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Originally posted by yogani

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Originally posted by Christi

I don’t know what Yogani's stance is on the practice, but I have noticed that continuous mantra repetition (japa) has not made it into the top 20 advanced yoga practices in AYP.

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Hi Christi:

That's right, and there is a reason for it. There is a big difference between a "meditation habit" and a "mantra habit." One naturally enlivens our normal daily activity with abiding inner silence, while the other divides our thought process between constant mantra repetition and normal activity (which limits the mantra as a vehicle for cultivating inner silence). People with a mantra habit sometimes have difficulty learning the simple procedure of deep meditation because they are so used to mechanically droning on with mantra during all other activity, giving attention to both (dividing the mind), which is not meditation. This is discussed in the deep meditation book.

Which is not to say continuous japa is not useful for some, but it seems to be a small minority of those who use it.

It boils down to the statistics. We aim for reliable results.

The guru is in you.

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http://www.aypsite.org/14.html
During meditation, we know the process is working when
we lose the mantra and later find ourselves in some other thoughts.
During the meditation procedure, these other thoughts are a symptom
that something has been released. Recognizing that, we go back to the
mantra and continue the process. It is important to be easy with the
mantra, not hanging on to a clear mental pronunciation, not hanging
on to an unclear mental pronunciation, no hanging on at all, just
easily being with it. If we develop this habit if easiness, the mind
will settle into its silence naturally. It is a natural process of
our mind we are facilitating.

Often it is just losing the mantra, having some pleasant unaccounted
for time of no mantra and no thoughts, then becoming aware of
thoughts again, and then going back to the mantra. The cleansing
process goes on. This is perfect meditation. This is the habit we
want to cultivate in meditation every day, for it will lead us to the
infinite.

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Originally posted by tamasaburo

Hi, thanks, both of you, for the advice. The idea of the distinction between a "meditation habit" and a "mantra habit" is interesting and helpful. I might try a little bit of mantra-recitation with beads between my pranayama and deep meditation to see if it helps me concentrate, but I can see how the deep meditation in which the mantra is allowed to be lost may serve a different function than what is achieved with a mala or other aid.

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Originally posted by Victor

So is simply using the beads as a counting device doing japa? Is that a different practice? I simply do the AYP mantra the way that Yogani teaches but each time I do the mantra I move my fingers one bead. At the end of one round I go the other direction. After 2 rounds I am done for that practice as it takes about 20-25 mins. It has felt good to me for several years and not sure what makes it so different.

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Mala beads are for a different kind of approach to meditation, and to pranayama as well. They are for counting. Malas were around long before clocks, and the number of mantra repetitions and breathing cycles were counted to have a measured approach, so as not to overdo or underdo practices. This produces a small restriction, especially in meditation, because it ties the mantra to an outer activity, ticking off the beads one by one with the fingers. It becomes an unconscious habit, yet still we are regulating the mantra with an outer activity. With the clock, we can let the mantra (and the breath in pranayama) go naturally according to the unique purification need of the nervous system. We have talked a lot about this already. Using the clock is a flexible approach to measuring the amount of inner practices. Of course, we will peek at the clock now and then, but in time we find that our automatic inner clock is nearly as good as the outer one. The outer clock then becomes an occasional confirmation of the inner one. There is a lesson (#23) on this in the meditation Q&As called, "Watching the clock."

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