Meditation Will Be Spontaneous Within You

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Q: I just have a little technical question about the Mantra Japa. A person can do Mantra Japa while breathing in and breathing out…

Maharaj: Correct.

Q: …and also he can (inaudible), and he can also do the same Mantra, (inaudible), ten or fifteen times, so which one is…

Maharaj: Why ten or fifteen times, there’s no limit of ten or fifteen times. It can be continuously, it is your property, you can use your property.

Q: But then if I take breath in and breath out, I can repeat more than one time…

Maharaj: See, when you’re sitting for meditation, at that time, this principle is there. All the time you can recite the Mantra as it is, be simple.

Q: So if I can do five…

Maharaj: Yeah, yeah, yeah, no problem. I told you, when you’re sitting for meditation, you sit as per the instruction given to you, as for all the time you can recite the Mantra as it is. Be normal. And even then, there’s no hard and fast rule, I’ll tell you. This is the beginning stage, just like when you’re learning some language you write ‘a’ like this, ‘b’ like this, ‘c’ like this, when you’re a student. After having some stages, you’re no longer a student, you’re a master of that particular language.

So when you’re sitting for meditation, you sit in that fashion for half an hour, one hour, two hours, it depends. And according to the breathing it will give more effects, it will be give more absorption. But all the time you can recite the Mantra as it is, not concentrating on the breathing and all. And thereafter also, you’re not required to sit like this also, your meditation will be spontaneous within you. So without your knowledge, even within deep sleep, that meditation is going on inside. This is the beginning stage, the initial stage, but you have to do it.

So be practical. As I told you, this is an opportunity, the body is an opportunity to identify yourself in a real sense. Basically you’re formless, this form isn’t going to remain constant. This is a shape, a form (Maharaj refers to his body).

Yes, anybody have any more questions? Be free.

Q: I have one. Does a certain type of diet help calm your mind? Like a sattvic diet? Vegetarian, not many spices?

Maharaj: No, no, no. No question of diet, diet is not a restriction, it is not a concern. Whatever physical requirement is there is unconcerned with the Reality. What you’re eating, what you’re doing, what you like for the feeling of the body, the requirements of the body, you can do it. Whether you take non-vegetarian or vegetarian is not a concern. How you are identifying yourself, that is most important. You’re not the body, what is required for the body, you can do it. Whether you take the pure water, whether you take other water, this is unconcerned.

So many concepts are there, therefore I’m telling you, you have to come out from all these concepts, body-based concepts, you have to undergo the meditation.

Q: So the yoga, the postures, is another body-based concept then?

Maharaj: Yoga? Yoga is good for health. But it will help you, pranayama is giving some good (effects). There are some types of yoga, padmasana also gives good effects. Yoga is also helping. But it is not Ultimate Truth, it will help you. Pranayama is good for you.

Q: Maharaj, I just want to make sure I understand or elaborate a little bit more on what this gentleman had asked you. There’s a lot of chaos and drama in my family during the course of the day, and I’m trying to repeat the Mantra during all this drama, because in Reality there’s really nobody there…

Maharaj: Correct, correct.

Q: …correct, and I just want to understand: I don’t have to focus on the in and the out breath while I’m repeating the Mantra, while experiencing or seeing the chaos and the drama that is going on. As long as I’m aware and repeating the Mantra, that’s all I have to do. I don’t have to be aware of the in and out breath at that time. I do take time to meditate by myself, but I’m talking about all the other time that all this is going on. Do I have to be aware of the in breath and the out breath….

Maharaj: It is only the beginning stage only, until you’ve got conviction. Breathing, reciting the Mantra – only at the beginning, initial stage. At the Ultimate stage it’s not necessary, not necessary to recite the Mantra also. It happens spontaneously. What is a Mantra? It is reminding you, trying to identify yourself. Where was the Mantra prior to beingness? Any Mantra was there when you came into this world? After leaving the body, any Mantra will remain? The Mantra is also a concept, it is illusion. But to remove one illusion, you have to take the help of another illusion. Just like a thorn, you know a thorn? To remove one thorn you take the help of another thorn and then throw away both the thorns. But you have to do it at the initial stage, I’m telling you the initial stage, the beginning stage.