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Thread: Personal mantra

  1. #1

    Personal mantra

    Namaste all,

    I am curious to know more about the tradition of getting personal, private mantras. What are others' thoughts on this? Is this a practice from time immemorial? Does the swami meditate on the devotee to find it out?

    Thank you for your thoughts

  2. #2

    Re: Personal mantra

    Quote Originally Posted by Anasuyaa View Post
    Namaste all,

    I am curious to know more about the tradition of getting personal, private mantras. What are others' thoughts on this? Is this a practice from time immemorial? Does the swami meditate on the devotee to find it out?

    Thank you for your thoughts
    Namaste Anasuyaa,

    Some of my relatives are devotees of Mata Amritanandamayi, and I know that she has a practice of giving mantras to those who ask for it. The mantra given is based on Amma's intuition, and the deity of the mantra will be one that is closest to the disciples sanskaras.

    By repeated chanting of the mantra, one gets grace from the Guru, the prana levels increases, and the mind becomes equanimous and one-pointed.

    I remember reading a conversation between a man who practice japa and Ramana Maharshi.

    After meeting Ramana Maharshi for the first time, the man stated that he had been chanting mantras for a couple of years and he could not see any results. The Maharshi replied that it was because of his chanting, that he was able to come to Ramana Maharshi's satsang in the first place.

    Thus mantra chanting brings upon oneself results though they may not be obvious in the beginning.

    If one does not have a mantra from a Guru , one can still chant the Panchakshari Mantra, Om Namah Shivayah, which is considered the greatest Vedic mantra.

    Pranam.

  3. #3

    Re: Personal mantra

    Hello Ajay,

    If one does not have a mantra from a Guru , one can still chant the Panchakshari Mantra, Om Namah Shivayah, which is considered the greatest Vedic mantra
    If a mantra like "Om ham hanumate namaha" is not given by the guru, properly, it doesn't works ?

    Pranam
    जै जै जै हनुमान गोसाई

  4. #4

    Re: Personal mantra

    Quote Originally Posted by Bakta View Post
    Hello Ajay,



    If a mantra like "Om ham hanumate namaha" is not given by the guru, properly, it doesn't works ?

    Pranam
    I think it depends on your ability to get deep into the vibration of the sound. There are mantras that might not be that easy to get into, because of someone's current situation and the level of understanding that someone achieved so far. So the mantra, that a Guru gives you, is the one that can help you to go further and reach more awareness and understanding. But - if you choose a mantra for some reason, it might work as well. Don't underestimate your own intuition. You might not be ahead with your studies, but behind this, you are a part of Brahman like we all are.

    Blessings....
    **Jai Shree Krishna** जय श्री कृष्ण[

    They live in wisdom who see themselves in all, and all in them.

  5. #5

    Re: Personal mantra

    Thank you Ajay. What a thorough answer.

    It has been quite some time since I posted that question. Much has happened and it seems that the mantra given is not chosen because of the individual, but the very same one is handed down from guru to disciple.

    We are told that simply saying it is not enough to realize God. The devotee must hold God in his heart with much love and visualize the chosen ishta.

    Namaste,
    Anasuyaa

  6. Re: Personal mantra

    Great said Ajay. Inspired by your words here...

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    Re: Personal mantra

    Namaste all,

    I have performed sadhanas using various mantras. Some were given by my gurus, some were taken from scriptures and I received a few of them while meditating. When I meditated on each of those mantra, they took me somewhere in the sub-conscious state. I continued riding the rapids and entered a state where there was nothing - no thoughts, no recollections of mantras or their source, not even any awareness of myself. Then, there were times when I couldn't even focus on my goal no matter which mantra I am meditating on.

    I can safely say that mantras are mere tools. It wouldn't matter how and where you get them as long as you know how to use them. In the end, all that matters is you, nothing else.

    Regards,
    Ashish...
    A few personal experiences: chronicles-of-a-sadhak.blogspot.com

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    Re: Personal mantra

    hariḥ om̐
    ~~~~~~

    namasté

    Hello Ashish (āśisḥ¹),
    . ... they took me somewhere in the sub-conscious state. I continued riding the rapids and entered a state where there was nothing - no thoughts, no recollections of mantras or their source, not even any awareness of myself. Then, there were times when I couldn't even focus on my goal no matter which mantra I am meditating on.

    You mention this ‘I’ and ‘me’ in the conditional states suggested above. Can you help and let us know who ( at that time) did you think this ‘I’ and ‘me’ where? There is much the HDF reader can learn from your experience, and the potential of the ‘full’ experience that is possible in vyoman ( ~space~) you have alluded to.

    So with that said, do we get any guidance on this matter , of this experience you recall ? I look to the spandakārikā-s found within the non-dual kaśmir śaivism view of Reality. There are other places we can look, yet this seems to be most applicable for this theme.

    We are informed by vasuguta-ji in the 1st section (called svarūpa spanda) & the 17th kārikā , of the following:
    tasyopalabdhiḥ satataṁ tripadāvyabhicāriṇī|
    nityaṁ syātsuprabuddhasya tadādyante parasya tu||
    17

    It informs us,
    to the elevated/awakened one (suprabuddhasya), there is (syāt), always (nityam) and continual (satatam), uninterrupted perception (upalabdhiḥ) of That ( tasya ‘of the real nature’) or of Self. It is there ( this uninterrupted perception) in tripada (or the 3 conditions of consciousness wake-dream-sleep). However (tu) to the other one (parasya) That (tad) occurs only at the beginning (ādi) and end (ante).

    This needs a bit more explaining. This says ,
    for the one awakened\fully alert and elevated the experience of Self ( That/Being, turiya or pure awareness) is there continually; yet to the other one? Who is the other one? That person, practitioner or yogi or sādhu who is not elevated to the suprabuddhi level, only experiences or recollects it during the entry point (ādi) or exit point (ante) of one’s practice ... of one’s ‘dive’ inward taking that person to the level of the 4th (turīya) or pure awareness.

    For some this experience ( of entry or exit) does not occur. They will say, hey I have not even had this experience of the entry or exit point... then one just needs more practice as it comes with the territory.

    Hence we have 3 types of practitioners:

    • the suprabuddha sādhu
    • the prabuddha sādhu
    • the aprabuddha sādhu


    Note the following
    One’s real nature is always there ( how could it not, we would not be alive!) but :
    • for the elevated one it is a continual experience.
    • For the prabuddha sādhu the experience comes at the beginning and end;
    • and for the aprabuddha sādhu , he or she is 'work-in-process'.


    The insight
    For the prabuddha sādhu this pure awareness is found during the entry point (ādi) or exit point (ante). We know this now. Yet the beauty is this exit and entry point is found many times throughout the day and night, we call it the gap , some call it madhya ( middle), others may call it viśrānti or rest point. It is that madhya between wake and dream, even between dream and sleep. It is found between two breaths, that gap between inward and outward breath ( some call sun and moon, others prāṇa and apāna). These are just a few e.g. between two thoughts, between object A and object B.

    With that said, your experiences make sense...

    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ


    1. āśisḥ = āśis = blessing, prayer.
    Last edited by yajvan; 14 July 2016 at 02:18 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Personal mantra

    hariḥ om̐
    ~~~~~~

    namasté

    Hence we have 3 types of practitioners:
    · the suprabuddha sādhu
    · the prabuddha sādhu
    · the aprabuddha sādhu

    Note the following
    One’s real nature is always there ( how could it not, we would not be alive!) but :
    · for the elevated one it is a continual experience.
    · For the prabuddha sādhu the experience comes at the beginning and end;
    · and for the aprabuddha sādhu , he or she is 'work-in-process'.
    There are several sticking points for the aprabuddha sādhu, also known as aprabuddhamatīḥ¹. The one I think is poignant is called out in the vijñāna bhairava tantra, 15th kārikā ( or verse).
    It says,
    antaḥsvānubhavānandā vikalponmuktagocarā |
    yāvasthā bharitākārā bhairavī bhairavātmanaḥ ||
    15

    I am only interested in this one compound term vikalponmuktagocarā. This is vikalpa unmukta gocarā.

    • vikalpa – mental occupation, thinking, variety ( differentiated thoughts; of a variety)
    • unmukta – taken off, laid aside; ~ free from ~
    • gocarā – dwelling place, field of action


    It says that bhairava ( the subject that is being addressed in the first 21 verses) is not an object. It is not liking thinking about a thing (vikalpa - a mental occupation); it is free from (unmukta) the dwelling place (gocarā) of the mind (vikalpa).

    See the point? This bhairava or pure Being, pure awareness, is not like an object that one can hold in his/her hand and ponder in the mind. It is not like a thought , it is beyond thought even though we can think about it conceptually, that does not secure one’s experience with it. That is, it cannot be perceived the way one usually approaches something to be studied or learned.

    Yet for the new comer (aprabuddhamatīḥ) they approach the subject of unfoldment with the same tools they would use to achieve an object , or career, or A+ in a class. This for a while causes some consternation, and is the fuel for all the books that are offered on this subject.

    But yajvan, why? why can’t this pure awareness (bhairava) be secured in the same way as any other ‘thing’ ?

    It is because it cannot be found... it is the finder. It is the pure consciousness and pure awareness that is behind ( or that allows) finding to occur. It is like asking your own eye to look at itself ( with no mirror of course). Your eye is the perceiver and not the perceived.

    This is the pickle for the new arrival to unfoldment and re-recognition of one’s Self.

    इतिशिवं
    iti śivaṁ

    1. aprabuddhamatīḥ = a+prabuddha+matīḥ = not + awakened + intention , resolution , determination of one’s practice
    Prabuddha also means ‘that has begun to take effect’ – so that practitioner which ‘as of yet’ has not gained ground in his/her practice
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Personal mantra

    Namaste Yajvan Ji,

    Can you help and let us know who ( at that time) did you think this ‘I’ and ‘me’ where?
    There were many of them.

    Initially, there was the one who believed his existence necessitated an abode. He bled to create each brick, carefully laid them all one by one but, despite every effort, couldn't complete it. Perhaps, he wasn't looking where he should have.

    Then, there was the one who could perceive neither the world nor any need for anything. Where he existed, nothing else did.

    Somewhere, between the above two, was the one who picked up a twig and dreamed a whole universe for himself.

    There was another, the fourth one, who prefers to remain an enigma.

    With that said, your experiences make sense...
    Thanks a lot. It means a lot.

    Regards,
    Ashish...
    A few personal experiences: chronicles-of-a-sadhak.blogspot.com

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