Japa and Ajapa

Japa means repeating or remembering the mantra, and Ajapa-Japa means constant awareness. The letter A in front of the word Japa means without. Thus, Ajapa-Japa is the practice of Japa without the mental effort normally needed to repeat the mantra. In other words, it has begun to come naturally, turning into a constant awareness.

The practice of constant remembrance evolves in stages:

At first, you intentionally repeat the syllables of the mantra internally, as if you are talking to yourself in your mind. You allow the inner sound to come at whatever speed feels comfortable to the mind. Sometimes it is very slow, as if the mind were wading through a vat of honey. At other times it is very fast, as if flying through the sky without restraint.

With practice, the mantra japa is repeated automatically, like a song that you have heard many times, which just comes on its own. It is more like noticing what is already happening, rather than causing it to happen. It is somewhat like the attention stance of listener rather than speaker, though you might not literally hear the sound.As the practice evolves, there comes a pervasive awareness of the Japa