The power of mantra
Yesterday a gong arrived in the post. Not a small thing, a large 24-inch work of art that now vibrates in our spare bedroom furthest away from the neighbours. It is a lovely thing creating complex layers of sound that you feel throughout the body as well as hear. Its mantra is Ong. It is the only thing it can say, although it can say it in different ways.
Mantra is simply the repetition of a word or words, internally or externally. It is incredibly powerful and can be used to bring the mind into states of bliss in meditation. The most widely known practice of this that I'm aware of is transcendental meditation.
It's interesting to notice that most of our mantras (and all of our thoughts can be mantras) do not induce states of bliss. Some of them can make us completely miserable, depressed, stressed, ashamed, angry or afraid. They only make us feel that way because we take them to be true.
Most people assume that their thoughts are true because they reflect the world that they see. However what if it is thought that creates our reality? There is definitely at the very least some truth to this as the mind has to filter so much incoming data to make sense of reality, so it filters out anything that doesn't fit in with what it understands to be true. If a mantra can induce a reality of bliss it is effectively creating a state through which we perceive and when we are in bliss the world, yourself and others feel completely different.
What mantras do you have? And would you like a change?
Mantras only feel true because that is the way we are used to looking at ourselves/others or the world. A good way to test whether you think it is true/helpful is to imagine teaching it to a group of young children. Or to think of someone who really inspires you and ask if they would believe this? What would you prefer to teach? What would that person believe?
“If feeling bad about yourself were no longer an option, what would emerge in its place?”
If you would like to practise a new mantra it's a bit like mindfulness, you need to do it every day! After all you've been practising your old one probably every day for a long time!
- Be patient and be persistent and be kind. It takes time, which is good!! as you will also develop patience persistence and kindness ☺️
- When your old mantra comes up, thank it, and feel however it makes you feel as sensations in the body — it's only temporary.
- Consciously choose your new mantra every morning and feel however it feels in the body. You could try saying it out loud, whispering it, saying it internally, writing it down and feel how each feels. Find a way of remembering eg a post it or an alarm.
- Spend as much time with other people who believe this mantra or who embody how you would like to be in the world. And conversely try to limit time with people who don't.
- Keep repeating it in the mind. You can do this every now and again and you can try repeating over and over again. See if you can get a feel for the whole body vibrating the mantra — imagine you are a gong.
- If it feels like it's going nowhere, buy and read a book on manifestation (it probably has better instructions!!)
- Let me know how it goes — good or bad!
“I’ve never seen any life transformation that didn’t begin with the person in question finally getting tired of their own bullshit.”
If you are interested in mantra I recommend this charming book about a Russian peasant aiming to become in a state of constant prayer with a single mantra — “The way of a pilgrim" If you had only one thought, one sound, like a gong, what would it be? What would be most true to you? And how would that feel to only say and think that?!
And conversely, if you had no beliefs at all but could just ask in any given situation — what is the most helpful thing to believe right now – what would that be like?
Wishing you a lovely weekend of noticing and playing with mantras 😀
Amrit Jiwan xx