The practice of mantra
 

Do you practice mantra ? Not something i'm knoledgeable about, but i find fascinating how some sanskrit sound will produce effects on the differents energetic bodies. In the hindu tradition they say the gayatri and om namah shivaya are the best mantra anyone can practice without receiving it from a master. They say these mantra can lead to moshka. Is mantra considered similar to raja yoga, since they work to silence the mind ?

Hi Smiling sun,
The explanation of mantra is that everything in this world is vibrating, even solid things at a subatomic level are particles and/or waves vibrating. Mantra is composed of divine sounds (or vibrations) that when you say or think them vibrate at a divine rate and start to vibrate you at a divine rate, hence raising your consciousness level toward the divines. (Everything in existence is just varying levels of consciousness).
So in that sense mantra is one of the tools we can use to help us re merge with the divine, or our divine self. My understanding (but others may well disagree and that`s fine, they may be correct) is that mantra alone will not take you to enlightenment/ Moksha. Only divine contemplation or meditation will get you all the way, that said, mantra is a massive tool in preparing us for that event. Mantra is one of the tools used in raja yoga, the other main two are meditation and prayer.

This ^. :smile:

Don't forget what Ramakrishna said...and childlike devotion ...intimate love of God.

Hello peteyzen
The theory about mantra and sounds vibrating at a divine rate is fascinating as the hindu say the universe was created by sound vibrations. I've found sounds have a big influence on us, from music to conventional langage. I'm still not experienced with mantra who were said to be made with the sounds that created the universe. I've heard too that they think mantra will lead to moshka but maybe not ?

I would pose a question...but in asking I would like to say a mantra has it's place in helping
the mind focus on something...anything ...to quiet it.

My question: How can something finite lead to the Infinite..or enlightenment...

When the phone rings...what happens to the mantra?
When you get tired...what happens to the mantra?
Wouldn't it make more sense to focus on something that has always been there, always will be there?

You mention the sound vibration that created everything that is at the source of all...why not focus on that? :hug3: :icon_cheers:
Haha, maybe no one posed that to you!:D
Google Music of the Spheres, Divine harmony, Celestial Music, the Inner Sound Current, Sat Nam....
to get you started. :smile:

Happy journeys!

Mantra will silence the mind for a period of time because you are practising it in time or your perception of time as a notion. Another way to approach mantra is to listen to the universe it has its own mantra of space and silence...listen watch become..

I've practiced it before and I felt the effect within the first few tries of using it. I am sure that if I continued to practice with it I would develop the skill even further. I don't practice it regularly though. Maybe I should haha.

the best way to find out what mantra feels like is to practice it. Takes like 5 minutes to learn it through watching a youtube video. Very wise way to spend 5 minutes. Practice for me was so smooth and fun and easy and rewarding that I first did it for 45 minutes when I only intended for 15. I also felt very relaxed afterwards, like after a very good meditation session but even better. Maybe because mantra is easier to practice in my opinion, meditation is harder for me personally but I like it more.

I regularly practice mantra meditation and find it very helpful.

Neither of these are my mantra, but two very good mantras from the English language are 'I am', and 'one'.

Those mantras have vibrational value.

Mantra is definitely one form of raja yoga.

Many people recommend having one and only one mantra. Others feel that having several mantras is appropriate. My view is that it depends on the person, but I myself have only one mantra.

I seldom quote the Bible, but the book of John begins:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The best interpretation of this is that in the beginning was Sound. This Sound is seen as Light and felt as Vibration. From this come all things.

Strictly speaking mantra is not included as one of the eight stages of Raja Yoga, but can be used during the 6th step dharana (concentration) and the 7th step dhyana (meditation) ultimately leading to the 8th step of samadhi or union.

Mantras can be used for many purposes but I suspect that the truly powerful mantras are revealed to very few.

Music functions on the same principles of sound and vibration, and we have probably all experienced the power of a piece of music to affect us. Again, I suspect that the true potential of music is mostly unknown at the moment.

Peace.