Hari Om.
During this period you’ll find that every one of you is
going through a very stressful time. That stress is due to the planetary lineup as of April. It was
supposed to have concluded on the 26th of April but for some reason
the effects of that are still lingering and you’re all having problems. The
best way to reduce those problems is to recite the Gayathri Mantra.
Now, not so long ago somebody said to me that they are
reciting the Gayathri Mantra but it’s not working. When you recite the Gayathri
Mantra, you can race it to finish a hundred and eight rounds quickly, or you
can recite it properly. Many of you worry about getting to the end of the mala
and I think as you sit here most of you are caught in that and keep looking how
far the meru is. You shouldn’t do that because you’ll lose your concentration. The
only time you should open your eyes is when you touch the meru. Then stop
there.
How do you recite the Gayathri Mantra? Recite it slowly. (It
should take at least thirty seconds to recite one mantra.) If you do it like
that I can guarantee you will have so much peace in your life. But you don’t
because you’re doing it wrong. Don’t use
your pointer finger and push the beads away from you. Use your thumb with the beads resting on your middle finger, and pull
the beads towards you, like you’re calling them to you. Don’t push the beads
away from you.
I’ll tell you a funny story. I always wondered why the Hare
Krishna devotees have a bag with the beads inside and recite with their pointer
finger sticking out of the bag. The other day I found out. I was watching one
when all of a sudden his cellphone rang and that finger came in handy. I looked
at him and I thought that Krishna was smart. He designed the finger sticking
out for those guys. That is not concentration at all. Now every time you see
one of them with his finger out, you’ll laugh. That finger gets you in trouble.
The middle finger also gets you in trouble when you’re driving, but that’s
another story.
