When talking to seekers in Mumbai, Thane, Nasik (India) it was felt that many seekers are currently feeling disheartened and like not doing spiritual practice. The following are some problems they have been encountering:

1. Not feeling like waking up in the morning, oversleeping during a short nap in the afternoon and feeling heaviness of the body.
2. Increase in personal and family problems.
3. Not feeling like making efforts for removal of personality defects.
4. Doubts generating in the mind.
5. Remembering past and forgotten events, thus hampering spiritual practice.
6. Not remembering to pray and even if one does then not feeling like praying.
7. Not feeling like chanting*.
8. Feeling bored or sleepy when sitting to chant.
9. Not experiencing Bliss from chanting.
10. Not feeling like doing collective chanting.
11. Not feeling like attending Bhav satsang, or even if one attends then feeling sleepy in the satsang.
12. Feeling a certain fear. Earlier seekers who used to conduct satsangs, give lectures, etc., easily, are now feeling tense doing the very same satseva.

If one is feeling like the above, then do note that this is a type of trouble caused by distressing energies. This is their method of taking seekers away from spiritual practice. To overcome it, do the following:

1. The subtle battle is going on and God is fighting on our behalf. The situation is like being on a battlefield, and therefore one has to remain vigilant all the time.
2. We MUST complete five hours of chanting everyday. Out of which at least one hour should be collective chanting.
3. When doing chanting the Name of the destroyer form (marak) of the deity, do it with vigor and a fighting spirit (kshatravrutti).
4. Distressing energies constantly create a black layer around the mind and intellect. Therefore, the following measures are essential:

a. Putting gomutra (cow’s urine) and vibhuti (holy ash) in bath water.

b. Keeping cloth strip (dipped in holy ash water) on eyes.

c. Immersing feet in salt water twice a day while chanting

d. Drinking holy ash water.

e. Drawing a mandal (protective circle using holy ash water) and praying before retiring to bed.

f. Using the Sanatan organization’s aprons and caps as needed and appropriate.

g. Performing the experiment to find out one’s chant, every 15 days.

h. Praying for removal of the black layer around the mind and intellect and for obtaining the benefit of chanting for self only.

i. Making serious efforts for removing personality defects.

j. Doing vastujap (chanting for the premises) and vastu purification (spiritual cleansing of the premises).

    In our spiritual journey for attainment of the Lord, collective spiritual practice for the benefit of society (samashti sadhana) is of 70% importance and individual spiritual practice 30%. In order to avail of this 70% benefit from collective spiritual practice, it is essential to understand its meaning. Many seekers are of the opinion that collective spiritual practice is nothing but reaching out to the curious in society and explaining the subject of Spirituality, as we understand it. However, mere explaining of the subject is not enough. The following points need to be noted to derive 100% benefit from collective spiritual practice:

1. A curious person should be explained the subject of Spirituality in scientific language.
2. One should understand what path of spiritual practice he has adopted.
3. Without hurting his faith in the path he is following or in his actions, it can be explained to him what additional steps he can take for his spiritual upliftment. For example, if he is chanting of the Name of a Saint, he need not be told to change the Name immediately. Instead, he may be encouraged to attend a satsang and to read the books published by the Sanatan organization. This would lead him to undertake study in Spirituality and he would start taking steps as is required, according to the Science of Spirituality. However, if he is told to change the Name he is chanting, he would not be inclined to pay attention to us and would not try to understand our viewpoint.
4. It is necessary to win the heart of every curious person in society. It is therefore necessary to understand him and to advise him what steps in Spirituality he should take in the context of his prevailing situation.
5. We should not lose sight of the fact that we are doing this spiritual practice to reduce our ego. We should see to it that our every activity is directed towards this objective.
6. We have to take care that the knowledge we are imparting about Spirituality is correct and properly worded. Information we do not know should be given after proper inquiry.
7. Before approaching people in society for spread of Spirituality, we should study the subject in depth and rehearse the style of explaining and clarifying matters, in order to bring about effectiveness in our efforts.

    Satsang is of paramount importance in spiritual practice, that is one’s endeavor to attain the Lord. Let us see what advantages one can derive at the gross and subtle levels in this regard.

1. Many people we come across in daily life do not believe in Spirituality, spiritual practice, etc., so they tend to speak against Spirituality or ridicule spiritual practice. Under such circumstances, a primary seeker is likely to lose his interest or faith in spiritual practice. If a seeker with a wavering mind or doubt attends satsangs, his doubts are cleared and faith is solidified.
2. In group therapy, giving treatment to all the patients collectively creates a feeling of competition among the patients to get well before the other one. This accelerates their progress. Seekers can derive a similar benefit from attending satsangs.
3. Various issues are discussed in satsangs, such as seekers’ difficulties in spiritual practice and how they are solved either by them or by the Guru.
4. The sattva component is more in the seekers attending the satsang than in people in society. The collective sattva component of all the seekers makes the entire atmosphere truly sattvik (pure). This again helps the attending seekers to increase the amount of their own sattva component.
5. Spiritual practices like meditation, etc. get a powerful boost in an atmosphere charged with the sattva component.
6. In addition, some benevolent spiritual energies also exist in close proximity to sattvik persons, hence seekers coming in contact with them are greatly benefited.
7. A feeling of intimacy is created among seekers attending satsangs that all the seekers are ‘my own’. The young seekers mix and mingle with each other with open heart and without bias, forgetting even age-old family rivalries. This leads to development of the feeling among them that the entire universe is ‘my home’ (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam). In contrast, the effect of ‘bad company’ is exactly opposite of ‘holy company’ (satsang) and is therefore better avoided.

    Every seeker in a center should attend satsang and derive maximum spiritual benefit. What is taught there through the medium of words does not have as much importance as the benefit one gets there through the subtle medium. With this in mind, everyone should attend satsang once a week and devote the rest of the time for chanting the Lord’s Name, service (satseva) and sacrifice (tyag).

     In India and other countries, it is illegal to use a cellular phone while driving a vehicle and is subject to a fine. In case of absolute necessity, before using it, the vehicle should be pulled over to the side. If it rings while driving, allow it to go as a missed call, and later on the call can be returned. Do not use the phone even if the vehicle stops due to traffic congestion or at the traffic lights.

    A person was fined Rs. 600 in Mumbai, India for not abiding by the above rules. Ironically, the actual phone bill may be less than this fine. Seekers should refrain from using the phone while driving, considering it a part of their spiritual practice to do so.

     Of late, there has been a remarkable increase in trouble to seekers from distressing energies. In particular, distress at the psychological level is on the rise; for example, getting evil thoughts while chanting or doing satseva, getting angry with someone without reason, feeling like cursing someone, feeling like attacking and hitting oneself or someone else, etc.

    Distressing energies are working overtime to prevent seekers’ prayers and chanting by increasing their raja and tama components. As soon as the seekers notice such incidents happening, they should be alert. They should make the following prayer to their deity of worship and continue chanting with vigor and a fighting spirit (kshratravrutti) – “O Lord, Let Your weapons strike and destroy the distressing energies who are putting evil thoughts in my _____ (seeker utters his name) mind.” If the distress appeared to be severe, various spiritual treatments may be done, like applying holy ash (vibhuti) to the forehead, blowing of holy ash and immersing feet in salty water, etc.

    Seekers who have abundant personality defects and are naturally extroverted, have been told to increase their individual spiritual practice (vyashti sadhana) by His Holiness (H.H.) Dr. Jayant Athavale as a part of the internal cleansing drive. Some of them are trying to get information about mistakes committed by seekers living in the Sanatan organization’s hermitages (ashrams), through phone or in person. They indulge in loose talk with an ulterior motive of creating doubts in the listeners’ minds about spiritual practice or about co-seekers. Seekers are therefore advised to exercise caution and speak only what is necessary and to the point to these extrovert seekers. The caller may be asked about the exact purpose of his telephone call. If the purpose is found to be ulterior, the caller may be discouraged. Seekers should not waste their valuable time and should rather concentrate on increasing their spiritual practice.

    Personality defects are a major obstacle in one’s spiritual practice. Personality defects are also the root cause of trouble from distressing energies. As a result of personality defects, we are unable to attract the required amount of divine consciousness (chaitanya) from our chanting and satseva. Therefore, it is the first step in our spiritual practice to make concerted efforts to remove personality defects.

    Though we all have been making efforts to remove personality defects, it is observed that not all the seekers are making these efforts intensely and sincerely. Now seekers should give priority to removal of personality defects while planning their daily quota of spiritual practice. Depending on the severity of personality defects, they should decide the number of sessions for the day and try to adhere to it and complete them vigorously. The next priority should be given to satseva and it should be done in a perfect manner.

    To achieve the total hours of chanting everyday, they should adhere to the following guidelines. In the beginning, they should chant for only a half-hour. If the chanting is occurring with spiritual emotion (bhav) and if sincere efforts are being made for removal of personality defects, the period of chanting may be increased to one hour per day. Step-by-step they can achieve five hours of chanting per day. Following these guidelines would mean that the seekers are introspecting.

*If one is not currently doing any spiritual practice, one can begin with the simple, but powerful spiritual practice of chanting or constantly remembering God's Name according to one's religion.

• Seekers in the initial stages of spiritual practice (less than one year) can repeat The Name of the Lord as per their religion (refer to Issue 3 Clarification of Doubts section for details).
• Those seekers who have been doing regular spiritual practice for over a year or so can determine the appropriate chant for them from the experiment given in Issue 124, Message to Seekers section.