Life and Spirituality

Through much study and experience, I discovered two of the simplest ways to relieve stress, fear, anxiety, pain and a variety of other things that trouble humans are Mindful breathing Mantra Jap Not only do either of these ancient and time tested methods relieve problems mentioned they can also be used for emotional and spiritual development when practiced in peaceful moments. Mindful breathing is a type of mindfulness when a person focuses on one’s breathing silently. The interested reader can find an excellent note on it by the author at, https://ashokbabaji.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-breath-of-life.html Mantra Jaap (or Jap)is repetition of holy word or name of the Lord. One may use any word that one can repeat comfortably, musically or even in a monotonous manner. While mindful breathing can be practiced if one believes in God or not, Mantra Jap is for those who believe in God. Personally I feel that it is not possible to attain peace without b

E lsewhere in this blog we have mentioned that chanting of a mantra or divine words is an excellent way to achieve meditative states and commune with the Universal Consciousness. Mantras can consist of a single word or many. However, rather than words it is best to describe a Mantra in syllables. personally I find that a very short mantra may lead to an easy distraction of mind and very long ones though helping one to keep one's focus initially also lead to distraction after some time. Chanting a mantra musically helps to keep the mind in focus. An excellent ancient mantra that is neither too long nor too short is  Om Mani Padme Hum Listen to a Beautiful Musical rendition of this mantra from the depths of the Himalayas. You are sure to be enchanted, at http://www.diydharma.org/om-mani-padme-hum-tibetan-incantations   It is essential that during recitation of mantra (jap) the breathing remain calm and regular  and not irregular. A mantra that interferes with th

Photo shows roof of Naini Mata Temple in Nainital with text overlay by Ashok Malhotra My cousin Pradeep and a face book friend posted something this morning about a Mantra on his wall: Mantra Dhaarnaa Yon Kar, Vidhi Se Le Kar Naam Japiye Nishchaya Achal Se, Shakti-Dhaam Sri Ram These verses in Hindi may be translated as: From right Teacher learn right technique of repetition of right name Then mediate with greatest faith, Upon the Lord’s most vital name I fully agree with my dear cousin that the chanting of Mantras done correctly is a powerful technique, even magical. That is the reason one has magicians chanting spells in fairy tales to perform magic. Recently a college classmate and dear friend got into serious legal difficulties. His name is Rajat Gupta. Until recently he was one of the most senior corporate executives on our planet well known to Prime Ministers and Presidents including Obama and Clinton. He can be found in Wikipedia. However, amongst so