Mantra Meditation, You Must Know how to Use the Mantra
Our mind takes the form of the mantra that we take. “Manah Trayate Iti Mantrah” – a mantra is brought to the mind again and again so the mind becomes the mantra. The mind should be filled with the mantra. The moment that happens, the mind is free from worry.
Sometimes we find ourselves thinking too much or worrying about things. When a thought arises in the mind, it is not easy to get rid of it. The thought keeps coming back again and again, and if you decide to do something else, you will feel uneasy until you finish with that thought. It becomes irritating like a grain of sand in the eye.
Similarly, if you are unhappy about something, that sadness does not easily leave you. You often tell your mind that something is trivial and not to worry about it. But the mind or intellect does not pay any attention to that. Chanting a mantra can help at such times.
What is a Mantra?
A mantra has strength and spirit. When the mind is filled with the mantra, it becomes powerful. The power of every mantra can be felt in the form of vibrations. When an atom explodes, its impact spreads not only for many kilometers, but the effects remain for many years – all this from the explosion of an atom! The mind is a thousand times subtler than an atom. Imagine the power of the mind when it becomes quiet. When the mind becomes quiet again and again, this is called a mantra.
A mantra has strength and spirit. When the mind is filled with the mantra, it becomes powerful.
~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar
Sahaj Samādhi Meditation is the easiest and most natural way of transcending thoughts and going into the source of our existence. It is like sowing a seed and closing the soil on top. The mantra is the seed.
Relax to Concentrate
Meditation is not concentration. It is de-concentration. To do any work, you need concentration. But to relax, you don’t need concentration. But relaxation is the mother of concentration. If you relax well, you can concentrate better.
The first benefit of meditation is that it improves the bio-energy in our body. Meditation creates positive energy around us. Second, it improves health. It can also help to keep us in a pleasant state of mind. It’s a big help in preventing many mental illnesses. The mind vacillates between the past and the future. We are angry about the past all the time. Meditation helps the mind from swinging to the past and future and to be more in the present moment. Meditation, therefore, is the food for the soul.
The effect of the mantra depends on how it is pronounced and invoked. With the help of a mantra, the mind loses its smallness and becomes vast; the dissatisfied mind becomes content; and the mind that is constantly disturbed by desires is released from it and finds fulfillment.
If you relax well, you can concentrate better.
~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar
Mantras are sounds that have a deep effect on consciousness – on the conscious and subconscious mind. They energize the cells in the body and awaken the life force in you. Mantra means that which wins over the mind. Once you cross the bridge, you have to let go of the mantra. Once you are happy, then let go of the mantra. How to use the mantra and for what purpose has all been studied and laid out in our ancient traditions.
Types of Samadhis
There are many kinds of samadhi: samadhi of bliss, samadhi without thoughts.
There is bhava samadhi. You listen to music and your emotions rise high and then you go beyond the emotion. Going beyond the emotion, you dissolve in ecstasy.
You can just sit and have total dispassion about everything. You become so centered that you get into a sakshi samadhi – a witness to everything.
In laya samadhi, you may listen to some flute or string instrument and you dissolve in it. Or you can intellectually analyse and know that this is all a dream.
It takes just a few seconds to realize that this is all a dream and that nothing exists. That is pragya samadhi.
When someone dies suddenly, there is a vacuum suddenly that makes you dispassionate. It’s all going to finish, everything is going to finish. That thought, that memory can lead you into another type of samadhi.
Research has found that meditating regularly for eight weeks increases the gray matter in the brain and it becomes more vibrant, creative, and happier.
~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar
There is the samadhi of total faith which will bring much integrity in your personality. Whatever, may come, whoever may say anything, your faith is unshakable. When your faith is not conditioned by what is happening around you, that is another type of samadhi. Sahaj Samadhi Meditation effortlessly brings Samadhi.
A Pathway to Bliss
Just as the seed sprouts roots and shoots below and above, the everyday practice of Sahaj Samadhi meditation brings calmness, clarity, bliss and intuition. It can be done anywhere. You could be on a train, car or plane and meditate. Only you shouldn’t be driving!
Research has found that meditating regularly for eight weeks increases the gray matter in the brain and it becomes more vibrant, creative and happier. We need more happier brains today since depression is taking over the planet Earth in a big way. Research by well-known geriatric psychiatrist Dr Akshya Vasudev shows that while medication can help only 20% of people suffering from depression, Sahaj Samadhi meditation can benefit up to 70%.
