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A mantra is a word, a phrase, or even just a sound that one repeats
during meditation. In fact, a
mantra is a thought, but of a kind that has the capability to
transcend the thought -process. The meditative attention follows the mantra on its
journey deeper and deeper into the mind. In this way, mantra meditation
creates a state of alert trance where thoughts subside, and
consciousness feeds back into
itself. The heartbeat and breath quiet down, and the body follows
into a state of deep relaxation.
Understanding Mantras and their Context
Before we delve into the actual mantra meditation guide, it's
necessary to provide some context about mantras and their cultural
significance.
On one hand, there are religious meditation organizations that claim
their secret, generationally protected mantras are the only ones that
work. They argue that other organizations' mantras are either less
effective or even dangerous to use, often presenting themselves as the
upholders of an ancient, uninterrupted tradition. However, in my view,
there is no such thing as a golden past from which we have fallen. This
thinking is an archaic default brain-hardwired mind virus beneficial for power
games. As far as I can see, everything is a soup of permanent fleeting constructions that we,
as fallible, insecure and power-hungry humans, try to solidify with the concrete of
grandiosity.
If I wanted to build a meditation business, I would choose this strategy
of grandiosity. Perhaps I wouldn't claim, as some Indian intellectuals
do, that Indian culture is millions of years old. However, I would tell
my Western audience that I, after living 12 years of my adult life in
India, was schooled in special ancient traditions. These hermetic
teachings had been protected for the last five thousand years from
corruption by secrecy, but now the time had come for me to reveal them.
Such a strategy would make customers dependent on my company and my
invisible products. And who would purchase mantras if all mantras were
equally good? By buying into this hype, you create an unhealthy
dependency on a power hierarchy that, if you don’t break free at some
point, will at best make you a spiritual boy scout.
This strategy ensures a steady stream of followers who believe they need
the organization's unique offerings to achieve spiritual growth, thus
securing the organization's financial and influential standing.
In the long run, such dependency stifles personal spiritual exploration
and growth. It traps us in a cycle where we constantly seek validation
and guidance from the organization rather than developing our own
intuitive understanding and connection with our meditation.
An Example of Divine Manipulation
Let me exemplify how powerful such divine manipulation can be. While
I have respect for the wonderful work done by the organization of TM
(Transcendental Meditation), it is almost too easy to highlight human
folly using examples from this organization.
In the early days of my meditative practice in the 70s, I was a devout
practitioner of TM. Transcendental Meditation marketed itself as a
scientifically based and documented meditation technique, consciously
targeting young doctors and medical students. Consequently, I have many
doctor friends from this period. Doctors, in general, especially before, were educated within a hardcore positivistic framework rooted
in the scientific breakthroughs of the mid-19th century. Here, only what
can be measured and documented is considered real. The test tube alone
speaks.
TM had great success targeting this scientific segment of society,
leading to some of the first valid research into the phenomenon of
meditation. However, a peculiar thing strikes me when I'm with these old
doctor friends. On one hand, they vigorously uphold a strict
positivistic view on life and always back their arguments with
scientific validation. However, this consistency vanishes when it comes
to their views formed by TM, which are filled with symbolic thinking and
archaic notions from the medieval period.
These same doctor friends, in accordance with TM's propagation, claim
without a shadow of doubt that the various mantras within the TM
organization are special, possessing unique powers and capabilities not
present in mantras from other organizations. To my knowledge, this would
be extremely difficult to substantiate scientifically, and there is no
hardcore evidence to support such claims. As I see it, this thinking
exemplifies sectarian brainwashing, creating dependency on the
organization. This kind of magic thinking becomes particularly evident in people
conditioned with 19th-century positivism. It stands out in a striking
contrast to the equally dubious testtube ideology of the medical
universities of the past.
In summary, I would say: Be wary of any spiritual organization claiming
to be the exclusive upholders of uninterrupted and undiluted lineages
dating back thousands of years. In reality, many of the most renowned
gurus in India were not products of ancient lineages. They discovered
truth spontaneously for themselves or were inspired by a single divine
person (sometimes also more inspirators) they encountered on their
journey. A few examples of these non-lineage gurus include Ramana
Maharshi, Ramakrishna, Osho, and Papaji.
The wonderful Indian sage Poonjaji said:
'Don't listen to anyone!
Don't even listen to me!
Listen only to your own Atman—your own soul.'
Paradoxically, sometimes it takes a guru to tell us that we don’t need a
guru. It's worth noting that a guru from an ancient, uninterrupted
lineage would likely never teach such heretical words.
The Nihilism of the Karma-cola People
At the other end of the spectrum, we have the "Karma-Cola" folks,
who claim you might as well meditate on the word "Coca-Cola" as on an
Indian mantra. This term references the book
Karma Cola by Gita
Mehta but is used here to highlight the modern tendency to become a
hostage to extreme rationalism. Often, these ironic Karma-Cola skeptics
have no experience with meditation themselves. Intoxicated by their
intellect's atheistic sharpness, they fail to see that they are merely a
mirror image of the one-sidedness they criticize.
In the postmodern "everything is equally valid = meaningless" Seinfeld
universe we live in, where Seinfeld’s comment to a friend who confides
that he has converted to Christianity is: "Okay... interesting... and I
just got a new fridge," there is no hierarchy where something is more
meaningful than something else. Nothing is sacred—so you might as well
meditate on Pepsi Cola.
My advice is not to treat your mantra like Jerry’s new fridge. Of
course, there is something sacred in life. Humanity has had a religious
instinct since the days of cave paintings. Even an atheist doesn’t need
to be a nihilist. I once spoke with an astronomer. He was a declared
atheist, but still like Eistein shuddered with awe every time he looked up at the
galaxies.
The point is that you don’t need to rely on outside help or pay others
to tell you which sounds should be 'sacred' to you. Instead, seek
inspiration from within.
T.S. Eliot once said, "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal." This
statement was ironically stolen by Picasso, who is now often credited
with it. Now, it’s our turn to continue the tradition of stealing what
belongs to no one.
The golden middle path between lineage and 'karma cola' people is to
find your own mantra!
Here are a few tips on how you can find or create your own mantra,
completely free and without dependency:
To hold something Sacred
First and foremost, your mantra should be sacred to you. Even if you
are an atheist, there will be something you regard with a sense of awe.
If nothing else, it could be logic and science itself. For me, the very
fact that logic works is an unfathomable miracle, and I would, if I was
an atheist, delve into that paradox to find mantric gold.
How to Create or Find Your Own Mantra
Sit in a comfortable place where you won't be disturbed. Close your
eyes.
Allow yourself to sink into a semi-awake state where daydreaming
thoughts flow in an endless associative stream. In this conscious yet
daydreaming state, ask yourself as if throwing a coin into a wishing
well:
What is my mantra?
There is no guarantee of anything, but my bet is that if you have asked
this question with great sincerity, a word or sound will sooner or later come to you
from your own superconscious subconscious.
If this doesn’t happen, you can consciously choose a word that has
solemn and beautiful meaning/sound for you.
If you are a Christian or feel an attraction to Jesus, you can use the
word Jesus or Christ as your mantra.
If you lean more towards New Age, you can use the good old Indian
universal mantra OM or AUM.
If you are an atheist, you can use words like galaxy, star or even a
mathematical equation you admire, provided it is not too long.
Existentialists can use the mantra: I am, etc.
Mantra Meditation Guide
Now I asume you have created or found your own mantra and we can
proceed from there. The following guide is 'stolen' from TM's meditation instructions, which,
apart from their commercial-oriented sale of 'the emperor's new mantra,'
are quite sensible and rest on deep and simple mechanisms in the human
mind.
You have found or been
found by your own mantra and are sitting comfortably with closed eyes in
a place where you won’t be disturbed.
With closed eyes, feel your inner body. Sense the darkness of the inner
body...
Breathe deeply and calmly—hold a small pause at the end of each inhale
and exhale.
Sit with this guide in front of you. Read a few lines and then
experiment for a few minutes.
When it feels natural, open your eyes and read a bit further.
Notice your thoughts—observe how thoughts come by themselves like a
small stream.
The stream of thoughts flows entirely on its own without you needing to
do anything active to help it along.
Now 'think' your mantra in the same effortless way the stream of thoughts
flows. Toss it like a coin into your inner wishing well and allow the
repetition of the mantra to come by itself like a cork in the small
river of thoughts.
The less effort you use—the more spontaneously your mantra begins to
repeat itself—the closer you are to ideal meditation!
The Mantra's Morphing Process
At some point, the mantra will likely begin to morph—that is, it will
change itself in its self-generated repetition into related words or
sounds. It’s as if your subconscious starts to play with the mantra in a
form of improvisational creation. This phenomenon is a natural part of
good meditation.
The Mantra's Atomization Process
Often, the mantra, in the process that brings you deeper and deeper into
yourself, will disintegrate or, more precisely, atomize. This
atomization process consists of the mantra’s original syntax—the
original sentence or word—transforming from a relatively fixed form into
just 'sound.' Even this sound can refine until it eventually becomes
what one might call a vibration.
As the mantra dissolves into its own molecular universe, your mind is
led into its primordial ground. Here, your attention and sensory
apparatus become so refined that you can perceive and sense your inner
mind and inner body in an entirely new way. An inner, previously hidden
universe will open up to you.
The Ecstasy and Rebirth of Thoughtless Moments
During your and the mantra’s journey towards deeper and more refined
states of resting alertness in the mind, small golden moments can arise
where all thoughts cease, and only your alertness remains.
These thoughtless moments are deeply healing for both mind and body.
It’s like pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete on your computer: You get a unique
opportunity to restart the whole system anew. In particularly deep
moments, the metaphor might be closer to getting the chance to reinstall
your entire operating system—or even seeing if you are satisfied with
the programs installed on your spiritual PC. Many of the programs have
been installed by society and your parents. It’s not certain that you
find all these pre-installed programs equally good as life-GPS's for
you. Becoming your own cause is the same as being your own life’s
programmer!
The Good Meditation: The Mantra Meditates You!
The trick in this effort-free meditation is that there is a good chance
your mind will enjoy meditating on its own. The mind is like a little
stubborn child that hates control. If the mantra meditation is a
playful, spontaneous process, the mind will grab the echo of the mantra
like a child reaches for a ball. You will have a good chance that the
mantra’s repetition in your small stream of thoughts will lead you
deeper and deeper into yourself, all by itself! You will undoubtedly at
some point notice that you have wandered away from the mantra and
instead started thinking about something. Simply return to the mantra
without drama and let yourself joyfully meditate again.
A good rule of thumb is to sit in this meditation for about 20 minutes.
But in the end, only you know what is best for you.
Best regards,
Gunnar Mühlmann
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