On Mantra Diksha
by Swami Niranjanananda (reprinted from Yoga- Gateway to a New Horizon)

We have heard and read a lot about mantra, and I think everybody has an idea of what mantra is. Mantra deals with the body, this composition of energy, and the energy field of the body has a vibratory aspect to it. Where there is energy, there is movement, there is some type of vibration, and vibration definitely gives rise to some type of sound. What type of sound we do not know. There are sounds which are beyond and beneath the normal range of the ears. The act of moving an arm creates friction in the air and a sound is being created for a moment. You do not experience the sound as such, but sound does exist as a form of vibration, a form of movement, a pulsation of energy. These vibrations are not confined to the physical body or to the pranic body, they are also in the realm of mind, emotion and intellect.

Yoga is very clear. It says that even when we think, waves are being generated inside the mind which produce definite vibrations and definite sounds. When we become introvert, directing our faculties of mind and perception inside, then the sound is experienced and it is known as nada, the sound of the .personality, the sound of being, the sound of the self. This nada is the most subtle sound that we can experience in this dimension. It is not a sound that breaks, it is a continuous sound, and this concept has been defined in kundalini yoga.

When we look at the image of a chakra, we find that every chakra has a beeja mantra and then many other mantras attached to it. Beeja mantra is the sound which controls the chakra, but the other mantras around the periphery are vibrations which awaken or stimulate a particular state of experience of the chakra. Yoga says that the sounds are aksharas, which literally means 'sounds which do not die'. From the birth of humanity until now we have been using sounds to ex-these sounds press ourselves. We have been utilizing externally. We have experienced the quality, the power, the effect of sound externally. In yoga we experience the quality, the effect and the energy of sound internally and the process of that internal experience is known as the mantra experience. This is mantra sadhana.

When we think, what actually happens is we hear the sound inside. Of course it is not what we simply plug our ears and begin to hear the sounds within the body, which the physical or pranic structure. It is a process of becoming more sensitive on the mental or psychic plane and finding the balance between the external and the internal consciousness. When we are externalized we do not hear the internal vibrations and sounds. When we are internalized in deep meditation we do not experience the external vibrations or sounds. A special branch of yoga has been created which is called nada yoga. It seeks to provide experience of the vibrations of body, mind, thought waves, the desires, emotions and expressions simultaneously, all in one concise shape.

As you become more balanced, as you become more centered through the process of dhyana (meditation), through the practice of asana harmonizing the body, pranayama creating some sort of organization in your pranic structure, pratyahara and dharana giving balance to your mental and emotional expressions, then the awareness of nada as the vibration which is behind every action and reaction and movement commences. As long as we live in this world there is movement. When we are just sitting quietly, peacefully, the body does not move, yet the thoughts are creating waves, emotions are creating waves - there is movement.

We are surrounded by an ocean of movement which is taking place in different dimensions simultaneously. When we begin to chant or to repeat a mantra we begin in the process of pratyahara which is the gradual withdrawal of the sensory perceptions, and then focus on one particular point. After the process of withdrawal is complete then focusing is total and there is no distraction or dissipation of any type. That is known as dharana. Then mantra gives the ability to achieve the state of dharana, unfluctuating mind. It can then take you deeper into the experience of the unfluctuating mind, which later transforms itself into the practice of dhyana.

The definition of mantra is therefore, ‘the force which liberates the mind’'. So when we do mantra sadhana a special awareness has to be evolved in the mind and also in the body. It is not just a process of holding the mala and starting to repeat the mantra. Of course, that is acceptable, and we do say that you can repeat the mantra anywhere at anytime - while walking sitting, while doing anything in life, one can be aware of the mantra. One can be aware of the mantra expressing itself in every dimension of the personality at any time. However, there is a definite scientific process involved in mantra sadhana which is awareness, not only of the mantra which we are repeating inside our head, but of the effect that it is producing in our whole structure/The mind, the awareness, the consciousness has to become one. It has to merge with the repetition of the mantra. It is not that the mind is wandering here anti there and the mantra practice is going on separately. Total identification has to take place with the repetition, with the experience and with the awareness of the mantra.

Swamiji has talked about the process of dhyana. He says there are three things which happen simultaneously at the time of meditation. First is awareness of myself as the practitioner. Second is awareness of the process - that I am practicing this particular sadhana. Third is the state of dhyana, the goal that is set in front of us. When all three become one, when the meditative experience is felt inside and we lose body consciousness and mental awareness, I and there is nothing but the state of experience - this is called dhyana.

With mantra this same principle applies. The only difference is that we are constantly aware of the vibration, the chanting and the effect. We become one with all this. We become the mantra, we become the living mantra. The mantra becomes a living experience and this is known as liberation of mind. When the concept of duality does not exist and there is only one thing, it is known as liberation of the mind.

Those people who have taken mantra initiation should remember that they should find at least ten minutes in every twenty-four hours where they can be alone, forget everything, and just do mantra sadhana. Initially you will have to become aware of the body, the posture, how you are sitting, whether you are comfortable or not. Initially you will have to become aware of the breath flowing up and down. Afterwards there is awareness of the symbol which has been given with the mantra. Awareness of the symbol is the state of pratyahara. When we first try to see it, it is a process of pure imagination; we do not see our symbol clearly. When we hold a flower before our open eyes we see color, we experience the form, the smell, everything, but the experience with closed eyes is different. However, when the mental experience becomes very strong and as powerful as the visual experience, then that is known as the termination point of the state of pratyahara. All the mental energies have been brought together, focused, and the understanding, the awareness, the experience has taken place.

So, after becoming aware of the breath and after making an effort to visualize, to experience the symbol inside, then start with the repetition of the mantra inside in harmony with the process of inhalation and exhalation. The mantra and the breath are not two different things, they become one. It does not matter whether you breathe in slowly and deeply or if your breath is short and shallow. The mantra has to merge totally with the breath, that is all. This is the first effort of the mantra sadhak. You do this practice for ten minutes every day and when it is finished again externalize yourself. There is no change in the lifestyle, no change in the thinking pattern. We are not trying to create any change, we are just trying to develop an experience of the mantra. When that experience is awakened it develops by itself and then the changes take place automatically, spontaneously.