I just felt this enormous longing …just longing…longing and connection with the nature around me! I felt so happy but at the same time I wanted to die …It was quite powerful !
What is mantra or mantram as it is also known?
Many people will make an association with it with the image
of orange robes, garlands, exotic locations and incenses. But actually it has
been known all over the world for centuries, only different cultures call it
different names.
It is a Sanskrit word.
According to the explanation which Eknath Easwaran gives in his book’’
Meditation’’ the name ‘’mantra’’ links to the roots ‘’man’’ (the mind) and ‘’tri’’
(to cross).’’ ‘’The mantram, repeated regularly for a long time, enables us to
cross the sea of the mind’’.
It transcends our mind beyond mundane
reality, it actually connects us with our deeper, true self.
In Hatha Yoga Pradipika, mantra is described as subtle sound
vibration, it is a tantric process for releasing energy and expanding
consciousness from the limitations of mundane awareness.
Mantra could be a spiritual sentence, a formula of words or
sounds which has enormous power that has been transmitted from age to age, from
teacher to a disciple following a lineage or religious traditions. The
practitioners wanting to achieve this state silently repeat the word as often
as possible as each repetition ads to their physical and spiritual well-being.
After all Mantra is a spiritual tool which include the name
of God or of the supreme reality or the Self at some form or another. One can
come across different theories that explain that mantra is a part of the basic
vibrations of the universe, like ‘’OM’’, which
we will talk about later.
Following the examples which Eknath Easwaran mentions in his
book we can see that some great mantras and very commonly used ones can be
found in every religion and tradition from thousands of years ago until today:
1. Christianity - ‘’Jesus’’, or ‘’Hail Mary ‘’, or ‘’Lord Jesus
Christ, son of God have mercy on us ‘’ or just ‘’ Lord Jesus Christ’’. These
are mantras to awake the love and the mercy in our hearts like Jesus Himself
and the wisdom and unconditional love like Divine Mother as Mary.
2. Judaism- ‘’Barukh attah Adonai’’(blessed art thou, O
Lord) , to help in time of distress and turmoil , emotional cultural etc.
3. Islam -‘’Allahu akbar’’(God is great) or simply
‘’Allah’’(God).
4. Buddhism -‘’Om mani
padme hum’’ (the jewel in the lotus of the heart’’), corresponds to the hidden
divinity in each one of us.
5.Hinduism ‘’Rama’’ or ‘’Om namah Shivaia’’ or ‘’Hare
Rama-Hare Rama, Rama-Rama,Hare-Hare, Hare Krishna –Hare Krishna, Krishna
–Krishna, Hare-Hare.’’
Rama also was Mahatma Gandi ‘s mantra. It is to evoke joy
and inner strength.
But most popular of all is mantra ‘’Om’’
‘’OM’’ !
In Patanjali’s sutra 27 :‘’tasya vacakah pranavah ‘’ (the
word expressive of Ishvara is the mystic sound OM).
Because it is difficult to understand anything without a
name, Patanjali gives the supreme Purusha /God a name. Using the interpretation
of Sri Swami Satchidananda’s yoga sutras of Patanjali ,it states that every form
vibrates with certain sound. Although the supreme is omnipresent and ever
pervading, Patanjali wants a name that gives us unlimited idea and vibration
which includes all sounds and all vibrations. He says it is ‘’Mmmm’’. Because
we can’t easily say ‘’mmmm’’ so he writes it ‘’om’’. In the sutra 27 ‘’om is
called ‘’pranavah’’- humming.
Om is the word for the supreme.
Even in the Bible it is said ‘’in the beginning was the Word, and the word was
with God and the Word was God’’. In the Vedas :’’The name of Brahman is Om ,and Om is Brahman’’.
The ‘’om’’ sound can be split in three - A (ah), U(oo) ,
M(mm).
In the Mandukya Upanishads ‘’Aum stands for the supreme reality.
It is a symbol for what was, what is, and what shall be. Aum represents also
what lies beyond past, present and future.’
It is divided in four stages- A,U,M and anagata (unspoken , beyond verbal pronunciation).
A –is the beginning of every sound, our first sound when we
are born is normally a cry like ‘’Ahhhh’’, it is almost every nation’s alphabet
first letter or sound. ’’A’’ sound is produced by opening the mouth and making
the sound, it is produced in the throat where the tongue is rooted. It
corresponds to the first level of consciousness Vaishvanara (Mandukya
Upanishads), where senses are turned outward and one is aware only of the
external world.
Then comes U – pronounced between the tongue and the palate,
closer to the lips. U is Taijasa or the
second state of consciousness (Mandukya Upanishads), the dreaming state , the
senses are turned inward where ‘’one
enacts the impressions of past deeds and present desires’’. Then closing the
lips, producing M. In Mandukya Upanishads it is referred as Prajna state of
consciousness .One neither dreams nor desires. There is no mind, no separateness,
but the so called sleeper is not conscious of it, when he/she is ‘’awake ‘’ to
this state it will ‘’open the door to the state of abiding joy’’(Mandukya
Upanishads)
So in other words - A is creation, U is preservation and M is
culmination or beyond. A-U-M, according to Swami Satchidananda, includes the
entire process of sound and all other sounds are contained in it. Om is the origin or the seed of all the sounds and words,
it is dormant in all other words.
But after the sound ends, there is still a vibration, says
Swami Sachidananda. That is the unspoken sound or so called anagata. This
corresponds to the forth, the super-conscious state, called Turiya ‘’neither
inward, nor outward ,beyond the senses and the intellect, in which there is non
other than the Lord.’’(Mandukya Upanishads).
There is always a sound vibration within us, which was
before A and will be after M.
We can tap into this inner ‘’humming ‘’ when we become quiet,
when we manage to still the mind and the senses through different ways of
meditation like mantra repetition(japa), Bhramari pranayama etc.
This basic sound is always part of us, no one can stop it. It
is the seed for all other sounds to manifest from. Just because we can’t hear
it we think we are disconnected from it, but through practice we can become aware
of it within us and all around us. As Swami Satchidanadna explains it ‘’the
entire world evolves from that and goes back into that again. That is why God’s
name should be OM. No other name should be adequate to represent Him.’’
We can find OM in Amen ,
Amin or Ameen …they are only different variation of the same sound , or just
simple hmmmm in the humming of the bumble bee ,the motor of your car , the
couch sound ,the noise of the ocean- ‘’truth is one , seers express it in many
ways ‘’ ( Swami Satchidanada quotation from the Upanishads, ‘’Ekam sat, vipraha bahudha vadanti’’).
Every chant starts and ends with OM.
It is to open and enrol the creation we tap into during the chanting. So by
opening a chant or a mantra with Om we connect
to a certain aspect of the universal consciousness.
Om reminds me of the shape
of the egg, broad base, oval walls (arches) and pointed tip.
In terms of yoga and asana, especially, it helps me and
inspires me to teach or hold a posture. When we start we must be open like A,
broaden and well based in our pose to support us in our journey, then the
breath is the U that transcends our mind and our awareness to the deeper levels
of finding our true self, while at the same time supports this pose, and finally
M,the tip , the top or the one
pointedness where we achieve union and peace with the our edge- physically , mentally and spiritually
and we become nothing but the subtle vibration hmmmmm .Take for example Lotus
pose …. Obviously it is my simple theory but it helps me to be more observant
and present in my practice.
In conclusion about OM I’d
like to say that every time when I start a class we start with a Om. Some students are not so open to participate , others
are very enthusiastic .Their Oms are ever so present and open , especially the
A bit .Which made me think that we are likely to emphasise more on the physical ,dense, aspect of the
creation. By the time we slowly get to the U our breath is not enough and M is
almost not existent .But for a class of beginners it is understandable to be
like this.
I try to encourage them to use the full length of the breath
when we chant OM but it happens with practice
of course.
People who are more advanced in their practise, like some of
Amma’s ( Mata Amritaanandamayi , The Hugging saint ) swamis ,hardly ever open their
mouth when they chant OM , it comes out as
strong and very powerful Hummmmm, resembling a motor of some kind.
So really the way we chant it shows where are we in our
journey...or at least I believe so.
Observing my relationship with Om,
I can see when I am physically unsettled or distracted- I have longer A,
worried or emotional- I have longer U, and when I am more introverted I tend to do it
like a humm …
On some occasions I chant a mantra after Om.
Mantra chanting is very beneficial to set the mood and the
tone of the class. It transforms the atmosphere helps the student to get into a
zone for practice, exploring and studying.
Some times I do little experiment with them. After we
practised for few sessions chant and repeat after me, I leave the mantra
chanting and we just have Om in the beginning
and Om at the end of every class. They seem to
be relieved that we don’t have to do this ‘’difficult’’ and exotic singing (as
some of them call it). But soon after few classes, or even may be few months
later I begin the class with a familiar chant(I say a verse and they repeat it
after me) and to their biggest amusement and surprise they remember it even
better than the firs attempts. Oh the joy on their faces!! Priceles! So this
shows how mantra really can go deeper through certain practice. The practice is
necessary to tame the mind, the mantra is always within us, it is just
necessary to allow it to come back.
Mantra given to you by enlighten being comes with the
blessing and the love of this being. It is also a mantra which has been tested
through the times and has been part of the linage or the teaching of the guru
who gives it to you. Such mantra has more power than the one you or I can
chose.
There are different ways to connect and make your mantra
work. Simply by saying it out loud when
no one can hear you, then gradually whispering, murmuring and finely repeating
it in your head. Every moment when your mind is not actively involved in some
demanding or dangerous operation, like driving or cutting with knife etc.. you
can use mantra while waiting for the bus , the elevator, while walking or
before you go to sleep, using mala (japa) etc.
On one occasion in the beginning of my mantra practising not
so long ago I set my self for a walk and just wanted to see if this mantra
business is that good as they say.
I kept walking by the river and repeating it, and repeating
it very concentrated and… nothing… everything was normal…until suddenly I felt
this overwhelming sadness in my chest, as if my heart was reaped apart, I just
wanted to explode with tears on the bank of the river, my throat felt like it
had a very heavy stone stuck in it …. I
just felt this enormous longing ….just longing….longing and connection with the
nature around me! I felt so happy but at the same time I wanted to die …It was quite
powerful but I couldn’t hold it for long
as there were people walking their dogs around and it would have been ‘’well’’ embarrassing
to see me sobbing like mad on the bank of the river, so I had to find a way to
compose my self and go home never the same again, transformed by such
surprising encounter with my mantra.
So the moral is … I don’t know what the moral is. You never
know until you try it. Everyone should
find it for themselves in their own practise in order to allow it to blossom in
their own time from within their own heart.
But always make sure you have a certain preparation before hand to know
the meaning of the practice you do and be honest with your self, with your
expectations and experiences….and most of all be open for anything and be
patient. And practise, practise, this will show you your way,it will help you
to find your own true experience whenever the time is right. Trust it!
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