Various
interpretations of Mantra
Mantras are energy-based sounds.
Saying any word produces an actual physical vibration. Over time, if
we know what the effect of that vibration is, then the word may come
to have meaning associated with the effect of saying that vibration
or word. This is one level of energy basis for words.
Another
level is intent. If the actual physical vibration is coupled with a
mental intention, the vibration then contains an additional mental
component which influences the result of saying it. The sound is the
carrier wave and the intent is overlaid upon the wave form, just as a
colored gel influences the appearance and effect of a white light.
In either
instance, the word is based upon energy. Nowhere is this idea more true
than for Sanskrit mantra. For although there is a general meaning which
comes to be associated with mantras, the only lasting definition is the
result or effect of saying the mantra.
Mantras
create thought-energy waves.
The human consciousness is really a collection of states of consciousness
which distributive existence throughout the physical and subtle bodies.
Each organ has a primitive consciousness of its own. That primitive
consciousness allows it to perform functions specific to it. Then come
the various systems. The cardio-vascular system, the reproductive system
and other systems have various organs or body parts working at slightly
different stages of a single process. Like the organs, there is a
primitive consciousness also associated with each system. And these are
just within the physical body. Similar functions and states of
consciousness exist within the subtle body as well. So individual organ
consciousness is overlaid by system consciousness, overlaid again by
subtle body counterparts and consciousness, and so ad infinitum.
The ego with
its self-defined "I" assumes a pre-eminent state among the subtle din of
random, semi-conscious thoughts which pulse through our organism. And of
course, our organism can "pick up" the vibration of other organisms
nearby. The result is that there are myriad vibrations riding in and
through the subconscious mind at any given time.
Mantras
start a powerful vibration which corresponds to both a specific
spiritual energy frequency and a state of consciousness in seed form.
Over time, the mantra process begins to override all of the other
smaller vibrations, which eventually become absorbed by the mantra.
After a length of time which varies from individual to individual, the
great wave of the mantra stills all other vibrations. Ultimately, the
mantra produces a state where the organism vibrates at the rate
completely in tune with the energy and spiritual state represented by
and contained within the mantra.
At this
point, a change of state occurs in the organism. The organism becomes
subtly different. Just as a laser is light which is coherent in a new
way, the person who becomes one with the state produced by the mantra is
also coherent in a way which did not exist prior to the conscious
undertaking of repetition of the mantra.
Mantras
are tools of power and tools for power.
They are formidable. They are ancient. They work. The word "mantra" is
derived from two Sanskrit words. The first is "manas" or "mind," which
provides the "man" syllable. The second syllable is drawn from the
Sanskrit word "trai" meaning to "protect" or to "free from." Therefore,
the word mantra in its most literal sense means "to free from the mind."
Mantra is, at its core, a tool used by the mind which eventually frees
one from the vagaries of the mind.
But the
journey from mantra to freedom is a wondrous one. The mind expands,
deepens and widens and eventually dips into the essence of cosmic
existence. On its journey, the mind comes to understand much about the
essence of the vibration of things. And knowledge, as we all know, is
power. In the case of mantra, this power is tangible and wieldable.
Mantras
have close, approximate one-to-one direct language-based translation.
If we warn a young child
that it should not touch a hot stove, we try to explain that it will
burn the child. However, language is insufficient to convey the
experience. Only the act of touching the stove and being burned will
adequately define the words "hot" and "burn" in the context of "stove."
Essentially, there is no real direct translation of the experience of
being burned.
Similarly,
there is no word which is the exact equivalent of the experience of
sticking one's finger into an electrical socket. When we stick our hand
into the socket, only then do we have a context for the word "shock."
But shock is really a definition of the result of the action of sticking
our hand into the socket.
It is the
same with mantras. The only true definition is the experience which it
ultimately creates in the sayer. Over thousands of years, many sayers
have had common experiences and passed them on to the next generation.
Through this tradition, a context of experiential definition has been
created.
Definitions of mantras are oriented toward either the results of
repeating the mantra or of the intentions of the original framers and
testers of the mantra.
In Sanskrit, sounds which have no direct translation but which contain
great power which can be "grown" from it are called "seed mantras." Seed
in Sanskrit is called "Bijam" in the singular and "Bija" in the plural
form.
Let's take
an example. The mantra "Shrim" or Shreem is the seed sound for the
principle of abundance (Lakshmi, in the Hindu Pantheon.) If one says
"shrim" a hundred times, a certain increase in the potentiality of the
sayer to accumulate abundance is achieved. If one says "shrim" a
thousand times or a million, the result is correspondingly greater.
But
abundance can take many forms. There is prosperity, to be sure, but
there is also peace as abundance, health as wealth, friends as wealth,
enough food to eat as wealth, and a host of other kinds and types of
abundance which may vary from individual to individual and culture to
culture. It is at this point that the intention of the sayer begins to
influence the degree of the kind of capacity for accumulating wealth
which may accrue.
Mantras
have been tested and/or verified by their original framers or users.
Each mantra is associated
with an actual sage or historical person who once lived. Although the
oral tradition predates written speech by centuries, those earliest oral
records annotated on palm leaves discussed earlier clearly designate a
specific sage as the "seer" of the mantra. This means that the mantra
was probably arrived at through some form of meditation or intuition and
subsequently tested by the person who first encountered it.
Sanskrit mantras are
composed of letters which correspond to certain petals or spokes of
chakras in the subtle body.
As discussed there is a direct relationship between the mantra sound,
either vocalized or subvocalized, and the chakras located throughout the
body.
Mantras
are energy which can be likened to fire.
You can use fire either to
cook your lunch or to burn down the forest. It is the same fire.
Similarly, mantra can bring a positive and beneficial result, or it can
produce an energy meltdown when misused or practiced without some
guidance. There are certain mantra formulas which are so exact, so
specific and so powerful that they must be learned and practiced under
careful supervision by a qualified teacher.
Fortunately,
most of the mantras widely used in the West and certainly those
contained in this volume are perfectly safe to use on a daily basis,
even with some intensity.
Mantra
energizes prana.
"Prana" is a Sanskrit term
for a form of life energy which can be transferred from individual to
individual. 'Prana' may or may not produce an instant dramatic effect
upon transfer. There can be heat or coolness as a result of the
transfer.
Some healers
operate through transfer of 'prana'. A massage therapist can transfer
'prana' with beneficial effect. Even self-healing can be accomplished by
concentrating 'prana' in certain organs, the result of which can be a
clearing of the difficulty or condition. For instance, by saying a
certain mantra while visualizing an internal organ bathed in light, the
specific power of the mantra can become concentrated there with great
beneficial effect.
Mantras
eventually quiet the mind.
At a deep level,
subconscious mind is a collective consciousness of all the forms of
primitive consciousnesses which exist throughout the physical and subtle
bodies. The dedicated use of mantra can dig into subconscious
crystallized thoughts stored in the organs and glands and transform
these bodily parts into repositories of peace.
A layman
should be very careful before starting any Mantra Recitation, as wrong
pronunciation can create negative energy zones and create great harm
instead of good.
