What does saying "I Am" do?

[Miss Hepburn]

Closing this up.
I'm finding so many informative answers on youtube!!

Then, I re-opened it.

[Miss Hepburn]

My buddy Still_Waters sent me this great info and gave permission to post it here.
Some people might be interested. Esp. the Meditation crowd.
I know, esp coming from NYC myself - Kabbalist Rabbi's and Jews are like 'cosmically wise'!
I learned this in 1983 when a Jewish gal, my age, blew me away talking like ME...'me' who
identified with Mystical exps ...way back then. LOL.

This is kind of on topic since people use 'I AM' as a mantra.

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

It might interest you to check out the book, Meditation and the Bible, written by a respected Kabbalistic Jewish Rabbi, Aryeh Kaplan. I live in a very Jewish section of Brooklyn and, whenever his name is mentioned, everyone listens (including the rabbis at Lubavitcher headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway). I've got several of his books and he is awesome.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/medita...dition=4143577

In this book, Rabbi Kaplan focuses on HOW the Jewish prophets reached their elevated states. He quotes the Hebrew texts of the Bible and notes the nuances in the specific words used. He points out that the references in the Jewish Bible that talk about singing with tamborines and musical instruments while prophesying indicate that the prophets were NOT just singing songs. They were essentially chanting the same phrase over and over and over again .... essentially a mantra. (This clearly reduces one's thoughts from many to one at which point the one mantra can be stilled so that one enters the "Be still and know that I AM God" state.) In another one of his books, Jewish Meditation Techniques, he notes that there are only a limited number of ways to approach the mind and he specifically mentions mantra as being one of the easiest and also one of the most beneficial in the Jewish Biblical tradition.

I confirmed with my own teacher many years ago that the rishis of India were masters of sound and, by chanting certain Sanskrit mantras, the "mind stuff" (for lack of a better word) is affected in such a way that one intuitively grasps the meaning of the mantra. I have verified that myself. It is said that the Hebrew mantras have the same effect though I have not verified that personally.

[Unseeking Seeker]

In my experience, mantras ‘come to us’, that is to say, we receive them from the universe. This has occurred several times. The mantra plays in the background automatically.

In my view, this is how it should be, we receive as a non-doer.

[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 43:

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

In my experience, mantras ‘come to us’, that is to say, we receive them from the universe. This has occurred several times.
In my view, this is how it should be, we receive as a non-doer.

It's interesting that you should say that mantras "come to us" since that's exactly how my primary mantra came to me with reinforcements along the way.

At one time in the distant past, being intellectually-challenged (Phi Beta Kappa, etc. ), I thought that mantras were a total waste of time ... repeating the same thing over and over and over again. I was first introduced to mantra when I took yoga classes since, after each class, the group would do mantra chanting with different mantras selected at different times. As soon as the mantra chanting started, I would head for the exits as quickly as possible ... except ... when I was "stuck" in the middle of the hall with no opportunity for a graceful, non-disturbing exit. Interestingly enough, on every occasion when I found myself "stuck" in this manner, the selected mantra was always the same mantra. Eventually, whenever I found myself "stuck" in this manner, I intuitively sensed that the selected mantra would be the mantra that would eventually become my primary mantra and I actually started to look forward to it over the course of time. (This primary mantra was even consistent with the vision that I had had during my near death experience. I knew intuitively and unquestioningly that this mantra was mine.)

Years later, when I received spiritual initiation, my spiritual mentor asked me if I wanted to be given a mantra. Although I "knew" what my preferred mantra was, I decided to trust her and asked for a mantra. Not surprisingly, she gave me the exact same mantra to which I was already drawn.

Years later, when I was at the Khumba Mela in Haridwar (India), a friend and I were walking in an open field towards the Ganges River and there was no one in sight. We were discussing spiritual practices, including mantras. Suddenly and unexpectedly, a sage whom we had seen at the bandara (feast) the previous day appeared literally out of nowhere. He looked directly at me and gave me an unforgettable, 6-word message that included my preferred mantra. This reinforced my commitment to that mantra. He then literally disappeared. (Shortly thereafter, we brought this to the attention of our spiritual mentor who was sitting on the dais with the spiritual hierarchy of the monastic orders of Shankara. The sages looked at me in silence and then turned to her. After a long silence, she said: "You've been blessed. He does this from time to time. Everyone knows this....Meditate on how such things are possible." It was NOT an hallucination, as my friend and I were wondering.) This reinforced the mantra which I still use to this very day as a gateway to the stillness.

As you also indicated, other mantras have indeed "come to me" at various times, but this has always been the primary one.

If I may ask, how did your mantras come to you?

[Still_Waters]

Returning to the subject of the "I AM" mantra (with no other thoughts), it's interesting to note that the chanting of "I AM" (with no other thoughts) can facilitate the sense of unity consciousness (non-duality).

As soon as one tries to complete the sentence .... such as I AM Still_Waters ... duality manifests immediately as there is now "Still_Waters" and that which is not Still_Waters.

This might not have the same effect on everyone but I have personally noticed that process within myself and sages (such as Ramana Maharshi and others) have mentioned the aforementioned effect as well.

P.S. In case anyone is curious, "I AM" has not been my primary mantra as mentioned in my previous post. However, I do use the "I AM" mantra as well now. I don't think that I would have fully appreciated the "I AM" mantra in the formative days of my spiritual unfolding simply because I wasn't ready for it.

[Unseeking Seeker]

@ Still_Waters ~ how mantras come to me? What should I say? It’s nothing dramatic like a sage appearing! My default orientation is silence, thought rested, bliss energised stillness. The mantra then arises within, as a soundless sound, reverberating, which I receive in trust, without questioning it. I sometimes chant it without apparent volition and at other times it plays in the background on its own.

Likewise, all other offerings from the universe, like kundalini energisation, visions, wisdom downloads, different immersions, they all occur as orchestrated by the will of God, which we may also call Self or the universe.

Whilst variations of the mantra are many, occurring as needed, the beej* (*seed or root) mantra is Ohm, which phonetically varies as ooooohhmmm or oohhhhhhmm or oohhmmmmmm, meaning emphasis on the alphabets shifts, again as needed, which is more nuanced than we imagine. Thus it is best to use the mind of the universe instead of interfering at lower mind level, so no practice is the best practice!

[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 46:

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

My default orientation is silence, thought rested, bliss energised stillness. The mantra then arises withi

Whilst variations of the mantra are many, occurring as needed, the beej* (*seed or root) mantra is Ohm!

In that silence/stillness, much is revealed ... including mantras, as you pointed out in your specific case.

The variations of the seed OM (Ohm) mantra can indeed be very illuminating and there seem to be very few who understand the various nuances of OM (including the meditations triggered simply by concentrating on the symbol for OM).

Well said.

P.S. Getting back to the "I AM" theme of this thread, your post triggered a memory of a question that Ramana Maharshi posed during one of his talks: Which comes first, the "OM" or the "I AM"?

[J_A_S_G]

It seems to me the "I Am" mantra is no different than Ramana Maharshi's "Who Am I?" inquiry, where eventually the inquiry/mantra ceases.

"By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’. The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization."

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by J_A_S_G

It seems to me the "I Am" mantra is no different than Ramana Maharshi's "Who Am I?" inquiry, where eventually the inquiry/mantra ceases.

"By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’. The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization."

It is indeed consistent with Ramana Maharshi's "Who Am I" Self-inquiry as you duly pointed out. You probably are already aware that Ramana did explicitly state that "that which is eventually does not even say 'I AM' ".

Nisargadatta Maharaj also pointed out that the "I AM" was the gateway to the Absolute.

The Sufi Master Hazrat Inayat Khan (under whose son I practiced for a few years) and others spoke similarly on the "I AM".

Your point is very well taken.

[J_A_S_G]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

You probably are already aware that Ramana did explicitly state that "that which is eventually does not even say 'I AM' ".

Correct. Mantra/Self-inquiry is the stick that in the end gets consumed by the burning pyre. Perhaps another way to say it is one is not tending the fire, but the fire itself and that's the realization.