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Eddy
USA
92 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 20 2007 : 09:24:13 AM
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So I'm just thinking about chanting this morning and what my friends mom (who's a hardcore Christian) told me that her only beef is the chanting.. Her reason being that Jesus said not to chant because it invites "demons" into you and such.. Now I'm skeptical of course of so called demons. They could exist for all i know or they could be just a product of a vivid imagination. I mean i know I've had nightmares before and i don't see a big difference..
Anyway that also brings up another line of thinking that's related to Jesus. One thing that I like about his teachings are his 2 most important commandments. Love thy neighbor as you love yourself, and love "God" with all your heart, mind and soul.. It's simple which i like the most.. And it's the second one that relates to this. Maybe all our love and energy should be placed into just simlpy loving "God", or whatever ethereal name you have for it.. This would seem more practical in a way. Instead of focusing your intentions on mantras and diverting your attention from the source, you could jsut place it all on God..
If I'm not mistaken Nisargadatta and Ramana had a similar view. Nisargadatta had mantras i know, but he also said why bother? in one of his chapters in I Am That.
So I've decided to not do mantras until I find out if it would most definitely be a good thing for me to do. Honestly Jesus's commandments seem perfect enough for me.. So simple yet so profound
Namaste |
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meenarashid
76 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2007 : 09:47:34 AM
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aum if they dont call you ( the mantras) then dont practice them
its all intent really
if your intent is toward god regardless of what you are doing you are OK you are safe
Ive heard the same things about mantras and other yogic practices i learned to know your audience
some people are open to this some aren't you cant change others to make them more open but only yourself & let the seeds plant
i love mantras they were the gateway for ME
but my husband thought it was sooo weird & he was raised Catholic so he had allot of the same ideas you are mentioning
so i would chant in the shower with the fan on
now i can bellow out mantras & anything else around him..he understands and respects it now
not to say hes not deep down still catholic he comes back to that all of the time
but he understands the science & actually will give the respect to really consider me *working* when i practice so i don't get bothered by him no matter what practices I'm doing & he never gets on a yoga mat!we can be in the middle of a large *discussion* but if i choose to go sit and pray instead or chant he will not bother me
( & ill tell you any time Ive chosen that path rather than continuing the argument the space that it provides heals most of what we are discussing(arguing about)
its also pretty important in the beginning stages to really keep quiet
most don't understand on a mundane level and you are right now like a beautiful little spring bud that needs encouragement not doubt from outsiders ( meaning anyone outside from YOU)
aum
learned from my Sufi teacher don't talk to anyone about this stuff unless they are *higher* meaning on the path longer it is actually detrimental to your practice
i didn't listen & dealt with the consequences...
much love aumm
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Edited by - meenarashid on Apr 20 2007 09:55:33 AM |
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2007 : 10:07:10 AM
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quote:
Eddy: If I'm not mistaken Nisargadatta and Ramana had a similar view. Nisargadatta had mantras i know, but he also said why bother? in one of his chapters in I Am That.
"My teacher told me to hold on to the sense 'I am' tenaciously and not
to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his
advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the
truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his
face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the
stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am -- unbound.
I simply followed (my teacher's) instruction which was to focus the
mind on pure being 'I am', and stay in it. I used to sit for hours
together, with nothing but the 'I am' in my mind and soon peace and
joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all
disappeared -- myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around
me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.
Nisargadatta Maharaj"
http://www.nisargadatta.net/
quote:
Eddy: my friends mom (who's a hardcore Christian) told me that her only beef is the chanting.. Her reason being that Jesus said not to chant because it invites "demons" into you and such..
Hey, Eddy, there is nothing within the Gospels where Christ said not to chant, let alone that it invites demons. Maybe you could ask your friend for a Scriptural Reference:
VIL
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Eddy
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2007 : 10:12:43 AM
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Wow that actually says a lot... i always was kind of rebellious to about talking about this stuff with people.. my friends stopped talking to me for a while and still are rather distant.. I have to say that i honestly suffered a lot from that. I still have social anxiety to a degree.. Thanks a lot, i can't believe how much perspective that shed on me in that simple response, lol..
I still talk about it though.. I think that i could have possibly pushed through it. Like i don't even talk about it anymore, because i could care less, now people come to me and talk about it. All kinds of things. I'm still adjusting in very subtle ways to be honest. Like sometimes i can get a little too eccentric I've noticed and that invokes bitterness and spite in people. It's just not needed you know. And eccentricism is basically restlessness in a way, and i see that it's nothing to be proud about. Not even in the slightest.. It also is probably linked with how under certain circumstances i will just freeze. But that's gone away almost completely.. So thanks a lot i really really appreciate that..
Anyway, regarding mantras.. I'm excluding the I Am mantra obviously.. I don't even think that should be called a mantra.. Other mantras... Still nto so sure.. Seem like it could kind of lock you into patterns.. Maybe i can do just one to direct my energy towards god or something.. I just don't want to be all over the place, but i still ahve a lot to learn admittedly |
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Eddy
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2007 : 10:15:38 AM
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Hey, Eddy, there is nothing within the Gospels where Christ said not to chant, let alone that it invites demons. Maybe you could ask your friend for a Scriptural Reference:
- good idea, she probably doesn't really know what she's talking about anyway, lol... But i don't know.. Supposedly she broke out in toungues before so she kind of has to be smart abotu it, right??.. J/k.. In my opinion, what I've read about Christianity is that they've detrimentally misinterpreted the teachings |
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meenarashid
76 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2007 : 10:30:04 AM
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my friends stopped talking to me for a while and still are rather distant.. I have to say that i honestly suffered a lot from that. I still have social anxiety to a degree..
yeap they come back though
you can love everyone one
just be yourself whatever that is
if thats eccentric who cares... laugh love the skin your in ( isnt that freom a commercial?:)
i can think of quite a few instances where i prob looked like a person who escaped from a mental ward where i live
i figure eh it will keep people guessing if nothing else & i get pretty amused by some of my antics kinda like watching from outside going geeze shes goofy.. it ROX
we change somuch all the time so
flow baby flow
aumm
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Edited by - meenarashid on Apr 20 2007 10:33:05 AM |
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Eddy
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2007 : 2:49:10 PM
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"My teacher told me to hold on to the sense 'I am' tenaciously and not
to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his
advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the
truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his
face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the
stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am -- unbound.
I simply followed (my teacher's) instruction which was to focus the
mind on pure being 'I am', and stay in it. I used to sit for hours
together, with nothing but the 'I am' in my mind and soon peace and
joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all
disappeared -- myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around
me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.
- i don't see the word mantra.. as a matter of fact i don't think the way he talks about it is referred to a mantra in the entire book..
on that note.. is there any difference between deep meditation in ayp and holding to the sense "i am" as talked about in "I Am That" |
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hesitant on chanting
