and the disciple is like sugar. Isn't it good that the disciple has surpassed the Guru! There is nothing to feel sorry about. Do not think that the Guru-element has such a narrow way of thinking. The Guru is very large-hearted. He will never interfere with you in anything. Swamiji always says, Do not stop even with me; learn from me and move ahead. Moving ahead means that if you find any Guru who takes you further ahead, you can definitely go to him.That is, if you feel that he is able to take you to a still higher level.

Question : Can I worship both God and the Guru together?
Answer : Look, if you think that the Guru is a physical body, then there are two things for you - Guru and God. What Gurudev has taught me is that we do not think of the Guru as a body, we think of him as a form of Consciousness. And since he is the medium of ultimate Consciousness, there is no difference between Guru and God, because what he is showering here is Divine Energy or bliss. As there is no difference, how can there be any duality? This is why you are not allowed to salute or worship the physical body of the Guru. This is an image of his subtle body. This image has not been painted from a photograph. It has been done by a sadhak who after his spiritual practice had direct experience of Swamiji's Aura, of Swamiji's Divine Energy. So this image is full of Divine Energy. Sadhaks from all over the world wherever they are present, pay salutations to this image. They surrender before this image. I don't think that there is any difference between him and God. But this is my feeling. I may be mistaken and you have to decide who and where your God is. I believe in every form of God. Do not think that I don't believe in God. Just a few days back, on the first day of our arrival here, we had been to Lake Pushkar. There we had recited the Ganapati Atharvasheersh in collectivity. Why should have I recited Ganapati Atharvasheersh if I had no faith in Lord Ganesh? Ganapati Atharvasheersh is a hymn offered to Lord Ganesh; it is recited. A lady sadhik then asked me  what was the need for Ganapati Atharvasheersh when Swamiji's mantra is there? I agreed that it was true. Swamiji had once given a very good example. Maybe you have heard it, let me repeat it. Imagine you have to reach a certain level. For instance you have to reach a mountain - top. That is your destination and you have to reach there. There are many roads to reach there. There are several ropes hanging, which you can catch hold of and reach the mountain top. But these ropes are not long enough for you to reach them. You may keep jumping all your life but you will never get them into your hands. Then there is Swamiji, who is the rope your hand can catch. With the help of this rope you will slowly reach the top of the mountain. Now about the mantra - just as we have ancient mantras of Goddesses - of Goddess Durga, of Goddess Mahalakshmi - there is also the hymn of Lord Ganesh. These are the hanging ropes which you can catch and reach the top. Swamiji has given the mantra just a few years back. But he has taught meditation since many years, hasn't he? I learnt it many years back. When I was taught meditation, I could not find any way of concentrating the mind. If I had recited Ram-Ram-Ram-Ram, it would have been just a short name of God. I used to recite Ram-Ram, but still I used to get stuck in meditation. The tongue recites it and the mind wavers here and there. The eyes wander away, looking here and there - what is happening in the neighbouring house, what is happening here, whether the pressure cooker has whistled, whether the milk has boiled over, why the maidservant has not come till now? These thoughts keep occurring in the mind while the tongue continues with the recitation. Then of what use is the chanting? So we keep chanting it and think that we have performed a lot of good deeds. This medium of chanting was given by our culture for the reason that after saying Ram eight times if we become thoughtless once, at least once, or even for a moment, then with this rope of Ram we will reach the mountain -top. And we will reach there fast. But this does not happen. Then I found another way - I found such a lengthy hymn that it would need to be recited with concentration. If you read without attention, you get lost and it goes on and on  and you suddenly ask yourself  how far did I reach? Again there is a mess. Again a fresh beginning is made. We begin chanting with Om Namaste Ganapataye. What this means is that it had to be recited with attention; then thoughts would not enter the mind. As when thoughts did not enter the mind, we would become thoughtless.This is how I got into the habit of reciting Ganapati Atharvasheersh - that would clear all the chakras as we become thoughtless. So it was my own habit. So I said, That is all. When we become thoughtless we reach the higher rope. If we reach there for a few moments then reaching the mountain-top is not difficult. So what is wrong if we reach by a short-cut? So, recite Ganapati Atharvasheersh collectively sometime and see. What will you lose? All of us have very good experiences. We keep travelling a lot. That is, people around us keep changing, and sometimes some of them come together again. Thus we have had an experience that whenever we go to the seaside, or to the lakeside, or to any place where we can put our feet in water, then by putting our feet in river water or sea water collectively and reciting Ganapati Atharvasheersh, it gets completed in about five minutes. During these five minutes no thoughts cross our minds. We get such a good experience, we feel so nice, that we do it. Thus it can also be done this way. Therefore you may chant the mantra of God, bow before God or the Guru - it is your wish and upto you.