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Creating Peace In The Mind THE CHANT AND THE INTERVAL In India there is a tree called the areca tree, from which we get the betal nut. Like a palm tree, it is very thin and fibrous and tapers at the top. Looking at the tree you may think it would breakif you climbed it, but it will not. A man who goes up one of these trees to gather the small fruits at the top does not need to come down and climb another tree. Instead, by bending the tree with his own body weight, he catches hold of the next tree. In this way, he moves from tree to tree gathering treefruit. Only after picking the fruit from the last tree in the garden does he come down. This is exactly what we do in our thinking. From one thought, BMW, you catch Germany, then you catch World WarII, Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, and the beach. Then you catch melanoma and worry about the new mole you have: “I'd better consult a doctor. Suppose it is cancer. How will I will be able to handle it?“ All of these problems started from someone's BMW. This is like walking upon thoughts. You never get to the ground. There is another tree, the coconut tree that, unlike the areca tree, cannot be bent without breaking. Thus a man picking coconuts must return to the ground before climbing the next tree. Japa is like this. You get to the ground-not after a length of time, but immediately. You chant and, like coconut tree climbing, you come down. You chant. You come down. Chant....come down....chant....come down. In this type of chanting, being aware of the interval is as important as the chant because it is the interval that reveals your true nature- silence, awareness leading gurus, helping us understand that peace is within our grasp.
This talk from Swami Dayananda is an excerpt from his Meditation Lecture Series, entitled Japa - Talk I. To read the entire lecture, please visit: http://www.yogamalika.org/newweb/yogahome.html. To read more about Swamiji, please visit his Web site http://www.arshavidya.org. Sri Swami Dayananda
Saraswati is one of the world's leading teachers of Vedanta, one of the world's most ancient religious philosophies. Swamiji's most significant
contribution has been the teachers he has created. All of them follow his
teaching tradition and continue to create more teachers in the same
way. Some of his students teach at his Gurukulums in Saylorsburg, PA and Anaikatti, India, and
a number of them conduct classes all over the world. Swami Dayananda Saraswati
stays at the Gurukulam during summer when he teaches in family camps
and holds evening satsangs (discussion forums). Pujya Swamiji will be
teaching at the Gurukulam during the 2003 Summer Retreats(August-October)
& Christmas Vedanta Retreat (Dec 24-31). |
“In this type of chanting, being aware of the interval is as important as the chant because it is the interval that reveals your true nature.” |
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