Experiences with meditative prayer?

[Sirona]

This is a topic about meditative prayer, usually while using beads. I am a Hindu, but I am more interested in people's experiences than in dogma, so I’m posting this on Interfaith.

As you may know, the Hare Krishnas require that their mantra be chanted 108*16=1,728 times a day, which takes about two hours. My main problem is not the quantity, but the requirement to chant "attentively" all the time. In my religion there is a statement that actions performed without devotion are as if not performed.

Before I became a Hindu, I used to pray the Catholic rosary. Even now I sometimes listen to it on television. Even though I don't believe in it as much as I used to, I always notice a certain effect of "dazing off" when I listen to it, something I called a "relaxation response" in another thread. While I think that one should not "babble" or chant mindlessly, I consider the "relaxation response" a natural and desirable effect of meditative prayer, and I feel that this effect may be "counteracted" by a demand to be in constant "outer consciousness" all the time, not to mention that setting up such a requirement might foster a fair amount of pressure. To me, a demand of constant "outer consciousness" while chanting sounds a bit like the joke of somebody constantly hitting their foot with a hammer in order to enjoy the diminishing of physical pain. But maybe I’m wrong.

What are your experiences with meditative prayer?

 

[Quintessence]

It's not something I practice regularly, so my experience here is limited.

However, it's worth nothing that in the rare instances that I travel, one of the religious objects I bring along is the set of prayer beads I made some years ago. The reason connects somewhat to the relaxation response you mention, @Sirona (travel often stresses me out) but more to the nature of these prayer beads. The Four Elements are foundational to my tradition, and the beads are various minerals that represent them. There are four sets of each of these four beads, and when I use them I invoke each of the Four Elements in a different way, acknowledging Quintessence (the metaphysical principle) in the interim spaces. Doing this helps me connect to the world around me as I travel, as the Four Elements are everywhere. There's a comfort in acknowledging the familiar when you are confronted with the unfamiliar.

 

[Hermit Philosopher]

a demand to be in constant "outer consciousness" all the time,

Dear Sirona,

I’m not a Hindu but are you absolutely certain this is correct?

Only because I do the exact opposite: it is the constant flow of inner consciousness during my practice that allows me to transcend.

Humbly,
Hermit

 

[sun rise]

In my religion there is a statement that actions performed without devotion are as if not performed.

That reminds me of Kabir:
The pandits' pedantries are lies. ...
The parrot gabbles "God" like a man
but doesn't know God's glory.
When he flies off to the jungle,
he'll forget God.
If you don't see, if you don't touch,
what's the use of the name

Thinking about the concept of "meditative prayer", I have trouble being consistent. Sometimes I just can't bring myself to try and other times I can sink into a name of God deeply.

 

[Sirona]

Dear Sirona,

I’m not a Hindu but are you absolutely certain this is correct?

Only because I do the exact opposite: it is the constant flow of inner consciousness during my practice that allows me to transcend.

Humbly,
Hermit

Being a convert, I obviously cannot judge from experience how mainstream Hinduism views my religion. But the demand to "chant attentively at all times" seems to be of great importance to the Hare Krishnas. When they chant the spoken mantra in groups in the morning, they always must chant it aloud to control each each other whether someone "dazes off". I've come to consider it "permanent attentive chanting" as chanting seems to favor "contemplative immersion" but I was curious about the things others might experience when chanting on beads.

 

[syo]

What are your experiences with meditative prayer?

Excellent!