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tamasaburo
USA
136 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 21 2009 : 11:23:25 AM
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I'm sure that this is to a large extent determined by personal preference/whatever feels natural, but I was wondering among those who practice the AYP mantra meditation, how fast would you say you recite one set of "shree shree I am I am" or "shree om shree om i am i am namah"? I've been doing it fairly slowly, the advantage of which seems to be slowing down the breathing, but the disadvantage of which may be a tendency of to synch up one breath with one syllable (one breath for shree, one breath for om, etc.), thereby perhaps causing me to keep undue attention on the breathing even after pranayama is done.
I listened to some Buddhists chanting the other day and they seemed to repeat their Lotus Sutra mantra quite fast in a kind of monotone drone. The disadvantage was that it seemed a little hurried to me, but it seemed like it might have the advantage of creating a kind of constant backdrop or drone effect that would help the mind drop its grabbing onto things and also prevent attempting to line up the mantra with the breathing, which would necessarily be much slower.
Any opinions on this? Right now I'd say I'm probably using about 10 or 15 seconds for each syllable like "shree" (10 seconds), "om" (10 seconds), etc. Is this average? Fast? Slow?
Thanks in advance. |
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anthony574
USA
549 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2009 : 12:53:26 PM
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Whatever.
I tend to start with intentionally repeating the mantra at whatever pace. Then, once it is "ingrained" after a couple minutes or less it is more of a "following" of the mantra. At this point you should not be making an effort to alter the mantra so it takes on whatever momentum it wants. Just "listen" to it. If its real fast, go with it. Sometimes it has to do with how busy the mind is.
Read over Yogani's lessons again. It is very clear that there is no clear tempo or right way to recite it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRAuRhXghHA
this link is really really useful in explaining mantra meditation and addressing the exact kind of questions you and many have. |
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glagbo
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2009 : 1:29:34 PM
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The mantra may slow down or speed up at times, but on average the mantra comes at the regular conversation speed of the practitioner.
Remember that mantra meditation is basically the self having a gentle conversation with the Self through the mantra. The self uses the mantra, the Self answers back in silence.
So, Easy, settled, normal conversation rhythm does it. Thus "shree om shree om i am i am namah namah" would take about 10 seconds per cycle (yes that whole thing!)
Glagbo |
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tamasaburo
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2009 : 4:42:31 PM
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| Interesting. It does seem like I've been using a pretty slow pace after all. I'll try "conversational speed" mantra and see how things go. Thanks. |
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mikkiji
USA
219 Posts |
Posted - Feb 24 2009 : 08:45:53 AM
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When I was made a teacher of meditation by Maharishi, he specifically gave out a certain pacing for the mantras, which, since that is an oral tradition, cannot be explained with written words, sorry to say. However, that said, he also told us that during our daily meditation, the mantra may change in many ways, becoming louder or softer, clearer or fainter, faster or slower, but to just "take it as it comes and let it go the way it can go."
Michael |
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Speed of Mantra Recitation
