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Thread: How to chant a Mantra 108 times without Mala Beads?

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    How to chant a Mantra 108 times without Mala Beads?

    Namaste,

    I love to pray 108 times when at the weekend. Because that can make me feel great , enjoy and have a concentration. But I still not have a Mala beads so I can found this method to pray gods without Mala beads that can help you count how's time did you chat ?

    It's useful for who has not the mala beads or who is not bring mala beads from home when you go outside like holiday or away home.

    http://western-hindu.org/2010/01/01/...ut-mala-beads/

    Ps sorry for who has known alerady
    Ps2 I'm not sure this room is correct for submit this topic?

    Om Santi Santi Santi

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    Re: How to chant a Mantra 108 times without Mala Beads?

    Vannakkam Jeff: Although I had seen this before, I'd never really concentrated enough to actually cognise it, as I usually don't forget my beads. But a few weeks back, I did forget them; a nice opportunity came up, but I diodn't know 'the system'. But now I do, thanks to you. (Your reminder) Nandri

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: How to chant a Mantra 108 times without Mala Beads?

    namaste Jeff.

    You can count upto 100 without using the left hand and only using the knuckles of the right hand. Here is the melthod:
    http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...9&postcount=29

    With a little practice you would find this method easier, specially when you need to chant a mantra 1008 times!
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: How to chant a Mantra 108 times without Mala Beads?

    Namasté,

    And for yet another variation!: counting with the same pattern on the right hand as Saidevo's diagram, but by tens instead of twenties, and using the left hand to keep track of each "ten" (starting at the same finger-location as on the right). It surely would be cumbersome to reach 1008 that way, but is quite nice for counts of 108.

    Saidevo, it is interesting what you write on the other thread, that you have not seen women using hands for japa. I was instructed in this way by a(nother) woman, who also instructed me to keep the count with my fingers and not mālā beads.

    Indraneela
    ===
    Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
    Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

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    Re: How to chant a Mantra 108 times without Mala Beads?

    Namaste,

    Thank you all reply ! I really love to pray mantra 108 times when able especially at the weekend. So every method for how to count mantras is always useful for me. And also Saidevo's method that use only right hand. This method is nice for who desire or prefer to use only on right hand. Thank you for information sir !!

    Om Santi Santi Santi


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    Re: How to chant a Mantra 108 times without Mala Beads?

    Dear friend ,
    Doing japa is one way of worship. When it is done for a specific purpose there may be a need to count . But when you want to do it with just love for your personal deity where is the need to count . Some people say it gives concentration . I personally feel that is a distraction in the process and cuts the chain . When the last bead comes , your mind automatically tells that you have to turn the bead . Thus when there is a need for continuous stream of single minded concentration a small interruption takes place , whatever minute it could be .Where homa or other rituals are undertaken , there is a practice of counting , because all the rituals associated with those do need counting.
    rgds

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    Re: How to chant a Mantra 108 times without Mala Beads?

    Namaste ji,

    Apologies, I know this thread is old, but I wished to reply with something I found very useful regarding this topic. I also used to enjoy Japa without beads on occasion, it gives a sense of freedom, as others have said. So I wondered for a while why so many schools recommend a Maalaa regardless of if one is counting - and also having practiced buddhist meditation/Japa for a long time they have markers throughout the Maalaa for different Japa counts where I have not seen such in Hindu Japa Maalaas, so is there really a need to count or thus a need for a Maalaa?

    So I looked it up and I found this article:
    http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1977/cmar77/japa.shtml

    Saswathi ji, you hit the point exactly when you point out the quick interruption at the last bead, to change direction. This is the excerpt that speaks to this point:
    The beads maintain awareness and keep the psychic system in check...

    We use a mala as a method for checking and detecting those moments when one becomes unaware and forgets what one is doing. It is also used to give an indication of how far one has progressed in the practice. At a certain stage in japa, when the mind becomes quite calm and serene, it is possible for the fingers to become inert. They become momentarily paralysed and you become completely unaware. Sometimes the mala may fall to the ground. When these things arise 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? You might be under the impression that you have experienced a state of spiritual ecstasy, when all you have really experienced is total unconsciousness. That happened to me once. One evening at six o'clock I sat with my mala for japa. I sat in padmasana and used a wall to support my back. I finished my practice at about four o'clock in the morning, and except for terrible pains in my knees and thighs, I felt so happy. I was so overcome with happiness that I went directly to Swami Sivananda. I said: "Swamiji, I have just spent ten hours in samadhi." He just laughed at me and said : "That is very nice."

    At another time, Swamiji asked me if I was still practising japa. By this time I had given up using a mala and I said: "Yes, Swamiji, I'm still practising" "Do you use a mala?" he then asked. "I don't have a mala," I replied. "Where is the mala I gave you?" he asked. I told him that I didn't believe in malas so I had given it away. Swamiji then said : "You may believe in a mala or not, that is only intellectual, this is not a question of belief, but a question of need." Then he reminded me of the night I had spent ten hours in 'samadhi'. "Do you remember that night?" he asked. "Very clearly, Swamiji" I replied. "Well then, can you be sure that you were aware throughout or did your mind go blank?" I said : "I don't know." Then Swamiji said : "There must be some method where we can know and directly check." I then asked : "What could that method be, because in deep states of consciousness it is not possible to remember anything." Swamiji finally replied : "It is the 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. That night you were not in samadhi but in a state of unconsciousness. You were asleep."

    When japa is done correctly and concentration takes place, the mala will continue to move almost automatically. At the same time, the number of rotations of the mala should be counted on the fingers of the left hand. I am not going into any more detail on the need for a mala. I only want to say one thing more: a mala may not be something that your intellect can accept, but for successful practice of japa, it is a necessary tool for the mind.
    I also understand that as one progresses in Japa meditation, one experiences many different sensations, physical and non-physical. These are all obstacles to overcome, they are distractions of the body and mind though they may tell you that you've achieved a new milestone as well. Just as in overcoming these, overcoming muscle stiffness, overcoming legs that may have "fallen asleep", overcoming the act of chanting the mantra itself, the act of using the Maalaa is a physical sensation that should be overcome. It becomes secondary and part of the background with practice. It's the body that does it mechanically, not the You that you seek through your practice.

    Since reading this I have always used a Maalaa. Most often I use one that is very rough, too. I am beginning to find it the good tool that the Swami above describes.

    ~Pranam-s
    ~~~~~
    What has Learning profited a man, if it has not led him to worship the good feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?
    They alone dispel the mind's distress, who take refuge at the feet of the incomparable one.
    ~~Tirukural 2, 7

    Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam

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