By George A. Boyd © 2003
People sometimes ask us, how can a mere word have a
transformative effect when it is used as a mantra? These same people will
point to the fact that words that are common in religious, invocational
or prayerful use of language are also mantras. These same words are read
in text, spoken aloud in lectures, sermons or satsang yet in these
contexts, no transformation appears to take place. To understand how a
mantra works, we must look at the esoteric aspects of language.
First of all, we can show that every spoken word has
a vibratory pattern. When sand grains are placed on an amplifying tray,
actual wave patterns show up in the sand. The same thing can be demonstrated
on an oscilloscope, which shows that each spoken word has a distinct amplitude
and frequency.
Those that are clairvoyant (i.e., those who can see
on the Astral Plane) tell us that every word creates a distinct form.
You can get a sense of this when you close your eyes and pay attention
to the image that forms when you say different words (e.g., love, freedom,
enemy, anger or happiness).
You will see this same effect of images being formed
when you use a sacred name, a name used to describe a Great Master or
the Divine. Try this with: Allah, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Father God
what images come to mind?
Researchers have found that, when an infant babbles,
the child makes sounds from many different languages. As the child learns
the native tongue of the parents, however, the ability to make many of
these sounds goes away.
People in evangelical Christian churches experience
a phenomenon called glossolalia, or speaking in an unknown tongue. Other
people in different spiritual groups also experience this phenomenon,
a spontaneous speaking of syllables that resembles no human language.
Oddly, this language often contains sounds from languages not in the persons
native tongue.
An example of glossolalia may phonetically appear like
this: "Umtari amatai, om shanti eem are ah bo ki ya santai eem keedio
em ah la tai, om santie kam rah to mo ki rai oom santo ray mo ki." When
your own experience of glossolalia begins, it will be different, unique
and strangely wonderful.
Some people say that it is a language of the stars.
Some say it comes from the angels. Some say it is Senzar, the native,
eternal language of the Soul. Some say it is a gift from God, evidence
of the infallibility of the Holy Ghost. Wherever it comes from, many aspirants
and disciples of many traditions experience it arising spontaneously.
When God answers a prayer, He/She/It/They answer(s)
the prayer in the persons native tongue. In whatever language the
person prays, the prayer is answered in that language. Apparently, the
Spirit speaks all languages.
When people go deep inside in meditation, they may hear
a blissful three-part rhythm that Christians call AMEN, the Hindus call
AUM and the Muslims call AMIN. If you contemplate this rhythm, you may
find that it begins to quietly whisper to you words of guidance, comfort
or encouragement. Sometimes it will reveal truths about the Cosmos, about
relationships or about spiritual realities. Hindu seers called this Shruti:
the inner revelation that comes from the ineffable vibration of God.
When we go one step further, we pass into the world
of mantras. These essence sounds exist on their own Plane. When your mantra
is activated, it has three effects:
- The mantra will spin seven times clockwise, seven
times counterclockwise.
- It transmits its energy through the Spirit, which
sends down a ray of Divine Light to transform your Soul, unfolding it
to a new station on the Path (this is the clockwise current).
- It will transmit its energy through the AUM, resulting
in the processing and transmutation of karma (this is the counterclockwise
current).
Each person has his/her own unique mantra. But how do
you know it and how do you activate it? If you can go up to this Plane
where your mantra is, then you can discover it for yourself. If not, then
you will need to be helped by someone who has the ability to go up to
that Plane and find your mantra for you (we teach you this mantra in the
Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation).
How do you activate it? The mantra has the subtlest
vibration. If you write it, speak it, whisper it, imagine it, breathe
it or even think it, then its too gross you cannot activate
it. So how do you make it work?
If mantras are atoms of pure spiritual energy, then
what can access them? Only pure consciousness. We call this the attentional
principle, which, at its core, is a wave of pure consciousness. And what
is the product of pure consciousness? Intention. You activate these seed
mantras by intention.
Thus, somewhere, at the deepest, profoundest, core of
language, is the key to transformation: the bija mantra.