Namaste and welcome.
Today I'll be introducing you to the ancient and authentic practice of yoga meditation using mantra or spiritual sound.
The practice of meditation or dhyana in Sanskrit produces many benefits like a sense of peacefulness,
A calming of the mind,
Release of stress and a greater sense of well-being,
To name just a few.
However,
The deeper and lasting benefit of meditation is the transcendental inner peace and happiness which arises from self-realization or coming to know my true spiritual identity and also God-realization or the realization of the highest truth.
Transcendental inner peace is the immersion of the mind in that which is transcendental or truly spiritual.
For example,
If I want to cleanse dirt from my body,
Then by immersing it in water,
The dirt is washed away.
In a similar manner,
The mind is immersed in that which is transcendental.
The material contamination is washed away and my true spiritual nature is gradually revealed.
This is self-realization.
There will also be a gradual realization of the highest truth or absolute truth,
Also referred to as God-realization.
The most effective and efficient way to immerse the mind in transcendence is to use spiritual sound vibration or mantra.
This is called mantra meditation.
The characteristic of spiritual sound vibration or mantra is that it is not of this world but completely transcendental or spiritual.
The word mantra is comprised of two words,
Manah,
Which means the mind,
And tra,
Which means to deliver or to save.
Or the deepest meaning of the word mantra is that it has the power to deliver or save one from the influence and control of the mind.
This may seem like a radical idea if you have not been exposed to deeper yoga teachings.
To really appreciate what this means,
It's necessary to understand the yogic or Vedic teaching about who I really am.
The sacred yoga texts or scriptures teach that I am not the material body,
That I am an eternal spiritual being temporarily residing within this material body.
At present,
I am covered by two types of material covering,
A gross physical body and a more subtle material covering or subtle body,
Which is mostly experienced as the mind.
An ancient yoga text puts it this way,
Just as fire,
Which burns and illuminates,
Is different from firewood,
Which is to be burned to give illumination.
Similarly,
The seer within the body,
The self-enlightened spirit soul,
Is different from the material body,
Which is to be illuminated by consciousness.
Thus the spirit soul and body possess different characteristics and are separate entities in Bhagavat Purana.
In our daily life,
Most of us are not very conscious of our true and eternal spiritual identity and instead identify the temporary material covering,
That is the material body,
As being who I am.
If my body is male or female,
Young,
Old,
Tall or short,
Then I strongly tend to identify with that as being who I really am.
But because of this misidentification,
We experience anxiety and suffering in two main ways.
First,
The ancient yoga texts speak of our experiencing birth,
Disease,
Old age and death,
And in fact just about anything else that's happening to our body or mind,
As if it is happening to me.
This is traditionally described as being a source of great unhappiness or misery,
Which we experience.
Then,
The second way,
Which may seem more relevant to some of us,
Has to do with our attempts to find happiness in this life.
Throughout our life,
We all have the tendency to seek out and engage in a wide variety of pleasurable experiences.
We do this in the hope of becoming fulfilled,
But if we are honest,
No matter how hard we try,
We never experience actual satisfaction through such material activity.
This is because the body and mind are not me,
But are the vehicle I,
The person within,
Am using.
I am a spiritual being within the body,
And I need spiritual sustenance or food and spiritual happiness.
Material activity,
Objects,
Relationships and experiences do not fulfill my innermost spiritual needs.
When I stand back and examine it logically,
This seems so obvious,
But it is not so easy to always live with this clarity.
The truth is that I am profoundly influenced by my mind.
The idea that I am the material body and everything which flows from that is largely acted out under the powerful influence of the mind and the control it has over me.
True enlightenment is the experience and realization that I am not my material body or mind,
But the spiritual being within this material body.
This is so clearly stated in another Vedic text.
Whenever a person experiences by self-realization that both the gross and subtle bodies have nothing to do with the pure self,
At that time he sees himself as well as the supreme soul or highest spiritual truth.
Bhagavata Purana.
So getting back to the earlier point,
This is the significance of the deeper meaning of the word mantra,
Which is to be delivered or saved from the influence and control of the mind.
It speaks to the need of self-realization.
Now the potency of mantra or transcendental sound vibration lies in its being non-different from the original cause or supreme soul,
Also referred to in Sanskrit as Bhagavan.
In this world,
Our experience is that the name of a material object is different from the object itself.
The word mango is made of syllables which,
When vibrated or spoken,
Refer to the fruit mango.
The syllables of this word do not contain the potency to cause an actual mango to appear before me or for me to taste it.
I can repeatedly chant,
Mango,
Mango,
Mango,
But no mango will be present before me.
These are just empty words which reflect another or separate reality.
Transcendental sound vibration is not like this.
It is full of spiritual potency and non-different from the supreme soul or original cause.
Therefore,
By chanting these transcendental sound vibrations,
One is directly associating with and being purified by the original cause or the supreme soul.
Chanting of mantras is universal.
It is important to understand that these transcendental sounds or mantras do not belong to any person,
Group,
Religion or geographic region of the material world.
They are not of this world,
But are eternally connected or linked to every living being or spirit soul.
As such,
Everyone can use them regardless of age,
Race or ethnic extraction,
Gender,
Language,
Religion,
Ideology,
Profession or social status.
Because of the transcendental nature of these mantras,
They also cannot be bought or sold like a material commodity.
They are a great gift and are freely given by the great spiritual teachers since time immemorial.
One may ask how this transcendental sound descends to the material world for me to use.
The answer is that the sound is received from a spiritual teacher who is the transparent medium of the mantra or the transcendental sound.
This transcendental sound descends from the spiritual dimension and is transmitted through an unbroken succession of spiritual teachers who pass it down from guru to disciple through what is called guru parampara or referred to sometimes as disciplic succession.
In order to experience the full potency and benefit of a mantra or transcendental sound,
One must receive it in such a way.
It is stated in a Vedic text,
The Padma Purana.
Sampradaya vininadye mantraste nisvalmataha.
If one is not actually connected with a bona fide disciplic succession,
Whatever mantras he chants will not bring the desired result.
Sampadma Purana.
I will be teaching you a few different types of meditation using transcendental sound so that you can begin to practice on your own.
We will begin with a meditation using breath and mantra,
Then mantra with music.
We will also learn japa meditation where beads are used along with the mantra.
And finally kirtan,
The singing of sacred mantras most often practiced with a group of people.
Transcendental sound or mantra meditation is as universal as the sunrise.
Everyone can enjoy the beauty of the sunrise and be warmed by its golden rays.
Otherwise everyone can find spiritual beauty,
Warmth and comfort in these transcendental sounds.
