When you meditate for four hours, it is natural that whatever fog is in your brain will lift. Even if you meditate and remember "Me" for 10, 15, or 20 minutes - if you are angry, agitated or feeling bad, the mantr will do the work. But you must do the mantr with a vengeance.

Just sit down, close the eyes,and start.

I have given you hundreds of ways to meditate, but the most effective is to repeat: "Amaram hum one, Madhuram hum two, Amaram hum three, Madhuram hum four…" or, "Amaram hum Madhuram hum one, Amaram hum Madhuram hum two, Amaram hum Madhuram hum three, Amaram hum Madhuram hum four…" In this way, the attention cannot go anywhere, because if your attention slips then you will be aware that either your counting is off, or the repetition of "Amaram hum Madhuram hum" is off.

If you can repeat the mantr 108 times, some 10 or 12 minutes will pass. During this time, you will remain alert and be able to account for what happened. But the mind may conclude that this repetition is a mechanical system or that I can jump into that field of the absolute without doing it. This conclusion can create problems for you because you will no longer follow the instructions. You have to follow the instructions. Only then can you reach the field of the absolute with the result that you will remain alert.

It is not that you are alert simply because you have been counting 1, 2, 3, 4, or because you have been repeating "Amaram hum Madhuram hum". By being alert, a consciousness arises automatically, a strength is built, and you remain alert forever under all circumstances. Thereafter you can have a safe journey, you can have a safe talk, and can be anywhere, because you will know that this alertness has been built up and that it works!

- Swami Shyam
3 Feb, 1986