Introduction to blog 2 – Mantras

Blog two is about the first section/component of Om Divine Grace Yoga. Blog one is the introduction and overview to this yogic pathway. I have written about the topic of mantras in my previous books. This blog provides a revised version of that material with commentary and guidance. It is designed to enable practical use by a spiritual practitioner interested in this pathway. Of course anything here can be approached as reading matter of interest.

The contentious issue regarding mantra is initiation. Historically, mantras, were initiated by a Guru. In our modern world this might not be feasible or practical, given the nature of this dark era (Kali Yuga). It is necessary now to offer mantras as an option for any practitioner, desiring to use a mantra for spiritual progress. Thus a mantra such as Om Guru Om can be used immediately. Guru means “going from darkness to light”, and this mantra repetition enables the reception of the inner guidance. Such guidance comes from the Inner Guru, which can be accessed to get “initiation” of other mantras Om Guru Om is a benign mantra with no after-effects, other than receiving sobering thoughts and guidance. Becoming aware of one’s previous negative activities is spiritually “good”. Other mantras such as the seed (Bija)  mantras can be risky without clarity of use. .Even so they can be used with right understanding, and I have written information and instruction on this topic Also as a result of receiving Divine Guidance from within there will be appropriate additional clarity. It just requires good intent and practice of mantra repetition (Japa).

Mantras to:  Get Enlightened.

The Divine Presence is within and without. A mantra is the Divine Presence as a sound. Your personal mantra of choice may be better found from a knowledgeable guru, but this is not always true.

Repeat your mantra every second, or every moment, or every micro moment, or as much as possible. (Or throw away this booklet – it’s not for you at this time!).

If you don’t have a mantra choose one of these.

Firstly Om Guru Om

or

Hari Om

Soham

Hare Krishna

Om Namah Shivaya

There are many, many, more.

I have also described my favorite “seed” or bija mantras associated with the Chakras, in the introduction.

One key purpose of mantra energy is to bypass depression or other mental stumbling blocks. Because you bypass it, there is then a cure or a remedy for low mood, negative perception and depleted energy. You are in your Higher Rooms where the light leaves behind the darkness. It’s a refuge. A “go to”, for any problem and yet, includes everything, as it alleviates the need for “running away”.

A mantra’s power is very interesting because it’s the distilled sound of Life and the Universe. (See previous writings about this term). It’s not just being Transcendental. It’s that, and connection to any experience, no matter what. You become Transcendental in your spiritual approach to life first, and then you also swap darkness for light – the Guru function. As your True Enlightened Self you become the Guru. Then……?

You can use mantra power for anything, including destructive goals or objectives. It will do the work for you that you desire. (I.e. can be used for wealth or spiritual growth as per your choice). It’s a bit like nuclear energy. It’s a vibrational energy that can heal, or destroy.

Its real use though is to connect the soul via mind, body, and your environment, to allow understanding of positive and negative experiences as aligned with a spiritual awareness. This is when you understand Kali Yuga – the age of destruction, or the “dark age”. This is the world we are in. Lots of wars, famines, and suffering on a global scale. The Hindus and Buddhists understand this, and worship Kali, the fierce goddess of destruction. She is pictured holding severed heads. This world will sever our ego, metaphorically depicted as the heads that Kali is holding, because as person realizes that “all life is suffering”, this becomes ones realization. Then we will want to transcend it all. We will accept our Guru, who is our self and not really separate. The Guru is the True Self I want to be. The gurus and teachers are voices within and without, but really neither. (Not voices in the sense of psychosis experiences). These voices will speak as you move away from seeing the world as playground for desire satisfaction, and more of a learning place to enable realization of the True Self. They will seem to come to you but are already present. Then a mantra’s higher vibration rises us above darkness, or even evil forces. Mantras create a shield of “armor” to protect from curses, violence and accidents. (So devotees paradoxically also pray to the “violent” Kali to get protection from violence). Some mantras have aggressive or destructive vibrations, so in contradiction they should be used for protection only – to achieve a peaceful environment.

The Divine is perfect and complete, and emanations from the Divine, such as this world of Life and the Universe, are complete in purpose, though it all seems crazy from a disturbed mind perspective. Be it your belief in the Goddess as the creatrix, or God as Him, or as the Big Bang. Whatever is produced in this Cosmic Consciousness is interconnected with sound. Therefore the mantra will heal the craziness and allow different perspectives. It can seem very slow, especially if you are feeling some agitation. Remember though, you are not your body and mind. You are the “witness”. Your natural state is Sat, Chit, Ananda. – Existence, Knowledge, Bliss.

Truth is the “l” of you as the Divine Soul. It is your birth right. You may need to connect with it, (it seems), even though it is just there. You have to sit on your mountain, (of solid spiritual practice), and chant the mantra through the time of the dark clouds and the storms.

We may separate ourselves from Light, and then we live in darkness. Change perspective and focus at this point or suffer the consequences.

Seek Divine Grace. The Light will shine through, and with it the Divine Sound will manifest.

Our consciousness identifies with matter as ego, and the illusion that is Maya, gets created, but also can be destroyed eventually. Nothing really disappears, because nothing really appears – illusory stuff all of it. We can agree or disagree with much of science, as per choice, but the Big Bang is after all a “large sound’. It’s just mind perspectives still, and not so relevant in the state of Enlightenment. Confused views of science. (a very young development), are not the position of the Transcendental Self. However, we are in fear, and rush around, because we cannot find ourselves experiencing being the Transcendent Self, and cannot truly see the un-reality of the Maya created forms in life. We do not connect with the underlying sound then. The mantra makes this connection, and tales us to the point of Enlightenment (Mantra repetition may seem to be a somewhat artificially initially). Finally Maya is seen as just the Goddess going about her business!

More about Mantras

There is a view that the chanting of mantras is a practice to help focus the mind.

However this view is a very partial perspective.

A mantra of any power exists in a totally different dimension to the mind.

It is a syllable, word, and sound that relates to a particular state of consciousness that, whilst related to mind, (and body), emanates from a soul or spirit source.

For instance to use the word Guru as a mantra, is to identify on a subtle plane with the role of the Guru, which is to lead from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge, (in a spiritual sense).

In simple terms Gu refers to darkness & Ru to light.

Combined with Om, which is the spiritual word for and sound of the Universe, the mantra then both identifies and takes the user from darkness to light, or to the universe centre.

The practitioner, (who repeats or chants the mantra), becomes immersed in a sense of being at the centre of all life & light. Thus to meditate with this mantra, the best effect occurs with visualisation of journeying out of the body, beyond  the city, the country, the solar system, the galaxy, and so forth. (A continuation would be that of ascending to the universe Centre).

Then what happens?

Samadhi

This position at or within the Centre is the deepest form of meditation, (called Samadhi), with regard to external meditation on this aspect of the Divine.

However to think that the human consciousness then cannot exist is not quite correct.

For instance in deep sleep it seems that the individual does not exist, yet on awakening all awareness comes back again.

In a further development of the Samadhi state the seeker needs then to find the Centre within the human “heart”, (not necessarily the physical one).

This requires another mantra if it is to be achieved quickly.

The universe in its essential Divine essence then becomes more entwined in the seekers experience of human life.

Then awareness of Divinity, God or Higher Power, can become a stronger component of daily life experience.

The Heart mantras

Om will still remain as the supreme mantra, as it encompasses all – external, internal, & beyond.

Then one can add an Ishta Mantra – this is your chosen sound manifestation or representation of your Divinity. (Your Ishta or Lord).

For example Hindu derived mantras are such as Krisna, Rama, or Hari.

Other religions also have a range of mantras.

Divine in the body

A problem that seems to be common in spiritual seeking, is the issue of the bodily and mental needs, desires, and the gamut of the human condition.

Many aspects of religion, (& spiritual practice), have sought to somehow separate out the body/mind, disregard it, discipline it fiercely, or somehow transcend it all.

This seems to lead to endless struggle.

Therefore the next step in the use of mantras is to seek incorporation of the body/mind into spiritual practices, & hence incorporation into the Divinity that is both within & external – no separation.

Certain mantras can be used for this step.

At this point it could be useful to do some reading on spiritual forces & healing forces within the body.

Knowledge about the Chakras & Kundalini is one place to start.

The purpose of spiritual practice, which unites the human forces or sublimates them, is to attain a harmonious loop of the human and the Divine – where human nature is not an obstacle, (or even “evil”)

This practice where the merger of divine and human is sought is Tantric practice.

Tantric practice recognizes the whole gamut of human emotion & nature, (but seeks to move to a higher level of being without denying human activity, such as sex).

Mantra over time

If one takes the time to study this topic in is some depth, one will find that there is a wealth of information and in depth science of the power of a word. Each mantra from the ancient historical past of India has an author – a wise sage. It has a supernatural being that informs that transcendental component. It has an underlying seed form, which is the subtle unconscious power of that sound. The sound itself is allied to a particular energy, (Shakti), which is the unseen vibration of that sound. This is somewhat similar to sound waves which can be heard when channeled through an instrument, (such as a radio). All of these components are held together by an unseen pillar or pin. (Just like the body held upright by the spine).

The mantra however must be awakened through its use by the person using it. So a mantra could be merely supplementary to other spiritual practices, or vice versa. However the mantra can be used as the key practice spiritually and also to achieve any other outcome that is sought. Sound produces forms through its vibrations, and the repetition of a particular mantra brings forth awareness of both the form that is meditated on and the purification that is sought. Logically any person using a mantra would want to use one that is representing a favored deity, or materialistic outcome. The choice of form of one’s Deity or desired outcome, becomes one’s choice of mantra.

The mantra can also be a refuge. Its repetition can allow release or escape from certain difficult mental problems or thoughts, and move the minds focus to a more healthy location. Constant repetition or japa over a long period can enable a shift from a deep-seated negative personal perspective towards the higher planes of light and energy.

The mantra is of course a spiritual word, although you may hear that any word repeated has its own power. Logically, it does not make sense to repeat some obnoxious phrases. For instance whilst eating dinner certain words could provoke unpleasant regurgitation! Logically it makes sense to repeat something sweet, light, and healthy -unless one has a death wish!

Types of mantras

Om is well-known by many across the world. It is considered however by some teachers to be a mantra more suited for those of a monastic inclination. Other mantras are the names of ones preferred Deity. There are a plethora of mantras in Buddhism, untold numbers in Hinduism, and under a different schema many such uses of sacred words in other religions.

OM is considered to be the most important mantra, and longer mantras generally begin with OM.

It is a seed mantra. Other seed mantras can also be considered to be Goddess mantras, and they are part of the Tantric tradition. They are themselves a core element of Tantric practice.

Tue it is considered by many teachers, that a mantra should be imparted by someone who has a teacher role, or specific knowledge and wisdom of this area. Certainly mantras have been taken up from books, from inner intuition, by divine initiation (nonphysical teacher or deity), or by other means.

The seed mantras including Om are considered to be more powerful & therefore more suitable to practitioners initiated into the wider lore of Yoga, Vedanta, and Tantra.

It is the repetition and practice that is most important. Therefore alongside practice, and awareness & knowledge about use of mantras will help to ensure better outcomes.

It is deemed helpful to do repetition at a quiet time such as dusk or drawn, sitting in a quiet and comfortable place, using a good posture, and a distraction free environment. One can also use a rosary, (Mala), keep a log or count, use verbal or mental repetition, or even write.

Japa

Repletion is called japa, and this is what you want to be doing for Enlightenment Now.

Choose your mantra.

Do the japa.

Then more question may arise following the practice of japa.

A mantra can be “tailor made” for the individual or may change as practice progress is.

Multiple mantras can be used as some mantras are prayers. They are “extended” mantras, and a longer prayer may proceed then repetition of a short mantra, (such as a “seed” mantra).

A Guru or Teacher at this point will be very useful!

Techniques

• Repeat the mantra anywhere, any time.
• Use quiet time when possible.
• Sit cross-legged at times if possible.
• Early morning is “prime time”.
• Use a mala or rosary when possible.

Remember

• All mantras have equal Power. (It is how you use them).
• Mantra is one with Higher Power, God, and Divinity.
• Japa of mantra will help wish attainment – even if regretted later!
• At the time of death mantra will be a life-line, (pun intended!).
• Japa of mantra will give you Sanctuary.