Clarification of Doubts

In Spirituality, no matter how much theoretical information one has access to, one's spiritual practice will not be smooth unless needling doubts are clarified. If you should have any questions related to spirituality, please email us at Weekly.

Question: I realize that while chanting* I am distracted by many thoughts, due to which, I cannot chant with concentration. However, sometimes I notice that chanting is going on automatically despite the thoughts. How does this happen?

- A Seeker.

Answer:

Concentration is the target, not the tool. To understand this properly, we need to know how the mind functions. The mind is made up of two parts, the conscious mind and the subconscious mind:

Conscious mind is the part of our mind that we are aware of.
Subconscious mind is the part of our mind that we are not aware of and has millions of impressions.

The conscious mind functions such that at a given time, only one thought can be present there. However, due to the rapidity of the thoughts entering the conscious mind, it seems as if there are many thoughts in there at the same time. A thought is generated in the conscious mind as a result of either an external impulse (that comes from outside the mind) or an internal impulse emanating from the dominant impression in the subconscious mind at that particular time. When one starts chanting, an impression of chanting or devotion develops in the subconscious mind. When one makes conscious efforts to chant, he has to battle against the various thoughts arising from the impressions in the subconscious mind or external impulses, distracting him while chanting.

The impression of chanting in the subconscious mind is strengthened as one perseveres in chanting. Thus, at times when this centre is dominant in the subconscious mind, it sends impulses of chanting to the conscious mind. During such moments we experience automatic chanting as you have mentioned.

*If one is not currently doing any spiritual practice, or to complement one's current spiritual practice, one can begin with the simple, but powerful spiritual practice of chanting or constantly remembering God's Name according to one's religion. Chanting also acts as a useful complement to any spiritual path one may be already following. It is a practice recommended for the current times by Holy texts and Saints of all religions.

To begin with, one can repeat God's Name according to their religion (refer to Issue 3 Clarification of Doubts section for a list of God's Names as per various religions), or the Name that they feel most comfortable chanting.
Interested readers can determine the exact chant for them from the experiment given inIssue 124, Message to Seekers section.