Chanting the Divine Name

[Guest guest]

Spiritual Practices

 

Chanting the Divine Name (from Ammachi.org)

 

Have you ever felt trapped in a situation that simply

overwhelms you? Perhaps an emotional turmoil threatens

to destroy your mental equipoise - or perhaps you are

drowning in stress. Have you wished for an

easy-to-swallow spiritual pill for the stress of

everyday life? Well, here it is. Just take a deep

breath......and begin chanting your mantra!

 

A mantra is nothing but a few syllables glorifying a

Divine Name. Chanting our mantra (or Japa),

constitutes a spiritual discipline requiring very

minimal effort. The rules to chanting are virtually

non-existent. Chant it anywhere, chant it constantly.

Once we learn the art of removing our mind from

everyday stressful situations and focusing it on the

mantra, we have with us the most effective tool to

counter stress. Repeating the divine chant of the

mantra incessantly will eventually help us attain the

Supreme state of peace and tranquility akin to that of

a realized soul. Once we are there, says Amma, we can

relax and rest for all of eternity.

 

Picture: Amma's hands using a rosary

 

How can the mere chanting of a divine name help us

achieve so much? Chanting the mantra is actually a

process of cleaning the mind. Usually our mind is in a

state of constant agitation caused by the numerous

thought waves running through it and this is what

causes mental stress. While chanting, we replace other

thoughts with the mantra. When we repeat the mantra

constantly, the number of thoughts in the mind are

reduced. With fewer thoughts and by fixing the mind

firmly on one thought, a mantra, Divine Name or Form,

the thoughts are arrayed and directed towards one

object and we find ourselves peaceful, calm and

tranquil.

 

Amma says that the period of sadhana (practice of a

spiritual discipline) is like climbing a high

mountain. Mountain climbers use a rope for pulling

themselves up. For us, the only rope is japa. It is

the life-saving rope that we can hold on to when we

find ourselves slipping into the abyss of anger,

jealousy, or other negative tendencies. The mantra is

our ticket to the wondrous realm of inner peace. Just

try it.

 

A mantra is the most powerful and potent spiritual

tool that a Master can give to a disciple. Why then

does Amma give us a mantra so easily? "Simply because

Amma loves you!" says Amma. "How can a mother not want

to help her children? You don't need to analyze the

reason; just make use of the mantra by constantly

chanting it, and it will take you to the state of

realization."

 

Amma tells us about Japa and gives us the following

pointers in our daily practice of Japa:

 

Children, when Amma gives you a mantra, She sows a

seed of spirituality within you. She transmits a part

of Herself into your heart. But you have to work on

it. You have to nurture that seed by meditating,

praying, and chanting your mantra regularly, without

fail. You have to be totally committed.

 

You can chant the mantra irrespective of time and

place. Always try and repeat the mantra wherever you

are, whatever work you are doing.

 

Beginners can chant for at least 15 minutes per

sitting both in the morning and in the evening. In the

beginning, using a japa mala (rosary) is very good for

fixing the mind firmly on one point. Later on, japa

will become a habit and you can continue even without

a rosary. At a certain stage, the japa will go on

automatically, even without our knowledge.

 

Don't waste time talking unnecessarily. Chant your

mantra, have love for your mantra. The mantra will

help purify the mind and take us to the Supreme.

 

If you constantly repeat the mantra, while visualizing

the deity that the mantra represents, you yourselves

will gradually take on the characteristics of that

deity.

 

Chant the mantra silently within. If you are unable to

do that, then you can just repeat it softly moving

your lips. Then chant it mentally. Then with each

inhalation and exhalation, chant the mantra until it

becomes spontaneous and continuous. You will

eventually reach a state of meditation in which the

mind becomes still, and the japa (repetition of the

mantra) will stop of its own accord.

 

Amma reassures us that even if at first our chanting

seems mechanical and lacking emotion, constant

practice will help us develop love and shraddha

(alertness) towards it, thus increasing our attention,

focus and concentration as we chant.

 

Towards the end of her first tour of the United States

in 1987, Amma said to her children, "Amma does not

want her children to think that she is going away,

leaving her children behind empty-handed. Amma would

like to give them a gift." The priceless gift that

Amma left with them was their mantra.

 

As the number of her children have grown, Amma has

found a place for every one of them, encompassing them

all in the warmth of her universal embrace, offering

them her hand to hold on to at all times. Her strong

and loving hand - the hand that is our mantra.

 

Jai Ma

 

 

 

The New Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.

http://search.