Mantra for Beginners - 2

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Mantra for Beginners - 2

 

I would like to thank glnsamp for the excellent message regarding

Chanting as a health practice. His regular excerpts from

sanatan.org/weekly have always been inspiring.

 

I was also going through the messages regarding Nama Japa posted in

October 2001.

Again svcs had reminded us about the Nama japa when talking about

Mantras.

 

The different kinds of japa are

 

1. Vaikhari Japa (audible)

2. Upamsu Japa (whispering)

3. Manasika Japa (mental)

4. Likhita Japa (written)

 

In Tantra a lot of emphasis is laid on Japa. For attaining Mantra

Siddhi you have to do Japa of the mantra a particular number of

times. But it is not that you stop with that. You are expected to do

constant Mantra Japa so that the Mantra becomes part of you. The

Mantra is always running in your mind. In Tantra the rituals are

necessary for only the main Japa when you count. But otherwise you

are free to do Mantra Japa without any restrictions.

 

The same attitude is taken in Nama Japa also where the Nama becomes

part of you. Here there is no emphasis on the count. Still many

traditions insist that you should do minimum number of times per day.

This is to ensure that you do it regularly. It is good if you decide

the minimum number that you will recite per day.

 

In Japa you progress from Audible Japa to Mental Japa over a period

of time.

 

There is very little difference between Mental japa and Meditation

 

Most of the Hindus know about prayers, and Nama japa well, as these

are part of the daily ritual. Though the term Dhyana (Meditation) is

known, wherever it is mentioned Dhyanam we just said Dhyanam or

recited what is called Dhyana Sloka of the Deity.

 

Meditation as is now known was only for the very few. I have not

heard of anyone doing meditation in my village full of Brahmins.

Meditation was associated with Tapas, which meant that it was beyond

the reach of the common man. Because meditation was equated almost

with Tapas, only those Hindus who were deeply spiritual took to

meditation. Mostly these were Sanskrit scholars and students of

Philosophy.

 

Meditation became popular in India mainly due to Bagavan Sri

Ramakrishna, Bagavan Ramana Maharshi and Swami Sivananda. However it

is still largely confined to the English knowing population. In India

Bhakthi and rituals are considered superstition by the English

educated intellectual class. Many of these people took to meditation.

 

When my father was a student of Swami Sivananda in the early 50s what

he learnt was mainly Hatha Yoga, Japa and Hindu Philosophy. Swami

Sivanananda's books give a lot of emphasis on Japa. Even In Hatha

Yoga though we were taught all the Asanas, we were asked to do only

Sirasasana , Sarvanghasana and other simple asanas daily. Even

Sirasasana was to be done only if it suited you. Again Pranayama was

learnt only through an experienced teacher. Sri. Kali Ghosh who was

my teacher was very particular that I follow all the rules and also

checked my progress regularly

 

Though the development was like this in India, in the west it was the

other way around. Meditation became almost synonymous with Hinduism.

I saw someone writing that Meditation is Hinduism.

 

When we attend a course in Mountaineering, you are first taught rock

climbing and then taught how to climb small mountain peaks. You do

not expect to climb Mount Everest just by attending one

Mountaineering course. You become proficient in rock climbing, climb

a couple of peaks in the Alps, and then try the minor peaks in the

Himalayas before attempting Mount Everest. Even in that I can never

progress as fast as a man from Ghatwal because he is from the

mountains and his heart is already accustomed to heights.

 

The reason why I am writing all this is that I find that, though in

India we progressed slowly from prayer to Meditation over a period of

years, most people in the west are directly initiated into

meditation. It is my view that for most people it is like trying to

climb Mount Everest without ever having done even rock climbing. Many

of the instructions given for spiritual aspirants by Swami

Sivanananda have been part and parcel of our daily life for

generations.

 

Am I saying that all the courses in Meditation are fake? Definitely

not. But if you are in New York and you attend a course in Rishikesh

India you may have problems. If you stay in Rishikesh for six months

then you have a better chance of success. Even then when you come

back to New York you may have problems and you would not have anyone

to discuss your problems. During my last visit to Dharamshala I found

that for there are many people from outside India who come there

regularly. These are people who are very serious students and

practioners of Buddhism. Similarly we find many people visiting India

regularly. Even Swamijis who have reached great heights visit India

regularly for spiritual regeneration.

 

Continued