Get Set ....GO !!!!! wahoo! ... more on counting ...

[Guest guest]

latha, all, i am SO READY.

 

i started with the japa at 6:00 am, filling in the slot left by the

durga mantra.

 

btw the durga mantra was yielding some real fruit last night, with

deepening and approaching some hints of a more serious stillness.

 

here is a practical question, wonder if there are any tips again, on

counting in japa.

 

we have 2 things to count -- the breath and the mala -- the need to

move the beads, and 2 hands, and a, ahem, mind.

 

here is what i am doing, would be good to hear if this coincides. to

count the 10 malas, in my left hand i use a method i learned by

siddhananda in which the left thumb counts to 10 tracking segments

of the fingers of the left hand. if anyone needs to know this i can

attempt to explain it.

 

the question arises, how to accurately count the long exhalations of

breath?

 

i used to do a similar pranayama, and the long exhalations would

naturally, gradually extend in length, which i did count.

 

so what do you think --- how to count those exhalations? i just let

them be very long this time, i couldn't keep a count.

 

question #2 ... siddhanda did sort of a accelerative version of the

om namah shivaya ... it went like this:

 

om namah shivaya shivaya shivaya shivaya shivaya ...

 

that would have been a count of 5 ... is this what we should be

doing, or no? latha? i have been doing the full om namah shivaya

each count ...

 

peace,

 

steve

 

 

, "Latha Nanda" <lathananda>

wrote:

> Here we are embarking on an adventure together - for the next four

> months. The goal is to learn a little more of the Chandi, chant

the

> glories of the lord with mantra japa, and FOCUS FOCUS on something

> higher than us.

>

> I can only start with a prayer

>

> Lead us from Darkness to Light

> Om Asatoma Sadgamaya

> Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya

> Mrtyorma Amrtam gamaya

>

> Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih !

>

> May our endevours bless us with peace.

>

> Here are the sankalpas !

>

> Here is the sankalpa for learning the Chandi

>

> om Adya Jambudvipe, the whole world dese, the respective states

> pradeshe, the respective cities nagare, Devi Mandire, Chaitra

Maase,

> Sukla Pakse , Purnimam Tithau, our respective gotres,

> Shri sankarrukku,steve , chris ,karen ,rick,sanjay

> dhokiya,Ganesha,Dan ,kalachandra,Teresa ,Ruchi ,Rudran,latha cha

> nandu, vasantha, nukalar, Lynne ,satish ,Ardis cha ANYONE ELSE WHO

I

> MAY HAVE MISSED OUT, cha SAMASTA ONLINE PARIVAAR KRITAITAT,

> shri Chandika Kaamaha, puja karmaham , Shri Chandi Paatham

karishye.

>

>

> And here is one for the Purascharana

>

>

> om Adya Jambudvipe, the whole world dese, the respective states

> pradeshe, the respective cities nagare, Devi Mandire, Chaitra

Maase,

> Sukla Pakse , Purnimam Tithau, our respective gotres,

> Shri sankarrukku,steve , chris ,karen ,rick,sanjay

> dhokiya,Ganesha,Dan ,kalachandra,Teresa ,Ruchi ,Rudran,latha cha

> nandu, vasantha, nukalar, cha ANYONE ELSE WHO I MAY HAVE MISSED

OUT,

> cha SAMASTA ONLINE PARIVAAR KRITAITAT,

> shri shiva cha Chandika Kaamaha, puja karmaham , 1000 times a day

> our favorite mantras karishye.

>

>

> GO GO GO GO GO !!!!!

>

> JAAAAAI MAAAAAA !!!!

[Guest guest]

Namaste Steve,

 

"we have 2 things to count -- the breath and the mala -- the need to

move the beads, and 2 hands, and a, ahem, mind."

 

Here is what I have seen people at the Mandir do when doing more

than one mala - since we have to keep track of maalas as well as the

counts within a maala.

 

Keep 10 flowers (corresponding to 10 malas) at hand. After each

mala, offer one flower to the deity in front of you. So when you

have offered all the 10 flowers , you are done with the japa.

 

Regarding keeping track of mantras during exhalation, I find it the

easiest to count with my fingers - for people who want to know how

to count with the fingers please check this question out in the FAQ

in the Devi Mandir website

 

http://www.shreemaa.org/faq.htm

 

Re your question , can we do "> om namah shivaya shivaya shivaya

shivaya shivaya ..." , I am really not sure of what this is about ,

Steve , unless it was a specific practice that Sidd was doing. Hey

Sidd, if you are reading this message, can you clarify ?

 

 

For the purposes of this Purascharana, those that are doing "Om

Namah Shivaya" are doing the entire mantra , not an abbreviated

version.

 

 

As far as counting with each exhalation goes, IMHO, it is ALL about

our alertness and focus, so it is best to keep track of EXACTLY what

we are doing. Mindfulness is the name of the game. So the best

payoff is to keep a consistent number of mantras to each breath ,

and keep track of the counts.

 

JAI MAA

Latha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

, "bingo_ridley" <sconnor@a...>

wrote:

> latha, all, i am SO READY.

>

> i started with the japa at 6:00 am, filling in the slot left by

the

> durga mantra.

>

> btw the durga mantra was yielding some real fruit last night, with

> deepening and approaching some hints of a more serious stillness.

>

> here is a practical question, wonder if there are any tips again,

on

> counting in japa.

>

> we have 2 things to count -- the breath and the mala -- the need

to

> move the beads, and 2 hands, and a, ahem, mind.

>

> here is what i am doing, would be good to hear if this coincides.

to

> count the 10 malas, in my left hand i use a method i learned by

> siddhananda in which the left thumb counts to 10 tracking segments

> of the fingers of the left hand. if anyone needs to know this i

can

> attempt to explain it.

>

> the question arises, how to accurately count the long exhalations

of

> breath?

>

> i used to do a similar pranayama, and the long exhalations would

> naturally, gradually extend in length, which i did count.

>

> so what do you think --- how to count those exhalations? i just

let

> them be very long this time, i couldn't keep a count.

>

> question #2 ... siddhanda did sort of a accelerative version of

the

> om namah shivaya ... it went like this:

>

> om namah shivaya shivaya shivaya shivaya shivaya ...

>

> that would have been a count of 5 ... is this what we should be

> doing, or no? latha? i have been doing the full om namah shivaya

> each count ...

>

> peace,

>

> steve

>

>

> , "Latha Nanda"

<lathananda>

> wrote:

> > Here we are embarking on an adventure together - for the next

four

> > months. The goal is to learn a little more of the Chandi, chant

> the

> > glories of the lord with mantra japa, and FOCUS FOCUS on

something

> > higher than us.

> >

> > I can only start with a prayer

> >

> > Lead us from Darkness to Light

> > Om Asatoma Sadgamaya

> > Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya

> > Mrtyorma Amrtam gamaya

> >

> > Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih !

> >

> > May our endevours bless us with peace.

> >

> > Here are the sankalpas !

> >

> > Here is the sankalpa for learning the Chandi

> >

> > om Adya Jambudvipe, the whole world dese, the respective states

> > pradeshe, the respective cities nagare, Devi Mandire, Chaitra

> Maase,

> > Sukla Pakse , Purnimam Tithau, our respective gotres,

> > Shri sankarrukku,steve , chris ,karen ,rick,sanjay

> > dhokiya,Ganesha,Dan ,kalachandra,Teresa ,Ruchi ,Rudran,latha cha

> > nandu, vasantha, nukalar, Lynne ,satish ,Ardis cha ANYONE ELSE

WHO

> I

> > MAY HAVE MISSED OUT, cha SAMASTA ONLINE PARIVAAR KRITAITAT,

> > shri Chandika Kaamaha, puja karmaham , Shri Chandi Paatham

> karishye.

> >

> >

> > And here is one for the Purascharana

> >

> >

> > om Adya Jambudvipe, the whole world dese, the respective states

> > pradeshe, the respective cities nagare, Devi Mandire, Chaitra

> Maase,

> > Sukla Pakse , Purnimam Tithau, our respective gotres,

> > Shri sankarrukku,steve , chris ,karen ,rick,sanjay

> > dhokiya,Ganesha,Dan ,kalachandra,Teresa ,Ruchi ,Rudran,latha cha

> > nandu, vasantha, nukalar, cha ANYONE ELSE WHO I MAY HAVE MISSED

> OUT,

> > cha SAMASTA ONLINE PARIVAAR KRITAITAT,

> > shri shiva cha Chandika Kaamaha, puja karmaham , 1000 times a

day

> > our favorite mantras karishye.

> >

> >

> > GO GO GO GO GO !!!!!

> >

> > JAAAAAI MAAAAAA !!!!