We have been asked whether someone can get liberation using a simple mantra such as Baba Nam Kevalam, and what to do if you are not near one of our meditation centers.

Many years ago our Guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti answered the first part of the question directly He said that “In meditation there must always be the feeling that you want to serve Him. If this is the feeling, immediately the mind gets concentrated. If in meditation there is the culmination of service, everything will be achieved. Even through the preliminary lessons of meditation a spiritual aspirant can get salvation, but even one practicing higher meditation cannot attain it if there is no feeling of service.”

So, if your approach is correct you can get liberation with the simplest form of meditation. However, whenever possible it is also good to learn more advanced lessons of meditation because they will help you in your practice.

If you are not near a center, you can still request a visit from one of our traveling teachers. And if that doesn’t bring immediate results there is one more thing you can do. Make yourself “ready.” Practice whatever you can in the most sincere manner possible and cultivate your yearning for liberation. Again the words of the Guru are instructive. He said “when the vehement desire for liberation arises in a person, that person attains the Sadguru on the strength of that desire.”

This is similar to famous phrase “when the student is ready, the teacher appears.” So make yourself ready, prepare yourself, and before you know it you will be face to face with a spiritual teacher. You don’t have to travel anywhere!

In the West this is a hot topic of debate among philosophers and among common people. Can we influence our destiny or is everything decided before hand by a higher power?

I have already written extensively on the matter and you can go and read about it, but now I want to present it from the another angle. There is an old saying “Man proposes and God disposes.” So often our best laid plans do not come to fruition, despite hard work and good intentions.

In the field of devotional yoga (bhakti yoga) there is an important concept that deals with this. It is called Prapatti, and it means that whatever happens, happens according to the will of God. Not even a blade of grass can move without having the backing of the Cosmic will.

Understanding this, then the best way to be successful is to align your will with the cosmic will. Instead of swimming against a river learn how to find the cosmic flow and go with it. And that is what spiritual practice (yoga, meditation) is all about, getting in tune with that Cosmic flow.