Japa Heaven

Last week I heard the phrase ‘japa heaven’ and immediately added it to my list of inspirations for a better spiritual practice. Being in ‘japa heaven’ I learned, is a great way to communicate that we don’t want to be disturbed during our meditation on the maha-mantra.

Some of us who chant daily will likely agree that we easily interrupt our japa with chit chat or other minor distractions. And we will often interrupt others as they are chanting by asking them a quick (or not so quick) question. Being able to say “I’m in japa heaven” can save the day - and our focus.

“I’m going to japa heaven for the next 30 mins” gives us permission to ignore the world, the texts, the talk, the goings on around us, and concentrate. It works really well while traveling, being with groups of people, or while taking a lunch break at work.

I used it this week while on a japa walk with a friend. As our japa walk often turns into a japa talk we said “Let’s go to japa heaven today”. It really worked. We had a wonderful time walking and sitting by the river, peacefully postponing our other talk until later and happily treating ourselves to japa heaven.

Who doesn’t want to be in heaven or experience a bit of heaven on earth? Heaven – a sweet place where all is well. We can transform our daily japa practice by entering ‘japa heaven’ and feel the difference. Words are a powerful thing.