From ‘In the company of a Siddha. Interviews and Conversations with Swami Muktananda’. Published by S Y D A Foundation, Oakland, California

The sexual fluid is very valuable. The stronger the sexual fluid is and the more it is retained in the body, the purer and more tranquil the mind will be. The more tranquil the mind becomes, the easier it will be for it to turn inward, and it will also acquire the power to make discoveries in the inner realm. …..I am not against married life…. nor am I against producing children. But one who is interested in making spiritual progress must conserve his sexual fluid.

The Indian medical texts and scriptures say that a husband and wife should observe certain rules in their sexual life: such as having sex only during the post-menstrual phase. Indian medicine says that, while there is happiness in discarding feces, there is happiness in retaining the sexual fluid.  ….If sexual fluid is conserved, it will burst out of you in the form of light, and that will be most satisfying. It is the sexual fluid which bestows radiance, vigor, contentment, and happiness. If you retain it, you become far more attractive than if you lose it. ……The scriptures say that a householder who indulges in sex no more than once a month is a celibate.

The subtle sexual fluid is the same in both man and woman. In the man it is called virya, or semen, and in the woman it is called raja.

If the inner Shakti is not yet fully active, the practice of hatha yoga can be very beneficial, as long as you observe the rules of the game. But if you do not, it can become very harmful. …..anyone who is underweight should not do headstands, and those who do the headstand should perform that posture last. After that, one should not do any other postures. At the end of a session to overcome and absorb the fatigue of the different postures, one must lie down in the corpse pose for fifteen minutes. ….No matter how good you are, you should not hold the headstand for more than four minutes.

Immediately after eating, you won’t be able to meditate very well, because the Shakti is not able to circulate freely when the stomach is full of food. So it is not good to meditate while food is still in the stomach. Meditate before you eat or at least two hours after eating.

For all yogic practices, the stomach should be completely empty. Those who practice or teach hatha yoga should know that one must not practice asanas for at least three hours after a meal; also, one must not eat or drink anything for at least one hour after a session of hatha yoga. ….To ensure proper digestion, you should fill only half of your stomach with food, one quarter should be filled with water, and the remaining quarter should be left empty, to allow the digestive prana to circulate freely…..You must wait at least two and a half hours before going to sleep so that the food is at least partially digested.

…the length of time one can meditate is influenced by the strength of one’s constitution. If one meditates more than the body can stand, one’s head will become too hot. Serious meditators must be sure to eat the right kinds of foods. Here in our kitchen, we use cashew and pistachio nuts, clarified butter, raisins, and other such good foods which will give you a lot of strength.

There are many different fluids in the body, but the most important one is called ojas, a beautiful, shining yellow fluid that is situated in the bone marrow. This ojas is created through semen; it is very radiant, and it gives you the power of memory as well as strength. If we meditate too much and don’t give enough rich food to our bodies, the fire of meditation begins to consume the ojas from our bones, and we become dull, lose enthusiasm, and become very tired. That is why we have a time limit for meditation.

You can meditate six hours a day if you like, but you have to eat good rich food so that you will have sufficient strength. You will also have to remain celibate, because this ojas is created by semen.

If you wish, you can meditate twice a day – one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening – provided that you drink milk and eat sweet things, such as fruit or honey.

Bhartrihari, the great poet-saint, said, “It is impossible to know anything about the ways of perfected beings or to know anything about their karma.” Some of them stay completely naked, their only couch is the earth, and they don’t even have a torn piece of mattress, whereas some live in royal splendor that surpasses even that of kings. Some are very serene and calm, some stay mute all the time, whereas others never stop swearing, and still others lay around like pythons – they don’t even move …One sage said that some Siddhas act like saints, others act like madmen, and still others act like evil spirits, remaining ever in a very strange state.

Q: …….When you touch seven hundred people during an Intensive, do you take on karma from all of them?

Baba: I don’t have to take their karma; it comes to me automatically…..At any rate, all of this karma is burned away within two days. Every morning, I take a bath in the manner prescribed by the scriptures. Then I meditate in a special room (no matter where I go, I set aside a special room for meditation) and during my meditation, all the karma is burned up. The fire of knowledge of the Self is so powerful that it can burn up any amount of karma…..the Guru….never takes good things from us; he only takes away what is bad.

When you eat someone’s food, you should be aware that it carries the influence of whoever gives it to you. That is why we chant a lot before we eat – to purify the food of any negative impressions it may carry.

…in the sahasrara, at the crown of the head, there is a tiny spot of brilliant light, which we call the Blue Pearl. It is the vibration of this light that starts the breathing cycle….What we call death is nothing but another name for the Blue Pearl’s departure from the body….. It is sometimes possible to see the soul depart from a dying person…..

According to the Upanishads, the aperture through which the soul departs is thrown open as it leaves the body. If it departs throught the nose, the nose becomes crooked; if it departs through one ear, that ear changes too; and if it departs through the anus, a lot of shit flows out. …..

Manojit: What happens after the body dies?

Baba: Rebirth takes place. In meditation you can see your past incarnations. You may even be able to see your future incarnations, but that is very rare.

There is a world called Pitruloka, where the departed spirits live.

………some people die peacefully, whereas others, because they remember all the bad things they have done, find death very painful. In order to die consciously, one has to perform good acts in one’s life. Regardless of the dying person’s state, however, you should still chant at his side, and you should pray to the Lord. If the sound of the Lord’s name were to find entrance into him, even by force, it would do much good. But you cant help him to remain conscious; one has to earn that by doing good acts. Good meditators pass away in a meditative state, and they are not even conscious of dying…..

…the soul, when it leaves the physical body, carries with it all its desires and attachments in seed form; they don’t disappear. When it is reborn, it is reborn with all those attachments and desires.

Q: In a more evolved condition?

Baba: No, in the same state in which it left its last body. However, after being reborn, the soul can evolve if it wants to. In the interim, between one life and the next, no evolution takes place. It is only in this world that evolution is possible………..For quite a while after death, one remains in a state of unconsciousness. Then the spirit wakes up and passes into the world of ancestors. In that world, it is decided where the soul is going to be born next.

….Once your inner Shakti is awakened during meditation, it is possible to see seven of your past lives very clearly …..

Baba: One can change the planetary influence through sadhana or spiritual practice. That is the only way…..Through chanting or japa, repetition of a mantra, one can accomplish anything. Chanting has tremendous power.

My physical eyes have become so refined and pure that I can see a bluish light pervading everywhere, which not even your most sophisticated instruments can see. That light is just like the delicate after-image that persists when a flash-bulb goes off. That bluish light keeps sparkling all the time, everywhere. …..is not like a continuous glow; its made up of particles like tiny sparks.

There are higher planes that are more subtle than the physical one. Pitruloka, for example, is the world of ancestors. Swargaloka is heaven; and there is a realm called Siddhaloka, where great beings such as Bhagawan Nityananda, Zipruanna, and Shirdi Sai Baba live ….They are very very far away……..neither can you visit these higher realms unless you make the proper effort to see them. However, the beings there can visit us more easily because their knowledge and strength of mind are much greater than ours ………the beings from these lokas have their unique vehicles, although they are not like our machines. They are propelled by the mind and go wherever their pilots will them …..You wont find our sun or moon in these higher realms; there is no day or night. You will find just light. In Siddhaloka, for example, there is only blue light. This is the realm of fully realized beings….. No being who attains this realm ever falls from that high state, but occasionally ……one of these Masters descends to Earth temporarily to initiate a worthy seeker ………Normally their bodies are made of substances so subtle that we cannot perceive them, but whenever those beings feel like showing a physical manifestation, they can take any form they wish to be seen in. …..Siddhaloka is one of the farthest planes from our own. One of the nearer planes is called Pitruloka, the world of ancestors. ………There are many different planes where gods and goddesses live …..The forms of these gods and goddesses are not very different from our own. People who meditate a lot and have very high meditations see all these beings very clearly.

…..There are three ancient abodes of Siddhas, called Siddha pithas, and I used to visit them a lot. One is in Tibet, another is in Girnar, and the third is on the mountain known as Shri Sailam, where people are always chanting.

There is another book, Pratyabhijnahridayam, which is a short work but divinely inspired. You should also study that.

Supreme Consciousness is supremely free; therefor, it can never fall into the hands of any one person or be controlled by instruments. You can experience it in the cerebral center called the sahasrara in the form of a blue dot, which resembles a pearl. Although it is visible, it is so subtle that no one can touch or influence it. ….It appears to people who are pure and simple-hearted. …..Through the Blue Pearl, I can know the true character of people who come to see me. Even when I’m giving a talk, I will suddenly glimpse a tiny blue dot hovering over someone’s head, and I know that he is a good person.

Readiness for Kundalini yoga is essential in the form of mumukshutva, an intense, sincere desire for liberation. But even without that, profound love for a Siddha can arouse the Kundalini. Kundalini yoga carries all other yogas in its wake; once it has begun, no other yoga is needed. …….Some people attempt to awaken the Kundalini forcibly through self-effort or by means of hatha yoga. Is such cases anything can happen; one can even become mad. But when the Kundalini is awakened by the grace of the Guru, it rises spontaneously and transforms the human body, making it divine.

As the Kundalini rises in the body and pierces the chakras, various types of emotions manifest, such as laughter, weeping, love and desire. Anxieties, latent illnesses, and many different kriyas, or yogic processes, also occur. One may even appear to be mad for a short time, but it is not real madness. Heavy sleep, lethargy, and involuntary movements of the body may also occur. Hunger may temporarily disappear and sleep may decrease …..

Scientific instruments can study only the physical and psychological aspects of Kundalini awakening, such as its effects on the organs, nervous system, heart rate, metabolism, and so on. The inner, subtle aspects cannot be detected by instruments because Kundalini is an extremely subtle force; it is pure light.

There is a prayer in our Vedas, our holy scriptures, which goes: sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah, sarve bhadrani pasyantu, ma kascid dukha bhag bhavet – “May all be happy; may all be healthy; may all see only auspicious sights; may no one experience suffering.” Through this prayer we wish well not only for human beings, but for all living creatures.