Value Systems for Positive Living

1.      FUNDAMENTAL VALUES OF LIFE

The world today presents two distinct classes of people.  One class is active, energetic, productive, prosperous.  The vast majority of the Western World seems to fall under this category.  With all their activity and achievement people of this class admit lack of inner peace and happiness.  They succumb to mental pressures and complain of stress and strain all through life.  The other class of persons is inactive, lethargic, unproductive and poor.  The east, particularly India, may fit into this category.  Though they be so their lives are relatively peaceful and happy.  It seems a strange paradox.  Prosperous countries with advanced education suffering the several ills of life like bitterness and battle, disharmony and divorce, suicide and homicide.  Whereas countries rift with illiteracy and penury enjoy relative contentment and peace.  The reason for such a paradox is loss of human values.  People are unaware of the fundamental values that mould human life.  Consequently, they live their lives without following these values.  They go by the bare animal instincts of acquisition, aggrandisement and enjoyment.  The present generation needs to revive, rehabilitate and re-establish its value systems.  Analyse and study the following basic values and graft them into the pattern of your life.

            The first and foremost human value focuses on action.  Action is the insignia of life.  None can live without performing action.  You are drawn into the world to act helplessly according to your vasans, inner temperament.  Yet if you choose to remain idle you lead yourself to putrefy and perish in the struggle for existence. 

            Action is your own creation.  You impose duties and responsibilities upon yourself.  Let them not lord over you.  You are your lord, ultimate master.  Not realising this, people turn pale at the thought of duty.  Become a mere machine of duty.  Get into a fever of doing.  Hurrying and worrying all the time.  Impassioned by your self-imposed duties and responsibilities in life you turn them into a frankenstein, threatening and harassing you.  You must take to work as a prince takes to sport. The most laborious work the turns into play.  Intense work undertaken thus is no work at all.  That should be your attitude to work, towards action.  You must learn to work dynamically, incessantly in this world while your mind remains calm and composed.  The great Swami Rama Tirtha made a classic statement as a guideline for mankind to follow -

-  Intense work is rest.

            Having launched action your next obligation is to give it a direction.  A direction based on higher values.  Analyse the nature of your work.  The reason and purpose of the activity you are engaged in.  The higher and nobler the ideal you set for your work the greater will be your achievement in life.  An ideal relates to some common cause, high goal above your ego centric desires in life.  Your ideal may be to serve society or humanity or all fellow beings.  Fix an ideal as high as you can but be realistic in your choice.  Let all your actions follow that ideal.  The ideal gives a positive direction to action.

            Work undertaken ina spirit of dedication to a high ideal is satisfying, entertaining, rewarding.  Without an ideal, your work turns ego centric and selfish.  It then becomes monotonous, fatiguing, retarding.  You become tired and weary of work.  You need a break.  You look forward for weekend and vacation.  You wait for Friday evenings and dread the thought of Monday mornings.  Human dignity revolves around a noble ideal in life. 

            Following an ideal set for yourself you live a life of Satyam.  Satyam means truth, you then lead a truthful, meaningful, purposeful life.  William Shakespeare highlights this quality in the last few lines of Polonius' advice to his son Leartus in the play 'Hamlet'.

OBJECTIVITY

            Positive living calls for not only action and direction in life but objectivity as well.  Objectivity means maintaining a spirit of detachment, an impersonal attitude towards the every ideal that you have set for yourself, towards your work as such.  Your motto in life should be to strive, to struggle not to succeed.  Work well accomplished is joy in itself.  Success or failure is immaterial.  Learn to adopt action to obligation.  Your business should confine to action alone.  Do not yearn for reward or merit accruing from it.  Not get entangled in the fruit of your action.

            Your duty lies in just being in the struggle.  Work on for work's sake.  Turn indifferent towards pleasure or pain, joy or sorrow, honour or dishonour that may accrue out of action.  Your life stays enriched by accomplishment of right action rather than outward success or progress.  Take up your work without an axe to grind.  Let your action merely fulfil your life's obligation.  Go about it in a spirit of detachment.  Follow the pattern of nature.  Like a river flows, tree yields fruit, cow gives milk.  Work then becomes a pleasure.  Pleasure or happiness lies in the garb of work.

            Action emanate either from your mind or intellect or a combination of both.  Mind consists of feelings and emotions.  Intellect reasons, discriminates, judges.  An action propelled by mere emotion without intellect's guidance is impulsive.  While an action arises out of reason and judgement, even an emotion supports it, is said to be 'objective'.   Objectivity, therefore, is determined by ones intellectual supervision over the minds likes and dislikes, desires and attachments.  A constant, concerted, conscious monitoring of life.  Thus when your intellect follows a set objective, goal or ideal beyond your selfish desire your action becomes objective.

            The world comprises three distinct categories of living creatures -- plant, animal and human.  Plant has no mind, feeling, emotion.  Animal has only a mind, feeling and emotion but no intellect.  It acts on impulse, feeling.  A human being possesses both mind and intellect.  He has feeling and emotion but reason and judgement as well.  His intellect reason and judges.  Overrides his impulse and feeling if they prove detrimental to his being.  Guides action towards the right direction in his life.  Plants merely exist.  Animals live impulsively.  Humans alone can conduct themselves with reason, understanding and judgement.  Work for an ideal above their self-centered interest in life.

SELF CONTROL

            The sense organs of perception, comprise eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin.  Eye reaches for colour and form, ear for sound, nose for smell, tongue for taste and skin for touch.  These senses constantly gravitate to their respective sense objects.  Also, the objects tend to draw the senses towards them.  The human being is therefore, always subject to the pressure of sensual demand and worldly attraction.  His senses crave their enjoyment while the sense objects powerfully entice them. 

            Man never understands the tremendous power that senses wield.  The scriptures caution mankind of their devastating power.  How they topple even learned persons who are committed to the path of spirituality.  The problem arises when you ignore their power and indulge in the senses indiscriminately.  Later in life when the senses develop an addiction to the particular sense object, you find it impossible to withdraw.  You become victimised by your own senses. 

            The pleasures that the senses derive from the sense objects are ephemeral, fleeting, temporary.  All sensual enjoyments have a diminishing value.  Your pleasures in the senses decrease as they repeat their contact with objects.  And through overindulgence, you lose the pleasure completely.  You become neutralised to the particular enjoyment.  You derive no pleasure from it thereafter.  But you still continue to indulge because abstinence from it gives you displeasure.  You now contact that sense object not for any pleasure but to avoid displeasure.  Understand neutralisation by comparing your own experiences.  You are neutralised to the pleasure of breathing oxygen.  So are you neutralized to using your eyes and limbs.  And so on.  You gain no pleasure with them.  But without them you will be miserable.  Just as you will give anything away for a whiff of oxygen.  Yet, breathing continuously you claim no enjoyment out of it.  Thus are you neutralised to oxygen.  Similarly, to the use of your senses and limbs.  Now, to pick up sense objects from the external world and get neutralised to them as well tantamounts to madness.

            As a human being, you must live as a master, not a slave to the senses.  The vast majority of people in the world have enslaved themselves to the power of senses.  They dance to the tune of their senses. Sensual demands reduce them to mere puppets.  A fundamental value that every human must learn and live is to maintain suzerainty over his senses.  People round the world fall under two categories in their relation with senses.  One class of person only indulges indiscriminately in them.  They lose the pleasure of the senses as well as their objective in life. The second class, a small minority, keep away from the senses fearing them.  They remain frustrated, which impairs success and progress in their lives.  The right value is to deal with your senses from a position of authority.  Maintain a mastery over the senses at all times.  You then enjoy them as well as gain your objective in this world.

DUTIES, NOT RIGHTS

            Every human being's fundamental duty and responsibility is to realise the supreme Self in his lifetime.  He takes birth in this world for that purpose alone.  To find his identity with the real Self within.  The greatest ideal in life is your own Self, Atman, God.  Let your mind be attuned to the Self, while your body is engaged in work.  Your ego disappears.  The ideas of "I" and 'mine', vanish.  You become the greatest worker in the world when you consider yourself no worker.  Your duty and responsibility in this world is to work in the spirit of renunciation.  You generate peace, love, harmony in yourself and society.

            In the world today people either become attached and entangled in their work or escape from their obligatory duty and responsibility.  You ought not to run away from your obligation.  Action is inevitable.  You must perform your duty without ego centric desire or anxiety for fruit of action. Your intellect, must fix your clear obligation to yourself, your family, society, country, humanity and fellow beings.  Then carry them out to the best of your ability.

            Two broad principles governing human action are based on the attitudes of 'giving' and 'taking'.  Let the attitudes of taking prevail in a society.  Then that society becomes infested with selfish demand and desire, strain and stress, sorrow and suffering.  Whereas, a society with its members bent on giving rather than taking generates peace and happiness.  Victor Hugo in his classic novel 'Les Miserables' highlights this quality:  "Life is to give, not to take."  No man has the right to desire, demand from society.  He has only an obligation to give, to serve.  To cater to the welfare of one and all.  You serve the world, the world serves you.  Objects and beings stand in obeisance before you.  You become a master, no servant.

            Learn the art of giving.  You then gain peace and prosperity.  Observe a child that has the heart to give.  It keeps liberally offering its prized possessions to others.  Watch it carefully.  As it gives, its face beams with a smile.  Joy springs from its heart.  On the contrary a selfish, possessive child, never willing to part with anything, frets and frowns at everything.  So do you gain peace and happiness when you serve, give share with others.  The attitude of giving provides not only inner peace but material prosperity as well.  The more you give, the more you gain.  Those who aggrandise, accumulate, amass wealth lose their peace and eventually their prosperity.  It is a law of life.

            In physics, you notice a particular colour in an object when it gives that colour away.  Light consists of seven vigbyoric colours.  An object appears red when it absorbs, takes in, all other colours except red.  The object actually gives away red colour.  And it appears red.  What it concedes, it accedes.  The great sage Rama Tirtha says, "The way to gain anything is to lose it."  If you crave for anything, develop a clinging attachment for anything you do not get it, you lose it.  But when you learn to treat it dispassionately, relate to it with a spirit of detachment you attain it, you retain it.  In this world what you cling on to you lose, what you leave alone you gain.

            Gratitude stands out among the foremost human values.  A human being is so human being without gratitude.  William Shakespeare denounces ingratitude as man's worst evil.  In his play 'Julius Caesar', he condemns Brutus as a traitor because of his ingratitude towards his own benefactor, Caesar.  In 'King Lear', the king raves about this deadly trait of ingratitude in his daughters throughout the play.  A human being without gratitude is a rose within fragrance, a nightingale without song, a lake without water.

          The moment you are born, you are indebted for all that this world provides you.  You have a perfect supply of air and light, food and drink, temperature and pressure, respiratory and ailmentary systems -- all forces of nature seem to attend on your well - being.  Recognise these endless blessings showered upon you.  Be constantly aware of these provisions.  Be eternally grateful to Providence.  The lease you could do in return is to render your service to one and all. 

            Your sense of gratitude does not confine to nature's blessings alone.  It must reach out to every facet of your life in this world.  Life then becomes liveable and loveable.  Management must learn to be grateful to labour. So must labour be grateful to management.  Husband must be grateful to wife.  So must wife be grateful to husband.  Doctor to patient.  Patient to doctor.  Gratitude is the sap that sustains life.

II.GOALS TO ACHIEVE

            Unlike any other being, a human needs to set goals to achieve in a lifetime.  Other creatures are destined to live through a determined pattern of life. They have no choice of action.  Humans alone can choose their course of life.  They are privileged to set high ideals for themselves.  Then practise the fundamental values to attain them.  This portion sets out the highest human goals and ways to achieve them.

INDEPENDENCE

            Living creatures comprise plant, animal and human.  Of the three, plant is most dependent on the world.  A plant will perish if it does not have nourishment at its roots.  Its nourishment may be available some yards away but it cannot help itself to it.  A plant is wholly dependent upon its environment.  Unlike a plant, an animal is not totally victimised by the rigours of the external world.  It can adapt itself to an extent to different environs and living conditions.  An animal moves to conducive places for food and dwelling.  Birds are known to fly thousands of miles for that purpose.  Yet all these creatures enjoy a limited capacity to adopt themselves to the changing world.  A human alone commands greatest freedom.  He is least dependent upon the stern laws governing the world.  He harnesses nature by artificial means.  Conquers space and time by jet speed.  Overcomes diseases by medicine.  Complements natural food with synthetic products.  Does a host of other things.

            So you are blessed with great powers.  And yet you allow yourself to the persecuted by the changing world.  You suffer in the world because of your identification with body, mind and intellect.  Your interest and attention rests constantly upon your equipments.  You pursue their petty pleasures rather than the bliss of your real Self.  You are attached to your body, mind and intellect.  The law of attachment is:  As you think, so you become.  The world can affect your material equipments alone.  Not your Self.  Physical environment and condition affect your body.  Emotions sway your mind.  Ideologies play with your intellect.  But none of them can disturb the Self.  Self is supreme.  But your Self seems affected due to your unintelligent attachment to these material equipments.  Nothing can affect the Self.  Affect you.  Therefore, identify with your Self.  Realise your Self.  A Self-realised person remains ever-free, liberated, independent of this world.  Revels in absolute bliss of the Self within.

            Independence is a distinct sign of spiritual maturity.  As you advance spiritually you become more independent of the world around you.  To the extent you lack spiritual growth you become relatively dependent -- upon your body and perceptions, mind and emotions, intellect and thoughts -- for your peace and happiness.  All other creatures barring humans are denied spiritual edification.  Thus, they remain wholly dependent upon the world.  Independence is a human prerogative.  Aim and aspire to attain the goal of independence, self-sufficiency, liberation in life.

            A coconut provides a striking example of human liberation.  When a coconut is raw the kernel is attached to the shell.  Kernel and shell are together.  Break the shell kernel also breaks.  When the coconut is fully dry, the kernel dries up.  Kernel separates from the shell.  It sets itself free.  Clear from the shell.  Kernel then shakes within the shell like a rattle.  Now break the shell, the kernel does not break. It remains intact.  Unaffected, unimpaired, immaculate.  So it is with your true Self.  As long as you attach yourself with your body-mind-intellect, you will be affected by the ever changing world.  But when you detach yourself from your body-mind-intellect, stop identifying with them you remain unaffected, peaceful and happy.  You enjoy freedom, liberation, total independence.

HAPPINESS

            The ultimate goal of human existence is realisation of one's Self.  A state of ultimate satisfaction, fulfillment, reveling in absolute peace and bliss.  No physical pleasure, emotional joy or intellectual rapture can add to that supreme state.  Nothing in the world can enhance that infinite bliss.  A happiness that lies within your own Self.  Not anywhere else.  Arthur Schopenhauer rightly states, "It is difficult to find happiness in oneself but it is impossible to find it anywhere else."  Yet every one seeks it anywhere else.

            People pursue happiness in the external world.  Everywhere except the Self within.  A cripple in a wheel-chair believes that happiness lies in a pair of legs.  The one with legs craves for a vehicle to transport him around.  A vehicle owner yearns for a partner in life.  Thus he goes on………..to a home, wealth, status, power.  Everyone chases the shadow of happiness ceaselessly.  The vain pursuers suffer mental agitation all through their unfulfilled desires.  The richest man in the world craves for more riches.  The most powerful seeks more power. The most knowledgeable longs for more knowledge.  None understands that true happiness lies within oneself.  As the famous English poet John Milton endorses:

The Mind can make a heaven out of hell and hell out of heaven. 

            Imagine  a dark spot appearing in a beautiful picture projected on a screen.  Try to remove the spot.  Wipe the screen.  Scrub it.  Wash it.  The spot will not go.  The spot happens to be on the lens of the projector.  Wipe the lens here, the spot is gone there!  The picture is clear.  Learn this simple lesson.  Remove desires within, your life is happy.

            The goal that every human must aspire for is knowledge of Self.  Humanity has lost its identity.  Knows not the real Self.  Spiritually ignorant people grope in darkness in this world.  Imagine a person moving around in the darkens of a room.  He will strike against corners ad corners, obstacles and obstructions and hurt himself.  As long as the room remains dark he will suffer from the breakable and damage.  Light is what the needs.  The moment there is light his suffering and sorrow end.  His life runs smooth and easy.

             Knowledge and ignorance related to this world differ only in degree, not in kind.  Like light and darkness.  Light and darkness also differ only in degree.  An electric light is bright with respect to the dull candle-light.  But the same electric light appears dull in the brilliance of sunlight.  In the ladder of knowledge the lower rung is considered ignorance, the higher rung knowledge.  Every bit of knowledge in the world is ignorance viewed from a higher plane of knowledge.  Therefore, all knowledge acquired in this world reduces itself to ignorance before the absolute knowledge of Self.  Knowledge of Self alone can remove all human suffering and sorrow in this world.

            The knowledge imparted in educational institutions is mere secular information stuffed into the minds of students.  The student becomes well-informed in the particular subject taught.  He turns intelligent in that subject.  But does no original thinking or enquiry.  His intellect still lacks development.  Herbert Spencer was an intellectual but no graduate from a university.  When asked if he was a voracious reader, he shot back, "No sir, if I were as big a reader as others, I would have been as big an ignoramus as others."  Real education lies in drawing the Self out of yourself.  Use your intellect to study, reflect, enquire and discover your own Self.

            Examine your own life.  Your Self pervades all your experiences.  In the entire span of your life you refer to self as "I".  I see, hear; I am happy, unhappy, I know, do not know etc. The same "I" pervades your waking, dream and deep-sleep states of consciousness.  When you are awake you declare, 'I am Gupta'.  In your dream, you assume a different personality.  You declare then, 'I am Thomas'.  In deep-sleep, 'I am nothing.'  Again, in various stages of your life you say, 'I am a child', 'I am a boy' …. A youth, man, old man.  These are all different and distinct from one another.  Each stays awhile and passes away.  They are all impermanent, transient, changing.  Yet you link them all with the constant, permanent, unchanging I'.  The I' never leaves you.  That is your real Self.  The supreme Reality.

            Your problem is that you do not remain with Self alone.  You qualify, modify, condition the Self every moment, Colour, stain, pollute the Self.  You say:  I am tall, short, I am happy, unhappy; I am bright, dull, never do you clinch the 'I' alone.  Never experience it in its pristine glory.  And yet, the stark truth is that you are the Self.  The Self alone.  You must realise this truth.  Drop all conditioning.  Gain knowledge of real Self.

LOVE

            Love provides the melody of life.  Love means realising your oneness with the universe.  Identifying with your fellow beings.  Feeling united with one and all.  That is love.  With this sense of oneness you fall in harmony with nature, with the world.  But when you lack love, when you do not feel that oneness, consider yourself separate and distinct from the rest of the world, you fall out of harmony with everything, everybody, everywhere.

            True love is universal.  The modern concept of love is distorted.  Reduced to personal preferential attachment.  Reduced to personal preferential attachment.  In his famous novel 'The Vicar of Wakefield' Oliver Goldsmith speaks of love.

          "To thine own self be true,

          And it must follow, as the night the day

          Thou canst not then be false to any man."

STEP BY STEP METHODS OF JAPA

The word japa means ‘to rotate’, and the practice of japa yoga involves continuous rotation of a mala in synchronization with a mantra. Japa yoga actually means ‘union with the highest existence through rotation of consciousness.’

Of all the systems of meditation, japa is the most popular. Its practice is not confined to followers of the yogic and tantric path, it is also a part of Hinduism, Christianity, Sufism, Buddhism and most other religions and cultures. The practices of japa provide many different techniques and in one form or another japa is applicable to every person. It is the easiest form of meditation for those who do not have the guidance of a guru and is, therefore, the most widely used meditation practice in the West.

The technique of japa yoga is primarily meant for the awakening of psychic awareness in the average individual as well as the spiritual aspirant. It is particularly suitable for those who have a restless, unstable mind and for all who are tamasic or rajasic by nature.,

During japa one has to do two things – chant a mantra and rotate the beads of the mala. These act as a point of reference for awareness. After a short time one gets into a rhythm; the movement of the mala becomes synchronized with the chanting. If one tends to fall asleep or become too involved in thoughts, the mantra repetition and moement of the mala will become uncoordinated or stop altogether.

Rotation of the mala and chanting of the mantra will quickly and automatically make one introverted. Japa provides the practitioner with an easy way to break away from external noises and other disturbances. While practicing it is impossible to become totally absorbed in one’s worries and mental activities as japa requires (and develops) a certain amount of awareness. Japa, therefore, prevents the practitioner from becoming lost in either the inner or outer world, and it keeps sleep and drowsiness at bay.

While practicing japa, thoughts will arise and these must be witnessed and not suppressed. Most thoughts that arise during meditation are very superficial and they must be cleared away to allow the deeper tensions of the mind to manifest. After steady, regular practice of japa, the mind will be overwhelmed by the mantra and less interested in the monotonous patterns of thought. Mental turmoil will subside and balanced, harmonious mind will rest.

When the mind has become still and you have become deeply absorbed in your mantra, a vision or unexpected thought may suddenly manifest. This represents a deeper problem which you must witness without any involvement. If you can do this, it may be all that is needed to remove it. If you have this experience, understand that you are cleansing the mind and are now beginning to penetrate its deeper layers. Let your thoughts flow and let the japa process continue simultaneously. Sometimes the awareness of thinking will become keen and at other times the awareness of the mantra will predominate. There is an alternate awareness of wavering and concentration, fluctuation and unification; this must happen.

One should never wish to be completely free of thoughts in meditation. It is impossible to be totally aware of only the japa or the mantra. Along with the mantra and the actual practice of japa, thoughts will come; fluctuations must take place, memories must return. This is natural, and if it does not happen, you can sure that you have a mental block somewhere and you must get rid of it. So, along with the mantra you can practice antar mouna, the art of witnessing the thought process.

Techniques of Japa
There are many different techniques of Japa but they all fall into one of the following categories.

1. Bakhari japa (also calld nachika) is audible japa. The mantra can be chanted as loudly as you wish. This is the most suitable form of japa for beginners and those people who have a disturbed mind. When one feels depressed, tense, angry or unhappy, this is one of the most effective methods of making the mind peaceful and harmonized. It is the practice for those who are dull, of wavering tendencies or of a restless nature.

It is a very powerful practice, particularly when a large group of people chant together. The whole atmosphere is charged with positive vibrations. Audible japa should be practiced for a few months by all beginners, and those who practice more advanced techniques will benefit by doing a little baikhari before their other japa. This will charge the brain with the powerful vibrations of the mantra. If you practice baikhari japa for hours together your mind attains a particular psychic level, a suggestive state of mind. This is the time when you can use japa therapeutically to make positive suggestions for yourself or for someone else whether they are far away or near. Baikhari japa can be practiced with the eyes open.

2. Upanshu Japa is whispering japa. In this form the lips are moved, but they create no loud or external sound. Only the practitioner can hear the mantra. This stage leads from simple baikhari japa to the more subtle manasik japa, and it is also useful in situations where environmental factors prevent one from practicing baikhari.

Whispering japa is the best form for those want to practice hours of japa at a time. It should also be used by those who are practicing japa with a special mantra for a specific purpose. There is a whole science of mantra, and throughout the world, even to this day, people repeat specific mantras for the purpose of endowing themselves with added strength to face a particularly difficult situation or to change the course of their destiny. There are mantras to bring wealth and prosperity, long life, a successful court haring, protection against disease or disorder, to aid digestion, to induce sound sleep, etc. There are many, many more mantras. The practice of upanshu japa can be done with the eye half closed.

3. Manasik is mental japa. No sound is uttered and the lips do not move. This is the most subtlest form of japa and is the practice for those with a steady mind which is reasonably free of thoughts. If you do manasik japa wth a disturbed mind, you will most likely fall asleep or become lost in the thought processes. If practiced with a calm state of mind, manasik is the best form of japa to delve deeper into the mind. It is said by the wages and scriptures that the steady and devoted practice of manasik japa is enough to lead a man to enlightenment. It should always be practiced with the eyes closed.

4. Likhit japa involves writing the mantra on paper hundreds of times in red, blue or green ink. The letter should be as small and as possible and written with utmost care, concentration and sense of beauty of proportion. The smaller the letters the greater the concentration. Likhit japa is always combined with manasik japa. Each time the mantra is written it should be simultaneously repeated silently.

Combining the practices
It is the best to commence japa practice with baikhari, whether the mind is calm or tense. If the mind is tense, loud japa will pacify and relax the mind. If you are calm you can quickly transfer to upanshu or maasik japa.

If you are doing manasik japa and the mind is wandering too much or becoming drowsy, you should mmediately transfer to baikhari. When you have established control over the mind you can return to manasik japa.

Which mantra and how to use it.
The best mantra to use for japa is a personal mantra which has been given by a Guru. If you do not have such a mantra, it is perfectly safe to use the universal mantra OM. Once you have begun to use a mantra do not change it unless you have been practicing with OM or Soham and a guru gives you a personal mantra.

The mantra should be chanted rhythmically and with clear pronunciation and intensity of feeling. The mantra must be synchronized with the movement of the mala. Each time you repeat the mantra move one bead of the mala. Chant quickly if the mind is disturbed and slowly if the mind is more relaxed.

Before you begin any japa practices read the supplementary notes on “Mantra” and “Mala”. This will enhance your understanding of japa yoga.

The effects of japa and the mantra can be felt within a few weeks. A person who is suddenly overwhelmed by anxiety, restlessness and doubt can be helped by japa even if he has no faith. All he has to do is patiently practice japa for about ten to fifteen days, then, although he may not become a self-realized man, he will be free from his abnormal complexes.

Japa can be practiced at any time in any place, although it is best to practice at a regular time every day, either early in the morning or before sleep at night. If you want to practice while travelling to and from work, or in a place where there are other people, do not use your mala. Never practice for show; your spiritual practices should not be revealed to anyone or they will lose their power.

When you practice japa, the left nostril should be flowing; it is alright if the breath if flowing through both nostrils, but if it is only passing through the right nostril you must change it before you begin japa. Place your left hand under the right armpit and apply a slight pressure for five to ten minutes until the left nostril starts to flow. Traditionally a special kind of arm rest (yoga danda) was used. It was made of wood and placed under the right armpit.

The methods of practicing japa should be quite clear now. Instead of describing for baikhari, upanshu, manasik and likhit, we will give brief instructions for a more advanced variations of Japa.

OM CHANTING
Sit in a comfortable meditative posture. Relax the body and close your eyes.
Start to chant OM aloud. With every utterance of OM move one bead of your mala. Om chanting and rotation of the mala must be synchronized.
Try to be completely aware of the OM chanting and feel the vibrations of the mantra resonating through your whole being. At the same time do not forget to rotate your mala.
Continue in this manner for as long as possible (at least 10 minutes)
Then stop chanting aloud, continue to rotate the mala and take your awareness to the pulse at the eyebrow centre. When you can distinctly feel this pulse, synchronize it with mental (manasik) repetition of the mantra and rotation of the mala.
Be aware of the internal sound of OM at the eye brow centre, vibrating in harmony with the pulse.
Continue in this manner for about 10 minutes, ending the practice as you complete the round of mala rotation.
Finish by chanting OM aloud 5 times.

Practial Note:
For this practice you can choose any pulse centre for concentration, but the eyebrow centre is particularly recommended. Other useful places for pulse concentration are the heart, the throat and the navel.
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Source: The Sure ways for Self-Realisation by Swamy Satyananada Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga.

MALA (or) ROSARY

A mala (or) rosary is a string of small beads which are separated from each other by a special kind of knot called a brahmagranti or knot of creation. The beads are strung on strong cotton thread and although usually 108 in number, malas with 54 of 27 beads are also commonly used.

Each mala has an extra bead offset from the continuity of the main loop. It is called a sumeru (junction or summit) and it acts as a reference point so the practitioner can know when he has completed a rotation of the mala. The mala is an essential part of most of the techniques of japa. It is mainly a tool to maintain awareness.

Malas are most commonly made from tulsiwood, sandalwood, rudraksha or crystal pieces. It is the tulsi mala which is used most commonly for japa. Tulsi is a highly venerated and sacred plant and many psychic and healing properties. It has a strong and purifying effect on the emotion and is soothing to the mind. The devotees of Lord Vishnu use this type of mala as tulsi is regarded as an incarnation of Lakshmi, wife of Lord Visnu. Sandalwood malas are sweetly scented and contain pacifying and protective vibrations. It is said that sandalwood malas are cooling and are beneficial to those who have any type of skin disease. Rudraksha is the inner seed of a jungle fruit. It is supposed to be the most powerful mala for japa meditation and is used by those who worship Lord Shiva. Rudraksha magnetically influences the blood circulation, strengthens the heart and is recommended for those who have high blood pressure. Crystal malas have psychic properties and are used by those who worship Devi.

Malas are not only used by tantra and yoga practitioners. The Buddhist path of Mahayana widely uses japa with a mala of 108 beads plus 3 extra representing the refuge in Buddha, dharma and sangha. The Roman Catholics make use of a rosary which has 54 main beads. In Greece and other Balkan countries where the Greek Orthodox Church is prevalent, all men carry a rosary with them wherever they go and rotate the beads whenever possible. Without these ‘worry beads’, many of these people would feel improperly dressed. Whether they realize the reason for the rosary is uncertain, but nevertheless the tradition still continues today.

Purpose of mala

Many people wonder why a mala is used for the practice of japa and if they happen to use one, they place very little importance on the way it is handled. So let us first explain the purpose of mala. Because of its very nature, the mind does not remain steady for any length of time. Therefore, it is necessary for us to choose a medium or a basis by which we can know when we are aware and we are not. We use a mala as a means for checking those moments when we have become unaware and forgetful of what we are doing. It is also used to indicate how much practice has been done.

The practitioner starts the japa practice from the sumeru bead and proceeds to rhythmically rotate the mala, bead by bead. There is a smooth flow and rotation of the mala until the obstruction of the sumeru.

At a certain stage in japa, when the mind becomes calm and serene, it is possible for the fingers to become inert. They become momentarily paralyzed and you become completely unaware. Sometimes the mala may fall to the ground. When these things occur you should know that you have strayed from the aim of japa, that is, you have failed to maintain awareness. If you don’t have a mala in your hand when you practice japa, how will you know what you are experiencing? It is continuity of a mala that will tell you of your state of consciousness. If you are conscious of the mala and the fingers moving each bead, then you are aware. When japa is done correctly and concentration takes place, the mala will continue to move almost automatically.

A mala may not be something your intellect can accept, but for the successful practice of japa it is necessary tool for the mind.

The fact that a mala has 108 beads needs some explanation. There are many different theories recorded in the scriptures so we will give a few. ‘1’ represents the supreme consciousness; ‘8’ represents the eight aspects of nature consisting of the five fundamental elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether, plus ahamkara (individuality), manas (mind) and buddhi (sense of intuitive perception); ‘0’ represents the cosmos, the entire field of creation. To put it another way ‘0’ is Shiva, ‘8’ is Shakthi and ‘1’ is their union of yoga.

There are some scholars who believe that 108 represents the number of skulls on the garland worn by Kali, the goddess of destruction. It is said to symbolize the 108 reincarnations of the jiva (the individual consciousness) after which an individual will become self-realized.

There are similar explanations for the numbers 27, 54, 57, 1001 and so on, which are also used for malas. But actually, the meaning of those numbers has significance at a deeper psychic level. They are numbers chosen to help bring about auspicious conditions while doing japa. They are numbers that have been found suitable by the practical experience of ancient rishis. The explanations of these numbers are merely for those who want intellectual answers.

Besides the 108 beads of the mala, there is also an extra bead, the sumeru, which we have already mentioned. This bead can be considered to represent the top of the psychic passage called the sushmna. And for this reason, the sumeru (or meru) bead is also called the bindu. The 108 beads symbolize the 108 centres, stations or camps through which your awareness travels up to the bindu and then back again. These centres are really chakras though mostly minors ones, and they represent the progressive awakening of the mind. The bindu is the limit of this expansion of mind.

How to use the mala

There is a special method of holding the mala. It should be held in the right hand, supported by joining the tip of the thumb with the ring finger. The thumb should not be used to rotate the mala and the second and little fingers should not touch the mala. The middle finger moves the beads.

When you use a mala you should never cross the bindu. You begin your practice at this point and when you complete one round of mala rotation and find yourself back at the bindu, you simply reverse the mala and continue your practice. You should always rotate the mala towards the palm.

Traditionally, japa is practiced while holding the right hand in front of the heart. This way you can chant your mantra in time with the heartbeat. Also, holding the hand in front of the heart seems to intensify the feeling with which one chants the mantra. The left hand is cupped and placed in the lap facing upwards. It can be used to catch the lower end of the mala to prevent it from swinging about and become tangled. If you prefer, your right hand can be placed on the right knee and the mala can rest on the floor.

You may count the number of times you rotate the mala mentally or by using the left hand as follows. After one mala rotation, place the left thumb on the first joint line at the base of the left little finger. After the second rotation, raise the thumb on the upper line of the little finger. Then on the fourth rotation, transfer the left thumb to the first line of the ring finger and so on. In this manner you can count twelve mala rotations.

The mala which is used for japa should not be worn around the neck. When it is not being used it should be kept in a small bag of its own. This will prevent any negative change in the vibrations associated with the mala. Never lend your japa mala to other people. It is also said that other people should not ever see the mala you practice with. Malas that are used for decoration are not really considered suitable for japa practice.

A mala that is used daily will, in time, become impregnated with very positive vibrations. After a few months, the moment you touch the mala, you will become tranquillized, quiet and still, and the whole feeling in the body will be transformed.

If you practice many mala rotations a day, your arm will get very tired if it is held in front of the heart. Something must be used to support the arm. You can use a piece of cloth made into a sling and let it support your right arm.

Use of a gomukhi

If you do long periods of japa practice every day, the use of a gomukhi is highly recommended. The word gomukhi means in the shape of a cow’s mouth. It is a small bag which resembles the shape of a cow’s mouth. The mala and your right hand are both placed inside the gomukhi so that they are obscured from view. A gomukhi can be used when you walk along a street or whenever you leave your home. It is particularly useful for those who do anusthana (sustained practice for long fixed periods of time). In fact for those people it is a must.

A mala may not be something that western people can easily accept on an intellectual level, but without being aware of it they have accepted malas intuitively. Have you ever wondered where the idea of wearing a string of pearls or decorative beads originated? In all the ancient cultures beads (malas), rings and amulets were used for spiritual purposes and since those times people have been attaracted to these items. In modern times, in the name of fashion, women in particular choose to wear them for aesthetic purposes.

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Source: Excerpt from the book on “Sure Ways to Self-Realization” by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India.
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SCIENCE OF MANTRA

The science of mantra is very ancient and was once widely practised in all parts of the world. Reference to mantra is found in the oldest Vedic scriptures, which are claimed to be more than 5,000 years old.

Literally, the word mantra means ‘revealed sound’. According to the ancient texts, mantra means a sound or a combination or sequences of sounds which develop spontaneously. These sounds were revealed to rishis and other pure beings in psychic states or in very deep meditation, when all consciousness of the self was lost and when nothing but inner light shone in front of them.

Mantra do not have any specific meaning. Their power is not in the words themselves, but in the sound vibrations created when the mantra is uttered verbally or when it takes form in the mind and is not expressed in the voice.

Mantra brings about state of resonance between the individual and the depths of his inner being. They allow the individual to unleash inner cosmic powers, forces and knowledge. The sound patterns of the mantra stimulate a certain effect on the mental and psychic nature of an individual. Each mantra will create, or draw out, a specific symbol within one’s psyche.

There are two important points regarding mantras that should be taken into account. Firstly, mantra should never be misunderstood to be the name of a particular god of a particular religion. There should be no conflict between your religion and mantra. Many people think they cannot repeat Om Namah Shivaya because they would be reciting the name of a Hindu god when they are Christian or Muslim.

Secondly, a mantra cannot be translated. Translation alters the sound. Even though mantras are found in Hinduism, in Buddhism, Catholicism, in Islam and among the Parsis and other religions and sects, they are never translated. If you change the succession and order of the sounds, the mantra ceases to be a mantra. If you translate the words you may have a very beautiful prayer, but not a mantra.

There are thousands of mantras, stemming from a variety of cultures, languages and religions. Some common ones are: Om, Shreem, Hreem, Kreem, Aim, Dum, Hum, Om Namah Shivaya and Om Mani Padme Hum to name just a few. Everyone has a mantra of his own, and just as your personality is the represents your outer self, similarly the mantra represents your inner personality. It is through mantra that we realize our own psychic personality and it is this personality which we really are.

In tantra there are all kinds of mantras; some are personal mantras for use in japa and other meditation practices, and some serve a specific purpose. So, before seeking a mantra it is important to know what you are seeking it for. If you are undergoing some problem in life, then the mantra you employ to get rid of it will be a temporary one, not your personal mantra. When the problem subsides, the mantra will be of no further use to you. On the other hand, if you are trying to awaken the kundalini or psychic powers, then you must have the correct personal mantra.

It is said that a child should receive his first mantra when he is eight years old. He should not practice mantra as we older people do it, but he should repeat his mantra at sunrise and sunset along with breath awareness – five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening. This mantra will create a reorientation in his disturbed subconscious contributed by his parents. He should receive his second mantra at marriage or when a great change in his life or a transition in his personality is taking place. This mantra should be an introduction to spiritual life, and also to responsibility and steady mindedness. When he becomes spiritual he should receive his third mantra. It will help him on the spiritual path and enable him to withdraw his mind and to switch of his consciousness from the external world to within. Hindus are given a fourth mantra at the time of death or just before. When a man’s pranas and consciousness are being withdrawn, and all the lights are being extinguished, when his consciousness is functioning only a fraction, this is the ideal time to put the fourth mantra into his ears. This mantra leads his soul to the next birth.

According to tradition, initiation into mantra is given by the guru, one’s mother or revelation. A mantra received in a deep dream or through intuition, which you constantly feel a strong attraction for, may also be taken as your mantra. A mantra can never be bought or sold. When a guru gives a mantra it is never based on a monetary transaction. A mantra obtained in such a way will never have any power.

Once you have a mantra do not change it, it is not something to play with. You can change your home, your religion, your husband or your wife, but you should not change your mantra or your guru. Both mantra and guru are symbols of your consciousness and to change them will create confusion in your psychic body. Once created, that confusion can never be corrected. Sometimes people hear about another mantra and believe it to be more powerful than their own and so they want to change. The mind can so easily influence one into rejecting his own mantra and adopting another.

The following are the only valid reasons for changing your mantra:
Your guru gives you another mantra.
For therapeutic purposes or for some specific problem you temporarily accept another mantra that has the power to help you over the obstacle. In this case the guru should give the mantra, as correct pronounciation is essential and this cannot be revealed in any book.
You realize another mantra which is so overwhelming and compelling that you know it is definitely your mantra.

When one takes a mantra, it must be accepted with absolute faith and with final decision. The mind should be fully impressed by the mantra. A mantra is absolutely personal and must be kept secret. When you keep the mantra secret, it becomes more powerful. This is true with everything. A seed will grow in the earth if it is covered, in secret, but it will never grow into a tree if it is left uncovered and exposed for all to see.

Mantras for spiritual evolution must be practiced for a set amount of time every day. If the mantra is repeated too much, it will affect the whole system, and those who are very psychic, sensitive, unstable, or subject to hallucinations, may not be prepared for that at all. If you regularly repeat the mantra for ten minutes daily, within a few days you will know if you are oversensitive and whether the mantra is impressing your mind to a larger of lesser extent.

Mantra repetition should not create tension in the mind. The mind becomes tense if there are conflicts present due to various mental obstructions. To avoid mental tension, do not try to concentrate while practicing mantra. Simply repeat the mantra as you would spontaneously carry on a conversation. If you talk and try to concentrate on how you are talking and what you are saying, tension will be created. When the mind is very distracted you should never try to concentrate. Concentration (dharana) can only come when sense withdrawal (pratyahara) has been achieved. The purpose of mantra repetition is not to develop concentration but to withdraw the senses and still the mind.

The mantra can be utilized in different ways: it can be practiced in conjunction with the breath, the psychic pathways, concentration on the eyebrow centre and so on. Mantra is a very powerful method of healing.

There are specific mantras for a wide range of ailments and complaints, but these must be given by someone well versed in the therapeutic use of sound and mantras. As well as these, there are bija mantras which anyone can self-prescribe for healing purposes. Each chakra (psychic centre in the body) has a bija mantra and if you have a physical complaint which is located in the region of one of the chakras, you can use its mantra to strengthen and heal. For example, Ram is the mantra for manipura chakra (navel centre) and if it is chanted in kirtan or repeated in japa, it will stimulate the abdominal area benefiting complaints such as peptic ulcer, constipation, diarrhoea and other digestive disorders.

The bija mantras of the main chakras are given in the following table:
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Mantras Chakra Location

(1) (2) (3)

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Lam Mooladhara Perineium
Vam Swadhisthana Base of the spine
Ram Manipura Navel centre
Yam Anahata Heartcentre
Ham Vishudhi Throat
Om Ajna Eyebrow centre
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It is the strength of the sound, the colour of the sound, the frequency, the velocity and the ‘temperature’ of the sound which are responsible for the revitalization that mantra brings. The effect of the Ram mantra on the mind is very soothing and tranquilizing; the Shiva mantra usually develops a sense of detachment, a feeling of ectasy and absolute indifference.

Every mantra has a colour, an element, a devata or a divine form and also a method of recitation. In determining an appropriate mantra, astrology is taken into account, with reference made to the science of elements, colour and the predominant guna (tamas, rajas, sattwa). According to the birth sign the major element decides the mantra.

Some mantras are for the earth element, others for water, fire, air and ether elements. Om belongs to the ether element; Ram to the fire element; Gam to the earth element; Klim to the water element and Ham to the air element. Each mantra possess two divisions – sound and form. For instance, Klim is the sound, a bija mantra, and it has an image which is revealed by a simple mantra. Klim is the bija mantra and Krishna is the mantra which exposes the form. Om is the symbolic sound of the cosmic being; Haum – Shiva, Dum - Durga; Kreem – Kali; Hreem – Mahamaya; Shreem – Lakshmi; Aim – Saraswati; Gam and Glaum – Ganesha. Om is the universal mantra and it can be used by everyone at any time without restriction as can its equivalents – Amin and Amen.

Once you have a personal mantra which has been charged by the guru, it will immediately start to change the course of your life. Naturally, this will only happen if you accept your mantra with your heart and mind and utilize it regularly. The mantra is so powerful that it will start to immediately explore the Karmas from the unconscious mind. These karmas could manifest in your moods and feelings or in your dreams which may be pleasant, or even terrifying. Whatever changes you experience will only be positive, anything unpleasant is probably only part of the temporary purification.

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Source: The Sure ways for Self-Realisation by Swamy Satyananada Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga.