They don’t appear on TV, they don’t get caught up in building infrastructure or a following and you can’t lure them with anything – other than extraordinary devotion maybe. More importantly, they may not even possess the right knowledge to guide you. Not every guru is an expert meditator or a specialist of mantra and tantra or yoga.
The sadhanas (spiritual practices) I share in this book have been personally validated by me. They worked for me when I fulfilled the conditions required for each sadhana and followed the scriptural injunctions.
(Faith, lineage and devotion as conditions for mantra yoga)
Mantra sadhana places great emphasis on adhering to the framework of mantra yoga. And that invariably entails faith in your god, guru, mantra, lineage and initiation. These are not mere words or titles but the keepers and champions of a time-worn tradition.
A sadhaka (aspirant) on the path of mantra yoga cannot succeed without reverence and devotion. This has been my unfailing experience, too. Real devotion makes you humble, it melts you, transforms you. If you have longed to be one with God by chanting the holy names, or if you have wondered about the ancient science of mantras, but couldn’t find a guru to guide you, you have the right book in your hands.
(Shiva and Devi: the mythic origin of mantra)
Nothing about Shiva’s smile, his shapely yogic body and his intoxicating voice gave away the austerities he had practiced in the last eighty thousand years. One million years passed in great bliss at Chintamani griha.
Shiva laughed at Devi’s innocence. “To carry out my task of transformation, which some call destruction, I go to Kailasha to sit in one-pointed concentration. This is not the only planet in the creation, Bhadre.”
“You will be my witness at the time of my first act of complete annihilation and subsequently be born to Daksha Prajapati in a creation that will be made up of five elements, to experience suffering, separation and sadness,” Shiva declared.
“The various elements are in play, Gaure,” The Mahayogi spoke like rainclouds gathering in the sky. “There’s no suffering, only ignorance. What people call suffering is merely their perspective born out of ignorance.” “It may well be, Nath, but it’s extremely painful. It makes everything feel worthless. It causes fear and anxiety. People don’t know they are ignorant. What can they do?” “They must remain connected to the source, the universal energy,” Shiva replied. “For, the source has all the wisdom anyone ever seeks.” “And, how can they do that?” “The easiest would be to pick any sound my damaru created. Everything in its current form originated from those sounds.”
(Sound as primordial creation: Sanskrit from Shiva’s drum)
It is why, on the path of mantra yoga, Shiva is the only creator of mantras. All the sages are merely the seers. They did not create or discover mantras, much less invent them. They only saw what was already there and hence, they are called drashta, seers. All of this took place 900 million light years away, at Shiva’s original abode of Kailasha.
The original seers intelligently captured the sounds into 14 categories. a i u ṇ ṛ ḷ k e o ṅ ai au c ha ya va ra ṭ la ṇ ña ma ṅa ṇa na m jha bha ñ gha ḍha dha ṣ ja ba ga ḍa da ś kha pha cha ṭha tha ca ṭa ta v ka pa y śa ṣa sa r ha l
These 57 letters came to be known as Maheshvara Sutra and formed the basis of the most ancient spoken language in the world: Sanskrit.
All existence is simply an arrangement of silence and sound. Or simply, sound at different frequencies, for silence, too, is a type of sound.
When this sonic aspect of energy is harnessed or channelized, it becomes the creative energy. This potent creative energy can be used to aid creation, destruction or sustenance of your world, dreams, goals and desires. Mantra yoga is about going to the source of all sounds, the first voice, the originator, so you may connect with the universe at a different level altogether, a level beyond comprehension to an average mind.
(Becoming the mantra: union through sound)
This is mantra sadhana in a nutshell. The basic principle of mantra sadhana is to practice the utterance of a sound with such intensity, fervor and determination, that your whole being starts to reverberate with that sound. You become that sound. It becomes your sound, your mantra. The one you not only connect with, but that transports you to another dimension of consciousness.
Mantra science is not a substitute for right karma or action. Mantra sadhana can help you experience deep states of samadhi if you so wish or it can help you learn anything faster. It can help you become more decisive and responsible in life. In a nutshell, when you become one with a mantra, you no longer remain the individual you, the tiny you. Instead, your entire being is elevated to a different, higher level of consciousness. I say it without the slightest exaggeration. All other things being equal (that is, you work hard and sincerely), the path of mantra sadhana has the power to make you the master of your destiny.
In other words, this was a rhombus. It immediately got my attention because only a tantra adept would construct a fire pit of such dimensions and style to perform a specific sadhana.
They are beautiful, youthful, enigmatic celestial feminine forms that can guide and assist an aspirant in the absence of a guru in a human body. I needed clear directions regarding the future course of my spiritual journey and this sadhana was the doorway.
(An extreme forty-day sadhana: the daily regimen)
Observing complete silence except for chanting my daily stuti, subsisting on a small glass of cow’s milk and one fruit in a span of twenty-four hours, my routine was quite hectic. I would wake up in the morning at about 2.30 am and bathe just outside my room. From 3 am to 9 am, I chanted the mantra in front of an akhand jyoti (a lamp that remains lit throughout the sadhana). Just after finishing, I would step out and offer my obeisance to the temple deity and the sun. Meanwhile, a villager nearby would leave a bottle of milk outside my room based on a pre-arrangement. I would have my only glass of milk and then rest for 90 minutes. From 11 am to 2 pm, I would meditate on the deity. From 2 pm to 5 pm was my rest period. At 5 pm, I would have the only fruit of the day and sometimes I would even skip that. From 6 pm to 9 pm, I would again meditate on the mantra followed by rest for an hour. At 10 pm, I would step out and take a bath once again. By 10.30 pm, I would be upstairs, just outside the temple, ready to do my yajna that would finish by around 12.30 am. It would generally be 1 am by the time I gathered my ingredients, firewood and put them all back in my room. From 1 am to 2.30 am, I would wind down by lying down on my back and breathing deeply (but normally). It would allow me to gain much more rest from my short sleep, so I could start my day afresh for an intense session of six hours.
Depending on the level of your spiritual attainment, the visions one gets during the sadhana are flashes that generally shouldn’t be ignored. The snake continued to move towards me. I turned my flashlight the other way and saw a scorpion scurry past my feet. All of this was happening just outside my door.
(Fearlessness and oneness as natural fruits of genuine sadhana)
One of the most remarkable things that happen to a sadhak is that you are no longer afraid of anything, really. When your intentions are noble, nature guides you and protects you at every step. I’m not suggesting that you walk into the jaws of death or go lift snakes to see if Mother Divine protects you, but something inside does change in you forever. A sort of fearlessness, a kind of oneness with everything around you. This happens naturally to every genuine sadhak of mantras.
The true and lasting reward for a mantrin (a seeker) is to merge his spiritual consciousness into the universal consciousness while living.
(Deity, form and the devotional relationship in mantra yoga)
Mantra yoga requires that you be devoted to a form, for a mantra is the verbal or sonic representation; it’s the sound form of a deity. Every deity has a mantra. If I need to call you, I ought to give you some name.
Idol worship does not mean that you only worship the idol, it simply means you have assigned a form to the one you pray to. It can bestow immense inner strength. Imagine, you have a pen friend.
You don’t have to pray to an idol, but you must believe that God can assume a form and the form you believe in is your deity.
Why? Because O noble sage, austerities are practiced with a view to attain something (even salvation) whereas this bhakta has nothing left to realize. He’s become Vishnu himself. He can purify the whole existence with a mere cast of his glance.
In the presence of a genuine master, you feel important, loved and peaceful. Everything feels right, life feels worthwhile. This is how you know that you are in the close vicinity of a real master.
Such simplicity only comes from experience, from genuineness, from truth. When they don’t make sense to you, chances are, they are not talking sense at all.
“All those years,” Hanuman said, “you treated me like an idol. You thought I was just a stone idol. But, today, for the first time you felt that I was real, that I existed. You didn’t just assume that I was partaking of your offerings, you actually believed it in your bones. It proved your faith. I had to come.”
in you, changing you completely, transforming you from a caterpillar stuck in a cocoon to a full, beautiful butterfly, flitting about on fragrant flowers.
The more substance you have in you, the humbler you will be naturally. And, it goes without saying that the purer your sadhana, the more you are filled with substance. In other words, the more you empty yourself, the more the Lord fills you.
Your sadhana is to attain your sadhya. The rules, discipline, framework and philosophy are only a means to an end. Once done, you are ready to define your own rules because when you are delivered, you are free. Free of everything. It is important to follow the rules initially. Just like when you are driving on the highway, for your own safety and that of the others, you follow traffic rules. But once home, you no longer walk in lanes or put on the indicator before turning.
If you turn your discipline into a ritual, losing sight of the ultimate, your path will become a conglomerate of dry practices devoid of bliss and joy.
All too frequently aspirants start to walk the path and soon get distracted by their experiences. Soon, they will start sharing with others the path of their sadhana, their mantras, temporary attainments and so on. Some even start bragging about their guru and so on. All these are serious and great impediments on the path. The moment a disciple gets distracted, the quality of sadhana is sure to be affected.
(Three types of action: daily, targeted, and applied)
DAILY DUTIES OF AN ADEPT On the path of mantra sadhana, there are three types of actions for an adept. They are called nitya karma (daily duties), naimatik karma (targeted duties) and kamya prayoga (application).
Nitya karma is something like that. An adept continues to abide by a daily routine to build on the siddhis acquired by intense practice or to simply maintain them. Practicing nitya karma helps both aspirants and adepts alike to build mindfulness. Daily duties (covered in this chapter) act as subtle constant reminders in the life of a practitioner to stay the course and not lose sight of what he stands for.
- Achamana (The first sip of water) After praying, the adept takes a sip of water. It is recommended to keep a glass or a bottle of water next to your bed before you go to sleep. In the morning, after meditating for a few minutes as stated earlier, hold the glass of water close to your lips. Chant the mantra of your deity, your guru mantra or the mantra you are initiated into. For a moment, just visualize the heights of the Himalayas or the depths of the ground from where this water has been sourced. It is full of divinity and has the potency of nature. Gently sip your water with this sentiment. Don’t drink cold water out of the fridge. It’s best to have the first sips of water of the same temperature as your room. You may be tempted to think that who has so much time in the morning, but this entire process of waking up mindfully and sipping water shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes.
None of what happens in the external world can take away the one who lives inside you. No doubt, you will be impacted, you may feel hurt, dejected, rejected, down and so on. But all of that is quite temporary.
After starting your day beautifully, spend the rest of your day mindfully. Don’t speak ill of people. That has never gotten anyone far. As an adept, it’s important for you to remember that the mouth that utters the holy names should not spit profanity, obscenity or hurtful words.
- Retiring to bed Ideally you should have your dinner either before or during sunset. If your lifestyle does not allow that, try to eat at least three hours before you go to sleep. Sleeping on a full stomach leads to a tamasic sleep (a sleep where you are completely unaware).
(Anatomy of a mantra: deity, seed syllable, and correct chanting)
Deity (Devata) Every mantra has a deity (devata). The devata of a mantra possesses certain traits and qualities that an aspirant wishes to acquire. Every devata has a form and attributes that are generally used for the purposes of meditation (dhyana). The devata represents the potential energy of a mantra. It is to reach this potential that we chant a mantra or become one with it.
The seed of a mantra represents its creative energy.
Maa means my or me and amritat means imperishable, immortal and eternal. The opposite of amritat is mritat which means mortal, perishable and temporary. The Brahmin, though qualified, was wrongly chanting the last word as ma-mritat which means my mortal nature.
So too will mantras only emanate their energy based on how they are chanted.”
aspirants quit at this juncture. Don’t. Hold. Stay the course. Keep on pursuing your sadhana. If you’ve hit a state of fear on account of your experiences with the sonic energy of the mantra, you must be doing it right. You are closer to the final siddhi.
When you hit the highest point of fear, you will break free and will experience an incredible sense of fearlessness.
“I don’t know what exactly happened but I was no longer scared. I felt so fearless that I began dancing. ‘I dare you to come in front of me whoever you are, if you are,’ I shouted. Of course, no one came. I disrobed, spread my seat and sat on the ground and waited for the watch to tick 11. I completed my ritual fearlessly and walked out of the woods a new person in the morning. Since then, I have never been afraid of doing any sadhana, anywhere, in any condition, at any time of the day or night.”
But that’s the thing; the mind has a strange clinging to fear. It shows its hesitation even if you decide to take something as harmless as a cold bath. It forces you to stop for a moment before you pour cold water on yourself. There is only one way to overcome your fear and that is by understanding it.
Like clouds, fears appear laden and heavy, but when you are in the sky passing through them, you discover no matter how real these clouds are, they are not strong or full enough to resist you. Even a tiny pebble can easily pierce through them. Fear is not just a feeling or an emotion; it’s a phase, a stage. Any worthwhile pursuit will have it. You can walk away from it and abandon your pursuit or you can walk into it and experience the exhilaration that only attainment of a goal brings.
When you are impatient, you are restless naturally. It’s harder to focus; your mind wanders in different directions.
Like a promiscuous one, I went around my beloved’s back and sought pleasures from other partners (This means, I lost faith in my deity and went around praying to other gods thinking they were more powerful). But, when my guru entered into my life, he helped me stay focused and pray to the one I’d been praying to in all my lifetimes.
The absoluteness of the mantra is not as important as the sincerity of your practice.
Generally, when you do intense sadhanas where you may be chanting several tens of rounds at a stretch, it’s normal for the mind to lose its sharpness and focus. Chanting then becomes a mere mechanical activity (which must be avoided at all costs). Chanting must be done with reverence, alertness, faith and mindfulness.
A general rule of thumb is that your diet should be strictly vegetarian. Dairy products are allowed. Meat, seafood, eggs, or any by-products of meat of any nature (gelatin, etc.) should be avoided at all costs. It’s best to eat food that is easy to digest, wholesome and freshly cooked. The diet that’s particularly suited for most sadhanas is called havishya-anna. Simply put, havishya-anna involves not eating any beans, lentils, grains, pulses and legumes. Therefore, items like peas, all lentils, corn, wheat, rice are prohibited. You can eat potatoes, any fruit, any vegetable (except peas), dairy products ideally made from cow’s milk, rock salt and jaggery. Processed salt and sugar are prohibited.
INVOKING THE DEITY Once you invite your deity into your world, you effectively bring the energy of the mantra into your own energy field. Even though I’m using the word energy, the path of mantra yoga requires immense faith and devotion in your deity.
With avahana, you recognize that this energy exists and is dear to you and you want it to connect with your individual energy.
a). Self-Purification (Achamana) Water is consecrated and drunk three times while performing achamana. It’s done three times to purify you at emotional, mental and physical level. To purify you in your waking, sleeping and dreaming state. To purify the three modes of material nature, that is, goodness, passion and ignorance. To infuse you with knowledge, existence, bliss (sat-chit-anand). To ignite your potential, kinetic and creative energies. With your left hand, using the spoon again, put some water in your right hand and say the following mantra: Om Keshvaya Namah Drink the water. Put one more spoon and say the following mantra. Om Madhavaya Namah Drink the water. One more spoon and say the following mantra: Om Narayanaya Namaha Drink the holy water.