Hello I am new to chanting. Its been very interesting. I have a few of Thomas Ashley-Farrand's books and CDs. I have purchased some very nice beads online too. I have been chanting various mantras for 40 days each since April 2007. I did do some asking around (my research led me to this site, how terrific it is! :-) ...but what is the story with Mala beads and only chanting one prayer on each necklace for 40 days (or more)? When one is finished with a 40 day ritual, why cant you just start with a new mantra on the same beads? Any help is appreciated.
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Fri, August 24, 2007 - 1:52 PMhi, Wendy --
I'm not sure what you've been reading or what they're saying about malas, but in my decade of experience living in India and doing intense japa (mantra chanting with a mala), I've never heard anyone, ever, say you should only chant one mantra per mala. geez, were that the case, I'd have over 500 malas, how ridiculous would that be!?
the point of a mala -- which most traditions don't know or don't say (I'm not sure which) -- is that it HOLDS the energy vibrations of your chanting, and in time becomes a massive power object for your own protection, healing, and spiritual upliftment. you want to chant as many mantras as possible into one main mala, that you use all the time, and wear as much as you can, and keep close to you when sleeping at night. over time, the mala becomes a HUGE supernatural object (and even healing device).
a few other points about the mala -- don't let it hit the ground or floor (the earth element is powerful, too, and will suck out whatever energy you're building up in the mala). this means having a piece of cloth or something between your mala and the floor or ground, if you set it down. and definitely not dropping it.
I'm guessing you know, also, about not doing japa by touching the index finger tip to the mala? it's only between the thumb and the 3rd finger. the index finger represents the fire element, and touching the mala with it burns out the effects of the meditation energy you're storing in the mala.
hope this helps!
namaste,
Alx -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Fri, August 24, 2007 - 6:31 PMNamaste Alx:
Hello. Thanks for answering my question. Most appreciated.
Right - I thought so too - that the most ardent chanters would have a house full of malas. I knew that to be silly. I read somewhere on the internet or was told that one needed to use a new mala for each mantra. I wanted to ask someone in the know and you are! This is great news. I will now use this same mala necklace for mantras and keep wearing it. (I wear it anyhow but did not know about wearing it to sleep etc.)
I was excited to find this site weeks ago. How wonderful and helpful. I appreciate your information. I will have a few more questions.
I did not know about not letting it touch the ground etc. - Actually, I read that just recently and wondered if that were true. So since you have lived in India and practice these things regularly - I will take your word for it.
I have a space in a room in my house that I use for chanting. I have been ardent about chanting every morning for about 20 minutes or so and also say the mantra I am working on during the day either with or without the beads. (I have done various 40 day rituals since April of 07. I have kept a diary too - though I am not as ardent about that.
I read that to be effective one should do 108 repetitions everyday with beads at least once - twice a day is better. But once a day 108 repetitions and saying it as much as possible was mentioned as ok as well. I have been reading and listening to Thomas Ashley-Farrand who is excellent. I think his site is: (www.sanskritmantras.com)
If I am not to let the beads touch the ground or floor.....what about what I am doing: sitting on a meditation bench and chanting, letting the beads touch a pad (sometimes) that I rest my knees on. It's a yoga mat basically but could be a rug too. Is it ok to sit on a rug on the floor and if the beads touch the rug is that ok? What about sitting in a chair and letting the beads touch the chair between your legs, is this ok?
Yes, I do know to go back and fourth never crossing or touching the meru (mountain bead). I also know not to touch the bead with my index finger. Thanks for mentioning that.
Also, can one chant to themselves, using the mantra as a meditation - not chanting it out loud - with eyes closed?
Any information regarding those things will probably clear these issues up. I want to be as effective as possible. Thank you for helping.
Wendy -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Sun, August 26, 2007 - 12:41 AMhi, Wendy --
yes, 108 is a magic number (resonates with the Mother Divine, whose number is 9) -- 1 + 0 + 8 = 9.
it's good to do any mantra you love 108 times a day. minimum. you can always do more.
also, generally speaking, chanting INTERNALLY is more powerful (ie, not out loud). the subtler the energy, the more powerful. I spent several years doing nothing but mantras, sometimes as much as 14 hours a day for a few months at a time -- never said them aloud except while trying to learn the different mantras.
my experience is that it's advisable to have a spiritual master, someone who really knows the energy of mantras and their effects and channels to your soul and the cosmic, give mantras. getting them from books and the internet is interesting but ultimately they're more high-powered when they're coming from a divine soul or lineage. just something to think about.
yes, it's fine for the mala beads to touch the mat on your lap. touching a rug on the floor, if that rug is ALWAYS on the floor, is not a good idea. if it's a towel or something temporary you put on the floor during your chanting, then that's different. and yes, the beads can touch your chair -- it's really the ground or floor that's a problem.
this is because of the energy of the earth element. its nature is magnetism (witness gravity!) and it is so powerful that it will pull out the energy from your mala (or any power object, for that matter). it doesn't differentiate between positive and negative energy, will pull whatever is presented to it. (another good reason not to sit on the bare ground or floor while meditating. always have a cloth, pillow, chair, etc., that's not your clothing, between you and the ground when chanting or meditating; otherwise, you'll lose the effect on your system.)
you can always use mantras in your own head -- I never walk anywhere or do much of anything without ALSO having a mantra running, internally, simultaneously. in terms of meditating with a mantra -- of course, of course, of course! highly advisable. eyes closed is great. laying down is great (I often meditate this way). sometimes you'll go into a huge trance -- you may think you're falling asleep, but you're not. it's the cosmic energy, hitting your soul, sending you into a trance or transcendent state. this is good.
eyes open, walking around, is also great. mostly I don't use a mala these days -- I just meditate wherever I am, no matter whatever else I'm doing on the surface.
hope this helps -- !
god(dess) bless,
Alx
-
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Sun, August 26, 2007 - 7:00 AMmy experience is that it's advisable to have a spiritual master, someone who really knows the energy of mantras and their effects and channels to your soul and the cosmic, give mantras. getting them from books and the internet is interesting but ultimately they're more high-powered when they're coming from a divine soul or lineage. just something to think about.
-----------------------------
Yes, I will think about this. I have some concerns about it actually. Would all mantras have to be given by a master in order for them to be effective or more effective than getting the information from a book?
I live in Georgia. I am not so sure there are too many of these individuals in this part of the country. Unless a master comes to this state for a visit. Or I go to them and they give me a mantra. There is a Shambala Center in ATL, a Zen group in Atlanta etc..... I think of the Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo mantra that has helped many people and not all get it necessarily from a master.
A side note: The Hindu community in the Atlanta area just dedicated yesterday in fact 8/25 what is the largest Hindu temple in the USA (19 million dollars, stones came from India made of limestone, sandstone and are interlocking construction etc.). In the future perhaps they will also bring in someone interesting.
The author of the books I am reading has been studying Mantra since 1973. Have you heard of Thomas Ashley-Farrand? He is serious and knowledgeable. Leads trips to India etc. He has published many books. He seems masterful of this endeavor.
Somehow - I feel - (I have also read from others that it is better to get the mantras from a master) already that there are conditions on this that make what I can do limited. Rules that men decided long ago, so that this knowledge would be protected. -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Sun, August 26, 2007 - 7:38 AMAfter re-reading what you mention - how do we know someone is divine? What is a divine lineage? What about Mantra Siddhi? If one chants a mantra125,000 times I think then one can "give" the mantra to others. This is what I have been reading and the link I posted before has a typo in it - it is correctly : www.sanskritmantra.com/
This is what I have been reading as of late and where I have learned this information. I have studied Eastern Religion (on my own and some classes in college) for my own personal use so to speak. I have also read the Upanishads. I have gained most or all of my knowledge of Eastern thought through books and classes in and out of college). -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Mon, August 27, 2007 - 1:10 AMhi, Wendy, wow, you asked a mouthful!!!!???!!!
here's the thing -- yes, usually it's the best to receive a mantra from a spiritual master or representative of a lineage. a lineage means, how the knowledge of spirituality was passed down from one master, to the next, to the next, to the next. if you read Thomas Ashley-Farrand's bio (which I just did, never having heard of him), you'll see that he received initiation from a number of masters and lineages, including kriya yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, and others. he looks to me like a beautiful and knowledgeable guy.
mantra siddhi is real, and does exist.
I do know that there are many many many shortcuts in certain traditions. in my own tradition (I have a guru in South India who is a kind of short-cut master, ie, he wants to help people get the maximum out of their spiritual work in a short time), mantra siddhi doesn't take anywhere NEAR 125,000 times.
more formal traditions may hold to that principle, but times are really changing because the need on the planet -- people who have done a lot of mantras and are powerful souls who can help heal other people -- is so great.
at least, this is my experience.
how do you know someone is divine? you feel it, you know it in your heart, you recognize a kind of divine fragrance in their way of speaking, standing, how it feels to be in the same room with them.
when I first saw a photograph of my teacher in India, and I was extremely skeptical on the subject of gurus and masters and so on, the photograph came alive and talked to me. for real, I'm not kidding. at that point, I knew I had found my master and although I was shocked and amazed at a photo coming to life (!), I was also deeply relieved that I'd been found by a divine character, again, and that he was going to teach me what I really needed to know about spiritual life. that was in 1999. I visited India to attend a course he was giving in December of 1999, again in the summer of 2000, and moved there at the end of the year in 2000 to stay for five straight years. I still go back and forth. and yes, I got everything I was looking for and so much more than I could even imagine.
so -- in my case I knew because the evidence, to me, was pretty unmistakable.
I would advise you to surf the net and look at the real masters -- not the lesser ones -- who are alive on the planet today and see how they strike you, or how their photographs strike you (you never know! *grinning*) and how their teachings or writings strike you. (I'll send you a list, privately, of who I think are really worth exploring. I don't want to offend anyone on this tribe if I somehow omit their gurus.)
hope this helps a little --
Alx
-
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Mon, August 27, 2007 - 1:11 AMoh, and your most important point --
"Somehow - I feel - (I have also read from others that it is better to get the mantras from a master) already that there are conditions on this that make what I can do limited. Rules that men decided long ago, so that this knowledge would be protected."
where there's a will, there's always a way. you'd be surprised how few conditions there are when the divine is really looking out for you. no limits, and the rules are subject to change.
Alx -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Mon, August 27, 2007 - 6:14 AM:-) Wow thank you for your excellent help! Most appreciated.
Wendy -
-
This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Mon, August 27, 2007 - 8:05 AMHi Wendy -
Hi Alx -
I've enjoyed reading your posts. Wendy, I am familiar with Thomas Ashley-Farrand. He was one of my first "teachers" of mantra. I love mantra and chanting!
Alx, I agree that silent chanting is very powerful but I let the mantra/process lead. In other words, I chant aloud if that is the yearning in my heart and most often find now that the chant goes within/silent rather quickly.
Guru and the need for one is an intense topic - at least for me. I had a guru/master for 20 years and while I am mostly grateful for the experience, I am also now grateful that I now know my guru to be within. I now believe that was always the case but needed the experience otherwise to recognize it.
Some gurus are teachers/guides and I welcome that experience because I desire more/deeper understanding. Yet, ultimately I take everything in to the final authority - my inner guru. This is where I bow down and listen. But that's me and my way - each of us must choose what best fits.
Alx, I do agree that a master/guru can charge a mantra so initially that may be helpful in terms of faster for one's practice. I also believe that it is the practice day in and day out that bears the fruit. It may take me longer to arrive (without a guru giving me mantra) but I'll get there all the same. (Except there is no where to get :) but that's a different topic :) ) Chanting mantra brings joy today, now, and that is enough for me.
Times are changing (Alx, you mentioned that your guru acknowledges this) and in the spirit of honoring different times and different ways from long ago, I share a site that I greatly appreaciate: aypsite.org/
No doubt these are very exciting times! May we all find the way and practice that best opens our heart.
In Joy and Gratitude -
Kat -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Wed, August 29, 2007 - 10:25 PMhey, Kat --
yessssssssssss, the real role of a external guru is to reflect back to us (and help us purify ourselves so we can hear/see/experience) our own inner guru.
but in the early stages, getting mantra and energy channels related to mantra is, in my experience, best left to someone who already knows the route perfectly and has tested and validated the effects of the mantra or energy channel before giving it out to people.
lovely posting, hope to hear more from you -- !
namaste,
Alx -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Tue, December 11, 2007 - 6:12 PMwow what a great site! Thank you!
question I've heard that mala's should be used and done in a certain direction???
I have been doing it for years going downward over my index finger but that this is incorrect.
Didn't know about the index finger not touching till now so thank you.
So what is the proper direction and way to hold a mala during mantra recitation.
Thank you all for your posts
namaste
Tushita- I prefer this name , Amma gave it to me and I prefer to be called Tushita in regards to
spiritual matters
blessings to All this holiday season -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Tue, March 25, 2008 - 1:15 AMhi, Tushita --
people will tell you it matters which way the mala goes, but it really doesn't, in my experience. I've heard all kinds of nit-picky things like, it should alternate -- 108 this way, 108 the other -- and away the body means you're putting the energy out but towards the body means the energy's coming to the heart, blah blah blah.
the truth is -- the energy of the japa is going into the mala, where you want it to go, since the mala is holding all the vibrations of the prayers and mantras you're doing. the mala itself becomes a power object, over time, and an enormous protection to you.
what's really important is having an open heart and doing the mala with strong dedication to god. the rest of the details matter less than this. (except that index thing, it's a mechanism that you don't want to ignore.)
you know -- a lot of people meditate or pray, a lot, following all the prescribed practices and rules -- and still don't come out, in the end, as nicer or kinder or more compassionate individuals. so what's the point of staying strict with the rules but not opening the heart to the practice?
which direction the mala should go is one of those detail things people will fuss over endlessly, but matters less than the actual practice.
Alx -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Tue, March 25, 2008 - 3:54 AMpeople will tell you it matters which way the mala goes, but it really doesn't, in my experience
LOL
that what ive been thinking for years
agreed in the end- the practice is what matters most.
thank u Alx
-
Mantra for an uncomfortable social situation?
Fri, April 18, 2008 - 9:29 AMHey its been a looong while since I have posted anything - actually - I was getting emailed when people posted (but not now - I will have to check this site). So, I was not checking without a nudge. I had a question today.
Is there a mantra anyone can recommend that will help with attending a get together with old friends. It may possibly be uncomfortable for my husband - spending time with 2-3 other couples that may not be the best fit? I want the situation to end up being fun for all. The women of this group are connected since childhood - the men are connected through their wives and each couple are very, very different types. It's just that my husband had gotten a bad vibe from one of my friends (I believe it was his issue specifically and this was many years ago - perhaps things are better now - but I want to go to the event with him and enjoy myself without negativity)
I was thinking about Ganesha ---- the remover of obstacles but I need to review my mantra books. -
-
Re: Mantra for an uncomfortable social situation?
Fri, April 18, 2008 - 9:50 AMHi Wendy,
A Ganesh mantra sounds like good idea. Also the Lokah mantra could really help also.
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
It's a traditional prayer which means "May all the beings in all the world's be peaceful and happy. ...
Good luck and much peace to you and your friends..
-
-
Re: Mantra for an uncomfortable social situation?
Fri, April 18, 2008 - 12:45 PMThanks for your help - most appreciated!
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Sat, April 19, 2008 - 10:29 AMThere's all kinds of traditions regarding malas and mantras. For example, in Tantric sadhana, you'd use certain beads for certain ends, and then throw it into a river along with the other tantric ritual items when the term is completed.
Some are just ideals. Your mala will become charged if used regularly, but I once re-energized a rudraksha mala by doing puja to it. I oiled it, bathed it, then installed the breath and did a short puja to it.
As with other sacred items, they say you should have a different mala for wearing around the neck, versus chanting because instead of your mala blessing your body, it absorbs neg energy, etc. Too much to think about, really. Part of some of it, is psychological association. They say the same about not taking it to funerals, graveyards, the bathroom, or other places of impurity. One reason some people wear it is to always have it handy.
Another tradition is something you might see in films or documentaries about India, with sadhus along the river: Special "mala" bags, in which you're able to put the mala and your hand into, holding this against your chest as you do japa. This way it keeps the mala pure, away from on-lookers and also touching the ground.
In the practical reality, better to just use the mala regularly than worry about the etiquette. The method I use is to drape it over the lower 3 fingers and use the thumb to push the bead downwards. Using the index finger to move the beads is for killing someone I think, in certain tantric prayogs (rituals).
Don't freak out if it touches the ground, it's likely to happen if you use it alot. And if you're not already sitting on wool or animal skin, your body is grounding energy into the earth anyways, so just by holding it... Too much to think about, really. Just use it. -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Mon, April 21, 2008 - 10:18 AMGood advice. :-) And believe me - I decided I was not going to get caught up in little rituals around the beads themselves. I know there must be so many. They are a tool to help the mind stay on track. I am soooo happy that I found out about these beads.
I meditate/chant much better now and feel like I am actually getting results. I know in Judaism, if you are a convert for example, they expect you to make mistakes on the sabbath - like turning on a light or something. However - there are loads of discussions like this etc - I think they take one away from the doing when you know too many.
I want to do and have done and am doing for a full year now and I am benefitting a great deal. If I do accidentally drop the beads I was told to chant HRIM 108 times to clear it - I cant recall what he (Thomas Ashley-Farrand who I had a session with) told me but HRIM helps to clear the mala so that when you chant your mantra it is chanted to your heart - or something like that. -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Mon, April 21, 2008 - 12:52 PMNAMASTE
(( different mala for wearing around the neck, versus chanting because instead of your mala blessing your body ))
This has been one area i keep getting different veiws on . Alot of teachers say it is good to wear your japa mala for it reminds you to keep saying and doing your mantra and acts to protect your from negatives that are in ones day to day life. On the other hand yes you should use a mala bag or at least not wear your japa mala.
Now i have seen Ammachi bless peoples malas on put them on the devotee and read were she has said to keep a mala with you at all times. O course this does not mean to wear one though.
I would like to know more about the pros and cons i guess of wearing ones mala.
In Love and Light
Pritam -
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Mon, April 21, 2008 - 1:47 PMNamaste
I do wear my mala as much as possible - and yes it does remind me to do my japa. I do have bags for them. I think- after reading this I will keep it in the bag from now on, when I am not wearing it. After reading this information above - I guess I'd need to incorporate new information about mala care to the best of my ability. Now that I am actively chanting and just "doing it" as they say I can apply the information above with more awareness.... I guess a year is long enough. :)
-
Re: Mala bead necklace use
Sat, May 24, 2008 - 4:34 PMhi, Pritam,
in the early days of my serious sadhana -- 12 hours or more a day of doing japa, for months at a time -- I pretty much wore the mala when not in use. I slept with it on, even. very uncomfortable physically but extremely peace-making internally.
these days, I do daily japa but it's not so much as it used to be -- more and more I meditate without the mala unless I have a specific process to do requiring 108x something or other. I wear it when I'm doing healings for people, usually under my clothing because I don't enjoy people touching it. it has so much spiritual vibration after millions of mantras and years of japa that people are automatically magnetized to it...!
I wear it when I feel I need extra protection, if I'm traveling or doing healings, for instance. otherwise, I keep it in a nice bag in my purse, always near-by but less and less actually wearing it.
the thing is that the mala becomes an extension of your soul's capacity -- like your soul, external to yourself, is growing a piece of itself in a mirror. the mala itself becomes a huge power object, the more japa is poured into it. you can even ask the mala for help in difficult situations! and answers become clear, difficulties smooth out, etc. it's like an external hard drive of your own soul, complete with its knowledge and energy/shakti.
if a saint gives a mala, it's a power object direct from that saint -- ie, like Ammachi. she's asking someone to wear it so that her energy is constantly with them, helping their soul, protecting and blessing them.
so it's really contextual.
of all the rules and details about malas -- two stand out -- one is not to drop it on the ground, ever -- and the second is not to wear a charged mala to a funeral or cemetery. that's a smart idea, depending what tradition and mantras you're following. in my tradition, for example, we have to burn the mala if it's been touching a dead body or worn to a funeral. what a drag, to have a power object you've constructed for 10 years... only to burn it. it's not a hollow dogma, btw, -- there are energy reasons and mechanisms for both of these points.
Alx
-
-
-
-
