Dear Reader,

    You have already started your spiritual practice by asking how to begin.

    All spiritual paths lead to God-Realization, but on every path there comes a point where one cannot progress any further without the grace of the Guru. Keeping this in mind, it is best that one follows the Path of Guru’s grace.

    The advantage of following the Path of Guru's Grace is that a seeker directly learns how to acquire the Guru's grace, thus by-passing all other spiritual paths that ultimately teach the importance of the Guru's grace.

    The path of Guru’s grace has the following steps:
1. Chanting* the Lord’s Name
2. Being in holy company (satsang)
3. Rendering service unto the Lord (satseva)
4. Sacrificing unto the Lord (tyag)
5. Developing Spiritual (unconditional) love (priti)

    One can begin the spiritual practice of the Path of Guru’s grace by chanting the Lord’s Name according to one’s religion. In case the seeker belongs to the Hindu religion, he can chant the name of the family deity (Kuldevata) or the deity he has most faith in. One can begin by chanting everyday for 15 to 30 minutes for a month and gradually increase the duration of chanting as weeks pass by. Please refer to Issue 3, Clarifications of Doubts section for more details on how to chant.

    One benefits most by practicing according to the principles of Spirituality.

    One of the principles is 'doing spiritual practice according to the time'. Since the current era is an era of strife (Kaliyuga), Saints have recommended chanting (repeating God's Name) according to one's religion.

    To persevere in chanting everyday, and for it to increase both qualitatively and quantitatively, it is important to be in holy company (satsang), that is the second step in the Path of Guru’s grace. Being in holy company helps one to learn, derive inspiration, and share and clarify doubts with other seekers. Please refer to Issue 7, Need for Spirituality section for the importance of holy company.

    In the initial stages of one’s spiritual practice, it is important to develop conviction in spiritual practice which can be achieved by regular study of Holy / Spiritual texts. Regular studies of holy texts not only help build conviction, but also give one the opportunity to be in holy company.

    The Sanatan Organization conducts weekly satsangs in a number of cities in various countries. For more information on a satsang closest to you, please email us at sanatan@sanatan.org.

    To summarize, you can start with the following:

1. Chant the Name of your family deity/God as per your religion for 15 minutes every day.
2. You can also attend satsangs in your local area, if available.
3. You can ask as many questions as possible about Spirituality.

Please note what you feel while chanting, and let us know your experiences.