Continued....
Potency of Mantras
Through this living contact the mantra becomes more powerful. It is to preserve this power that our scriptures enjoin a kind of secrecy on the part of the disciples and lay down rigorous punishments for those who infringe this rule. Of course, the purpose of this is just to prevent people from taking mantras lightly or frivolously. One must take the mantras very seriously. One should not experiment with them. They are very important in our lives. When we try to devote ourselves to the realization of God, we must know that it cannot be done in a light-hearted manner. The Guru transmits not only the mantras but also the knowledge that he has derived through personal experience or through the experience of the teachers of that line and is therefore competent to teach the disciple in the right manner.
Another point comes to my mind in this connection. There are innumerable mantras. If they are all placed before us, we will get confused as to which ones are to be accepted and which ones are to be rejected. To remove such a confusion the best principle would be to follow the dictates of a competent person who has direct knowledge to them. That person is the Guru.
Mantras are symbolic representation of divinity - God in the form of revealed words. These are instances of devotees mystically experiencing God in the form of an effulgent diagram or in the form of the luminous letter of the mantra. This is, of course, and example of a mystic expressions. We cannot always justify rationally these experiences which transcend reason. We cannot prove to the uninitiated people of the world that these experiences are real.
The image of God may be a material idol,of God may be expressed through a word or symbol, and such experiences are absolutely necessary in order to attain God realization. The human mind can conceive of the Reality only through forms. It cannot conceive of the Formless.
It may be asked, 'Have we to remain bound by forms for ever?' No, we need not. Through the forms we reach the Formless. We can never reach the Formless all of a sudden or directly without transforming present state of mind. In the beginning our mind cannot think in any way except through forms or symbols. so, a symbol is absolutely necessary for spiritual practice and the mantras are symbols representing divinity.
If we love a particular aspect of God, represented in a particular image, we do not like the image to be maimed or deformed. similarly, the mantra is to be repeated as it is, without introducing any changes. Furthermore, we have to adhere to a single method of practice for the sake of concentration.
To be continued
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Potency of Mantras
Through this living contact the mantra becomes more powerful. It is to preserve this power that our scriptures enjoin a kind of secrecy on the part of the disciples and lay down rigorous punishments for those who infringe this rule. Of course, the purpose of this is just to prevent people from taking mantras lightly or frivolously. One must take the mantras very seriously. One should not experiment with them. They are very important in our lives. When we try to devote ourselves to the realization of God, we must know that it cannot be done in a light-hearted manner. The Guru transmits not only the mantras but also the knowledge that he has derived through personal experience or through the experience of the teachers of that line and is therefore competent to teach the disciple in the right manner.
Another point comes to my mind in this connection. There are innumerable mantras. If they are all placed before us, we will get confused as to which ones are to be accepted and which ones are to be rejected. To remove such a confusion the best principle would be to follow the dictates of a competent person who has direct knowledge to them. That person is the Guru.
Mantras are symbolic representation of divinity - God in the form of revealed words. These are instances of devotees mystically experiencing God in the form of an effulgent diagram or in the form of the luminous letter of the mantra. This is, of course, and example of a mystic expressions. We cannot always justify rationally these experiences which transcend reason. We cannot prove to the uninitiated people of the world that these experiences are real.
The image of God may be a material idol,of God may be expressed through a word or symbol, and such experiences are absolutely necessary in order to attain God realization. The human mind can conceive of the Reality only through forms. It cannot conceive of the Formless.
It may be asked, 'Have we to remain bound by forms for ever?' No, we need not. Through the forms we reach the Formless. We can never reach the Formless all of a sudden or directly without transforming present state of mind. In the beginning our mind cannot think in any way except through forms or symbols. so, a symbol is absolutely necessary for spiritual practice and the mantras are symbols representing divinity.
If we love a particular aspect of God, represented in a particular image, we do not like the image to be maimed or deformed. similarly, the mantra is to be repeated as it is, without introducing any changes. Furthermore, we have to adhere to a single method of practice for the sake of concentration.
To be continued
1 comment:
The day of full moon (Purnima) in the Hindu month of Ashadh is traditionally marked and celebrated as Guru Purnima. On this day, the Guru is worshipped by the disciples. This is how we can show our love and affection towards them by gifting them stuff like a rocking chair, academic glass nameplate, pen & case set and lots more which will help them in their day to day life.
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