Question: I have been doing japa for purity, chanting 'Supreme'. Is this the best way to attain purity?

Sri Chinmoy: Japa is bound to bring purity into your system. But each time you do japa, you have to feel the significance of the word you are repeating. Otherwise it will become mechanical and meaningless. When somebody wants water from the ground he has to dig for many days. If he digs for only one day he will get no result. Each time he digs, if he is conscious of his purpose, he will reach water more quickly than otherwise. Each time you do japa you have to feel that purity is entering you or you are entering into a sea of purity. If you feel that purity will enter into you permanently if you can only complete five or six or seven hundred repetitions, you will be disappointed in your expectation. With each repetition you must consciously strike at a certain spot. Then eventually abundant purity comes into your life. Otherwise, if you repeat a mantra unconsciously, automatically or in a mechanical way, you will get no satisfactory result.

I have written an article entitled "The Role of Purity in the Spiritual Life." The system that is explained in that article is undoubtedly the best way to establish purity in the entire being. You increase the number of repetitions by one hundred every day, starting from five hundred and going up to twelve hundred, then decreasing in the same manner. This is a most effective way to have purity in every plane of consciousness. You can do this every day, but you have to chant with utmost soulfulness, not like a parrot saying a word over again. You have to be most soulful each time you say the word. Also, you should repeat your mantra slowly. If it is done quickly, it will have no effect on you.