Fwd: Which 'mantra' to chant for gaining mental "concentration/stability"?

[Guest guest]

tiruvenkatam, "Sudarshan K Madabushi"

<mksudarshan2002> wrote:

tiruvenkatam, "MK krishnaswamy"

<krishnaswamy@c...> wrote:

> Our ancients therefore suggested that a Mantra must be chosen for

us by a realized person and must be received with faith and respect.

This rule applies to all Mantras, even if they are literally known to

us - we get the words, not its hidden power. It is in this sense that

the mantras were considered as secret.

 

*************

Dear members,

 

It's true. Our long Vedic tradition tells us that sometimes what may

appear to ordinary ears as unintelligible syllables, phrases or

expressions carries extraordinary potency when imparted by a realized

Master to his deserving disciple. The Vedic 'rshi-s' understood the

power of Sound to a degree that we simply don't.

 

We must ponder over what really is "mantra".

 

"Mantra" represents the triumph that the Spirit scores over Matter

through the medium of Sound.

 

Sound, as even modern physics tells us, impacts us both at the

physical and non-physical levels. I have watched a trained soprano

singer raise her voice to such a shrill pitch that the ensuing

vibration made a wine-glass on a nearby table shatter. Glass-panes of

houses near a busy airport very often experience the same phenomenon.

 

The power of Sound is often felt at the non-physical level too. The

commonest experience of such power is Music. The sound of music has

power to transform our deepest moods even -- fron black depression to

ineffable exultance. No one can exactly say why a ThyAgaraja 'kriti'

or a Kabirdas "dOhE" or a Beethoven symphony lifts one's spirit up,

but it undeniably does. Such is the power of Sound... the power to

bring about remarkable changes in our behaviour, in the way we feel

and think our way through this world!

 

In south-western Namibia (Africa), there is a desert where herds of

elephants roam about all the year round in search of water. They

travel miles into the wilderness. Often a bull-elephant, in its quest

for some subterranean water-spring, will stray away from its family

and be virtually lost to them. Yet, when the bull does come across a

water-source, its family will be notified instantly wherever they

are, no matter how many scores of miles away. How? The bull-elephant

has a way of communicating with its family through emitting a series

of sounds/syllables which travel across the barren wilderness at

radio-frequencies no human ear can ever pick up.

 

Deep in the cold waters of the northern Pacific Ocean, giant blue-

whales use the same medium of Sound to let their mates know where

precisely they are out in the vast seas. During the mating season,

the female-whale will emit extremely low-frequency mating-calls which

travel through the water-body of the ocean. The male-whales a few

thousands miles away will pick up the signal. The whales will then

swim towards each other to a spot that is their natural mating

grounds in the sea.

 

In each of the above cases, we see how Spirit triumphs over Matter

through the medium of Sound. In the case of the soprano singer, we

get a glimpse of the raw destructive power that may be found in

Sound. In the case of soothing Music, we see the ability of Sound-

power to alter and modify human mood or behaviour. In the case of the

Namibian elephant-herd and the blue-whale of the Pacific Ocean, we

see how Sound can conquer limitations of Time and Space.

 

************

 

When a true 'guru' gives his disciple a "mantra" -- through the

solemn rite of "mantrOpadEsa" -- he gives him the opportunity to be

able to invoke that awesome power there is in Sound ("vEda-shabda").

It is the power with which the 'sIshya' can destroy all obstacles

that Matter may place in the way of his soaring Spirit. It is the

power with which the disciple can bring about changes in being and in

behaviour. It is the power with which he can hope to triumph over the

constraints of physical Matter, Space and Time.

 

Rgds,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

--- End forwarded message ---