” Just by repeating the name, that which can not be understood Will be understood just by repeating the name that which can not be seen Will be seen”
Mantra repetition is an ancient meditation technique extensively used in Tibet and India.
Here is a simple explanation of Mantra Meditation:
What actually is a mantra
Mantra repetition simply means repeating a sentence or group of words that have a phonetic significance . just that’s it.
Mantra is intrinsically related to sound. Mantra is sound, and sound is reverberating in everything in this universe. When water flows, the gurgling sound it makes, is mantra. When wind blows through the trees, the rustling sound it produces is mantra. When we walk on the earth, our footsteps produce sound, and that too is mantra. Within human beings there is a self-born, indestructible sound which repeats itself constantly, along with our breathing and this sound is also a mantra.
Sound has enormous power, in fact it has the power to create an entire universe. It is written that God originally manifested as sound.
(In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. New Testament, John1:1-2 )
According to ancient Indian belief in the beginning there was sound, which reverberated as Om and from that sound everything came into existence.
Even modern scientist are beginning to recognize as our ancient sages did, that there exists a vibration which reverberates ceaselessly throughout the cosmos.
When letters and syllables come together, they form words. Both our spiritual and our mundane life are possible only because of words; without language, we can not carry out any of our activities. Each word we use has its own power and produces it own reaction. A mantra is no ordinary combination of letters and syllables, but a living force. The name of God is not different from God. Mantra has been called the sound-body of God: It is God in the form of sound.
In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says,
” Among rituals, I am the ritual of mantra repetition.”
By this he means that while other techniques are means of attaining Him, mantra is his very being. That is why it is so easy to experience God by repeating the mantra. Mantra meditation is the repetition of a group of words which create sound vibrations that awake the love of God in our hearts and mind.
The influence of mantra: How it affects the meditator
The mantra meditation can completely transform our inner being. Our inner state is created by the thoughts and feelings that continuously arise in us. Outwardly we may appear to have fixed identities-one person may appear to be a lawyer, another an engineer, another a doctor, another a professor. But inside, we are a continually changing mass of consciousness.
When we project the beam of mantra into this fluctuating mass, it stabilizes it and focuses it in one direction, the direction of the self. It helps us to transcend our confusion, our fantasies, and the constant changes of the mind.
Repetition of the name of God causes a kind of earthquake in our inner consciousness. Whatever thoughts arise in our daily life, they are recorded within us and form impression that are difficult to remove. But when we repeat the name, all these thoughts and impressions are erased, and the name of God is recorded. At every moment, what we think is what we become.
If the anger arises in the mind and we identify ourselves with it, we become angry. In the same way, if we continually repeat the mantra with great love and interest, we will become absorbed in God. By its very nature the mantra has the ability to transform our awareness into an awareness of ourselves as Self which is a part of supreme self God.
How to repeat the mantra : You can repeat the mantra silently or loudly but it should be at the same speed at which you talk. You can also coordinate it with the breathing, repeating it once with the inhalation and once with exhalation. Repeat it very carefully, just as a miser looks after is wealth.
Listen it as you repeat it, and in that way your mind will become permeated with mantra. If you repeat the mantra when you breathe in and breathe out, it will circulate throughout your body, permeating every one of your blood cells. then even the room in which you have been repeating become saturated with it.
It is said, “Mantra is that which protects the one who repeats it.” The power of mantra is beyond your imagination You can understand the meaning of the mantra, but you can not measure its strength. Mantra is the living force of God. Therefore, repeat it with respect.
If you devote even half hour or an hour every day to repeating the mantra, you will function much more effectively in your worldly life, and your heart will be filled with joy. You will begin to experience the self very easily.
Next: A detailed clarification on mantra meditation
Other Articles in this Series:
- Mantra Meditation : The power of repetition of sound
- Detailed Clarification on mantra meditation:
- How to use mantra meditation in a busy & complex life.
- Some Mantras for Meditation
- Om Namah Shivaya : Mantra for meditation
- Hare Rama Hare Krishna Mantra for Meditation
- OM : The sound of universe
- Soham Meditation: The natural mantra which repeats itself
- Om Mani Padme Hum : The Tibetan Mantra for Meditation
- Gayatri Mantra : The purest and most potent of all Mantras
- An independent view on Transcendental Meditation :
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