Chanting of Rama naam effectively blocks out negative thoughts, if done with attention, writes AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI
Chanting is a very ancient practice. Lord Krishna has mentioned about it in the verse #10.25 of the Bhagavad Gita. Chanting is done by two ways. One is mantra chanting like “Om Namah Shivaya”, and the other is name chanting like “Rama”. Surprising as it may seem, Lord Shiva, Himself an incarnation of God, is busy chanting “Rama” only. He, as a matter of fact, is a great setter of standard in this regard. Lord Krishna states, “Whatever a superior person does, other people follow that only. Whatever standard he establishes a common man tries to emulate that. (3.21) Lord Hanuman — a great devotee of Lord Rama is another practitioner of chanting Rama regularly. Rather all His acts begin with “Jai Shriram”.
Let us get an idea about how powerful the word Rama is from Shri Ramacharitamanasa, written by Tulsidasa. In the famous dialogue between Narada and Lord Ramachandra, Narada requests the Lord to empower Rama name such that it can benefit the chanter immensely. The Lord consented, and we see evidence of chanters of the name Rama benefiting greatly in multiple ways. It is not surprising that Rama naam is glorified even in a person’s last journey with the chanting of “Rama nama satya hai”. Mother Ahilya caught attention of Lord Ramachandra by incessantly chanting Rama. The Lord delivered her from the curse she was under, because of which she had turned into stone.
The word Rama is a primal sound like Om, and we are aware of unimaginable benefits of chanting Om. The name Rama is similarly beneficial if chanted regularly. Calling the Lord’s name gets His attention immediately, because He is near us only. How God responds depends upon Him. In The Gita, Lord Krishna has specifically mentioned, “God is outside and inside of all living entities. He is situated far away and He is nearby also. (13.15) This is how God hears our prayers also. Such chanting of God’s names is very useful because this activity makes us noble. (7.18), whatever may be our desires, we can be distressed, seekers of wealth, inquisitive or wise. (7.16)” Those who chant Rama regularly and with attention/devotion can vouch for the fact that one’s wishes are responded to in an appropriate manner, because God never ignores our taking His shelter, which chanting His name is.
Peace begins to descend on the practitioner, one can sense that he is not getting agitated/worried to the extent he was prone to earlier. Chanting of Rama nama effectively blocks out negative thoughts, if done with attention. Yes, this will take time, because it is not easy to be rid of negative thoughts, but it will happen as chanting of Rama name begins to purify the chanter’s existence. Additionally, one will begin to feel assured. God’s presence, who is omnipresent, does wonders to the consciousness as one continues chanting His name. One begins to feel assured.
In the cosmic design, there are only two duties/responsibilities for us souls. They are doing our material and spiritual duties. And the easiest and most effective to do spiritual duties is to chant Rama. Go out/do your material duties and return to chanting Rama. Soon you will be able to get used to it and may even one day get it synchronised with your breath.
Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com
