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A summary on the
Mantra-Yoga teaching by Philippe De Coster, DD; President, Gita Society
of Belgium, Gent, Belgium
A mantra is an incantation. It can be a syllable, a word, a few words
or sentence. When you repeat a mantra several times, it is called japa. A
mantra represents a particular aspect of God, and each mantra has a special
significance and inner power. If you cannot enter into your deepest meditation
because you are tired, unwell or your mind is restless, this is an opportunity
to utilise a mantra. I use a Hindu rosary with 108 grains to recite or sing
“Gayatri Mantra”, mainly to be used by those twice born (the second birth is,
conversion in Christianity, but a yielding henceforth to the Supreme Spirit).
By the way, Catholics have a rosary with 55 grains (a complete rosary is 55 x
3), and Islam has a rosary with 99 grains, each representing an aspect of God.
Buddhism has also its rosary. (All World religions have rosaries, and that does
mean something very important.) A little experience of mine, when you are
trying to cleanse your mind from all kind of worries, which may be called
impurities, you should chant a mantra several times in faith, yielding to the
Supreme Being, the Absolute. If you want to achieve overall purification of
your nature, the japa can be most effective if you do it in a systematic way,
step by step. On the path of spirituality “intention” (faith, confidence) is
extremely important. Chanting a mantra can be done while driving a car or even
walking along the streets or standing in a public place; A swami, some 30 years
ago in my neighbourhood, said (I still remember): “the best place to be
entirely on your own as the loneliest place is in the streets of New York along
the high buildings and the crowd. Using mantras you are really increasing your
inner strength and capacity. The late Michael
J. Eastcott, a dear friend of mine since 1970, who died almost two months ago,
wrote: “The sacred word OM, which is much used in the East, can be effective
in many ways. It may be sounded as a
purifying agent, raising the vibration; sounded progressively, it integrates
our various forces and helps to direct them beyond the form; it also aids
concentration and the ‘recalling OM’ is
used by many to recollect and refocus each time attention wanders. But one of
its most-used functions is to channel and anchor, at the close of a meditation,
the high energies that have been touched; on the wings of its sound these can
be sent forth with power, to be shared by humanity. (page
179, in “The Story of the Self” (Rider and Company, London) “OM” (AUM) is the
real name of the Supreme Absolute, God. In the cosmic manifestation is OM
(AUM); and, beyond the manifestation, farthest beyond is OM (AUM). The Gayatri
Mantra is the divine magnetic needle, always pointing to the transcendental
height of the Supreme Absolute. Here, the seeker, the yogi (meditator) does not
miss his God in the existence, the consciousness, and in blessing. The Swiss psychologist,
Carl Gustav Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 7, 397, wrote: “… we stand with our
soul suspended between formidable influences from within and from without, and
somehow we must be fair to both. This we can do only after the measure of our
individual capacities. Hence we must bethink ourselves not so much of what we
“ought” to do as of what we can and must do.” And, finally, the three soul-stirring
words: AUM TAT SAT ( Gîtâ 17.23) “AUM” as above; “TAT” means ‘That’, the
nameless Eternal, above all attributes and majestic ‘That’ stands. “Sat” means
Reality, the Infinite Truth. Gîtâ quotations to ponder on: 10.25; 10.35; 17.24;
17.25; 17.26. Use the Gîtâ mantras, and put them as
ideas into your heart and life as forces to be accepted and worked out, and you
will be surcharged with spiritual forces. The strength of mantras, generating
the force and form proper to the mantra and imposes it in our substance of
Mind, Life and Matter. Let us terminate
by reciting, the “Gayatri Mantra”: Aum Bhűr Bhuvah Svah Aum Tat Savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhîmahi Dhiyo yo nah prachodayât Aum
O, Creator of the universe May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying
light May thou guide our intellect in the right
direction Aum (Rgveda
III.62.10) We meditate on the
transcendental Glory Of the
deity Supreme, who is inside the
Heart of the
earth, inside the life of the sky And inside the
soul of the Heaven. May He Stimulate and
illumine our minds. A further reading on the Gayatri Mantra is
found on the following web page: www.gita-society.com/gayatri_mantra.htm |