Mantra Meditation

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Repeating a word or phrase-a mantra-over and over again is probably the most practised and widespread path to meditation and one of the oldest. Mantra yoga is mentioned in the Vedas, the oldest of the world's scriptures. The mantra may be chanted aloud or repeated silently. The repetition of the mantra is known in India as japa, and according to the traditions of that country there are fourteen different kinds ofjapa. Today, in the West, only two of them are in common use-voiced repetition and mental repetition.

The power of the mantra is the power of sound to affect people and alter their state of mind. If you doubt that sound can do this, pause for a moment and consider how irritated you get if someone is playing music too loudly or if you are sitting next to someone who is plugged into a personal stereo and the music is almost audible to you. If sound can irritate, then surely the converse is true- sound can make you feel tranquil, and to focus on a mantra during meditation can lead to some of the deepest and most profound sessions you are likely to experience.

Sound is energy produced by a vibrating object. It is transmitted by waves of different frequencies. Followers of mantra meditation believe that different sounds resonate with different energy centres in the body and that these sounds can be combined in the form of the mantra.

Most of the major religions have their own mantra, and a selection of these are at the end of this section. For those who wish to use a mantra in their meditation but who want to avoid religion, any word or phrase, no matter how meaningless, will do.

In India, until the 11th century, it was usual for gurus to devise personal mantras for each of their pupils. Each pupil treasured his mantra and refused to divulge it to his fellows for he had been warned that in doing so the power of the mantra would be weakened. In the 11th century, Ramanuja, a leading figure in the history of Indian yoga and one suspicious of the almost mystical power of the gurus, shouted his mantra from the roof of a temple so that all could share it. The practice of secret mantras now only survives, generally speaking, in the school of Transcendental Meditation (TM) practised by the Maharishi Mahesh.

Those who are suspicious of any religious aspects associated with mantra can do little better than choose their mantra by the method recommended by Lawrence LeShant, a leading expert in the subject. He advocates the 'La-de' method of mantra selection: simply opening a telephone directory at random and blindly letting the forefinger fall on the page. The first syllable of that name becomes the first syllable of the mantra. Repeat the process, linking the second syllable selected at random with the first and-hey presto! -you have a mantra.

To practise meditation with a mantra, begin, as usual, by taking up the position that you find most comfortable and breathe gently and rhythmically through the nostrils, taking the breath deep into the abdomen. Then repeat the mantra, either aloud or silently inward, focusing your concentration on it as completely as you can.

When your mind has become still, it is no longer necessary to continue repeating the mantra, but, as with other forms of meditation, when you become aware that your thoughts have wandered, start repeating the mantra again, concentrating your conscious thoughts on it.

Once you have chosen a mantra with which you are comfortable, stick with it. It's amazing how in times of stress, repeating your mantra a few times silently to yourself restores calm and helps you to put things into proper perspective.

Many mantra meditators repeat the mantra in rhythm with their breathing, saying it once or twice on inhalation and once or twice on breathing out. They are usually repeated silently, but some teachers encourage their pupils to say them aloud, especially if they are leading a group meditation.

Om

Om, a Sanskrit word pronounced to rhyme with 'Rome' is one of the most widely used mantras. According to Hindu belief, om is the primal sound and it is accorded the highest value as an object of meditation and one well worth trying. Breathe in gently, and as you exhale recite the word as three sounds, 'a' (as in father), 'oo' (as in room) and 'rnmm'. Try to feel the sounds vibrating in your body.

The 'a' will feel as if it is ringing in your belly, the 'oo' will resonate in your chest and the 'mmm' will positively resound in the bones of your skull. Link the sounds to your breathing rhythm, keeping it slow and calm and avoiding deepening it in any way.

After saying om aloud for ten breaths, soften the voice until you are saying the word under your breath, then lower it even further, keeping your attention firmly focused on it. It won't be long before your lips stop moving and the syllables lose their shape, leaving you with just an idea that clings to your mind. Banish any intrusive thoughts by imagining them as puffs of smoke and watch them being blown away by a gentle breeze.

The Jesus prayer

Some Christians use the name of Jesus as their mantra, others use short prayers, one of the most popular of which is the Jesus prayer which was probably devised by Orthodox monks. It has two forms, either 'Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me', or 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me'. The prayer follows the advice of a seventh-century mystic who is reputed to have written, 'If many words are used in prayer, all sorts of distracting pictures hover in the mind, but worship is lost. If little is said ... the mind remains concentrated.' His words could be paraphrased to define mantra-a few words to concentrate the mind.

The rosary

You do not have to be Roman Catholic to meditate on the rosary; any Christian can use the beads as a focus for their meditation. With your eyes closed, pass the beads slowly through the fingers, noticing how the smaller beads are periodically punctuated by large ones. Each time you finger a small bead repeat the words of the Hail Mary:

Move on to the next bead: if it is small, repeat the Hail Mary, if it is one of the larger beads, say the Lord's Prayer. The meditation should last for the usual twenty minutes.

Humming like a bee

While not a mantra in the true sense of the word, there are many people who hum while meditating. If you would like to try this, take up your usual position but close your right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through the left nostril, holding your breath as deep and as low in the abdomen as you can. Now exhale and as you do so make a humming noise deep in your throat, focusing your thoughts on the sound.

Do this five times and repeat the exercise with the right nostril, then alternate five times with each nostril for the full twenty-minute meditation.

Transcendental Meditation

This form of mantra meditation was introduced to the West in 1959 by the Ma-harishi Mahesh and became popular in the 1960s when several influential young men and women, pop stars prominent amongst them, claiming they were disillusioned with Western values, turned to the East for spiritual fulfilment. Its central feature is contemplation on and repetition of a Sanskrit mantra personally bestowed on each follower by his or her guru, originally Mahesh himself.

In the Maharishi's own words, in TM '... the attention comes from outside to the inside, to the source of thought, and then the conscious mind . .. gains that transcendent pure awareness which is bliss consciousness. It is just thinking, but thinking in a manner so that awareness goes deep within and gains that inner being of pure consciousness.'

Those who follow TM meditate for 40 minutes a day in two periods of 20 minutes, repeating their mantra inwardly without moving the lips. The two periods of meditation must be separated by at least six hours of normal activity. Unlike many other Indian schools of meditation, TM demands no conscious changes in lifestyle. The Maharishi claims that such changes will happen spontaneously as the meditation sessions progress.

A great deal of research was conducted on TM, and it emerged that it did create significant psychological changes associated with relaxation. Sceptics, however, queried the methodology of much of the research, and their constant barracking weakened the validity of some of the findings. Those who follow TM insist on the mantra being chosen with much ceremony and in secrecy by the master teacher, but this practice has not been shown to be any more effective than one that uses simple words.