H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale:

    In Maharashtra's history, the war cry "Har Har Mahadev" ignited vengeful fighting spirit among the Marathas* whenever they went to war. I remembered this while doing the special collective chanting session. And a spiritual emotion was created that "Howsoever mighty the distressing energies may be, Sri Durgadevi, the all-powerful, is behind me and She shall certainly liquidate all of them." Should this spiritual emotion be maintained? What further kind of spiritual emotion is one required to generate in order that the special collective chanting meets the expectations of Sri Durgadevi?

Sri Durgadevi:

    True, the war cry "Har Har Mahadev" did inspire the Marathas**. But they fought wars on their own. One should maintain the spiritual emotion that "I fought wars in every age. My mission is to annihilate the evil people of the world and in this mission I have always emerged a victor!" Though I am the doer of everything, seekers should not remain complacent and develop the attitude that "Devi is behind me to help, so She will destroy them". This is not at all expected."

** The warrior race from Maharashtra, India.

    If Subtle Department seekers have advised specific repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name for a specific purpose, for example, to prevent distressing energies' attack on the ashram, or if a seeker is experiencing severe distress then asking another seeker to do repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name for that seeker, etc. If one experiences distress while doing the repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name, then immediately inform Subtle Department seekers about it.

    During the course of satsang or Bhav Satsang, seekers sometimes feel pressure in the atmosphere caused by the distressing energies. In such circumstances, all the seekers present there need not stop the satsang and collectively provide spiritual remedy to remove the distress. Only the seeker who feels the pressure should get up and provide spiritual remedy on an individual level like saying a prayer, repeating (chanting) The Lord's Name or blowing the holy ash (Vibhuti), etc.

    The conductor of the satsang should give necessary instructions in this regard before the start of the satsang itself. If the Bhav Satsang is stopped every now and then because some or the other seeker feels the pressure, the all of the satsang will be wasted in only doing spiritual remedies and no time will be left to get guidance in the satsang. The entire time should be utilized for the Bhav Satsang only, as told by Shri Durgadevi.

    Of late there has been a remarkable spurt in the attacks by the distressing energies. Their main intention is to snatch away the power that is generated from our repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name. Seekers are therefore advised to pray: "Let me __________ (here take your name) only get the power from my repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name. "

    Seekers carry the spiritual emotion while repeating (chanting) The Lord's Name that 'The Lord's Name is the weapon in my hand' to strike the distressing energies. The same spiritual emotion should also be adopted while giving auto-suggestions regarding removal of personality defects. In other words, we have to activate our fighting spirit (kshatravrutti) and vehemence and maintain the spiritual emotion that 'my every suggestion is a weapon in my hands and I am striking my personality defects with it. The suggestion is nothing but a challenge I have confidently thrown at the distressing energies who are bent on giving me trouble by taking advantage of my weak points and defects.'

   While performing individual or collective repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name, some seekers hear the voice of their repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name from deep inside or a different repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name occurring subtly. They should make it a point to listen minutely to the voice. If the subtle repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name stops, they should continue their regular repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name.

    During collective chanting, if you hear the subtle repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name, sit separately from the group and listen to the subtle repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name attentively. Continue listening if you feel a sense of happiness spreading all over your body, mind and intellect. During such listening, after every ten repetition of The Lord's Name, pray, "Let me ______ (take your name) get the spiritual power from this repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name."

Significance of listening to the subtle repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name

    We repeat (chant) The Lord's Name by activating our mind and intellect. Continuously repeating (chanting) The Lord's Name keeps on making imprints on our subconscious mind (Chitta) and thus a center of repeating (chanting) The Lord's Name is created there. Once the center is created, the repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name starts and goes on automatically, and we are able to hear it.

     To see or hear the repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name means the repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name is going on in a "Pashyanti Vaani" (i.e., automatically without your efforts or knowledge). When we hear the repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name in this mode, there is no need to do a separate repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name by mouth (Vaikhari)

    [Pashyanti Vaani is a more advanced stage in the evolution of repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name, i.e., Vaikhari, Madhyama, Pashyanti and Paraa. The significance of Pashyanti repetition (chanting) of The Lord's Name is given in the Sanatan's Volume 6: The Path of Chanting The Lord's Name (Naamsankirtanyoga).

    H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale has started a number of activities to help seekers reach the Almighty according to their individual capabilities and nature. Accordingly, seekers are performing various satsevas. However, seekers tend to adopt the attitude that they have only to implement the decision and just to finish the satseva somehow. For example, the attitude of imbibing divine qualities through various media of satsevas like preparing reports efficiently, learning computer, doing any activities on time, etc., is not maintained.

    The viewpoint should be that 'I should do the satseva of reports without mistake only to imbibe the divine quality of doing every activity in a flawless manner'. On the contrary, seekers maintain a casual attitude that 'because I am answerable to the chief seeker, I am avoiding doing mistakes.' Hence the seekers' efforts lack effectiveness. If we undertake every activity with the spiritual emotion and intention of imbibing divine qualities, every activity of ours will become correct and appropriate and will help us in attainment of the Ultimate Truth.