Re:Rudraksha bead mala, AMMA'S JAPA INSTRUCTIONS

[Guest guest]

Ammachi, Dianadevi@a... wrote:

> Hey Yogaman-ji,

>

> Wow, that diana devi, what a fruit loop, eh? Now everybody knows

who the math

> flunky on the list is!!!! I did learn first from ISKCON and they

are still my

 

 

hey diana-devi, U a great yogini, not a math flunky:-). BTW what is a

fruit loop??

 

BTW you just hit upon a great truth- breathing at the rate of 1-2

times a minute is the quickest way to get to a meditation-high- you

will absolutely great. i am going to shout this out alound- BREATHING

AT THE RATE OF 1-2 TIMES A MINUTE GETS YOU TO A MEDITATION-HIGH-

please try it out(very useful for vata and kapha type people). to do

this will need some practice in deep breathing.

 

Amma's instructions on japa- practiced to the word, this will give

great results(copied and pasted from www.ammachi.org)-

 

------------------------

 

Chanting (Japa)

Japa is the vocal and mental repitition of the divine name or sound

(mantra). Amma says that "the purpose of mantra japa(chanting) is to

lead us to the ultimate silence of the Self, from where all sounds

and forms arise. Further, in the present age of materialism, chanting

the mantra (japa), is the easiest way for us to obtain inner

purification and concentration. Japa can be done at any time,

anywhere without observing any rule regarding the purity of mind and

body. Japa can be done while engaged in any task.

 

Actions that help develop japa chanting

It is always advisable to obtain a mantra from a Self-Realized Master

(Sat-Guru). Until then we may use one of the mantras of our beloved

deity like "Om Namah Shivaya", "Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya", "Om

Namo Narayanaya", "Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare

Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare", "Hari Om", "Om

Parashaktyai Namaha", "Om Shivashaktyaikya Rupinyai Namaha" or even

the names of Christ, Allah or Buddha. Deciding to chant the mantra a

certain number of times daily will help foster the japa habit. We

should always keep a rosary (mala) with us for doing japa. A rosary

can be made of 108, 54, 27, or 18 beads of rudraksha, tulasi,

crystals, sandal, gems, etc., with one Guru (main) bead. We should

resolve to chant a certain number of rosaries daily. Children, we

should always chant the mantra in our minds while walking, traveling

or working.

 

The importance of repetition

Try not to have any break in chanting the mantra even for a moment.

Continue repeating the mantra while engaged in any task. Chanting in

the mind may not always be possible at first, so in the beginning,

practice japa by moving the lips incessantly, like a fish drinking

water. If japa is maintained, no useless talk during work will be

possible. The mind will always remain peaceful. Modern day diseases

are mostly psychosomatic. Japa will bestow good health to both mind

and body.

 

If chanting is not possible during a certain task, then pray before

starting it: "Lord, give Your blessings so that I may do this work in

a manner that pleases You!" At the end, pray again to the Lord for

forgiving any mistakes we may have committed during the task

consciously or otherwise.

 

Constantly repeating God's name will diminish the ego

"I am an important person; I hold a high position in society. How can

I go to the temple and worship in the jostling crowd there? How will

I bow down before the Lord? Isn't that demeaning?" Thoughts like

these arise from the ego. Be ready, always, anywhere, to repeat the

Lord's name and to pay homage to the Lord and the guru. We don't gain

anything from a certificate of greatness from society; what we need

is a certificate from God. With constant effort, we will be able to

repeat the mantra in our minds even while doing any type of job.

 

Don't forget God for even a second

If we lose our money while traveling, think how frantically we search

for it! In the same way, if we are unable to do japa even for a brief

moment, we should grieve: "Alas, Lord, I have lost so much time! " If

there is such anguish, even the time we spend sleeping will not be

wasted. Children, even if we lose a million dollars, we can recover

it. If we lose one second, we cannot get it back. Every moment that

we are not remembering God is lost to us. Chanting replaces other

thoughts with that particular mantra. Just as saline water loses its

salty taste by constantly adding fresh water, through constant

repition of a mantra, the number of thoughts can be reduced. In due

course, all thoughts can be eliminated excepts one, that is God. Love

will spring through japa if one has complete faith and intent to

reach the goal. Mantra japa, done with the proper understanding of

this principle will ultimately take us to the Source. At this point,

the seeker realizes that the form he has been meditating on, as well

as all other forms that exist within himself, are the manifestatioins

of the Self.

 

Write the mantra daily

It is a good practice to write at least one page of mantra daily.

Many people get better concentration by writing than by chanting. Try

also to inculcate in children the habit of chanting and neatly

writing the mantra. This will help to improve their handwriting, too.

The book in which the mantra is written should not be thrown around;

it should be carefully kept in our meditation or shrine room.

 

Pujas

Chant the divine names with devotion

Children, if we can do archana of the thousand names of the Divine

Mother daily with devotion, we will grow spiritually. There will

never be lack of life's essentials, food and clothing, in a family

that chants the Lalita Sahasranama with devotion.

 

Children, we should consider every name as the name of our beloved

deity. Imagine that He is the one that appears in all the different

forms. If our beloved deity is Krishna, then while chanting the names

of the Divine Mother, imagine that Krishna has come before us as

Devi. We should not think that since we are chanting Devi's names,

Krishna might not like it. These differences exist only in our world,

not in His.

 

Visualization before beginning archana

It is useful to place a picture of our beloved deity in front of us

during the archana. Meditate for five minutes before starting the

worship. Visualize the beloved deity clearly from head to foot and

then again from foot to head. We should imagine that the deity from

within the lotus of our hearts comes to sit on the special seat

placed in front of us. We should imagine that we are offering flowers

at the feet of our deity as we chant each mantra. Visualize in the

heart a tree in full bloom and imagine picking and offering those

white flowers from this tree. Whenever real flowers are not available

or not sufficient, we may do archana with such mental flowers (Manasa

Pushpam) of the heart. Such flowers, offered with devotion, are

dearest to the Lord. The flowers of the heart are humility, devotion

and an attitude of surrender.

 

 

Whatever binds us most, whatever is dearest to us, that is what we

should offer the Lord. Doesn't a mother give her child whatever she

thinks is the best?

 

Pranayama (breathing exercises) before beginning archana

Doing some pranayama (breathing exercises) before archana helps us

gain concentration. Sit erect, close the right nostril, inhale

through the left nostril, then exhale through the right nostril while

closing the left. Now inhale through the right and exhale through the

left. This makes one round of pranayama. This may be done three

times. While inhaling, we should visualize that all good qualities

are filling us. While exhaling, imagine that all evil qualities, bad

thoughts and evil vasanas (tendencies) are leaving us in the form of

darkness.

 

At the end of archana

Do not get up immediately at the end of the archana. The beloved

deity should be brought from the seat in front of us back into our

hearts and reinstalled there. Seeing the form of the deity seated in

the heart, meditate a little longer. If it is possible, it is good to

sing two or three kirtans (hymns). After taking an injection, a

patient is asked to rest for a few minutes to let the medicine spread

throughout the body. Similarly, to obtain the full benefit of the

mantras, we should keep the mind calm for a while after worship.

[Guest guest]

Ha ha ha!!! and you will attain the lovely hue of Sri Krishna... as

you gasp.. choke.. gasp... fall over in un-consciousness!

 

WARNING:

Don't try this NEW 1-2 YOGIC BREATHING at home boys & girls!!! Just

stick to Amma's japa instruction - thank you Yogaman-ji, but for

goodness sakes be careful or this 1-2 breathing winds up on a flyer

at a program! Oy vey!!! Yeah, "great truths" really sneak up and give

us a swift kick sometimes.

 

Aum Lalithambikyai Namaha!

 

Ammachi, "childofdevi" <childofdevi>

wrote:

 

> hey diana-devi, U a great yogini, not a math flunky:-). BTW what is

a

> fruit loop??

>

> BTW you just hit upon a great truth- breathing at the rate of 1-2

> times a minute is the quickest way to get to a meditation-high- you

> will absolutely great. i am going to shout this out alound-

BREATHING

> AT THE RATE OF 1-2 TIMES A MINUTE GETS YOU TO A MEDITATION-HIGH-

> please try it out(very useful for vata and kapha type people). to

do

> this will need some practice in deep breathing.

>

> Amma's instructions on japa- practiced to the word, this will give

> great results(copied and pasted from www.ammachi.org)-

>

[Guest guest]

LOL. Not to worry Diana-devi, when you are really short of breath,

the body has a self-protecting mechanism that takes over(there is a

medical term for that, i forget the exact name); so there is no way

one will die from shortage of air:-)

 

actually some mild form of asphyxiation is good for the brain(details

in the THE EINSTEIN FACTOR by win winger):-)

 

but boys and girls, as diana-devi-ji pointed out, PLEASE DONT TRY IT

WITHOUT SUPERVISION.

 

humbly,

yogaman

 

Ammachi, "Amarthya" <Dianadevi@a...> wrote:

> Ha ha ha!!! and you will attain the lovely hue of Sri Krishna... as

> you gasp.. choke.. gasp... fall over in un-consciousness!

>

> WARNING:

> Don't try this NEW 1-2 YOGIC BREATHING at home boys & girls!!! Just

> stick to Amma's japa instruction - thank you Yogaman-ji, but for

> goodness sakes be careful or this 1-2 breathing winds up on a flyer

[Guest guest]

Just thought I would add a comment about the "correct" way to do

japa, and what number of beads a mala should contain. I often allow

my mind to take me on wild trips of self critisism about my

performance of various spiritual practices..."Am I doing it right? Oh

dear, what if I am doing it wrong?"

 

During one of the question and answer sessions at San Ramon this

summer a woman asked Amma a question about an energy practice that

she did, and if Amma thought it was correct. Amma responded with some

information and instructions, but concluded by saying that (and I

paraphrase) it does not matter really how the action is performed but

what the intention of the person is, what is in the heart.

 

So, does it really matter if your mala has 40 beads or 108? Or if you

don't let anyone see the mala? Or if you do it 16 times 108?

 

I say to myself, "Relax, it is All Right!"

 

Jai Ma!

Omana

 

Ammachi, "childofdevi" <childofdevi>

wrote:

> LOL. Not to worry Diana-devi, when you are really short of breath,

> the body has a self-protecting mechanism that takes over(there is a

> medical term for that, i forget the exact name); so there is no way

> one will die from shortage of air:-)

>

> actually some mild form of asphyxiation is good for the brain

(details

> in the THE EINSTEIN FACTOR by win winger):-)

>

> but boys and girls, as diana-devi-ji pointed out, PLEASE DONT TRY

IT

> WITHOUT SUPERVISION.

>

> humbly,

> yogaman

>

> Ammachi, "Amarthya" <Dianadevi@a...> wrote:

> > Ha ha ha!!! and you will attain the lovely hue of Sri Krishna...

as

> > you gasp.. choke.. gasp... fall over in un-consciousness!

> >

> > WARNING:

> > Don't try this NEW 1-2 YOGIC BREATHING at home boys & girls!!!

Just

> > stick to Amma's japa instruction - thank you Yogaman-ji, but for

> > goodness sakes be careful or this 1-2 breathing winds up on a

flyer