The
Characteristics of a Mantra
by Avadhutika Ananda Mitra Acarya
The mantra is like a rocket engine that propels the mind beyond
the "gravitational fields" of the lower levels of consciousness,
through all the turbulence of the subconscious mind, to the superconscious
– and beyond. Thus, a correct process of meditation involves
the generation of immense psychic energy through intense concentration
on the mantra.
Some systems of meditation which involve internal repetition of
certain sounds, advise the meditators not to concentrate on them.
Such techniques are quite relaxing and refreshing, but for spiritual
elevation, concentration is essential – the intense effort to focus
the mind on the mantra. Like the farmer whose mind was concentrated
on his sick son, or the chemist concentrated on his research, or
the medium concentrated on her crystal ball – the fixed attention
of the mind on any object of thought will produce the necessary
internal energy to elevate the mind to subtler levels. Experiments
on Ananda Marga meditators whose process begins with concentration
have shown that, rather than being asleep or passively relaxed,
their bodies and minds are in a state of intense physiological activation:
more energy, rather than less, is flowing through them.
Three Qualities of a Mantra:
Pulsative
What is the special effect of the mantra, that by focusing the mind
on it, one can transcend the ignorance and illusions of the lower
mind?
A mantra must have three qualities to hold the restless mind steady,
to energize it, and to transport it to subtler realms. It must be
pulsative, incantative and ideative.
First, it must be pulsative. It must be of two syllables so that
it can flow rhythmically with the breathing, for the breathing has
a profound effect upon the state of one's consciousness. You may
have noticed that whenever you are angry or upset, your breathing
is fast and short; but when you are absorbed in any task, you naturally
breathe slowly and deeply.
The functioning of breathing is closely associated with the flow
of vital energy in the body, called prana, which in turn greatly
affects the mind. If the breathing is fast and irregular, the prana
becomes unsteady and agitated; the mind becomes disturbed and perception
and thinking are unclear. Thus control of breathing pranayama is
an important part of yoga training. The more the breathing is slowed
and regulated, the greater the composure in the prana, and the greater
the concentration and control of the mind.
Once there was a minister who had greatly displeased his king. As
punishment, the king ordered him imprisoned in the top of a very
high tower, and the minister was left there to perish. That night,
the minister's faithful wife came to the tower, crying, to see if
there was any way she could help him escape. He told her to return
to the tower the following night, bringing with her a long rope,
some string, some silken thread, a beetle, and a pot of honey. Wondering
at this strange command, the wife obeyed, and the next night brought
him the desired articles. The minister directed her to tie the silken
thread firmly around the beetle's leg, then to smear its feelers
with a drop of honey and place it on the tower wall, with its head
pointing upward. Attracted by the scent of the honey, the beetle
crawled slowly up the wall, drawing the silken thread behind it.
Hours later, it reached the top, and the minister caught it and
untied the silken thread. Then he told his wife to tie the other
end of the thread, dangling on the ground, to the long string. The
minister then pulled up the thread until he could grasp the end
of the string. Next he instructed her to tie the rope to the other
end of the string, and pulling up the string, he grabbed the rope
and tied it to the tower window – and slid down to freedom.
The silken thread is the motion of breathing the string is the prana
or vital energy, and the rope is the mind. By controlling the motion
of breathing, we can gain control over the prana; by controlling
the prana, we can control the mind. Then we attain liberation from
all bondages.
Thus the mantra must be of two syllables so that its slow and rhythmic
internal chanting will serve to slow the breathing, steady the prana,
and calm and control the restless wandering of the mind.
The Second Quality of a Mantra: Incantative
The second quality is incantative. The mantra must have a certain
sound, a certain vibrational pattern so that when it is chanted
internally, it will elevate the individual's own vibration, or "entitative
rhythm".
Each entity of this creation has its own particular entitative rhythm,
its own note in the universal harmony. From pulsing quasars to oscillating
electrons – from the ultrasonic melody of mountain ranges to the
ceaseless reverberation of the creatures, singing and drumming,
whirring and clicking, laughing and crying – all the notes are orchestrated
in a vast cosmic concert.
The source of this ceaseless rhythmic movement is the Infinite Consciousness,
soundless and still, the ocean of peace. Undisturbed by any vibration,
it flows in an infinite straight line through eternity.
The ancient sages, who had merged their minds in this sea of unexpressed
Consciousness, realised that the universe is a vibrational play
of varied waves with different wavelengths. By their intutional
powers, they came to understand the laws of universal harmonics
governing this vibrational flow, and they developed a subtle science
of sound to affect the rhythms of creation – without any mechanical
apparatus.
Indian music, developed by the great yoga master, Shiva, over seven
thousand years ago, was one branch of that science. The classical
ra'gas, or musical scales, are so subtly attuned to the rhythms
of nature that each raga is to be played or sung only in a certain
season and at a certain time of the day, to produce a specific emotional
effect in the musician and audience. One raga is played only at
dawn in the spring, to evoke the mood of universal love, another
is sung only during the evening in summer, to arouse compassion;
still another only during midday in the rainy season, to summon
courage.
It is said that the masters of music had control over not only human
emotions, but all natural manifestations as well they could produce
heat and rainfall at will, and the vibrations of their voices alone
would cause finely-tuned musical instruments to resonate in accompaniment!
Historical documents describe the remarkable powers possessed by
Tansen, the 16th Century court musician of Akbar the Great. Commanded
by the Emperor to sing a night raga while the sun was overhead,
Tansen's vibrational song instantly caused the whole palace to become
enveloped in darkness.
But the subtlest of all these sciences of sound was the science
of mantra. The masters knew that each individual's entitative rhythm
vibrates at a particular frequency. Like many instruments in a symphony
playing in harmony, the combination of all the various "bio-rhythms"
of mind and body (psychic waves, heart beat, metabolic rate, etc.)
produces the individual's particular "melody". If this
individual melody is raised to subtler and slower frequencies, it
ultimately becomes infinite – and the mind merges in boundless Cosmic
Consciousness.
Through long inner experimentation, the yogis developed a series
of powerful sounds or mantras which, when chanted internally, resonate
with the individual's entitative rhythm and gradually transform
it into the infinite straight line of Supreme Peace.
These sounds originated from inside their own bodies, and were systematised
into the oldest alphabet and language on earth – Sanskrit.
Sanskrit: The Human Body's Eternal Song
Close your eyes for a moment and just listen.
What did you hear? Even when we are in a "quiet" environment,
so many sounds bombard our ears : the dull drone of machines, distant
voices carried on the wind, birdsongs, telephones, construction
noises, traffic it seems impossible to escape external noise in
this modern world.
But if we can withdraw our minds from these external sounds, we
will hear much subtler, inner vibrations. In the absolute stillness
of soundproof chambers in scientific laboratories, insulated from
all external noise, some people have been able to hear some of these
intemal sounds : a high-pitched resonance, and a deep throbbing
the vibrations of their own nervous system, and the pulsing of their
blood.
Thousands of years ago, yogis meditating in the utter silence of
caves or mountains, were able to withdraw their minds not only from
external sounds, but from the noises of the physical body as well.
They could then focus their minds on centres of subtle energy inside
them. Along the spine and in the brain, there are seven psychic
energy centres or chakras which control the functioning ofmind and
body. Most human beings are unaware of these chakras, but when the
mind and body become more refined through meditation, these subtle
energy centres can be perceived and controlled.
The chakras have been described by enlightened saints and mystics
of all spiritual paths and cultures – by Buddhists, ancient
Chinese, Hindus, Tantriks, Christian and Jewish mystics, Sufis,
and Native American Indians. Recently, science has detected them
as well. Sensitive instruments have measured energy emanations (beyond
frequencies which are known to come from biochemical, anatomic systems),
surging from the surface of the body at the exact locations of the
chakras.
Those ancient yogis who directed their inner ear toward these energy
centres, were able to hear the subtle vibrations emanating from
each 9f them – 49 different vibrations in all. Then they spoke them
aloud, and each of these subtle inner sounds became one letter of
the Sanskrit alphabet
Thus, the Sanskrit language – sometimes called "the mother
of all languages" – was developed from the externalised sounds
of our subtle internal energies. It is the human body's eternal
song.
Mantra Transforms the Entitative Rhythm
The yogis then combined these powerful sounds into mantras which
are attuned to the universal rhythms of the cosmos. For thousands
of years, these mantras were never written down, lest they be misused
by unworthy power-seekers, but were passed down directly from guru
to disciple. Even today, they must be learned personally from a
qualified teacher of Ananda Marga; for different individuals, with
different entitative rhythms, will receive different mantras for
concentration. Thus, people of all nationalities, regardless of
their language, will use Sanskrit mantras for meditation, because
Sanskrit is the universal language for self-realisation.
The repeated chanting of the subtle inner music of the mantra (the
"incantative rhythm") in meditation vibrates the chakras
and stills the restlessness of the mind:
Gradually, the meditator's entitative rhythm slows down in resonance
with the mantra
Finally, it is transformed into the straight line cosmic rhythm,
and merges into the eternally still and serene sea of Cosmic Consciousness,
the goal of all yoga practice.
The Third Quality of a Mantra: Ideative
The mantra is not only a vibratory, pulsating sound that harmonises
all the rhythms of the mind arid body with the Supreme Rhythm. It
has a specific expansive meaning as well.
Yogis have taught for centuries the simple truth : "As you
think, so you become." It is now an accepted psychological
fact that the mind becomes like its object of ideation. Many experiments
have shown that our consciousness tends to merge or identify with
any focus of attention that is maintained for a sufficient period.
Thus visualizations and affirmations will gradually transform our
minds according to their object of concentration.
Understanding that people are often limited by the negative or inferior
ideas they have of themselves, psychologists attempt to change our
"self-image" and thus to completely transform our personality.
In one experiment, a man – sweating and straining as hard as he
could – could only lift 150 kilos of weight. Then he was hypnotised,
and the hypnotist repeated, "You are the strongest man in the
world you have tremendous strength!" Under hypnosis, he lifted
200 kilos without the slightest strain or difficulty.
Today, the "power of positive thinking," positive affirmations
and creative visualisations are being used by many people all over
the world to become more successful, more popular, more wealthy.
But the goal of yoga is not so narrow or limited as worldly success
or wealth. It is nothing less than infinity – the infinite expansion
of one's mind to merge with the Supreme Consciousness.
Thus, the process of meditation also employs a repeated affirmation
– the meaning of the mantra "I am Infinite Consciousness",
"I am one with That." Actually, this is the reality –
on the highest levels of our being, we are infinite and we always
have been; we only do not realize it because we identify with our
small egos, with the limited lower levels of our minds.
So by daily practice, by the constant ideation, "I am That,"
we gradually lessen our false identification with our body and lower
mind, and identify with the blissful Self within. As the mind gradually,
imperceptibly expands through higher and higher layers, one glorious
day we become completely free from all the bondages of ego and realise
that we are not this body, we are not this mind, we are not this
imperfect personality – we are infinite. We are the Supreme Consciousness.
In that moment, we go beyond the mantra – beyond pulsation, beyond
vibration, beyond ideation – and in breathless silence, we dissolve
into ecstatic union with the origin of all.
Sooner or later, we will all experience it – it is the birthright
of every human being. Each person is a channel for infinite power
and energy and knowledge – a vessel to be filled with this never–ending
bliss. The revelations of dreams, hypnosis, hallucinations, creative
flashes, and intuitional foresight have given us some idea of the
limitless resources of our inner spaces. Now we must check the external
drift of our minds and turn our awareness in upon itself so we can
explore the Kingdom of Light within.
"The Supreme Consciousness is inside you like butter in milk;
churn your mind through meditation and He will appear – you will
see that the resplendence of the Supreme Consciousness illumines
your whole inner being. He is like a subterranean river in you.
Remove the sands of mind and you will find the clear, cool waters
within."
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
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