Many Saints have said that chanting God’s Name in Kaliyug (Present Era of strife) is the superiormost sadhana (Spiritual practice) and that there is no other alternative. However, many people wonder what they will gain by merely chanting. For this, answers to questions about benefits of chanting God’s Name, how to chant, which ‘Name’ to chant, method of chanting God’s Name etc. are provided in these articles.
'ku' refers to the absolute earth (pruthvi) element and 'la' to merge. 'Kula' thus means to merge with or to destroy the absolute earth element present in the Muladhar chakra. Hence, the family deity is the one by whose spiritual practice the Muladhar chakra can be activated.
The energy of any mantra lies in its bija. The chanting of a mantra is efficacious only if an appropriate bija is selected. The bijas activate the deity of the mantra.
All mantras originate from Om. It is a symbol of Brahman, God and the Vedas. Hence, the mantra ‘Om’ can bestow the Final Liberation (Moksha). This itself is the bija or the gist of the Vedas.
Mantra Pronunciation and its importance : The science of Mantra has originated from the word (shabda) Brahman. The energy of a mantra lies in its pronunciation. That energy is manifested from frequencies generated in the atmosphere by the sound vibrations that are generated through its chanting.
A purashcharan, that is, the worship of a deity performed with a tantra, mantra and chanting (japa) and the prescribed rituals are done to enable the mantra to give the expected results, before commencing the chanting of the mantra.
Meditation and Chanting - Meditation [superconscious state (samadhi)] is not continuous but chanting can occur continuously. In order to blend with The Infinite Principle continuous spiritual practice is essential.
The japamala (rosary) usually consists of 108 beads in addition to the merubead. The four parts (charans) of each of the twenty-seven lunar asterisms (nakshatras) that is 27 x 4 equals one hundred and eight. These are represented by 108 beads in the mala.
Just as sugar has sweetness as its quality, so also the nature of the mind is to think continuously or to harbour a certain emotion arising from some thought. In the beginning when chanting, everyone gets various thoughts due to the impressions from previous births.
The form is associated with the tej (absolute fire) element while the Name (that is its sound) with the akash (absolute ether) element.
As long as chanting is going on it prevents the development of new impressions about other things on the subconscious mind.