Mantras and me

 

It was around the age of ten that I got the Gayatri mantra. I do not remember who taught me that. Being the eldest in the family, it was my duty to light the lamp at dusk every day and sing some prayer songs. About two years later, my scholarly uncle gave me a two line 'mantra' that had the word 'Shakti' on it. At that time I had no idea what Shakti meant. I thought that he had just concocted something and told me it was a mantra. But I was determined to chant it with full devotion and added it to the Gayatri mantra.

 

From then on I was chanting both of them before doing anything, like when I had to get out of the house to go to school, I would chant them, before starting to take down notes at school/ college or before starting to write the exam, I would hold the pen and chant both mantras, then open the pen and start writing. Same routine before starting to learn lessons or writing home work. In retrospect, I believe this had a great role in my being a bright student and doing well in studies.

 

About four decades later when I heard the same line with 'Shakti' being chanted  early morning in Tiruvannamalai temple, I got goose bumps! I thanked my stars that I had considered it a mantra and chanted all these years.

 

Why Mantras?

 

According to Russill Paul in his book The Yoga of Sound: Tapping the Hidden Power of Music and Chant, mantras are traditionally defined as “sonic formulae that take us beyond, or through, the discursive faculties of the mind and connect our awareness directly and immediately to deep states of energy and consciousness”. In essence, many ancient mantras serve as vehicles for the mind to cross over the material world and into enlightenment.

 

We use sound to cut through mental clutter, facilitate meditation practice, and create a deeper state of awareness. Mantras have the power to evoke holiness or positivity, and transform the reality of our perception. A Sanskrit mantra stimulates the  84 meridians on the roof of the tongue. Scientific evidence shows that mantras can facilitate the release of secretions that strengthen our immune and neurological systems. “Yogic mantras stimulate the secretions of the pituitary gland, which is located only millimeters from the palate…certain permutations send signals to the command centers of the brain—the hypothalamus, and the pituitary, primarily, and also to the pineal gland. These orchestrate a healing response and send out packets of information in the form of neurotransmitters and chemicals, in the brain and throughout the body,” writes Dharma Sing Khalsa, M.D., an expert in Kundalini yoga and researcher of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Chanting improves one's memory and power of concentration. It leads us to the path of meditation. Meditation requires focus, which is difficult to achieve. But, when you chant with concentration, the mind gets focussed. This is probably why chanting is so good for kids.

 

Sound has tremendous power.

Many spiritual traditions see sound as a key component of practice and connection to the divine or sacred. The basic symbolism of  'Om', the most important mantra of all, is creation itself. On the physical level, chanting in the prescribed way impacts the abdominal area (from where the chant notes are raised), the lungs, the circulatory system and so on. The mantra sounds create thought-energy waves, and the organism vibrates in tune with the energy and spiritual appeal of a chant. Scientists say that when a mantra is chanted rhythmically, it creates a neuro-linguistic effect, which occurs even if the meaning of the mantra is not known. But knowing the meaning of what you are chanting tunes your mind towards reaching your goal.

 

Mantras coming my way

It is interesting how so many mantras came my way over the years, sometimes from Gurus, sometimes from instructions in dreams, and many times mantras establishing a connection with me when they come across while reading something or listening. It is said that for one to get the full power from a mantra, each one has to be chanted for a specific number of times, which run in thousands. Since we travel a lot, I get long periods of free time, which I utilise for chanting mantra. And whenever a mantra has been chanted for the specific number of times, I get indication from the Universe. Since it has happened with many mantras that I have been chanting for decades, if I ask someone to chant a specific mantra, it holds some power.

 

The path…

• Learn from a Guru, who will teach you how to pronounce the mantra perfectly, and knows which mantra you need.
• Sit on a rug to conserve body energy.
• Chant slowly and clearly, sticking to the exact pronunciation and emphasis.
• Synchronise the chant with the rhythm of your breath.
• Keep your eyes closed.
• Breathe deep and slow.
• Don't hold yourself rigid. Let your muscles relax.
• Give it time. The effects are slow but sure to come.

 

 

 

References:

https://www.sonima.com/yoga/sanskrit-mantras/

https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-magic-of-mantras/article16366520.ece