PeterC wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 9:03 am
TharpaChodron wrote: ↑Wed Jul 14, 2021 3:30 am
Malcolm wrote: ↑Wed Jul 14, 2021 3:15 am
It was always 100k per syllable…
Thanks, I never knew that. If there was a facepalm emoji I’d certainly use it right now.
It's just hazing, really. If a teacher tells you 100k per syllable and you come back later with a big grin saying you've finished, I'm sure they'll come up with a reason why you should do more. That's happened to me a few times ("did I say per syllable? Well, you have to multiply that by four, because we're in the kali yuga").
If you were accumulating mantras to develop siddhis then you would do it on signs anyway, by definition, not numbers or time. If you're just accumulating to hit a certain number so that you can 'qualify' to go on to another practice, it's always going to be a bit arbitrary.
Essentially that is what it feels like sometimes (hazing). I get what the point of ngondro is and the benefits etc. But I’m not finishing in the socially acceptable timeframe. Sometimes I think I may just quit because it’s really sucking up my time when I may be better off moving on to other things. I started and had three different teachers and instructions.
Nevertheless, signs or siddhis came very quickly (kidding). One time in the beginning, I was reciting the Guru mantra and getting quite into it, it was a rainy, quiet Sunday morning in Echo Park. A fire truck drove by with its lights on while I kept diligently doing mantras, ignoring the fire truck. Then, a gigantic explosion occurred, shaking my place, and so loud that I yelled out in shock. It turned out a transformer blew nearly fifty feet from my apartment. I don’t think that reciting the mantra caused it, but it was a memorable experience and kinda makes me smile when I think of “signs.”