Swami Brahmananda on Japa

[Guest guest]

Dear Sarbani,

Namaskar- this is a good message. Could you also publish

the Guru lakshanam and Sishya lakshanam as mentioned in many tantras and tantra

sangrahas ? It would be useful to many people here. I myself could get to read

these OR was directed to read these only after coming under my Guru's umbrella.

 

There is much confusion that leads to people being misguided and as you would

agree- there is nothing more important than coming under the right Guru. Though

our Guru's nature is also decided by karma, the little freedom afforded to us

may be better used by listening to the words of the siddhas and sadhakas of the

past.

 

Regards,

 

Shyam

 

 

 

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Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:26:22 +0530

<sarbani

<sohamsa >

Swami Brahmananda on Japa

 

>

> Swami Brahmananda, one of Sri Ramakrishna’s primary disciples and Swami

Vivekananda’s guru bhai wrote these interesting pointers on japa.

Thought I would share them with you.

 

-Sarbani Rath

 

Hints for Japam and meditation

 

7.04 Faith is most essential before taking up Japam. It does not matter

if it, to some extent at least, becomes mechanical. The beginner finds

his

centre of consciousness is continually shifting, going up, coming down

etc. This is a most difficult situation for all aspirants.

 

7.05 Unless you feel that there is a mine of gold under your feet, you

may be walking over it, but you do not know. But if you approach this

gold-mine knowingly, consciously, trying to dig up this gold, then alone

you are benefited and make progress.

 

7.06 You must never allow yourselves to get into a drowsy state during

your attempts at meditation or your Japam. This is most dangerous.

Sleep, drowsiness and meditation should never be connected in any way.

If you feel very drowsy, just get up and pace the room while you are

doing your Japam, till this drowsiness leaves you.

 

7.07 In the beginner there are mostly two states of mind:— one awfully

restless, the other the mind falling down to the subliminal plane. Both

are

to be avoided if you want to make real progress.

 

7.08 When the mind is awfully restless and outgoing, we should

doggedly persist in our Japam even do it mechanically, without giving in

to this restlessness. In that way, part of the mind is always engaged in

Japam. Thus the whole mind cannot become or remain restless.

 

7.09 The other state, that of drowsiness, is most dangerous, and should

be avoided at all costs. There are people for whom sitting for meditation

is an invitation to sleep. A restless, terribly outgoing mind is even

better.

One is Rajas, the other Tamas, and Tamas is even lower than Rajas, and

for it there can be no place in spiritual life or striving.

 

7.10 Imagine that along with the repetition of the name of your Ishtam

or your Mantram, your whole body, your whole mind, the senses, etc.,

etc., are purified. This faith must be made very firm, because, in a way,

this is the idea underlying Japam. The Ishtam’s name soothes one’s

nerves, calms the mind, changes the body. When the mind is in a state of

great tension or depressed, begin at once humming the name and

imagine that this is bringing about a balanced state, a new sort of

rhythm

in the body and in the mind. Actually you will feel how it soothes the

whole nervous system, how it stops the outgoing tendency of the mind

more and more. Rhythmic, regular breath brings about calmness, a

certain rhythm, in the nervous system, and this again facilitates your

practices. The Holy Thought brings about a certain rhythm in the body

and mind. Think with each repetition of the name of your Ishtam, or of

your Mantram, that you are becoming purer and purer. You cannot know

the effect all at once, but if you go on for some time, steadily and

doggedly, you feel it and then, after some years you will be astonished

to

find what a great change has come over you. There is a great scope for

experiments. This body is to be polarized and made rhythmic, at least to

some extent, and the nerves, too, are to be polarized and made rhythmic.

Through practice we must make the body, the senses, the mind, the

breath, all of them rhythmic, then only we come to have the proper mood

for spiritual practices and meditation, and can begin them in right

earnest. Everything else belongs to the preliminary steps.

 

7.11 While doing your breathing exercises, try to give some strong

suggestions to your mind:

 

I am breathing in purity, breathing out all impurity.

I am breathing in strength, breathing out all weakness.

I am breathing in calmness, breathing out all restlessness.

I am breathing in freedom, breathing out all bondage.

 

These suggestions may be given even while doing your JAPAM. They are

very helpful in preparing the ground for the real practices.

 

7.12 Strict regularity and a fixed daily routine for your practices,

readings, studies etc. and deep thinking, are very much wanted and very,

very essential in the aspirant’s life. Then, at such times, through

habit,

the right mood just comes to you and makes every-thing else easier.

Once this habit is formed, you will make much better progress and feel

the strain of all these practices much less.

 

7.13 Everything is difficult in this path. Visualization is difficult.

Control

of the mind is difficult. Meditation is difficult. Japam is difficult if

done

properly, but a little less so. So new strength must be gained. And for

this

the suggestions I mentioned are very helpful. Make use of the great

power of sound and sound-symbols. Man is a psychological animal; we

must know how to calm our mind etc. Just as this mind of ours is ever

ready to deceive us, we must be ever ready to deceive this mind,

naturally taking the help of something higher.

 

7.14 You must try to feel that the Holy Name, the Holy Mantram,

purifies you. If you just try for some time, this feeling is sure to

come.

Make the experiment yourself. Verify everything that is being told to

you. If

you do not realize these truths yourself, it would be ever so much better

to burn all the books on religion, to throw all the holy scriptures

overboard.

 

7.15 You cannot realize the great effect of Japam now. This rhythmic

repetition of the name of the Ishtam has a great effect and is one of the

most essential practices in the life of the beginner.

 

7.16 ‘OM’ is a very fine rhythmic syllable. Sound melting away into

soundlessness. Sound-vibration plays a great part in our life, so we

should take its help.

 

 

 

 

 

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