Mantra
© Yeshe Chodon
For many Americans, mantra is associated with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, guru to the Beatles, whose practice-Transcendental Meditation--consisted in part of giving the seeker a secret mantra. This led to a widespread but mistaken belief about mantra--that we can each have but one.
There is a very attractive web site dedicated to the works, both historical and recent of this famous teacher.http://www.maharishi-india.org/maharishi... Maharishi's Programmes in India illuminates the fullness of Maharishi's accomplisments and vision, and the above remarks are in no way meant to minimize the vast achievements of this guru in bringing spiritual consciousness to millions. But I use Maharishi as a well-known example to introduce the topic of mantra.
Mantra is, of course, the repetition of a set of syllables. These syllables can be many or few, and the repetition can be brief or can last for hours or even longer.
Two of the best-known are "Om" the universal sound taught by so many schools of Yoga, and "Om Mani Padme Hum" the best-known Tibetan Buddhist mantra.
Mantra is an aspect of all eastern religions and is widespread and varied in its application. Many many mantras are not secret nor do they cost anything. For instance, there is an elaborate technology of mantra in the Sikh faith as interpreted in America by Yogi Bhajan. This body of knowledge is referred to as the Shabd Guru, and is available to anyone who cares to make a study of it.
One of the greatest resources available to teachers of Kundalini Yoga is the vast repertoire of the Shabd, of mantra, of perfect templates of infinity captured in the rhythms, the content, and the tones of sound. Every word is part of the rhythm and tide of infinity passed on, practiced, and created as a tool.These are "a gift of transformation to all people who use it."
Changes are made in the consciousness of the individual and in the vibratory fields around that individual. The individuals are "awakened in intuition, intelligence and instinct."
--Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, Ph.D. 1995The mantra is not a language sentence. The interpretation is one of energies juxtaposed. ...Let your mind concentrate on the qualities that are evoked by the combination of sounds.
--Yogi Bhajan, 1990.
Experiencing mantra as an integral part of Kundalini Yoga practice, one experiences the immense benefits.
The repetition produces what could be called a state of self-hypnosis which lifts one out of one's everyday consciousness. After a while, the mantra is just there; one loses awareness of actually doing the chanting. In Kundalini Yoga practice, the chanting is frequently done while holding a pose, or asana, or a series of poses, or asanas, and perhaps also hand positions known as mudras and special breathing patterns known as pranayama.
