japa — evolving ‘worship’ to higher subtler layer

That purifies the unique power of speech

Being able to speak, is unique to human beings. Speech is used to record and replay most subtle knowledge, concepts and experiences through generations.

In the last post, we have seen ‘Worship’ as desire-less service/duty towards God, by considering everything that is manifested as a reflection of God.

As a practical philosopher moves on with the practice of worship, with an aim to reach the subtlest underlying consciousness (called as Iswara or Lord of everything), which is the source of everything there is a need to rise above the physical environment made up of five fundamental elements into the higher and subtler realms of mind, emotions and intellect.

The best way to manage this transition of practice (saadhana) from gross physical layer into subtler layer of existence, is japa. Japa is a process of singing praise of God with the faculty of speech. Japa is repeated chanting of names of God just moving the lips without making a sound. Japa is also repeated remembrance of God without even moving the lips. Highest type of japa is fixing the subtle energies of mind, emotions and intellect on God, which is called as ‘dhyAna’.

Thus, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi says: (Verse 6 of upadesa sara)

uttama stOtramulu ucchamu upAmSu, citta japamulalO cinta uttamamu.

Same verse in Sanskrit:

uttamaH stavAt uccha mandataH, cittajam japa dhyAnam uttamam

The lower tone (upAmSu or manda) praise is better than louder (external) praise. It is best, if it is completely within the mind and sticks to a single thought (dhyAna) with one pointed concentration (cintana).

There are numerous stavas / stotras to sing praise of Lord. The sages, Rishis have given several hymns that describe various aspects of greatness of God. Anything eulogizing any form of God in any language can be selected and sang. It slowly makes mind calm and prepares for meditation.

Upon the request of devotees, Ramana Maharshi gave a very nice stotra on Lord Arunachala called aksharamanamalai in Tamil. One need not understand the meaning of the stotra, just listen and sing. Initially in slightly audible voice, slowly going to only moving the lips and not bringing the voice out and finally completely in silence!

http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/portfolio-item/chant-arunachala/ is a good resource to learn to chant aksharamanamalai.

Next Post: https://medium.com/upadesa-saram/sarala-cintana-simple-straightforward-thinking-5da3c1c1cef9