Pranayama is for purity. Should I wash my nose and then breathe or should I breathe first and then clean my nose- what would be the answer to this question, tell me? It is obvious- you have to clean your nose as until then you cannot breathe freely.

Likewise, unless you complete Pranayama you cannot jump into meditation. Pranayama is the first step in meditation. Through Pranayama you cleanse yourself and fill your lungs completely with oxygen. Thereafter meditation progresses automatically.

Guru mantra is automatically filled in both meditation and Pranayama. Whether you say your mantra when doing them or not does not matter. It is your choice. What is spirituality? Forgetting the external body is spirituality (adhyatmika). It means to forget yourself.

Since we are householders we should participate in all rituals and pujas. Remember that they too are tools for achieving single focused concentration which is crucial for stabilizing in meditation. All of them are tools in spiritual practices. We focus on the mantra and its meaning due to which the mind learns to fix in one place. When mind is steady, then automatically Pranayama is easy. When Pranayama is easy, mind becomes totally still. This is meditation.

(Q&A, DKY class, 4 Mar 2016)