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kami
USA
920 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 31 2013 : 7:16:03 PM
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(Had posted this a while ago, but deleted it having second thoughts. Re-posting at the gentle insistence of my dear friend Parallax... )
Mantra sadhana or japa has been a constant in my path. Sharing here some of the incredible benefits noted over the years..
Memorizing complex Sanskrit hymns is something I enjoy tremendously. Thus, although I grew up with commonly chanted mantras accompanying worship and rituals, it was in high school that I discovered my innate love for chanting. My math teacher, a Sanskrit scholar and jnani, insisted on teaching me Bhagavad Gita chanting for local competitions. Although at the time I didn't grasp the meaning of the verses I was memorizing, I discovered that Sanskrit enunciation came quite effortlessly and there was deep peace in losing myself in the rhythm and intonation of the verses.
In college, I discovered the Hanuman Chalisa, being intensely drawn to Hanuman. For several years thereafter, Hanuman was my sole Ishta (and continues to be one of two now). I'd chant the chalisa day and night, and it would go on in the back of my mind automatically during daily activities as well as in dreams. I'd feel his powerful presence everywhere, never feeling alone. In my twenties, I went through the most difficult hardship, experiencing hunger, heartbreak and desperation. However, looking back, there is only one pair of footsteps in the sand - Hanuman's, as he carried me. This is the first chant I taught my kids; easy to learn and very powerful.
The Vishnu sahasranama - the thousand names of Vishnu, was the next long hymn that drew me. It took about a year to perfect it. Once again, I'd chant it daily (takes about 25 minutes at a good pace), finding that doors would open in all aspects of my life. Recently, I was trying to recall the source of all the goodness that has come my way the last 20 years or so - realizing that it was definitively after I began chanting this supreme hymn that everything shifted drastically, including meeting gurus and being guided from everywhere.
After discovering Eknath Easwaran's teachings about 5 years ago, I was drawn to pick a "permanent" mantra to chant repeatedly. "Om Namo Narayanaya" became my chosen one. In the years that I've used this, it has been interesting to notice how japa "settles" into one's being. At first a conscious effort that is noticed at the brain/thinking mind level, it settles gradually into the throat chakra and finally into the heart. Once at the heart level, the dynamic changes completely - at this point, the mantra moves by itself, arising in conscious and subconscious levels of its own accord (known as ajapa japa). It is the first thing that arises between sleep and waking and the last thing that is noticed before deep sleep, arising automatically in dreams, turning them lucid. This mantra has become integrated into the very fiber of my being, and seems like it is being embedded into the deepest recesses at a primordial, cellular level.
Three years ago, I was drawn to learn hymns from the Rig Veda (the oldest of the four Vedas) - Purusha Suktam, Narayana Suktam, Sri Suktam and Ganapathy atharvashirsha (from a later Upanishad dedicated to Lord Ganesha). It was with Sri Suktam, a hymn dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi that ecstatic energetic movements first began along with visions of the radiant mother, resplendent in her shimmering form, showering me with abundance beyond anything I could have asked for (although that was not my intent to learn it).
There are several other mantras I have worked with over the years. Will describe in other posts.
Would love to hear about experiences with japa/mantra sadhana..
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Edited by - kami on Aug 31 2013 10:29:09 PM |
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Parallax
USA
347 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2013 : 8:20:53 PM
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Dear Kami 
Thank you thank you thank you for reposting 
I recently started a mantra practice so this post was very helpful for me. Its only been a week or two, but its a very powerful practice! It definitely stimulates the movement of energy and I've had to self pace a bit along the way, but the effects in daily life have been fantastic. I'm working with 1 primary and one secondary mantra, and sometimes when I'm working with my primary mantra I can hear the secondary one going on in the background at the same time  and I've also had the experience of waking up and hearing the mantra going.
How many mantras would you say its OK to be using at the same time?
Thank you for all of your insights
Love to you 
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bewell
1275 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2013 : 8:28:13 PM
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Hi Kami,
Thank you for sharing of this practice that has been so close to your heart for so many years, and that has been of great spiritual benefit. May these mantras continue to bring you joy.
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mr_anderson
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2013 : 8:42:46 PM
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| Thank you for sharing this! I too love Japa but had to stop practicing due to overload. |
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2013 : 10:50:43 PM
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Thank you all.
Parallax, thank you for your steady, rock-like presence in my life.
In general, it is recommended that we work with either one mantra at a time or perhaps two that are "compatible". For example, it would be ok to work on a Ganapathy + Lakshmi or Ganapathy + Saraswati mantras simultaneously. However, say we are doing an intense Kali mantra to help with ego dissolution, it would be conflicting to use another for material abundance... Intent is everything, of course. Thus, any mantra will work for spiritual or material growth if that is what we want to achieve.. Each mantra's syllables resonate deeply with various chakras and meridians, resulting in changes inside out.. It is said that for a mantra to "ripen", it takes 125,000 repetitions.
There is a peculiar phenomenon I've observed with respect to mantras and hymns.. It seems that they pick the person, and "click" only at a certain period in time. There are many hymns and mantras I have wanted to practice, would begin, but simply could not proceed. The hymn would seem particularly difficult, and slip easily from my memory. I would give up until the urge would arise automatically, sometimes years later, and it would be miraculously easy to memorize and practice.
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bewell
1275 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2013 : 11:32:16 PM
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Kami's gift.
At two retreats, I was privileged to hear Kami sing hymns. The second time especially, it took me into a zone of Bhakti -- a longing, a fervor for the infinite, an extreme joy of the sort that makes people fall in love, or be willing to die for their ishta, or resolve to live life to the fullest -- such as I have not experienced before or since, and yet it was somehow familiar, like I had come home, the meaning somehow transcending language. Reading of Kami's history with devotional song, I understand better the power of her remarkably beautiful, well disciplined voice. It was more than a voice: it was a whole life, a body, a heart, a mind for devotion, rooted in Indian and Hindu culture, offered freely to the broader spiritual community. My gratitude renews a sense of that Bhakti now.
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Edited by - bewell on Aug 31 2013 11:41:11 PM |
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Sep 01 2013 : 07:45:45 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by bewell
Kami's gift.
At two retreats, I was privileged to hear Kami sing hymns. The second time especially, it took me into a zone of Bhakti -- a longing, a fervor for the infinite, an extreme joy of the sort that makes people fall in love, or be willing to die for their ishta, or resolve to live life to the fullest -- such as I have not experienced before or since, and yet it was somehow familiar, like I had come home, the meaning somehow transcending language. Reading of Kami's history with devotional song, I understand better the power of her remarkably beautiful, well disciplined voice. It was more than a voice: it was a whole life, a body, a heart, a mind for devotion, rooted in Indian and Hindu culture, offered freely to the broader spiritual community. My gratitude renews a sense of that Bhakti now.
Bewell...
Thank you for such kind and loving words. From you I have learned the meaning of humility and generosity.
Love to you. |
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Govinda
USA
176 Posts |
Posted - Sep 01 2013 : 08:57:46 AM
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Methods, methods, methods... well, I have walked many spiritual paths and practiced various meditation techniques and taken some diverse approaches towards mindfulness training. Mantra japa has been a huge part of this journey towards spiritual awakening. It unites the polarity of the devotee and the scientist in me!
I began sitting in meditation when I was a lad, just shy of 16 years old. I was taking Tae Kwon Do lessons in 1974, which continued throughout high school and my Korean teacher was a Mahayana Buddhist. Master Kim was trained in by his teacher in Seoul, the practice of Seon (which is the Korean version of Chinese Chan Buddhism and Japanese Zen Buddhism).
Honestly, for an adolescent American boy, comprehending the Void was far too difficult a way. I was an avid reader and looked into Silva Mind Control, Eckankar, Zen and Taoism. I read Carlos Castaneda's trilogy and was fascinated with dreaming. But reading Autobiography of A Yogi really changed my life. I had an immediate affinity with Yoga and Vedanta. The idea of mantra repetition appealed very much to my fledgling sensibilities.
TM was a really big phenomenon int he West, in the 1960s-1970s, so I read the Maharishi's book and attended a free lecture in my area. Yet, I couldn't allow myself to give them the $50.00 "student fee" for a mantra and formal initiation. Fifty bucks was a lot of money in 1976 and I was only a part-time usher in a movie theater, trying to save up money for my education in art school. Besides, it just rubbed me the wrong way, for some reason.
My God doesn't charge an admission fee at the door.
Can I cut n' paste something I posted on a friend's wall on Facebook? It encapsulates my feeling about japa meditation and the core essence the spiritual journey of self-discovery and God realization. OK? Well, here goes:
quote:
Namaste Gurudattaji & Friends,
Once again, the symmetry we share glistens like a sparkling jewel in the heart of this eternal moment! I too, used to dive deeply into the Holy vibration of these acred words. When my own small journey of awakening began, 39 years ago, I had been shaken by the power of AUM. It appeared in my life suddenly and overwhelmingly. Fascinated and wholly terrified me, at that!
Yet, is was too much or my young mind to contain, absorb and sustain for any length of sequential time. I needed to walk before I could run, to run before I could dance freely. Honestly, I would sit for less than an hour, focused upon the OM vibration and usually end up falling asleep! Not exactly the Sadhana I had desired. Hehehe... Lol
So, I sought a more dynamic, rhythmic pattern of Sacred syllables to internally chant. The first two that caught my and my elder brother David's rapt devotion where:
and "Om Namah Shivaya" and "Om Mani Padme Hum" .
My eager mind was drawn toward the flames of dissolution, within the fulcrum of Shiva's Divine Dance, as Lord Nataraja. I found myself burned to ashes by the force of this great power! In this light, we are all sadhus in spiritual essence.
But the enigmatic sound of Krishna's flute trickled down upon me like Amitra, nourishing my entire being and electrifying my soul. My heart danced to the melody,
"Jai Govinda, Jai Gopala."
Santji Keshavadas gifted me with a mantra in 1980. It is a well know verse from the Vedas. Within the Srimad Bhagavatam, it is heralded in ecstatic praises to Lord Vishnu,
"OM Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya." In time I also fell in love with the enigmatic Gayatri mantra for a spell and I still adore it, reverentially.
Years later, I dwelt for a long span of my japa practice with this beautiful manta, "OM AH HU". the sheer simplicity of it drew me deeper and deeper within. Of course, these Sacred Nams gradually merged into a singular, all-encompassing sound, AUM. 
Not necessarily a mantra anymore... for it is with me always, to one degree or another. I follow it to the source of my being and merge consciously with the insubstancial stillness of Brahman.
Many moons later and many chants, bhajans, kirtans and scores of simran, have passed by the way... serenely emptying into a magnificent silence, so profound it transcends any sound or vibration at all.
I've deeply explored Kriya Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, Surat Shabd Yoga and Sufism. And my meditative roots, as it were, still remain within my sitting practice, so Zazen is also a big part of this pathway I travel. I've watched my breath flowing in and out for four decades, ever mindful of the emptiness between breaths. The dynamic same can be said for the beating heart, for within the quietude betwixt beats, lies an infinity of emptiness.
And now... I find myself seeking the stillness within the pulsing vibration. I feel that we are all eclipsing beyond the membrane of the relative and beginning to shift paradigms towards breakthroughs. Perhaps we are all attuning to the AUM, each in our own unique way? Bringing out attention to the source of all sound, the ineffable point of the Bindu?
For myself, it is my deepest center and the song of God's presence. It is the empty silence echoed soundlessly within the oscillations of the Clear Light of the Void, yet, out if this quietude is created all of this miraculous manifestation of being, united by One law, One love and One reality. The essence shimmering within all the effulgence and very source of the serenity I have so long desired.
In such a beatific pause... I am wholly undone. The ineffable is revealed through our direct immersion and unification. Between deep emptiness and effulgent fullness, my soul has began to stir in new ways. I sense this in all of you. How many lifetimes have we all sought to awaken to the presence of the Infinite, listen for the call of the Absolute mystery?
Together we arise as one! Now is the only time and we are here to transform this dreamscape, to express harmony and bloom exponentially. Well, in a proverbial nutshell.
I share this because together we awaken to embrace this living moment, this eternal present. In so doing, we are reborn. As Christ so poetically said,
"Behold, for I am making all things new." We are all That! Tat Tvam Asi
May the call of the Divine Word draw us all closer together and inspire a great shift in our conscious-awareness. I am most honored and delighted to get to know all of you fine souls, learn from your epiphanies and spiritual experiences and in turn, to share my own small understanding.
Om Shanti
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cosmic
USA
821 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2013 : 1:23:14 PM
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| Beautiful, kami. Thank you for your felt sharing. |
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Govinda
USA
176 Posts |
Posted - Sep 03 2013 : 11:50:00 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by bewell
Kami's gift.
At two retreats, I was privileged to hear Kami sing hymns. The second time especially, it took me into a zone of Bhakti -- a longing, a fervor for the infinite, an extreme joy of the sort that makes people fall in love, or be willing to die for their ishta, or resolve to live life to the fullest -- such as I have not experienced before or since, and yet it was somehow familiar, like I had come home, the meaning somehow transcending language. Reading of Kami's history with devotional song, I understand better the power of her remarkably beautiful, well disciplined voice. It was more than a voice: it was a whole life, a body, a heart, a mind for devotion, rooted in Indian and Hindu culture, offered freely to the broader spiritual community. My gratitude renews a sense of that Bhakti now.
Sweet! How can we hear our Sister kami chanting and singing Sacred hymns/bhajans/kirtans/mantras? Any recordings available to hear? I'm all ears! And with an open heart, but of course. There is nothing as beautiful or moving as devotional praises in song, to the Supreme God within all of this existential being.
One of my absolute favorite devotional songs, which I've been in love with since 1978, from Ravi Shankar's Festival of India:
http://mio.to/pp7D |
Edited by - Govinda on Sep 04 2013 12:47:11 AM |
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mathurs
United Kingdom
197 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2013 : 07:53:59 AM
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| I love chanting mantras as well - especially while cooking. Not at all extensive in my knowledge as Kami the few mantras that I know - I say them and drop them into silence ( prayer using samyama) and I find that really really effective - espcially withe certain mantras such as the shanti mantra. |
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2013 : 12:45:34 PM
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Thank you all for sharing.
Govinda, thanks for sharing that beautiful and inspiring story. Goes to show why japa is considered the highest form of meditation in the Bhagavad Gita.
Mathurs, thanks so much for sharing! Like you, cooking is one of my "zones" for japa practice (driving, showering, gardening, etc being other prime zones). I love meditating on a statue of Dhanvantari (the physician God of Ayurveda and bearer of Amrita) that sits next to my stove and doing a samyama-like practice on "Om Shree Dhanvantari Namah". Could be my imagination, but mindfulness during food preparation and consumption adds a different dimension to all other practices (and infuses food with beautiful energy).
More on mantra sadhana..
The Sri Rudram is a hymn that has eluded my learning for many years, even though the intent was there. A complex composition, it is notoriously long and difficult to memorize, requiring kumbhaka-like abilities (continuous chanting without taking a breath), each of the 11 parts a hymn on it's own, and each line within the hymns ending or beginning with a different variation of "Namo", "Nama" or "Namaha". Sure to create plenty of new neuron synapses! It is chanted at every Shiva temple during the ceremonial bathing of the deity. I am currently struggling through it, hoping to have perfected it by Shivaratri in the spring (if Shiva will finally make that happen). To listen, the Rudram is beautiful beyond compare; and the last section of this hymn contains the Mahamrutyunjaya mantra.
The Mahamrutyunjaya mantra is easy to learn on it's own, and highly revered for it's healing abilities. If there is one that is recommended for daily practice, it is this. Here is a story of an experiment with it - my young children would have nightmares or troubled sleep every night, with frequent wakings. Without telling them anything about expected outcomes, I taught them this mantra "for the fun of it" making a little ritual of it where we would repeat it 11 times as they were falling asleep. By the second night, they no longer had "bad dreams" or troubled sleep (that ritual has been modified now, as I've given them their own mantras to practice as japa during the day and to repeat before falling asleep). This great mantra is one I chant every single day during worship, and any time I feel the need to let go of subconscious stuff that surfaces in self-inquiry. It is the mantra to chant for healing of any illness, to ease impending death, and to "conquer" death.
Here it is:
Tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushti vardhanam
Urva rukamiva bandhanan mrutyo muksheeya ma amrutaat
"We worship Shiva, the Three-eyed Lord who is fragrant and who nourishes and nurtures all beings. As is the ripened cucumber (with the intervention of the gardener) freed from its bondage (to the creeper) May He liberate us from death for the sake of immortality."
Love to all.
PS: Govinda, I can send you a recording of a chant - perhaps my favorite Sri Suktam? |
Edited by - kami on Sep 04 2013 8:06:42 PM |
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_shakti_
Canada
48 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2013 : 12:37:39 PM
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I loved reading this, like coming home.. thank you :)
Before I forget, have you heard of Uma Mohan? If not, she's amazing!
My introduction to chanting was my first class of Kundalini Yoga 5 years ago. To be honest, I thought it might be 'corny' and I was actually afraid I may burst out laughing or something. How ignorant is that? But it turned out to be my absolute favorite part! So much so, that I continued with it even when I couldn't make class. And something else struck me.. it felt 'wrong' somehow to be chanting Gurmukh, I knew I needed to learn Sanskrit to feel complete.
So I bought books, Cd's, did research, went to local classes.. ate it all up! Then I discovered Russill Paul's work. His book on the Yoga of Sound is amazing, and that is what inspired me to take his online course- Yogic Mystery School- which includes learning Sanskrit and sooo much more. This was just a taste and I knew it, by then I was hopelessly hooked. So I went on a month long chanting pilgrimage with him and a group of his students to South India in 2012, which has changed virtually everything for me. I've not been the same since.
I was given mantra initiation, which was extremely powerful.. indescribably so. It shifted me into a kundalini awakening which I had always wanted but was far from expecting. My love of chanting and Sanskrit has only grown since. You mention the Mahamrityunjaya, which is one of my favorites for sure. I feel utterly blessed to have been able to chant it within the walls of a Hindu temple in India. Those memories will never leave me. I am moved to tears just recalling it.
My Ishta Devata is Kali, I adore her.. and even as she rips my ego to shreds, I know that she loves me too :) Shiva/Shakti and Ganesh too.. it's difficult at times to recognize the differences, as.. it's all one love for me.
My major kundalini rising experience happened while chanting 'aham brahmasmi'- "I am Brahman".. and my later powerful ecstatic experience happened while chanting the mantra given me. It felt like the most divine love poem ever.. the ripples of which are still with me now.
And the light! The amount of light that I sense due to my mantra practice has stunned me to the core at times. It feels like a journey chosen long ago, and I am stumbling along.. attempting to recall all the steps. Sanskrit is an amazingly powerful language, one that fascinates me to no end. The fact that the very name means 'perfected' is also not lost on me.
Thanks again for this thread, and for allowing me to share something so totally close to my heart :) |
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2013 : 2:38:47 PM
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Hi Shakti,
Thank you for the heart-warming sharing. Simply beautiful.
Yes I have heard Uma Mohan. She is amazing indeed.
If you love Ganesh, today is the day to adore him a bit more - it is Ganesh Chaturthi, a holiday celebrated on a pretty grand scale among Hindus. The first time I was chanting the Ganapathy Atharvashirsha in a group, I had a magnificent vision of him; absolutely luminous, joyful, unadorned, in the form of a little boy - nothing like I had ever seen in any picture. All of my maternal instincts were aroused to the highest degree, and to this day, simply beginning the chant has him appear and stand before me. Pretty humbling.
Yes, you are right about feeling like a journey chosen long ago - that is exactly how it appears to be for me as well. And the light you describe is very accurate in how it feels to me too. Although I can by no means say I get the intricacies of Sanskrit grammar, it appeals to me in a primordial way; as you say, it is like coming home.
For a while now, I have been contemplating starting a sadhana of Kali mantra - she has been in the periphery of my perception for a while now. Yet, it didn't seem like the time was right. Yesterday as I sat for my evening puja, a thought was "planted", which was simply, "start now". So I picked up the mala and began. With just one sitting, I feel catapulted to another dimension; this is one powerful mantra! Now for the harder part - surrendering to the Divine Mother, to let her in..
Much love to you. |
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_shakti_
Canada
48 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2013 : 2:56:34 PM
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Oh wow, thanks for sharing about the auspiciousness of today in regard to Ganesh! He is very special to me, and has come to me on several occasions in very unexpected ways. I have had visions of him, where he brings a message.. and.. I am not typically a very visual person, so that has felt all the more powerful. But the most profound experiences were when I literally became him. It's hard to describe, but my body was his body.. and *we* danced the cosmic dance.. each time his foot crashed to the earth, something shook free. It was amazing and still inspires me now. I'll for sure be chanting in honor of him today, thanks!
I don't get the intricacies of Sanskrit grammar and I've not fully memorized the consonants either.. but I am working on it. The process I have learned is less scholarly and more mystical, so I am taking my time with it.
I know what you mean about being catapulted into another dimension.. Kali is extremely powerful. At times I have felt terrified to approach her, knowing what will come.. but there is all-ways such love. And I know that it is all for my ultimate good. She is the one who taught me the value of surrender.. what I thought of as weak previously, has taken on a whole new and powerful connotation now.
Thank you and much love to you as well :)
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2013 : 09:31:12 AM
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And Kali has begun her work..
Having been drawn to her the last year or so, I finally began working with the Kali mantra a few weeks ago. Nothing too rigorous; but she remains in my conscious awareness constantly. Initially, it was all pleasant, but for the last week or so (coinciding with the austerities of Navarathri and a shaktipat from a guru I am drawn to), it has been quite a ride. Terrifying dreams, surfacing of deep-rooted fears and issues, bursts of ecstatic bliss mingled with amrita raining down and resulting in a sense of passing out (while being awake), and long periods of no mind activity whatsoever.. And in relationships and interpersonal interactions - all sorts of misunderstandings (when really none exist) have come up. It seems everything I say is misconstrued immediately, bringing up my walls and defenses - I've been temporarily drawn into those stories, only to realize a short while later what this game is about. She wants me to see my stuff, in her characteristic way of not really caring how I feel or what I think about her methodology, demanding absolute surrender.
Mysterious workings of the Divine Mother..
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2013 : 09:40:59 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by kami
And Kali has begun her work..
Mysterious workings of the Divine Mother..
Kali puja is Nov 3rd.
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maheswari
Lebanon
2516 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2013 : 1:09:39 PM
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Hello Kami
I m not using mantra meditation only breath meditation
But since navaratri things are not so easy as I have mentioned in some other thread
Over here there are lots of fears coming out...seconds of panic...lots of old not so sweet memories from childhood coming out...ecstatic energy on and off (and now we are almost full moon) ...and now I feel I need a short nap as if the attention is so much turned inside
Sometimes I feel a sweet taste in my mouth coming from the sides of my jaws and under the tongue...maybe amrita or maybe I m totally imagining
So yes lots of fears are being shown to me...always coming back to surrender..
I was reading your post and having a picture of Durga in my mind...with her weapons she cuts ignorance out and and victoriously rides the "tiger"...last year I had an experience with Durga also around october and navaratri
Mother is so strong
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Edited by - maheswari on Oct 17 2013 1:13:05 PM |
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2013 : 10:08:16 AM
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Hi Maha,
Looks like we are experiencing similar things. Glad to be sharing with you.
Shanti, thank you for the heads-up. I will certainly meditate on Mother Kali during that time.
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maheswari
Lebanon
2516 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2013 : 1:12:36 PM
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Yes dear kami
Ps.last night had vivid tumultuous dreams, quite unusual for me
Pps.sometimes I feel Her behind my right shoulder ...or maybe I m imagining. ..dunno
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Edited by - maheswari on Oct 18 2013 1:17:29 PM |
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Will Power
Spain
415 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2013 : 5:36:14 PM
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Thank you for your post Kami!
In the UK AYP retreat I heard how beautiful Mathurs chanting is, I felt a bit ecstatic listening to her.
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Will Power
Spain
415 Posts |
Posted - Oct 20 2013 : 04:36:18 AM
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Dear Kami,
have you read in Quest of God, by swami Ramdas? He had an incredible bhakti and humility, and he shares his experiences with the mantra OM SRI RAM JAI RAM JAI JAI RAM |
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Oct 20 2013 : 07:56:48 AM
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Hi Will Power,
No, I have not, but will look for it. Thank you. Another classic book on mantra sadhana is "The way of the pilgrim", where an ordinary peasant in Russia attains mystical experiences and liberation through the Jesus Prayer. It is a perennial favorite here, very inspiring.
Can't wait to hear Mathurs chanting!! Maybe I can convince her to send me a recording.. What say Mathurs?
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Will Power
Spain
415 Posts |
Posted - Oct 20 2013 : 10:52:32 AM
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| Yes I have read "The way of a pilgrim", very inspiring to me too |
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mathurs
United Kingdom
197 Posts |
Posted - Oct 23 2013 : 06:23:35 AM
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I do apologise - I did not realise that my chanting was being discussed... I am glad you liked it Willpower and I am honoured that you felt a little ecstatic.
Kami, I am honestly not that experinced and have very limited knowledge. But when one day we meet I will definitely chant for you |
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Indigo
USA
54 Posts |
Posted - Nov 04 2013 : 9:42:42 PM
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I also use japa and mantras. I use OM japa and OM Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya in mu sadhana. Outside of sadhana my all time favorite is OM Mani Padme Hum recorded by Tibetan Incantations. It is a beautiful rendition.
The Gayatri Mantra is another mantra I like. |
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Mantra sadhana
