Receiving guidance during manas puja (mental ritualistic worship) on how to light an incense stick properly:

    During ritualistic worship (puja) daily, when the incense stick is lit, I experience trouble in putting off the flame. Hence, many times the incense stick emits black smoke, as its flame grows.

    One day a few weeks ago, when mentally performing the ritualistic worship of H.H. Dr. Jayant Athavale's holy feet, as I lit the incense stick, H. H. Dr. Athavale noticed that I was shaking the incense stick vigorously. He mentioned that to get the incense stick not to emit black smoke, one should pray to it instead. Later that morning during actual (physical) ritualistic worship at the altar, I prayed to the incense stick with the spiritual emotion (bhav) that it is my Gurubrethren and circulated it gently around Lord Ganesh's picture. Immediately, the flame went off and there was no black smoke. Instead, the incense stick burned peacefully. Ever since, I have been wholeheartedly praying to the incense stick and all the tools used during ritualistic worship, such as to the ghee (clarified butter) lamp, flowers etc.

Getting a vision and feeling the protection of divine weapons with repetition (chanting*) of The Lord's Name after giving autosuggestions for repeating (chanting) The Lord's Name

    On the day I commenced personality defect removal through autosuggestions, February 17, 2004, I was driving home from a long day of teaching classes. Per the autosuggestion given, I was repeating (chanting) the Lord's Name well. Shortly, I was graced with an experience of feeling divine weapons in front of me and distressing energies troubling me being cast out with every repetition of The Lord's Name. My drive home was quite risky, as my eyes were itchy and watery, and I could not see well due to being blinded by every car that drove past in the opposite direction. At that time, my repetition (chanting) of the Lord's Name was still going on. At one point, I felt Sri Shiva's Trident (Trishul) in front of me. It stayed with me all the way home, guiding me safely. I felt immense gratitude to the Trishul, as well as Sri Durgadevi's weapons (Sudarshan Chakra and Sword) and to the mace (Gada) of Sri Hanuman. I had tried for several months to concentrate on the weapons of deities while repeating (chanting) Their Names, but with little or no success. That day, I finally the understood what it means to having spiritual emotion (bhav) for the Marak (Destroyer of evil) form of God.