October 24. “Button, I came across a brand new mantra while reading Eat Pray Love.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s Ham-sa. In Sanskrit it means I Am That.”

What is the other mantra you know of besides this one?”

“It’s the usual—Om Namah Shivaya.”

“Can you tell me a little more on Ham-sa and why you prefer this to the other?”

“Yogis say Ham-sa is the most natural mantra, the one we are all given by God at birth. It is the sound of our own breathing—Ham is when we breathe in and sa is when we breathe out.”

“And how would you pronounce Ham?”

“It’s pronounced in a drawn-out manner—like hahhhm and not like the meat you make sandwich with. As long as we live, we are repeating this mantra—I Am That. I am with God. I am divine. I am not separate. I am not alone. I am one with God.”

“I must try it. I usually fall asleep while meditating. How do you know you’re meditating the right way?”

“Meditate on something that causes a revolution inside your mind—This is what a monk told the writer of this book.”