Mantra Yoga

Peace of Mind: Mantra Yoga

A wealthy man named Raghunath lived in south India. He not only had material wealth but also spiritual wealth. One night he was robbed of his wealth. His close friend visited him to offer his sympathy. Raghunath said, "They have robbed my material wealth but not my real wealth. They have robbed my perishable wealth not my impershable wealth."

The real wealth is love, devotion and purity. If one has these, one will experience life differently. God gives us problems to humble us and not to tumble us. When bad things happen to good people they become better and not bitter.

Raghunath further elaborated to his friend, "All the wealth that I had was a loan from the Lord. I was only a trustee. Nothing is mine everything is thine. He has the right to take it whenever he wants."

Detachment is a great wealth. Devotion is the real asset in life. Why does man not work for such a wealth? This is due to the fact that the mind has not been purified. Impure mind craves impure things. Mantras help us to purify the mind and uplift the quality of life. Mantra yoga is all about working on purifying the mind. The object of yoga is to lift a person off the psychological mess he rests upon.

Everyone accepts that one has a body that is useful. But few realise that the condition of the mind really determines the quality of one's life. To a good body, everyone says yes. But to a good mind, people say no. This ignorance is killing the quality of life. Each one of us lives in two worlds; the outer and the inner, the visible and the invisible. Just as a person can become better in the company of good people, he can conversely be affected by the company of bad people. In the same way, our mind is affected by where we visit mentally. People don't give importance to this reality. We frequent mentally a different inner world that is as real as the external world. Mantras help us to purify the inner world.

Our mind has a capacity to imagine. This can be good or bad. Our imagination projects a reality. This projected reality appears to be the only reality. This projected reality is superimposed on the external reality i.e. the internal projected reality is superimposed on the external reality. Now the external reality is not seen and only the projected reality is seen. It is this confusion that causes us to suffer.

Mantras chanted with devotion and understanding, purify the mind. With the mind purified, whenever we imagine we know what our mind wants, what are the imaginations of the mind so that we can catch them as they are created and hence don't get blown by our internal subjective reality.

If we uncheck these imaginary processes, then they become mechanical. A negative system is thus created. These negative systems in turn take over our lives. We lose control and the negative system will sit on the throne of our life.

One will become more unconscious and suffer from this mechanical process. For example, if one goes on seeing unpleasant things in life, this becomes a habit. Then a negative system is created. Then one will helplessly see the negative. The system will start justifying why one is doing what one is doing. The system will try to protect itself. The system gets into survival mode. Then one will not live in the cosmos but in chaos.

Mantra yoga is a great science to dismantle this negative system and create a great inner order. When the inner world of our mind is orderly, then one will see the external world more orderly.

By Swami Sukhabodhananda

Chanting mantras inspires the body to heal itself, the mind to become calm and the soul to grow strong. Chanting makes room for divine energies. Mantras are vibrations - they unlock hidden centres and help to dissolve the ego; they help us build invisible tools for shaping a better life. We start discovering resources within.

Chanting mantras with devotion and understanding makes possible a positive transformation. But this does not happen where there is rigidity. Rigidity is caused when one sticks to one's point of view; it becomes a source of misery. Stubbornness is a form of identification. One of the important teachings of Mantra Yoga is de-identification.

We start getting identified with many things. This is a form of attachment or bondage. To be free from attachment is to be free from identification.

Identification creates rigidity. With rigidity one cannot 'float" in life. One should not fight the waves; one should just learn to float. By chanting mantras with devotion and understanding, one acquires the ability to float with the waves of life.

If we choose to fight the waves of life, we end up getting hurt. This causes pain. The "hurt body" creates an imaginary self, which covers the face of truth, says the Vedas. Once an imaginary self is created, we see and live illusions. The Vedas say: "The world is Maya or illusion". The world might not be unreal but the way we look at the world is unreal - through an imaginary self. Thence illusions are created. This turns into a death trap. But when we chant the mantras with understanding and devotion, the veil of imaginary self disappears and we start seeing truth as truth is and not as illusions: "Lead me /from unreal to real /from darkness to light /from death to immortality".

A mind purified with mantras creates positive energies. Impure energies make us feel miserable. Many people nurse grievances for long in relationships - this is an effect of the impure mind, which tends to function in a mechanical manner. So, we start thinking, form opinions, create dogmas... even feel - all mechanically. But a mind purified by chanting can function like a 'Magnetic Centre".

This can heal our body, calm our mind and strengthen our soul. Mantras unlock hidden promises: Of creating a condition where joy is integral to one'sessence and silence is one'scentre. Operating from such a centre, life will no longer be a threat; it will be full of opportunities. Such a life will generate prema lahiri - waves of love.