MANTRA
Human
Spirit
Culture
A Tea Ceremony in Tokyo, Mantra Japa in the Himalaya Mountains or buried in earphones during the chaotic commute in New York City, without introspection any human culture is finished.
“Human beings have two kinds of temperament. Some are
introspective, and the others are extravagant. Those who are extravagant are
enamored of the external features of phenomenal beauty and have no insight into
the whole manifestation. They are practically asleep to introspection, and thus
they are unable to derive any permanent value from the assets of the human form
of body. But one who has developed introspection is as grave as the sea. While
those who are extravagant are calm and quiet in sleep, such grave persons use
the full advantage of the human form of life.”
http://vedabase.com/en/lob
© BBT International
Investigate Mantra Japa
Traditional Indian Culture
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We will tell you what we have learned about meditation and Mantra Japa, but you have to understand that it is not a sectarian process.
CHRISTIANITY
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, him whose mind is stayed on thee.”
Isaiah 26:3
Domine Iesu Christe, Fili Dei, miserere mei, peccatoris
“Oh my Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, be merciful on this fallen sinner!”
“Rosary,(from Latin rosarium, “rose garden”), religious exercise in which prayers are recited and counted on a string of beads or a knotted cord. By extension, the beads or cord may also be called a rosary. The practice is widespread, occurring in virtually every major religious tradition in the world.”
www.britannica.com
- rosary
BUDDHISM
“The means to this end (how one may escape the continually renewed cycle of birth, suffering, and death) is found in the Eightfold Path, which is constituted by right views, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditational attainment.’”
www.britannica.com
– Buddhism
SCIENCE
If we look on the internet for “homunculous”, we will see how the nervous system is mapped onto the cerebral cortex.
We see that there are naturally a large number of nerves in the mouth and fingers. Thus, if we chant a Mantra on beads, moving our tongue, jaw and fingers, then it naturally gives very thorough stimulation to our brain and that attracts our mind.
VEDA
Our tradition is the standard Indian philosophy, religion, science, Dharma, which follows the Vedas. The Vedas have been guides for Indian civilization and the entire world since time immemorial.
“ For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.
Bhagavad-gītā 6.6
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A TECHNIQUE
We will explain to you meditation from this Vedic
tradition of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, but of course you can see that
you can apply this in other traditions also.
As we have mentioned we are recommending meditation on beads as a most powerful
way to advance in the present time. Of course, you must use the external help
of beads, fingers and tongue but the goal is to control the mind, and then the
intelligence, Buddhi. There is nice story that
illustrates this:
Three rascals were sitting in the park sharing a bottle of cheap wine that they got by harassing the passers-by for spare change and dollars. Just then some Christian carolers passed by singing.
One of the besotted fellows commented that he liked very much when the Christians went by singing about Mary.
Taking the bottle from him, his friend, commented and
asked, “Why is that, you are not a religious man?”
The first fellow answered with a twinkle in his eye, “Because the corner barber’s wife is named Mary, and I’m always looking to get some time alone with her!”
So,
we must chant the Mantra not only with our jaw and fingers, not only with
attention, but most important, with the right meaning.
Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Moses, Prophet Mohammed, Lord Christ Jesus, Shakespeare, Lord Krishna they have all left us volumes of literature and living traditions illuminating the meaning of life. So chose a proper Mantra, prayers, and then you can definitely use these powerful techniques of meditation to advance in the right direction. As we progress, from a more illuminated consciousness, we will be able to make more and more fine decisions about what is our path.
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FINGERS
Hold the beads between the thumb and ring finger of the right hand. Chant one Mantra while fingering one bead, and then advance to the next bead and next Mantra.
Different traditions use different Mantras. One mantra:
Oṁ namo bhagavate
vāsudevāya
…is known as the dvādaśakṣara Mantra. This mantra is chanted by Vaiṣṇava devotees, and it begins with praṇava, or oṁkāra.
As students of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who is the Founder and Acharya for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness we chant this Mantra and many others. Monks and others recite many prayers and philosophical classics, but for our daily work we chant the Hare Krsna/Rama Maha Mah-mantra on beads at least 1,728 times a day.
This takes about two hours, but the return on the investment is insuperable.
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“sa hovaca hiranyagarbah
hare krishna hare krishna, krishna krishna hare hare.
hare rama hare rama, rama rama
hare hare; [5]
iti shodashakam namnam, kali-kalmasha-nashanam;
natah parataropayah, sarva-vedeshu drishyate. [6]
“Lord Brahma replied, “The sixteen words-Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare-are especially meant for completely destroying all the contamination of this Age of Kali. To save oneself from the contamination of Kali-yuga, there is no alternative in all the Vedas except the chanting of this sixteen-word mantra.””
Kali Santarana Upanishad
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CONCLUSION
We will keep updating this short introduction to Mantra Japa at the www.bhati.org/japa address and we hope to meet you personally someday. Yet, we are sure that your meditational efforts will get you good direction from the Param-atma, Holy Spirit. Let us also add a nice book to read to go with that advice: http://vedabase.com/en/noi.
This is the Nectar of Instruction from the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. It is an excellent summary of our whole, very profound, Vedic philosophical and religious tradition. It was written about 450 years ago by one of our most prominent saints, Srila Rupa Goswami.
He was prime minister under the Muslim rule of Nawb Hussain Shah. Hussain Shah had conquered all of Bengal and surrounding areas. There was is no place as rich in spices, gold, medical and political science, psychology and religion now as it was then.
Rupa Goswami and his brothers were the Hindu administrators under the Shah’s authority, but they were not happy, even though they had vast financial and cultural opulence. So, they left everything to become followers of the great Bengali spiritual and religious reformer, Sri Krsna Caitanya. They left everything and lived as street urchins under different trees in the Holy Land of Vrndavana. Yet internally they were absorbed in the emotional ecstasies of love of God.
Rupa Goswami wrote about 11,000 verses of poetry, science, philosophy and summarized it all in this Nectar of Instruction in just eleven verses. These are fully annotated by Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Thank you,
Hanumatpresaka Swami
(Professor Huber Hutchin Robinson)