Chanting of the name

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

--- savithri devaraj <savithri_devaraj at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

>
> I think japa-yoga is different from dhyAna. I have not
> read much about japa-yoga in Bhagavad Geetha and
> elsewhere. This is what made me glad when I saw
> references from Ch.Up.
>
> In japa yoga, one constantly repeats a given mantra if
> initiated, else a chosen name or mantra of one's
> liking. It is not necessary to imagine the form of the
> diety, just chanting and paying attention to the
> chanting is important. The mantra cleanses the mind
> and body of the aspirant as it were. A mantra coming
> from a guru is very potent.

Savitriji,

As I understand - all are different forms of meditation.  Once one
understands the advaitic nature of the goal, all means are only to
arrive at that understanding of oneness where the dnyaanam, dhyeyam and
dhyaataa merge into one.  That is what is involved in shifting oneself
from the thoughts to the silence in between the thoughts - observere of
the silence is the silence observed since observer, observed and
observation all merge into one silence.  Japa is one efficient technique
to arrive at that undersanding where instead of multiple thoughts, a
single thought is repeated - when one reapeats a single thought one is
asked to be intensely vigilent and observe the thought raising in the
silence and disloving into the silence  - you are there with the thought
and you are there without the thought - in the silence in between.  The
shift of attention from the contents of the thoughts to the silence
substative of the thought is also the essence of 'neti' 'neti' - that
'iti' being the thought inself. Since to repeate any orbitrary thought
continously, the mind will repell or rebell unless the thought that is
being repeated has some association that the mind can identify. Hence
the japa mantra is always associated with some 'ishhTa Devata'.  The
potency of the mantra etc from a guru etc are all mind's attachments to
these and to that degree are important.  But in the ultimate analysis
all are at the seeker's level and to incalcate intense shradda - which
is also defined as continously flow of oil - are all the dressing up or
parafernilia associated with the mantra or japa aspect.  But in essence
what is important is to shift the attention from 'iti' by discarding as
'neti' and concentrating on the substantive of all 'iti-s'- which is
essentially the existing-consciousness as the substantive of everything
with thoughts and without thoughts.

Once we understand the essence, eveything falls in place and all the
teachings can be understood in terms of explaining this essence from
different perspectives of teachers-students.

Hari OM!
Sadananda




>
> I have heard that when you foresee unworthy thoughts
> coming, or like to get out of the grasp of unholy
> thoughts, it is good to chant the mantra quite fast so
> that the mind loses its grip on the unwholesome
> thoughts and can easily concentrate on the mantra.
>
> dhyAna yoga seems to be somewhat more advanced form of
> upAsana. In dhyAna, the object of meditation - the
> form of a diety or object captures the attention of
> the meditator to the exclusion of all thoughts.
> Initially there is effort, and the attention span is
> quite broken, but as the aspirant progresses, it seems
> that the object of dhyAna is holding his/her attention
> continuosly like the flow of oil. It is possible to
> attain sAkshAtkAra (or realization) of the diety by
> this method, so it seems.
>
> I am sure Sri SadAnanda and others on this list can
> answer this better.
>
> My 2 cents,
> Savithri
>
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=====
What you have is His gift to you and what you do with what you have is your gift to Him - Swami Chinmayananda.

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