From the great mystics I shall give you some valuable suggestions for success on the path of meditation. They are:

(a) Constant recollection;
(b) Continuous prayerfulness;
(c) Repetition of the Divine Name.

If you develop the habit of constantly recollecting the Supreme Being, you will soon find that the mind is always filled with that thought. Hold on to it in an intense way. When you go to sit for meditation, the mind will have already developed the nature of going toward that thought and then instinctively, immediately, the mind will begin to flow in that direction. To develop the habit of constant recollection, the saints have given us some valuable hints. Constant recollection can be three-fold in nature. It can partake of your external nature, i.e., through certain external factors, you may be enlivened by the thought of your Supreme Goal; or it can partake of the nature of the imagination, inwardly; or, by making use of the faculty of discrimination, it can partake of the nature of the intellect.

External factors may be like the pictures of God you find on the wall, holy icons, religious objects like crucifixes, candles, medallions, or religious and spiritual books. Further, you may associate all things in and about your house, and even outside, like the flowers, the birds, the spreading trees, the forests, the clear skies and the clouds with your Ideal; thus you always feel yourself to be bearing an attitude towards Him; you always feel that you are in His presence and that He is always walking with you or talking to you.

You may feel yourself to be His own son or daughter, His companion or friend, or you may feel yourself to be His servant. You may be taking orders from Him, carrying on a conversation with Him, if necessary. Anything that you do, refer to Him—be it the sublime, the prosaic, the humorous, or the difficult and the problematical. Whatever you are going through day after day, moment by moment, refer to Him. If there is a joke share it with Him. If there is a difficulty, ask Him, “Now, what shall I do?” If you feel fear, say to Him, “Now You are my courage!”; and if you feel weak, then say to Him, “O Lord, strengthen me!”; and if you have made a mistake say, “O Lord, forgive me!” So always be in contact with Him. By making this connection in spiritual imagination, you build up your relationship with Him, you evolve with Him. Imagination can be a help in constant recollection.

If you are not of a very emotional nature, if you cannot imagine the closeness of such emotional relationships, and at the same time if you do not like the purely external method, then bring your intellect into this process. If you are philosophical by temperament, your intellect will tell you that He is the all-pervading essence. He is everywhere. He is the innermost core of your consciousness. He is the essence of your existence. It is because He exists that you exist. Through an intellectual process, you fashion certain mental concepts. All things in this universe have a cause; the chair has a carpenter, the shoe has a cobbler, the textile has a cloth factory, and the substance, which is all around you in the universe, also has a Maker. The universe may be viewed as the effect evolved out of some great cause. When you look at the cosmos, your intelligence tells you that there must be some prime cause. Thus, by these intellectual processes, you may try to feel Him.

Look at the grandeur of the universe. How much grander must be the cause behind this, the All-pervading Essence! He is immutable. He is omnipresent. Through intellectual conceptions such as these, try to feel His presence always. Try to think of Him as the grand cause of all causes, as the indivisible essence pervading and sustaining everything. Try to see Him as the innermost core of your consciousness which has made your life possible. He is the life of your life. He is the essence of your existence, the very basis of your being. If you practise His presence thus, always and everywhere, then the moment you sit for meditation, that which was being done in a diffused way, becomes intense. Grow into this habit.

These methods for continual recollection which I have given you are from the Western mystics. The Eastern Masters add one more method. They advise constant repetition of the Divine Name—either verbal, semi-verbal or purely mental. This practice also keeps you in the thought of God. It may be either the repetition of the Name or some short formula, some short prayer. It should be short and brief—that is the essence of it. You may say, “Lord, I adore Thee! Lord, I adore Thee!” or “Hail, O Glory! Glory be to Thee!” or “Praise to the Lord! Praise to the Lord!” or “I love You! I love You! I love You!” or “Thou seest me. Thou seest me. Thou seest me!” or “I am always in Your presence!”

Go on with your repetition that way. Choose some words by which you may call upon Him. “Be by me, O Lord! Be by me, O Lord! Ever be by me.” You can have different sets of words for morning, afternoon and evening; or you can change them by alternating them in sequence. Go on using them constantly so that you keep an unbroken current of God-thought or God-feeling within you all day, at every hour of the day. It is this that makes for real success. The interior life of meditation is supported by this practice of constant recollection of the Supreme Being. It is a deep spiritual process.

A great saint, a European mystic, said, “He prays very little who prays when he is on his knees”, which means that if your interior life is just confined to those moments when you are actually on your knees, while the rest of the time your mind is like a wild monkey chasing after everything on the surface of the earth, then you pray very little. Your prayer cannot then be effective at all, because all the rest of the time the nature of your mind will be totally contrary to the meditative life, and so meditation cannot be done. Try to make the mind habituated to constant recollection of God. The real degree of effectiveness of your contact with the Inner Reality, of your closeness to God in meditation, is in proportion to the degree of continual dwelling upon God that has been achieved through recollection throughout the entire day.

We have taken this human birth in order to meditate. Meditation is the only important thing. It is the only way to attain true balance, true stability of mind, a truly integrated and positive personality. It is the only way to achieve real peace and real happiness. It is the only way. I do not like to be dogmatic or to be strong in my speech, but here I am absolutely dogmatic and certain that it is the only way of achieving true peace and real happiness. If you leave meditation and try other ways, you will realize bitterly in the end that life has been wasted, and then it will be too late. Then you will regret, “Oh, I might have started it right at that time”. Do not make that mistake. Do not make that blunder. In all the variegated activities of your life, keep on with the great process—the central process of human life. It is the only way to happiness and the only way to true and lasting peace—meditation.

We have then said that this process should be supported by your entire life. And the one great factor that is of the utmost support to meditation is purity of life. By that one term I mean everything: perfect moral conduct, fulfilment of the pattern of ethical life, growing in virtue, growing in goodness—in short, becoming (in so far as you can) like God in your nature. It is a pure mind alone that can meditate, but do not postpone meditation that gives you the power to overcome all evil, to eradicate all blemishes. It is the power that releases the innate purity in you. It gives you purity. It gives you the power of will to take hold of yourself, master the senses and desires, and grow in perfect purity. Attention has to be cultivated by daily practice. Attention increases concentration and concentration is the only means of developing in meditation.

Develop your love for God. Where love is, there the mind and heart are; therefore, develop love for God.

Last, but not the least, if you go home now and have a period of meditation before you retire to sleep, and then afterwards keep up the practice, never giving it up even for a single day, whether you are ill or well, depressed or irritated (whatever happens, it does not matter), if you cling to this great treasure, this wealth of wealths, and always meditate daily, then I assure you that even the most difficult problem that life poses for you—the greatest, sharpest blow of bereavement that you may have to experience—the greatest test or trial or temptation—everything—can be overcome by the power of meditation. By the power of meditation you put yourself into direct contact with God. He is the Power of powers. He is the greatest power, the greatest force and the essence of all goodness. He will help you to overcome everything; through that Power, everything can be overcome. Ultimately, death itself can be overcome. Let meditation take you to the Supreme Goal, the conquest of death and the achievement of everlasting life, the supreme triumph in God. That is my humble prayer to you all.