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Anil Kumar Questions and
Answers
Question 28
Why do we
need to say a manthra repeatedly? (15.12.2002)
I remember a
joke. A patient came to the doctor and asked, “Doctor, I have
consumed three bottles of syrup so far over a period of three
months. How long should I continue to take this?” The doctor
said, “Until you die.” (Laughter)
Similarly, how long should you repeat the manthra? Until
you forget the feeling that you are repeating the manthra:
“’Sai Ram, Sai Ram, Sai Ram’. How many times should I
repeat it?” “Oh, say a hundred times or more.”
That’s all
nonsense. You should go on repeating Bhagavan’s Name until you
have forgotten the number of times that you have repeated it.
Bhagavan gave a beautiful example here. I tell you, no one can
explain it like He does: A boy said, while going to bed, “Mother,
please wake me up when I am hungry.” (Laughter) The mother
said, “Useless fellow! You yourself will get up when you are
hungry. I don’t have to wake you up.”
Similarly, “How
long should I say a manthra?” The answer is that we should
repeat it until the purpose is realised or until the goal is
achieved. “Then why do I have to repeat it so many times or for a
stipulated number of times?” I may say ‘Sai Ram, Sai Ram, Sai
Ram’. I may say this 108 times. But my mind may concentrate on the
manthra only here and there for a brief period, while the
rest of the time it may be engaged in thoughts about an airline
reservation, a job, the mosquitoes, the canteen -- that’s it. (Laughter)
Hence, though I repeated the Name 108 times, the mind concentrated
on it only thrice. So, how many times is that? Only three times!
So the rest of 105 repetitions were a waste. It is only for
calculation and income tax purposes, not for this. (Laughter)
So
my friends, we are asked to repeat things any number of times. How
many times should I breathe? Until I find my name in the newspaper
under the obituary column. (Laughter) It’s quite
simple. So we should keep on repeating the Name.
© Anil Kumar Kamaraju 2004 - Here
reproduced for personal use of the devotees for the purpose of
seva.
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