Musing on Mantras

Ever since I heard of mantras, I was always curious to the large number of repetitions required to unlock and use mantras.

Was this just a test of our competence? Were we supposed to decipher the secret formula that in fact took only a dozen repetitions, rather than wasting time on some inhumanly long utterance?

Was this a “spiritual” scam? With the promises of materialistic attainments, were the authors leading the gullible into the cultivation of patience, discipline and sacrifice?

I found this last possibility in particular very disturbing, as I had no intention to suffer such mind qualities called virtues!

Most importantly, I wondered, was all this necessary? What was the functional necessity for the volume of repetitions? Could the same result be achieved without putting in the work?

With this mode of thinking, I was most curious about methods to speed up this process so that results could be achieved swiftly (such as chanting in a smashan or under an eclipse).

This led me to dig deeper and research others who had tread the path. Their reports were interesting…

Some people – especially some new-ager types – claimed that after just a handful of repetitions they were getting immediate effects that changed their life circumstances. Yet, still some others claimed after years of practice very little was achieved. There were many who did not report on their rather private practice; I imagine many had nothing to report, and a few didn’t need to as their results were obvious.

This added only more fuel to the confusion. What was really going on?

Let’s start with the claims of fast results:

Focus on a mantra related to a particular effect will focus the individual’s mind on that thing, making it more likely to be perceived and interpreted with significance. This might explain your corner shop psychic seeing the unexpected check in the mail after 11 repetitions of a particular mantra. They may think that their practice brought in the check, and perhaps there is some higher level resonance in effect. Yet, I do not consider such manifestations of syncronicity as siddhi or success in a mantra.

Considering the fact that mantras are Gods in sound form, blessings are bound to occur…

Regarding those with little results:

I can only speculate. But my guess is that, just because someone happens to sit cross legged chanting a bunch of words does not mean they are practicing mantra. If words are said or sung, but the “juice” is missing, why would anything juicy happen?

So what is that juice? It’s Shakti.

Mantra can be used to create conditions for an interaction with Shakti. Her descent is very much a tangible experience, and is the crux of practice. The process cannot be forced, but it can and should become regular.

On this journey, one helpful tool I like to think about are “signposts”.

When practicing mantra, interesting mind-configurations take place, which I call signposts. I have used them as tools to gauge the correct alignment of my practice, and perhaps you can do the same.

And what the signposts? Here’s two…

A very basic signpost that many talk about is the idea of a mantra doing you, rather than you doing the mantra. This is very hard to describe in any other way, but once it happens, it is very easy to recognize. It does not take long, and it’s easy to achieve: just repeat the mantra.

Another signpost is that language interpretation changes or drops. That is, the brain stops sticking with the definition of the words or seeds, and rather than “hearing” just one definition, it starts to hear multiple possible definitions. We switch to start hearing the sound vibrations rather than the automatic language processing of sound to meaning.

Think of it as interpreting the mantra that is doing you through peeling layers of language definitions.

Here’s an example: Let’s say the mantra you are using has the phrase “tat” in it. In the intended definition this word means “that”. In another language, (which happens to be the language I grew up with) it means “to taste”. Normally when I hear “tat” I think of “that”. But sometimes after enough repetitions, I hear both “that” and “taste”… And later, I notice that I am only experiencing the sound of “tat” without any language meaning attached to it.

Being bilingual, and repeating mantras in a third language allowed me to stumble upon this mechanism, and it could be worthy of exploration. But simply, you can think of it as a signpost where the mind starts relaxing. It no longer locks onto a given pattern definition but opens up to lucidity.

Are these signposts helpful to you? Yes and No.

No they are not helpful in the sense that you cannot force the mantra to do you or force your mind to relax. These things happen by themselves.

But if you see that after a thousand repetitions in one sitting your mind has not even relaxed, perhaps you need to adjust your technique. After all, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing, over and over again, expecting different results!

Perhaps you need to put more “juice” into your practice with greater intent, enthusiasm and energy. Sincerity in this regard works wonders. Or perhaps you should seek a qualified Guru to show you how it’s done.

Please remember: It is such a shame to think of synchronicities as the fruit of such a primordial and sacred practice – and I don’t think I use the word shame in association with anything else!

The *thing* about mantras itself is much bigger, much brighter, much larger…  It is of a completely different dimension.

If it’s not blowing your mind, go find someone who can teach you. Go find out…