Choose a Mantra

A mantra can be used as a healing tool. There are mantras for healing, abundance, protection, removing obstacles, making the right decision, enlightenment, increasing energy, karma and many other desired results. They obviously are not the only way or even the best way to solve a problem and yet, repetitive mantras create an energy that will work for you. I personally gravitate to the divine sounds recorded by the ancient sages of India and Tibet. We are very complex beings. Mantras like so many other wonderful tools soften problems and create a mindset for healing.

Mantras help in managing emotions. All the really good teachers emphasize mastery of the lower nature, which involves mastery of emotions. If you are depressed, mantra practice can help you regain clarity and a sense of peace and purpose. We can do mantras for other people and help them find the right course of action. They are a simple and ancient tool that does not cost us money...only persevering and time. Positive action is required for anything that is good. Knowing about a useful tool is not enough; we need to remember to use it. Why not experiment with a mantra and find out what it can do for you? Use it in the morning and if you have time again in the evening. Choose a specific length of time and observe what happens to your own energy and life experiences.

One of my favorites is the Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha. It means, Om and salutations to the remover of obstacles for which Gum is the seed. The correct pronunciation is: Om gum Guh-nuh-puh-tuh-yei nahm-ah-ha. This is a universally acknowledged mantra that is very effective for clearing away obstacles of all sorts. This mantra also works to overcome misunderstandings and to get a relationship back on track. It will definitely bring a sense of spirituality into a relationship if you both use the chant. It is not necessary for both of you to chant but, it will remove any hidden or underlying hostility toward the other and bring the feelings to the surface in a joint meditation. Meditating together for a thirty day period is a good thing. Any hurt, resentment, grievance or other lingering negatives can be addressed because a harmony is increased within you and your partner.

The New Man

The scriptures say of human beings that there is an outward man and along with him an inner man. Within us all is the other person, the inner man, whom the Scripture calls the new man, the heavenly man, the young person, the friend, the aristocrat. The seed of God is in us. To quote from Eckhart you will read that the seed of God is in us. "Given an intelligent and hardworking farmer, it will thrive and grow up to God, whose seed it is; and accordingly its fruits will be God-nature. Pear seeds grow into pear trees, nut seeds into nut trees, and God seed into God."

Human beings have free will and we are at liberty to identify with whatever pleases us. This amazing ability to choose our interests creates who we believe we are. The average person may act one way all their life but when a serious illness personally happens to him, he behaves very different. He could have lived a life of fear and then when he realizes he is dying become serene and God centered. For some people, it is easier to behave selflessly in a time of crisis that when life appears normal. The difference between a saint for instance and a typical human is that the saint is one who knows that very moment of our human life is a moment of crisis.

Now, why would that be? It has to do with personal choice. Every day challenges or opportunities present themselves to us. How we respond determines whether we are moving closer to darkness, which is ignorance or opening to radiant light and life. The goal of human life is to finally arrive at a state of consciousness where there are no longer any God-eclipsing obstacles between what we think and believe we are and the Divine Reality. The aim is to be constantly and consciously aware of our spiritual identity and purpose as a lover of God regardless of what is going on around us or directed at us. To understand the words I write and live them is a form of spiritual training that eventually leads us to transcend the human personality and state of ourselves that we are not a man or woman and answer instead, we are a Buddha, Christ or whatever exalted title you prefer to use to describe your state of being as an awakened and new man. This may sound preposterous to some who read this. Get used to it. It is truth.

A New Beginning

Being at the beginning of a new year, a new story, an adventure that we create, I was reminded of the late great master teacher, Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov and his comments on this subject. He emphasized how important it is as to how we begin things and what state of mind we are in and what our intentions are. The results we reap throughout life, successes and failures, depend on how we began them. Before we begin anything new whether it be a new year, relationship, project or destination, it is wisdom to first center ourselves. We do this through the many tools offered such as breathing exercises, mantras, prayer, meditation or visualization. The result is a calm and focused feeling, an attitude that will create a good energy and the ability to find the right words.

Beginning anything new can be looked upon as a quest. How we feel about the new beginning is what we birth. Every day can be a new beginning. Freshness may take time or it can happen suddenly over night. Our responsibility is to open the mind, ask, see and envision it. To begin again, we must be willing. To align with destiny, which I firmly believe we create, we must not tire of trying. It is exciting to begin again because it is a way to tap into the mystery of who we really are.

In the classes I teach on the subject of manifestation through mantras, emphasis is placed on the importance of beginning whatever it is with Celestial help. There is a Hindu god called Lord Ganesha. He is the symbol of one who has discovered the Divinity within himself. Lord Ganesha has tremendous popularity in India and outside of India. People who love what he symbolizes invoke his energy before they begin any project. Lord Ganesha's energy will tell us where the obstacles are so we do not waste time in going through struggle and disappointment. Many people use his mantra and name at the beginning of a meditation session or at the beginning of a project. The recitation is for removing obstacles (physical, emotional, mental, financial and spiritual). It behooves us to use the tools available with reverence and gratitude.