12. WHAT IS YOUR *MANTRA?* A POWER BEYOND WORDS

Q. Swamiji, do mantras really have power?

Yes, mantras (sacred chants) have tremendous power, but not in the way people think!

Mantras are powerful, but not because they somehow manage to convince the Gods of wealth or knowledge to bestow favours upon us.

Mantras are effective because they are a carefully arranged sequence of sounds, and sound is a powerful form of energy.

What we perceive as different sounds are actually vibrations of different frequencies. Our ears pick up these vibrations and the brain 'translates' them as sounds.

When sound waves follow one another in a regular sequence, it creates a sense of harmony, which we call music. When it is an irregular pattern, we call it 'noise'.

Words are nothing but sounds to which we have given some meaning. On the energy level, they still function just as waves, as vibrations. Like colours, different vibrations can stimulate different physical and emotional reactions in you. This is because of the property of resonance. When sound waves of a certain frequency meet with your brain waves, the combination can create either a harmonious or a disharmonious effect; or they can activate or 'put to sleep' different areas of the brain. This can affect you both physiologically and emotionally.

Do you know, the Samurai warriors of Japan use the 'fighting cry' or kiai for exactly this effect?

When this sound is produced in a minor key, it has the power to lower the arterial BP and instantly create partial paralysis in the opponent! Simultaneously, it also activates the 'fear' area of the brain and creates a sense of panic in the opponent's mind.

So be very clear: words are not just words! They are embodiments of sound energy.

Mantras work in exactly the same way.

Chanting the Saraswati stotram regularly is said to help students in doing well in their studies. Why? It's not as if Saraswati (the Goddess of learning) is going to appear before them and grant them a boon that they will pass in their exams!

The fact is, the bija mantra (sacred syllable) in the Saraswati stotram, when repeated continuously, has been proved to stimulate the areas of the brain which control memory power and concentration. Repeating this mantra is like giving that part of the brain a vigorous warm-up exercise! So naturally, a student who chants this mantra before taking up his books can concentrate better and remember his lesson far more effectively.

Devoted worshippers sometimes claim that they can invoke the form of a particular deity just by chanting the appropriate mantra. I myself have experienced this many times when I perform powerful yagas or homas (rituals based on making offerings to agni, the fire energy). During the ritual, the sacred fire actually takes the shape of the deity that is invoked with the mantra. Plenty of photographs exist to prove this phenomenon.

It may sound like magic, but there is a sound scientific reason for this. Have you heard of the tonoscope?

th In the late 20 century, an experimenter in Switzerland called Hans Jenny invented an instrument called the tonoscope. This instrument can convert sounds into graphical patterns. If a person speaks into the instrument, it can create a 'picture' of what he said, depending on the sounds of the words!

When they tested the tonoscope, the experimenters were surprised. They found that when someone spoke the sound 'Ohhh' into the tonoscope, the picture that came out would be a perfect circle an 'O'! The vibrations produced by the sound 'Ohhh', when represented graphically, naturally take the shape of the circle that we use to represent it in written language.

That means there is a definite relationship between the sound and the form it takes. Different vibrations appear to our eyes as certain forms. When a particular mantra is chanted, a vibration is set up in the fire, which causes it to take a certain wave-like shape. It is from this shape that the earliest Hindu seers initially drew out the rough form of the deity. So naturally, anyone who chants the same series of sounds perfectly will be able to set up the same vibration, and ultimately see the same shape, or 'deity' in the fire. Simple!

Without our awareness, mantras work on us in many subtle ways. On the energy level, mantras work as catalysts or 'purifiers'. This concept is a little more difficult to understand, but I can tell you from my experience that it is true.

You have three energies in your system: Ichcha shakti (the power of visualization), Kriya shakti (the power of action) and Gnana shakti (the power of knowledge). Iccha shakti is the 'base metal' from which the other two energies can be created by the process of purification.

When added into your energy (your force-field) repeatedly, the vibrations of mantras have the power to process ichcha shakti and purify it to Gnana shakti.

The word mantra can mean two things:

Man-tra: Man means mankind, tra means that which shows the way. So mantra is that which shows the way to man.

Man-tra: Man also means mind, tra means that which shows the way, so mantra could also mean that which shows the way out of the mind, which brings you out of the mind.

When mantras are added to your being continuously, like acid is added to the raw material to cleanse it, your being becomes like 22 carat gold. If you continue the process, it will ultimately become 24 carat gold. So mantras are powerful techniques to enter into the spiritual zone which I call the real life.

But we don't just use mantras in the spiritual life.

We are all chanting mantras continuously, whether we are religious or non-religious, spiritual or materialistic. Every single day in our daily lives, we use mantras without even being aware of it. It is not necessary that the mantra should be in Sanskrit. Don't think mantra means Om Namah Shivaya, or Hari Om Namoh Narayana. You can use even English mantras: I must win! , I must convince that person! I must make her love me! These mantras acquire their power not from their sound, but from the energy you have invested in them.

But you don't realize the power of these mantras!

A small story:

Once, a famous oriental speaker was giving a talk in the West about the significance of mantras. A man stood up and challenged him,

I don't believe this nonsense. How can repeating a string of words have any effect on our minds? Are we so foolish?

The speaker glared at him and roared, SHUT UP, YOU STUPID IDIOT! HOW DARE YOU CHALLENGE ME!

The man who asked the question was simply furious. He started trembling in anger, and started showering abuse on the speaker, threatening to report him to the police, and so on.

When the man finally finished, the speaker started laughing, and told him,

If a few words uttered by a stranger can have such a disruptive impact on your conscious mind, how can you doubt that positive statements, consciously and continuously repeated to yourself, can have an impact on your unconscious mind?

Whatever words you repeat continuously, whatever message you feed your unconscious with, can become a mantra for you. Whatever you utter can become a mantra!

In fact, that is the way you attain something. Any desire in your life, first appears only in the form of a wish, a mantra. With continuous effort, you convert it into reality.

But be very clear: if the mantra is unconscious, the result is also 'unconscious', not in your control. If the mantra is chanted in awareness, if you direct your energy with a proper sense of purpose, the result will also be as you desire.

How do you know whether a mantra is conscious or unconscious? Examine closely the forces that are driving you in daily life. Are you aware of what they are and how they are influencing your actions? Are you consciously following a certain path? Are you clear why?

When your mantra is unconscious, when you are repeating actions because of a habit pattern that you don't understand, you have no control of the result. Your life will be dragged wherever these unconscious impulses take it.

If you decide to chant the mantra consciously, you will be driving the car. If you let the mantra chant you, if you let the unconscious process continue in you and control your actions, the car will be driving you!

If you drive the car, you know where you are going. If the car drives you, you have no idea where you will reach or whether you will reach!

So flood your mind with your consciousness.

Choose your mantra with clarity and commitment.

Then, the path and the goal will both become clear to you.

You will reach your goal dancing!