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c.smith
25 February 2011, 02:10 PM
Hari Om!

Was wondering were lakhita japa fits in with the other types. From my understanding, it is said that silent (mental) japa is superior to japa that is whispered which is better than japa that is spoken aloud. So just where DOES it fit in? I practice daily. It was a practice that I started when an acharya at said temple requested that the entire audience do so for a period of time and that the journals would be placed under a temple that was to be built. I just kept up the practice.

A swami that I consulted suggested that I should stop because some could see the written mantra as part of my sadhana. I haven't been able to speak with him again to clarify the issue, but I feel that he believes that it is my guru mantra. It isn't.

Any insights or advice would be appreciated.

Om Namah Shivaya!

Sahasranama
25 February 2011, 02:36 PM
Where do you store the paper you have used for likhita japa. Maybe you can use a blackboard, so that you can wipe it out and start over again.

c.smith
25 February 2011, 06:04 PM
Hari Om!

I write my japa in journals and by now have quite a number of them. Please don't laugh (too loudly), but I keep them under my mattress because I feel that it keeps me close to God all night.

I'd need a huge black board - perhaps one to fill the room. And with the incense issue with my housemate (from another thread) and its residue, I don't know that chalk dust would be such a great addition. Great idea though. I would have never thought of it. Just goes to show how ingenious our members are!

Om Namah Shivaya!

satay
25 February 2011, 07:26 PM
namaste,
I know about a person whose relatives found after his death a large number of notebooks pages full of written OM (in hindi). Sometimes on a page there were thousands of OM because he chose to write very very tiny. I happened to see one of these notebooks.

I don't see any problem with what you are doing.

saidevo
25 February 2011, 08:24 PM
namaste shrI Smith and others.

Here is my opinion about likhita japa:

• When you recite a mantra, orally or mentally, you do it only once. When you write it down, you recite it twice, because you would first say the words mentally as you write them down.

• During mental/oral recitation, it would be very difficult to control the mind. If I am to recite a mantra, say the gAyatrI japa, for 108 times, although I do it slowly with proper intotation in mind and it takes me around 23 minutes, I still find my mind to wander in between, so I discard that specific count and chant the mantra again mentally.

Such problem of wandering mind is better controlled when you write down a mantra.

• In likhita japa, you should not scribble for the sake of a target count. Instead, you should write each letter slowly and as perfectly as you can, thinking about the deity or philosophical concept the mantra is about. This would give a much better concentration. Further, a mantra written in Sanskrit DevanAgari script, IMO, is more valuable than one in another language or script, if the original mantra is in Sanskrit.

• likhita japa is better done in ink, because the very idea of writing down is to record and preserve it. It is not a good idea, IMO, to write on the blackboard and then rub it. It should not also be typed, either with a typewriter or a computer keyboard, because no karaNa--device, other than one's hand should be used for the purpose. The wise say that our every spoken and written word and thought is stored in subtle space as AkAshic records, not just in our physical brain, which is why we are able to recall them verbatim at times.

• I would prefer the likhita japa journals to be stored in a sacred place, like the puja room. When they accumulate sufficiently and can't be kept personally, they can be donated to a temple which would take them.

• One should never write down the dIkSha mantra given to one by the guru.

There is this story about a sage who had the capability to appear as a person's iShTa devata. A devotee of his vowed to write down shrI rAmajayam 1,00,000 times and sought a darshan of shrI RAmA with all glory and clarity in his mind. The sage as shrI RAmA promptly gave darshan when the devotee completed 50,000 counts and said that writing is after saying it, so the devotee had completed his target count!

Another story is that Saint ThyAgarAja, an ardent devotee of shrI RAmA would chant RAmA's name with every grain of rice as he washed them and put in the cooking vessel. Such was his concentration and patience!

You are doing an excellent job. Kudos and all the best in your sAdhana!

c.smith
25 February 2011, 09:09 PM
saidevo

nice to see you posting and especially for the clarification that you provided. your words always make sense to me and these especially. thanks for helping me progress in my sadhana.

Om Namah Shivaya!

charitra
25 February 2011, 09:44 PM
Hari Om!

Was wondering were lakhita japa fits in with the other types.
Any insights or advice would be appreciated.

Om Namah Shivaya!

Namaste smith:D ,

it is standard exercise prescribed to devout hindus. One such exercise my grandmom used to do is called RAMA KOTI. Literally translates to ' rama- ten million times'. A daily periodic sadhana of writing the name rama until one does it for a total of 10 million repetetions (koti-telugu/tamil other languages). No time limit on it. Likith means write. That paper bundle becomes a sacred work for the individual. Yes it can become a part of a temple building aaso other similar uses canbe made out of the work; yes one accomplishes some punya out of it. Please understand those who laugh at this sadhana are clearly ignorant souls:cool1: .