In plain words
When we pronounce the mantras of the Upaniṣads correctly, many diseases are cured. Not only that: when we recognise the right meaning of those mantras, our conduct too changes. When our conduct changes, the right feeling arises in us. When the right feeling comes in us, it takes shape as the right word.
Pronounce Oṃkāra in the right way
Embodiments of Prema! In the world there are words of ever so many kinds. There are meanings of ever so many kinds. But we must bring the meanings and these words into close relationship. In the spiritual principle there is no use in keeping the gaze on these meanings alone all the time. Along with the meanings, the right tone too is very important. I keep telling many people about the right pronunciation of Oṃkāra. ‘A, U, M’: when these three come together, ‘Oṃ’ comes. Of this ‘A, U, M’, ‘A’ comes from the throat; ‘U’ comes from the tongue; ‘M’ comes from the lips. The Oṃkāra in which these three join comes from the navel. Many people, asked to say ‘Oṃ’, spell it out. Asked to say ‘Oṃkāra’ in the early morning, they say A, U, M. We must pronounce these three at one and the same time. That is the true sound of Oṃkāra. ‘O…m’ must come from the navel. As it comes from the throat, the sound comes loud. As it goes back, it keeps growing softer. Only when we take up this sound in the proper way does the right feeling settle in us. Many people do Oṃkāra for years on end. “Swami! I have been chanting the sound of Oṃkāra for so many years. Bhakti does not take hold,” they say. How can it take hold? Only if one does it with the right meaning! Grasp the essence of the Upaniṣads well. We must keep pronouncing the mantras well. Because many old people have no teeth, a change comes in the sound too. Until you know the right pronunciation, there is no need to pronounce it aloud. Keep pronouncing it to yourself in your own mind. In music some people catch hold of a note. You must change your voice to suit that note. While changing your voice, you must change your face too.