Japa meditation may help to clear your mind of daily worry and soothe your spirit. Practitioners the world over use this technique to find peace, calm and tranquility within. Japa meditation uses chanting, or the repetition of a mantra, to focus and still the mind.
Instructions
1. Choose your own mantra, which can be any word or phrase that you like, as long as it is positive. Many people will chant the name of their deity, the name of an object they find soothing, such as a river or a flower, or a phrase from a poem or from a holy book.
2. Say a prayer before you begin your meditation and chanting. The prayer, said with closed eyes, should create a pure and meditative state. Concentrate on either your mind or heart and ask your deity for assistance in your meditation. Then state your mantra once, slowly and clearly. Begin your meditative repetition of your mantra and continue until you finish your meditation.
3. Do Japa meditation in two forms. You may practice meditation in whispers or a low speaking voice, known as Vaikhari Japa. With silent Japa meditation, or Manasika Japa, you repeat the mantras silently in the mind.
4. Practice Japa meditation in a seated, cross-legged position. Most practitioners hold a rosary of 108 beads and chant a mantra for each and every bead.
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