On japa

[Guest guest]

Question: People give some names to God and say that the name is

sacred and that repetitions of the name bestow merit on the

individual. Can it be true?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Why not? You bear a name to which you answer. But

your body was not born with that name written on it, nor did it say to

anyone that it bore such and such a name. And yet a name is given to

you and you answer to that name, because you have identified yourself

with the name. Therefore the name signified something and it is not a

mere fiction. Similarly, God's name is effective. Repetition of the

name is remembrance of what it signifies. Hence its merit.

 

The object of mantra japa is to realise that the same japa is already

going on in oneself even without effort. The oral japa becomes mental

and the mental japa finally reveals itself as being eternal. That

mantra is the person's real nature. That is also the state of realisation.