Question: Guru, I sometimes say the Gayatri Mantra even though I am your disciple. Am I doing the right thing?

Sri Chinmoy: If you are doing the Gayatri Mantra, it will be most effective. But if you use another mantra, which another spiritual Master gave you, and if you are following my path, then it will be a problem. The Gayatri Mantra is above all gurus. The Gayatri Mantra will not be able to create any problem, because just by repeating this mantra people have realised God. In India there are people who have realised God only by repeating the Gayatri Mantra most soulfully by the Ganges. If you repeat the Gayatri Mantra most soulfully in front of my picture, it will add to your aspiration. But if it is some other mantra, you have no idea what it will do. It may be a spiritual word, true, but your nature may not correspond to that particular aspect of God.

Each mantra represents an aspect of God. If right now you need God’s Love-power more than any other power, and if you are not paying any attention to Love-power, then your progress will be very slow. But once you realise God, all the aspects of God enter into you. Very often I tell disciples who have accepted our path not to practise their old mantras, which they have gotten from other Masters or from books. It becomes a hindrance on the path. They want to be totally devoted to our path; but the forces and the energy they create by repeating those particular divine words may interfere with their spiritual progress. It is like walking along two roads at the same time; it is very dangerous. But the Gayatri Mantra is above all this. The Gayatri is the mother of all mantras. So if you practise the Gayatri, it will really add to your progress on our path; and when you follow our path, it will intensify for you the meditative power of the Gayatri Mantra.

I would be very happy if you could learn the tune that I have set to the Gayatri Mantra. If you can sing it most soulfully, it will be as good as repeating the mantra one hundred times. This is the difference between reciting and singing. While we are singing, our entire being is elevated and transported into the highest plane of consciousness. When we recite something soulfully, sometimes we may get dynamic power; sometimes we may get vital power, uncontrolled vital power. But if we sing a song soulfully, immediately psychic power comes. Psychic power comes to the fore and makes us swim in the sea of Light and Delight. If we are singing soulfully, this is more important than to be technically correct. When I sing, many times I make mistakes. But God does not care about my technique. He cares for my soulful qualities. So when you learn the Gayatri Mantra, please do not worry that you cannot sing it like a professional singer. As long as it comes from your heart, God will be really pleased.