Question: “I have been working on my meditation but I want to take it further. What advice do you have for meditating with a mala? And what are some chants I can do?”
The only use for a mala is to keep count, whether it’s your breath or mantras. You can do any chants or mantras. You can even make one up if you want.
Mantras/chants during meditation serves one of two (or even both) purposes: 1) to help you keep your focus and concentration on what you’re chanting. The stronger your focus is on the chant, the less likely you’ll have distracting thoughts. 2) to help you contemplate on the purpose behind the chant. Most mantras/chants are invocations or praises to Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, so there’s not much to contemplate there. But others have a deeper meaning likeOm Mani Padme Hum, which, though short and “simple,” is quite profound and deep.
There are hundreds of different mantras or chants you can do. You just have to find one that you feel a connection to. Or you can stay simple and chant the three universal sounds “Om Ah Hum.”
Advancing in meditation is different for different people. It depends on what you’re wanting to accomplish. Are you trying to enter a state of peace? Are you trying to prolong your meditation into 1, 2, 3 or 4 hour sessions? Are you meditation to obtain insight into the true nature of reality? What are you trying to do? You can’t do it all at once, so you need to make a decision on how you’re trying to advance.
Whatever path you choose to go, there are some prerequisites you will need to master first. 1) mastering your breath. Can you count to 100 without any distraction or losing count? 2) mastering your posture. Can you meditate for the duration of your session without having to readjust your back/posture? 3) mastering your peace. Can you meditate for the duration of your session without any or too many thoughts/distractions? 4) mastering your time. Can you meditate for 1 hour, 2 hours?
Until your answer is yes to all those questions, “advance” meditation cannot be achieved. However, during your practice of mastering all those prerequisites, you can practice contemplation (insight meditation) on certain “enlightening” topics in Buddhism like the twelve links of dependent origination and the four noble truths. Once everything is mastered, then you can begin meditating on emptiness if you want to achieve enlightenment, or meditate on nothing if you can bliss.
Smile and be well!