The Healing Power of Mantra

Mantras were discovered in higher states of meditation, when

yogis started to explore the different layers of the mind to

discover the source of existence. As they went deeper into their

own nature, they started seeing themselves in a different way. We

see ourselves as composed of matter, we identify with the body.

But within this sthoola, gross body, there is also the sukshma,

subtle body. The extensions of the subtle body are manas, buddhi,

chitta and ahamkara through which we are able to experience the

attributes of the mind and interact with the world of sense objects.

Underneath the subtle body is karana sharira, the causal body, the

dimension of the spirit. – Swami Niranjanananda Saraswasti

Mantras are “tools” with which we can work with the mind.  Ordinarily when people try to meditate they find that their mind is full of chaos and confusion.  Instead us using our minds, we generally experience ourselves as being controlled by our subconscious.  There is a great yogic saying, “the mind is a great servant but a terrible master.”  How can we control the frenetic energy of the mind?  The answer is by relaxing and letting go of our ordinary obsessions, desire-fantasies and negativity.  The mind is a tremendous power within us which we can use for better or worse.  The mind can heal but it can also kill us.

When we are fixated on the superficial level of our material existence we tend to ignore what is happening within our minds.  We are engrossed if “life” as we believe it to be without understanding that our life experience is the product of our minds.  Or, if you prefer, it is the result of the interaction between mind and matter.  Quantum mechanics has shown that there is a direct link between mind and matter.  Our minds interact with a field of probability to produce a material outcome.  However, when our mind is stuck in repetitive patterns (samskaras) we are not able to consciously and freely determine anything.

“Change your thinking and you can change your life.” is the central axiom of the New Thought movement and it is quite correct.  However we need another approach which involves looking within and examining the unconscious thoughts and beliefs that drive us.  The world is currently struggling to “awaken from the nightmare of history,” as James Joyce put it.  We can only do it by releasing all of the karmic conditioning of the past and opening ourselves to new possibilities, new beliefs. 

Mantra practice is a powerful tool for realizing this possibility.  The Sanskrit term “mantra” means “a tool, or method, for liberating the mind.”  It does so through the power of spiritual sound vibration.  Language, or speech, both controls and expresses the mind.  However language is based in pure sound vibration.  Mantra dissolves language and thought back to its true state of pure vibration.  It allows us to release the superficial meanings of words and to reconnect with the power within.  Mantras take us deeper within ourselves; beyond the physical manifestation, beyond our compulsive belief systems and into the potentiality of our inner beings.

Mantra practice allows us to enter into the true state of meditation, awareness beyond thought.  Sometimes when my computer is malfunctioning I simply need to reboot it to fix the problem.  Mantra japa (recitation) is a way of rebooting and reprogramming the mind.