Question: It is said that if one can sit on the floor with his legs crossed for an hour or so completely quiet and peaceful, not thinking any thoughts, then energy will rise up the base of his spine. But this has never happened to me.

Sri Chinmoy: People say many things, books tell us many things, but the individual experience is of paramount importance. I am not saying that the books are telling you lies or that the people who have had this experience of energy are mistaken. No, they are right in their own assertion, in their own experiences. And what you are experiencing is also right for you.

But unfortunately you are making one mistake. If you feel that just by sitting cross-legged for fifteen minutes or half an hour you are going to develop inner energy or get higher experiences, then you are mistaken. There are many people in the Indian villages who can sit for hours cross-legged. But ask them if they have had any spiritual experiences and, if they are sincere enough, they will say no. There are many who have been practising asanas, physical postures, for many years without ever having had even one solitary experience. Why? It is not just the actual posture. It is not the pose or how you sit. It is the aspiration. If you have the capacity, you can even lie down and meditate. You can run and meditate.

Meditation has to come from deep within, like the cry of a child hungry for food. When the child is hungry, he cries desperately, and the mother comes running, whether she is in the kitchen or in the living room, to feed the child because she feels that the cry comes from the child's heart. If you feel the inner cry for God or if you feel that you need to develop this divine energy within you, then you are bound to develop it. This energy is bound to climb up.

So please do not worry about sitting in the strict lotus posture, padmasana. Just sit straight but relaxed. When you meditate, do not stiffen your body. Sometimes people do padmasana, this cross-legged lotus posture, but they bend forward or make their whole body very stiff. And when the body is stiff, naturally the divine qualities, the fulfilling qualities, which are flowing and streaming, will not be received. So when you sit cross-legged, if your body is rigid, then please immediately forget about your posture. Only try to sit straight but relaxed.

In your case, unfortunately, I can clearly see that your position is correct, but the thing that is actually needed in the lotus posture is missing. When you are sitting cross-legged and are breathing in, the whole body should consciously feel stream of divine Love flowing in and through it. Without Love there is no God, and there is no human existence either. You love yourself, you love God, you love your dearest and nearest ones and you love humanity as a whole. So first please try to bring to the fore God's Love aspect, and once you have established within yourself the Love aspect, then you will see all other aspects are bound to come. Love is the pioneer of all divine qualities. So when you cry for God, feel Love — immediate, spontaneous, unreserved, soulful Love. All the divine qualities of God are bound to follow this divine Love.