Guest guest Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 In a message dated 7/16/2006 4:10:04 A.M. Mountain Standard Time, writes: Since I am practicing on my own and I know no one else who practices japa, it really helps me a lot to hear how my brothers and sisters do this. I also recite in the evening, and I try to stick to a regular schedule...I am still struggling a bit with the matter of reciting out loud or mentally: like you, I also start out loud and gradually the recitation becomes silent. I find that I need one or two malas to get my mind to stay at least in the vicinity of what I'm doing, so I can call it back more easily when I find it has wandered off (which is often)....So I am goig back and forth from out loud to silent and vice versa. I can totally understand what you say about focusing on the mantra instead of on the breath: I have the same problem that as soon as I try to regulate my breath, like, say eight mantras on the breath, I struggle...So it does seem that anything that distracts us from the mantra itself interrupts the flow, including the idea that I am not doing it right or that I should do it differently. I don't know if you have read Kanda's advice concerning japa: to 'love what you are doing and do it in love'. I think that is why you find yourself adding more malas each week without forcing it; it is a natural expression of love. I pray I don't forget that again, Dear henny, Thanks you so much for sharing your further thoughts about japa and mantra. I too sometimes go back to saying the mantra aloud after I have been saying it silently, and for many of the same reasons you mention: other thoughts are intruding, I go on autopilot, and sometimes, I just fall asleep. When that happens, there's not much I can do about it, especially right now as I am grieving ... it seems my body is very tired and wants to shut down alot. Actually, the EMS practice helps enliven me for the most part, which is probably why I love it, even though I still am moving at a turtle's pace. In the beginning, I found myself getting very distracted by whether I was doing it right or wrong, just as you mentioned, especially the hand positions. Initially, I would start completely over, but then I felt that was a bit like I was when I was Catholic. They call it being scrupulous, and guess what, you got it; it's a sin. So I didn't want to get into all that because it would just ruin the whole practice for me. What I decided was that if I noticed that, at some point along the way, if I had changed the hand position, rather than start all over, I would just go back to the correct one. To me this is a more gentle way of treating my practice and myself, and now I have less instances of my hand positions getting off base. Also, sometimes when I am very deep into the mantra, a part of me "wakes" up and wonders if I'm rearranging the words ... mantra dyslexia ... like saying hrim srim instead of srim hrim. But I treat this the same way. I look at the sheet to check, and then just gently refocus if I have gotten switched. In a way, this is how I was taught meditation via TM. There was no forcing, blaming, judging ... if the mind wandered, or if thoughts intruded, the "cue" was to just let them go, not hold onto them or push them away, but gently come back to the mantra. This nonjudgemental approach completely changed my deep natural spiritual feelings from fear based to acceptance based. I don't know how or if this relates to Swamiji's and Maa's teachings, but it has stood me well over the years, and especially now as I work with what seem to be more "serious" or complicated worship methods. Jai Maa , Jai Swamiji ~ Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 In a message dated 7/17/2006 7:50:31 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, nierika (AT) aol (DOT) com writes: a part of me "wakes" up and wonders if I'm rearranging the words ... mantra dyslexia ... like saying hrim srim instead of srim hrim. Namaste Linda Same thing happens to me and I gently move back to the order of the mantra, it was interesting when I read this because I saw the Devas look at it as a mirror. Love Kanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Linda, Henny and Kanda, I do the same, check my hand position and correct, check the sheet and go back to it. Also in the beginning I too would just start over. Now if I am just getting going and forgot to set my hand position, I will correct and start from the beginning, but if things slide into another position during mantra meditation, I also more gently correct and continue now. If this happens, it is usually as I go deeper. I also loose count (a lot----now how many malas was that?), especially if I am sliding into meditation. So with the loosing count I do just start counting over. No telling how far I have gotten and not recorded, but I figure both the planets and earth and certainly I can use the extra attention. Gotta get that little silver counting thing! One more quick thing. I had some really nice experiences with japa recently at the mandir...both it speeding up really really fast (beyond what I could do consciously) and also it slowing slowing eventually to a stop and my moving into absorbtion (not sleep!). The extra support for sadhana is amazing. Jai Maa! Sadhu Maa , kandaaran wrote: > > > In a message dated 7/17/2006 7:50:31 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, > nierika writes: > > a part of me "wakes" up and wonders if I'm rearranging the words ... mantra > dyslexia ... like saying hrim srim instead of srim hrim. > > > Namaste Linda > > Same thing happens to me and I gently move back to the order of the mantra, > it was interesting when I read this because I saw the Devas look at it as a > mirror. > > Love > > Kanda > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 In a message dated 7/18/2006 8:40:21 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time, sadumaa writes: So with the loosing count I do just start counting over. No telling how far I have gotten and not recorded, but I figure both the planets and earth and certainly I can use the extra attention. Gotta get that little silver counting thing! Linda, Henny and Sadhu Maa, I have a lot of loose Rudraksha beads and as part of my preparation for EMS japa and meditation I count and place the number of beads for the number of malas for that day on the altar. When each mala is completed I move one bead into the small basket that they came from. There is something very magic for me involved in this process. Love Kanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2006 Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 Thanks Kanda. I appreciate the intention and process. Jai Maa , kandaaran wrote: > Linda, Henny and Sadhu Maa, > I have a lot of loose Rudraksha beads and as part of my preparation for EMS japa and meditation I count and place the number of beads for the number of malas for that day on the altar. When each mala is completed I move one bead into the small basket that they came from. There is something very magic for me involved in this process. > Love > Kanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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