How to chant and various methods of chanting

Contents

 1. Methods of chanting – According to the organ

 2. Methods of chanting – According to the mode of speech (vani)
o 2.1  Vaikhari
o 2.2  Madhyama
o 2.3  Pashyanti
o 2.4  Para
o 2.5 Comparison of chanting in the four modes of speech
 3. Methods of chanting – According to the types
1. How to chant – According to the organ
 A. The body: Writing down The Lord’s Name. The advantage of this is that chanting occurs
through all the three media – the hands, eyes, and the mind. When the notebooks on which The
Lord’s Name is written are kept in the house, it helps both to purify the house and to maintain its
purity.
 B. The speech (Vaikhari)

 C. The mind
2. How to chant – According to the mode of speech (vani)
2.1 Vaikhari
Chanting done aloud, with effort
 A. The benefits to oneself.

1. In the primary stage chanting aloud facilitates concentration on chanting.

2. One also derives benefits of pranayam.

 B. The benefits to others

1. A sattvik (sattva predominant) spiritual emotion (bhav) can be generated in

the minds of those who hear the chanting.
2. The sound waves help to make the atmosphere sattvik.
  C. The possible distress to others: It can pose as an obstacle to others’ thinking and spiritual
practice.
 D. The limitations: Since the chanting is aloud, the mind cannot attain the thoughtless state.
2.2 Madhyama
The Madhyama mode refers to chanting which occurs automatically. It is so named as it is the
intermediate stage between the Vaikhari and Pashyanti modes.
2.3 Pashyanti

Pashyanti is derived from the root word ‘pashya’ from Sanskrut which means ‘to see’. The chanting
akin to that of the seers who have the knowledge of the past, present and future is called Pashyanti.
2.4 Para
This itself is referred to as Omkar or adibija (the primal seed). In the Para mode of speech chanting
ceases as non-duality (advait) is achieved with chanting.
2.5 Comparison of chanting in the four modes of speech
  Vaikhari Madhyama Pashyanti Para

1. The stage of the Preliminary Intermediate Advanced Ultimate

    seeker practising
    chanting

2. Chanting Chanting is done The awareness Doing other Absent since

only in the spare that chanting is chores only if  the one
time after doing  as important as  time permits  chanting and
all the daily all other tasks  after doing  the Name
chores is present chanting chanted blend
into one.

3. When does When there is Initially: when Initially: when Absent since
    chanting occur? no thought, performing reading or the one
action or  physical doing official chanting and
speech activities like work, that is the Name
bathing,  when doing chanted blend
cooking, important into one.
walking,  mental tasks.
travelling in a Advanced:
bus or train, etc During
Advanced: conversation.
When doing Once this is
mental tasks possible,
like reading chanting
newspaper, occurs even
watching TV in sleep.
programmes.
4. Efforts Tremendous Not required [ Absent. (Blending of
efforts are chanting occurs Spontaneous the Name
necessary (one automatically at chanting and the one
is unable to its own pace. (ajapajapa) chanting it).
continue  This itself is continues.
chanting without spontaneous
a tool)* chanting 
(ajapajapa).]

5. Duration for Few minutes Few hours Continuous (Blending of

    which it occurs  the Name
    during the day. and the one
chanting it).

6. Speech As usual As much as Only related to     —

required Spirituality

7. The bodies The physical The subtle and The supra- (Blending of
    concerned body and the causal bodies causal body the Name
conscious mind and the one
chanting it).

8. The site in the Tongue Throat Muladhar to Navel (The

    body Manipur seat of the
chakra embodied soul

9. The spiritual 35-50 50-70 70-99 (Blending of

    level (%) at the Name
    which chanting and the one
    occurs chanting it).
10. The actions Average There is a Good deeds Beyond action
desire to do occur automa- (karma) and
only good tically. There non-action
deeds is detachment (akarma)
inspite of 
living in society

11. Who does the The conscious The subconsc- Initially: The The ego
    chanting? Who mind  ious mind intellect (Blending of
    blends with the [contemplation  [concentration Later: The the Name
    Name? (manan)] (chintan)] embodied and the one
soul (jiva) chanting it).

12. Nature of the Word consisting Initially: Word In the form of In the form of
    Name of letters along devoid of  meaning or fundamental
with the meaning meaning. Bliss or eight meaning, that
(manifest form Advanced: sattvik  is serenity
of the word) Sound (unma- emotions  (shanti)
nifest form of (ashtasattvik
words) Present bhav) genera-
at the creation ted from
of the universe meaning. It is
in the form of
a wave.

13. The super- Initially: Absent Savichar Sanand and Nirbij

     conscious state Advanced: Sasmit
Savitarka

14. In which state Waking Waking and Waking, (Blending of

    does chanting dream dream and the Name
    occur? deep sleep [ and the one
this is also chanting it).
called the sup-
erconscious
state of the
Name (Nam–
samadhi)]

15. The centre for Absent Begins to get Is established (Blending of

    chanting in the established the Name
    subconscious and the one
    mind chanting it).

16. The influence     — Less More The other

    of the centre for centres are
    chanting in either insigni-
    comparison to ficant or totally
    other centres in destroyed.
    the subconsci-
    ous mind.

17. Other impres- Many Less Few Very few or

    sions on the absent
    subconscious
    mind

18. Other thoughts Many Less Absent (Blending of

    in the mind the Name
     during chanting and the one
    (the number of chanting it).
    thoughts reduce
    in proportion to
    the development
    of the centre for
    chanting)

19. The Tama Raja Sattva Beyond the

    component three compon-
ents
(trigunatit)

* A tool means a particualar place, time, mala, seat, bath, insense, Sadguru’s photo, chanting loudly,
company of seekers, silence, good health, no problems in worldly life, etc.
The four modes of speech and time: The Vaikhari mode of speech has the restrictions of the three
dimensions of time (past, present and future). Later, this gradually reduces and recitations of
the Pashyanti become unidimensional. Some evolved seekers in their usual state say that they
performed the Mahagayatri purashcharan, (that is chanting 24 lakhs of the Gayatri mantra) in the
morning. The listener may find this odd and label them as eccentric. The reason for this feeling, is
that performing a purashcharan which normally takes 6 months at the rate of ten hours per day, in
just six hours, is next to impossible. It is only natural that a seeker claiming to have performed
a mahapurashcharan in 6 hours or in 6 minutes should be considered eccentric by an average
person. However the very concept that these seekers could perform such a purashcharan in
the Pashyanti or Para modes [there is non-duality (advait) in the Para mode of speech] is far beyond
the imagination of the average individual. Of late, the concept of dimensions such as three
dimensional, two dimensional, unidimensional and dimensionlessness are gradually unfolding before
modern science. One routinely experiences the miracle when the mind in the three dimensional
waking state enters the unidimensional dream state. For instance when one dozes even for half a
minute during a spiritual discourse (kirtan) one has a reverie that one is being felicitated in a
ceremony, by a crowd. These are common phenomena experienced in hardly thirty seconds. Had
these events occurred in the waking state it would have taken a minimum of twelve hours or so. Such
is the achievement of Pashyanti.
The more progressed the state the less is the proportion of dimensions. The proportion of dimensions
of Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Mahadev is so infinitesimally reduced that thousands of our yugs (eras)
elapse in a time which is equivalent to the blinking of Their eyelids.’
3. How to chant and Methods of chanting – According to the types
The method of
Verbal Upanshu Mental
chanting

1. Pronouncing Loud enough for Uttered with slight Absent. Chanting

others to hear movement of the occurs in the
tongue and lips so mind. The inner
that one is able to vision and subtle
hear it oneself sense organs of
hearing are aware
of the words.

2. Relation to Pronounciation Minimal Absent

    external air is made with the
help of external
air

3. Contribution Present. There is The mind concen- There is concen-

    of the mind a difference trates on the deity tration on the 
between the of the mantra.  meaning of the
word and its There is also an mantra and there
meaning. attempt to is also a firm
understand the relationship bet-
meaning. ween the word 
 and the meaning.
Later, one expe-
riences nonduality

4. The Vaikhari Madhyama Pashyanti

    predominant
    mode of
    speech in
    operation

5. Use To the primary For rituals of For spiritual

seeker* Shanti, Pushti, practice without
spiritual practice expectation
done with expect- (nishkam)
ation (Sakam) etc.

* This mode (vani) is also used for a majority of negative acts such as abhichar (jaran, maran, etc.)
According to the quote, ‘उपांश ु स‍य
् ात‌ ् शतगण
ु :  ।’ (from Manusmruti 2:86) with upanshu chanting one
acquires results a hundred times more than those obtained with chanting in the verbal mode.The
benefits from mental chanting are significantly more than those obtained with upanshu, as the more
subtle the Name, the more is its effectiveness. The difference in the energy generated from audible
chanting (Vaikhari or verbal) and that of inaudible sound will be understood from the following
example. The radiance generated from chanting in the audible mode for thirty years will suffice to
heat one glass of water upto its boiling point. As against this, a mere thirty seconds of inaudible
chanting gives the same results.