• What is meditation?
• Benefits
• Preparing to meditate
• Posture
• Eyes
• Breath
• Mantra
• Exercises

Mantra

Mantra is a sanskrit word. In Indian philosophy, spirituality and the inner life, mantras play a considerable role. A mantra is a syllable divinely surcharged with power. The repetition of a mantra is a process for going deep within or accelerating one's spiritual progress. It can be a syllable, a word, a few words or a sentence. By repeating a mantra we can bring to the fore our own inner divinity.

If you cannot enter into your deepest meditation because your mind is restless, this is an opportunity to utilize a mantra.

The best way to use a mantra to attain purity quickly is to ascend by steps. Today repeat the mantra 500 times; tomorrow, 600; the day after tomorrow, 700; and so on, until you reach 1,200 in one week's time. Then begin descending each day until you reach 500 again. In this way you can climb up the tree and climb down the tree. When you climb down, please feel that you are trying to distribute its purity-fruit through your heart to the aspiring people around you.

When a mantra is repeated many times, it is called japa. There are two ways to do japa. One is audible, the other is inaudible. If you repeat the mantra out loud, you will get physical purity. If you repeat the mantra in silence, you will get purity in your inner existence. Without inner purity, you will make no spiritual progress. If your mind is thinking of undivine, impure things, your inner progress will come to a halt. So it is better to practise japa in silence. When you do, try to feel that there is somebody inside you, your inner being, who is repeating the word on your behalf. Just by repeating your mantra devotedly and soulfully you can have purity in your heart and in your mind, and from purity you can get everything.

AUM

AUM is the Mother of all sounds. When we chant AUM, what actually happens is that we bring down Peace and Light from above and create a universal harmony within us and without us. When we repeat AUM, both our inner and our outer being become inspired and surcharged with a divine feeling and aspiration. AUM has no equal. AUM has infinite power. Just by repeating AUM, we can achieve self-realisation.