I understand the process of different meditations,
but while I was dealing with agitation
and emotional turmoil problems, the one meditation that kept me meditating was with a Mantra.
Because of that, it has a special place in my heart.
Everybody has a mantra......
It doesn't matter whether you're conscious of it or not.
It's just the way our minds function.
You might be lucky and already have a motto like "Cmon, I'm great."
You might, like the majority of us, have a pessimistic mantra.
I'm so heavy...
I'm not as attractive...
I don't have the same resources as they do...
Negative emotions that form our self-perception and are reinforced by repetition.
We act/be as a result of our pessimistic mantra.
If you are a familiar with the self development world, a mantra can be used as an affirmation.
It's just a phrase that you repeat to yourself over and over again in your head.
And it doesn't have any special meaning or significance, it's just something to keep your mind occupied so you don't think of other things.
The word Mantra comes from India. It means a “mental device” or “an instrument of the mind.”
Some of the most common ancient Mantras used are “om” (the sacred sound of Hinduism) and “Om Mane Padme Hum” (Buddhist).
I've used both of these as my mantra previously but nothing sticks like the maha mantra ( hare krishna) for me.
Aside from serving as a focus for the brain, Mantras also hold ancient spiritual meaning to transform you through the process of meditation.
You don’t need to know anything about that to experience the benefits of Mantra Meditation, simply by knowing the word or words and repeating them as a method of pure focus is enough ( but of course if you understand the meaning behind it, the benefits are deeper).
How to practice Mantra Meditation?
Decide on the Mantra that most resonates with you.
There are even more Westernized and modern versions of Mantras you could use if you prefer or you could create your own.
The beauty, however of a Mantra like “om” is in its simplicity.
It is the most basic and powerful of Mantras, easy to repeat and the sound itself is said to symbolically tune us into the sound of the universe, connecting us with all living things.
You can decide whether to chant the Mantra out loud at the beginning of your meditation and then continue internally, or whether it works best for you to speak the word throughout.
Either way, the benefits will begin to show themselves to you with time and acceptance.
Mantras create a shift from sound to silence
So, what makes reciting a mantra potent?
That is because it uses the conscious mind rather than attempting to ignore, silence, or subdue it. It incorporates thoughts to overcome thoughts, and it is literally
repeating a mantra in your mind for a specified amount of time.
To go a bit deeper into why this easy approach works so nicely you have to apprehend what creates emotional struggling. Emotions like anger, jealousy, worry, anxiety and even despair – these kind of traumatic emotions are cause by questioning and over thinking time and time again. Not letting go of things.
Thoughts come with their personal emotional rate. Researchers observed emotions remain approximately ninety seconds. The trouble is we keep thinking about things over and over again reigniting the emotional experience we previously had.
You can get rid of surface feelings, but there is an undercurrent of silent thoughts
that is still going on right beneath the surface of everyday thinking, holding the
mental charges of disturbing emotions alive. So this is where repeating a mantra has
the potential to cancel out the silent thoughts and, eventually calming down your mind.
Mantras replace thoughts!
A mantra can be chanted in three separate ways.
It has its own elements, and the outcomes differ based on the type of chanting used.
The styles are as follows:
Vacik – Which is the chanting of the mantra out loud.
Others in the vicinity will be able to easily hear what you're chanting.
Upāmsa– This is where you whisper the mantra to yourself, repeating it repeatedly.
In this practice, you whisper the mantra to yourself, repeating it quietly.
And as the lips move, no one else will be able to hear the invocation but you.
Mnasa – This form of chanting involves not moving the mouth.
You lie still and silently repeat the mantra in your head.
You don't make a sound from your lips.
It is more advantageous to whisper the mantra than to chant it aloud. In the same way,
repeating the mantra in your mind is more beneficial than chanting it.
There's also Ajapa, which is a fourth kind of chanting.
It's that you don't even recite the mantra aloud.
You simply assume the role of a spectator, paying attention to the internal chanting that occurs without your participation.
It takes a lot of time and work to get to this point.
And we don't have to be concerned with that.
For the time being, we'll leave it to the super advanced.
The mind is usually restless.
If you do the same thing for more than a few minutes, you can quickly get bored.
While the ability to focus on the mantra will improve over time, you will face challenges
at first.
Mixing various styles of reciting to spice it up and keep the monkey mind busy is a smart idea.
You should whisper the mantra if your mind becomes restless after uttering it
in your head.
When you've had enough of it, try singing it or repeating it aloud.
You should also freshen up by going for a stroll or taking a few deep breaths.
Perhaps, if you're only starting out, don't want to sit for long stretches of time.
Instead of one long, vivid session, you can break up your meditation practice
into several small, vivid sessions.
A new meditation I am doing is incorporating mala beads into my mantra meditation. Enter Japa Meditation. What is the significance of Japa Meditation?
Japa is simple and straightforward.
When we think about "meditation," we often forget the physical part of it.
Japa meditation employs the potent, it's very potent blend of mantra and I use mala to promote discipline for myself both physically and mentally giving my fidgety hands something to do while improving my attention on several scales.
Personally, I also use a mala to serve as a reminder of my intention and goals.
I also use it as a reward or symbol for accomplishing a difficult task or emotion.
It's also such an easy way to keep track of the number of mantras that I recited in a week.
When I chant, I am trying to get out of my 3d consciousness or earth based consciousness.
The chants that I use are spiritually in nature and designed to invoke you out of your present reality.
When you think of mediation, you most likely think of cultural stereotypes, the fat buddha, or buddhism, monks and temples. In a way this is a truth.
The origins of mantras go back to at the very least, the Vedic tradition that preceded the Buddha, where mantras were used as incantations to influence, or even to control, the gods.
In essence it stems from the power of words.
Most of us believe that harmful words damage a person, we learn quickly as children that certain things should not be said as they can damage or hurt, or that certain things will promote a positive, loving response.
Mantras are words that are held to create a response as well.
Take, for example, music.
Hit song after hit song uses the very same collection of chords over and over, and we
never get tired of it.
We've known for a long time that there's a recipe for creating music that people respond to.
Could specific combinations of syllables be as emotionally and spiritually moving as
specific tonal sequences? Absolutely!
PS:
The Romans people mistake the name japa (108 beads mantra mala) for japa the Latin
word for "rose" while bartering with India.
As a result, these prayer beads were given the name rosarium, or rosary in English when they were first used in Rome!
Mantra is a Sanskrit term that can be made up of two parts: "man," which means "mind," and "tra," which means "transfer or transit."
This may be interpreted as a tool or mechanism that aids in the transportation or
elevation of the mind.
Many people use mantra as a means to disconnect from their everyday thoughts and
strengthen their intuition, inner power, and satisfaction.
When beginning your journey into meditation, reciting a Mantra can be a very useful aid to inducing the right state of mind for meditation.
As discussed, some of the main obstacles to successful meditation are the busy crowd of thoughts that zoom around our heads and refuse to go away.
Choosing to repeat a word or phrase either out loud or internally helps to focus the mind. As we pay attention, bringing the mind back repeatedly to the same sound through mantra, the mind becomes more unified and we become more present in our meditation.
If you have any questions about mantra meditation, please leave them in the comments section below and I will do my best to answer them.
Best wishes and happy meditating!
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