Q14. I am twelve years old, what niyams should I do for Chaturmaas?

Our beloved Swamibapa used to insist on 3 things, whenever He reviewed the niyams.

• Tap - Penance (giving up something)
• Vaanchan - reading of a scripture
• Dhyaan - meditation

For tap , you may want to try Ek tana , which is where you only eat once a day, but you can drink plenty of water at any time. Please get permission from your parents before you take your this niyam. You can do this niyam for 15 days, 1 month, the entire chaturmas. To start with, you can may want to try ek tana's on Ekadashi days only during the time of chaturmas. Launch Internet Explorer Browser

For Vaanchan, you can read the Shikshapatri as parayan. This means that you have to finish reading it before the end of chaturmas.. Remember the aim is to read a small amount every day, to help you remember and please the Lord, every day during this special time.

For Dhyaan , you can do two minutes every day.

What do you have to do?

1. Decide which of the above niyams you want to do, to please the Lord. Remember It is a promise to God, that for the next 4 months, you will do this each day to please Him. So you should not promise something that you cannot achieve.
2. Print out the Niyam Form in either English or Gujarati
3. Fill in your extra niyams.
4. The night before or on the first day the start of Chaturmas, read the letter in front of God in the Mandir. (Please do not email any forms to baal-tantri, as we will not be able to deal with your request. It is better that you personally perform your own prathna in front of God in Mandir).

Read more about chaturmaas .