Hari
Om
Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation
For the next stage of our investigation on
meditation, we are going to study - and practice! - japa as a means to tame the
mind and we shall investigate the Gayatri Mantra.
Last
week we read about surrender. We must allow the process of japa and mantra to
wash over us and permit purification. Make this week a saadhana 'booster' week.
Lengthen the daily practice and enforce the discipline. It is Diwali, the time
of setting new projects in place, so an ideal time to commit to saadhana!
For
this week, regardless of any other mantra you may have been using till now, use
only OM.
OM
is the symbol of that Infinite Self, thus every prayer, every mantra, even
every new endeavour ought to begin with chanting of that and that alone. All
else which follows it then reverberates with the essence of OM, including the
name of the Lord which we choose and also the prostrations we offer. Japa,
properly undertaken, is not only a preparatory measure for meditation, it is
itself a vehicle to the Higher and helps to ease our pains, reduce our
imperfections and clear the path to the Infinite.
Next
week we shall go again into study of the Gayatri Mantra. Till then, read over
the japa notes once more. Practice, practice, practice - and may you at last
begin to feel the pull and lift of japa yoga.
