Image by Temari09(Flickr). Click image for source
Mantra is creation by Word
The word is a sound expressive of the idea. In the supra-physical plane when an idea has to be realised, one can by repeating the word-expression of it, produce vibrations which prepare the mind for the realisation of the idea. That is the principle of the Mantra and of japa. One repeats the name of the Divine and the vibrations created in the consciousness prepare the realisation of the Divine. It is the same idea that is expressed in the Bible, “God said, Let there be Light, and there was Light.” It is creation by the Word.
[Sri Aurobindo. CWSA vol 27, Letters on Poetry and Art, page 7]
The Mantra as a mental armour
The significant use of गिर्वण: (girvaṇaḥ) indicates that the safety from mortal strokes is also claimed as a result of the Vedic mantra. “Let not those who would slay, do harm against us (अभि [abhi] in our direction); do thou Indra, lord of mental force, in the strength of the mantra, govern our bodies and when the blow comes in our direction ward it off or enable us to ward it off (यवय [yavaya], causal).” The reference seems to me to be to that power of the mental force in which the Indian yogin has always believed, the power which, substituting a divine mental action for the passive helpless and vulnerable action of the body, protects the individual and turns away all attempts physical or otherwise to do him hurt. If I am right in my interpretation, we see the source of the Tantric idea of the stoma or stotra acting as a kavaca or mental armour around the body which keeps off the attacks of suffering, calamity, diseases, wounds or death.
(Sri Aurobindo. SABCL vol. 10, Secret of the Veda, p 501)
The Vedas define four types of Mantra
- Stoma: that which establishes or confirms
- Uktha: that which desires or wills
- Gayatra: that which brings up and sets in motion
- Samsa: that which brings out into the field of expression
(Sri Aurobindo. SABCL vol. 10, Secret of the Veda, p 501)
The theory behind the Mantra
All creation is expression by the Word; but the form which is expressed is only a symbol or representation of the thing which is. We see this in human speech which only presents to the mind a mental form of the object; but the object it seeks to express is itself only a form or presentation of another Reality. That reality is Brahman, Brahman expresses by the Word a form or presentation of himself in the objects of sense and consciousness which constitute the universe, just as the human word expresses a mental image of those objects. That Word is creative in a deeper and more original sense than human speech and with a power of which the utmost creativeness of human speech can be only a far-off and feeble analogy.
The word used here for utterance means literally a raising up to confront the mind. Brahman, says the Upanishad, is that which cannot be so raised up before the mind by speech.
Human speech, as we see, raises up only the presentation of a presentation, the mental figure of an object which is itself only a figure of the sole Reality, Brahman, It has indeed a power of new creation, but even that power only extends to the creation of new mental images, that is to say, of adaptive formations based upon previous mental images. Such a limited power gives no idea of the original creative puissance which the old thinkers attributed to the divine Word.
If, however, we go a little deeper below the surface, we shall arrive at a power in human speech which does give us a remote image of the original creative Word. We know that vibration of sound has the power to create — and to destroy — forms; this is a commonplace of modern Science. Let us suppose that behind all forms there has been a creative vibration of sound.
Next, let us examine the relation of human speech to sound in general. We see at once that speech is only a particular application of the principle of sound, a vibration made by pressure of the breath in its passage through the throat and mouth. At first, beyond doubt, it must have been formed naturally and spontaneously to express the emotions created by an object or occurrence and only afterwards seized upon by the mind to express first the idea of the object and then ideas about the object. The value of speech would therefore seem to be only representative and not creative.
But, in fact, speech is creative. It creates forms of emotion, mental images and impulses of action. The ancient Vedic theory and practice extended this creative action of speech by the use of the Mantra. The theory of the Mantra is that it is a word of power born out of the secret depths of our being where it has been brooded upon by a deeper consciousness than the mental, framed in the heart and not constructed by the intellect, held in the mind, again concentrated on by the waking mental consciousness and then thrown out silently or vocally — the silent word is perhaps held to be more potent than the spoken — precisely for the work of creation. The Mantra can not only create new subjective states in ourselves, alter our psychical being, reveal knowledge and faculties we did not before possess, can not only produce similar results in other minds than that of the user, but can produce vibrations in the mental and vital atmosphere which result in effects, in actions and even in the production of material forms on the physical plane.
As a matter of fact, even ordinarily, even daily and hourly we do produce by the word within us thought-vibrations, thought-forms which result in corresponding vital and physical vibrations, act upon ourselves, act upon others and end in the indirect creation of actions and of forms in the physical world. Man is constantly acting upon man both by the silent and the spoken word and he so acts and creates, though less directly and powerfully, even in the rest of Nature. But because we are stupidly engrossed with the external forms and phenomena of the world and do not trouble to examine its subtle and non-physical processes, we remain ignorant of all this field of science behind.
The Vedic use of the Mantra is only a conscious utilisation of this secret power of the word. And if we take the theory that underlies it together with our previous hypothesis of a creative vibration of sound behind every formation, we shall begin to understand the idea of the original creative Word. Let us suppose a conscious use of the vibrations of sound which will produce corresponding forms or changes of form. But Matter is only, in the ancient view, the lowest of the planes of existence. Let us realise then that a vibration of sound on the material plane pre-supposes a corresponding vibration on the vital without which it could not have come into play; that, again, presupposes a corresponding originative vibration on the mental; the mental presupposes a corresponding originative vibration on the supramental at the very root of things. But a mental vibration implies thought and perception and a supramental vibration implies a supreme vision and discernment. All vibration of sound on that higher plane is, then, instinct with and expressive of this supreme discernment of a truth in things and is at the same time creative, instinct with a supreme power which casts into forms the truth discerned and eventually, descending from plane to plane, reproduces it in the physical form or object created in Matter by etheric sound. Thus we see that the theory of creation by the Word which is the absolute expression of the Truth, and the theory of the material creation by sound-vibration in the ether correspond and are two logical poles of the same idea. They both belong to the same ancient Vedic system.
This, then, is the supreme Word, Speech of our speech. It is vibration of pure Existence, instinct with the perceptive and originative power of infinite and omnipotent consciousness, shaped by the Mind behind mind into the inevitable word of the Truth of things; out of whatever substance on whatever plane, the form or physical expression emerges by its creative agency. The Supermind using the Word is the creative Logos.
(Sri Aurobindo, CWSA vol. 18, Kena and other Upanishads,pp 29-31)
When does the Mantra succeed ?
The japa is usually successful only on one of two conditions – if it is repeated with a sense of its significance, a dwelling of something in the mind on the nature, power, beauty, attraction of the Godhead it signifies and is to bring into the consciousness, – that is the mental way; or if it comes up from the heart or rings in it with a certain sense or feeling of bhakti making it alive, – that is the emotional way. Either the mind or the vital has to give it support or sustenance. But if it makes the mind dry and the vital restless, it must be missing that support and sustenance. There is, of course, a third way, the reliance on the power of the mantra or name in itself; but then one has to go on till that power has sufficiently impressed its vibration on the inner being to make it at a given moment suddenly open to the Presence or the Touch. But if there is a struggling or insistence for the result, then this effect which needs a quiet receptivity in the mind is impeded. That is why I insisted so much on mental quietude and not on too much straining or effort, to give time to allow the psychic and the mind to develop the necessary condition of receptivity – a receptivity as natural as when one receives an inspiration for poetry and music.
[Sri Aurobindo. SABCL vol. 23, Letters on Yoga, Sadhana through Meditation, p 745]
Three kinds of Japa (Japa=chant)
Japa is of three kinds. Japa done aloud is the lowest; Japa done in low tones is the middle; Japa done mentally is the best. (Kularnava Tantra 15.54)
WHEN the Japa is done aloud (in the hearing of others) there is a tendency for the repetition to get mechanical. The sound predominates over the sense and much of the benefit is lost.
When it is done in low tones (with the movement of lips but outside the hearing of others) there is less distraction of sound. But still the effort of repetition of the words affects the concentration of the consciousness.
Such a concentration is fully possible when the Japa proceeds without verbal repetition (without any movement of lips). One dwells upon the meaning and the consciousness participates uninterruptedly in the affirmation and re-affirmation of the invocation. The letters or words are repeated very subtly within the being as supports to this How of consciousness to the Deity. This is called Ajapa Japa.
[M.P. Pandit. Gems of the Tantra, Series 1, p43]
Ajapa Japa (i.e. chanting that occurs automatically without the chant)
When one repeats a mantra regularly, very often it begins to repeat itself within, which means that it is taken up by the inner being. In that way it is more effective.
[Sri Aurobindo. SABCL vol. 23, Letters on Yoga, p748]
The true Mantra must come from within OR it must be given by a Guru
Mother Mirra Alfassa: Nobody can give you the true mantra. It’s not something that is given; it’s something that wells up from within. It must spring from within all of a sudden, spontaneously, like a profound, intense need of your being – then it has power, because it’s not something that comes from outside, it’s your very own cry.
I saw, in my case, that my mantra has the power of immortality; whatever happens, if it is uttered, it’s the Supreme that has the upper hand, it’s no longer the lower law. And the words are irrelevant, they may not have any meaning – to someone else, my mantra is meaningless, but to me it’s full, packed with meaning. And effective, because it’s my cry, the intense aspiration of my whole being.
A mantra given by a guru is only the power to realize the experience of the discoverer of the mantra. The power is automatically there, because the sound contains the experience. I saw that once in Paris, at a time when I knew nothing of India, absolutely nothing, only the usual nonsense. I didn’t even know what a mantra was. I had gone to a lecture given by some fellow who was supposed to have practiced “yoga” for a year in the Himalayas and recounted his experience (none too interesting, either). All at once, in the course of his lecture, he uttered the sound OM. And I saw the entire room suddenly fill with light, a golden, vibrating light…. I was probably the only one to notice it. I said to myself, “Well!” Then I didn’t give it any more thought, I forgot about the story. But as it happened, the experience recurred in two or three different countries, with different people, and every time there was the sound OM, I would suddenly see the place fill with that same light. So I understood. That sound contains the vibration of thousands and thousands of years of spiritual aspiration – there is in it the entire aspiration of men towards the Supreme. And the power is automatically there, because the experience is there.
It’s the same with my mantra. When I wanted to translate the end of my mantra, “Glory to You, O Lord,” into Sanskrit, I asked for Nolini’s help. He brought his Sanskrit translation, and when he read it to me, I immediately saw that the power was there – not because Nolini put his power into it (!), God knows he had no intention of “giving” me a mantra! But the power was there because my experience was there. We made a few adjustments and modifications, and that’s the japa I do now – I do it all the time, while sleeping, while walking, while eating, while working, all the time.[[Mother later clarified: “‘Glory to You, O Lord’ isn’t MY mantra, it’s something I ADDED to it – my mantra is something else altogether, that’s not it. When I say that my mantra has the power of immortality, I mean the other, the one I don’t speak of! I have never given the words…. You see, at the end of my walk, a kind of enthusiasm rises, and with that enthusiasm, the ‘Glory to You’ came to me, but it’s part of the prayer I had written in Prayers and Meditations: ‘Glory to You, O Lord, all-triumphant Supreme’ etc. (it’s a long prayer). It came back suddenly, and as it came back spontaneously, I kept it. Moreover, when Sri Aurobindo read this prayer in Prayers and Meditations, he told me it was very strong. So I added this phrase as a kind of tail to my japa. But ‘Glory to You, O Lord’ isn’t my spontaneous mantra – it came spontaneously, but it was something written very long ago. The two things are different.” ]]
And that’s how a mantra has life: when it wells up all the time, spontaneously, like the cry of your being – there is no need of effort or concentration: it’s your natural cry. Then it has full power, it is alive. It must well up from within…. No guru can give you that.
[Mother’s Agenda, May 11 1963]
The Mantra controls the physical mind
Satprem: Doing japa seems to exert a pressure on my physical consciousness, which goes on turning! How can I silence it? As soon as my concentration is not absolute, the physical mind starts up – it grabs at anything, anything at all, any word, fact or event that comes along, and it starts turning, turning. If you stop it, if you put some pressure on it, then it springs back up two minutes later … And there is no inner consent at all. It chews on words, it chews on ideas or feelings – interminably. What should I do?
Mother: Yes, it’s the physical mind. The japa is made precisely to control the physical mind.
I myself use it for a very special reason, because … You see, I invoke (the words are a bit strange) … the Lord of Tomorrow. Not the unmanifest Lord, but the Lord as he will manifest ‘tomorrow,’ or in Sri Aurobindo’s words, the divine manifestation in its supramental form.
So the first sound of my mantra is the call to that, the evocation. With the second sound, the body’s cells make their’ surrender,’ they give themselves. And with the third sound comes the identification of this [the body] with That, which produces the divine life. These are my three sounds.
And in the beginning, during the first months that I was doing the japa, I felt them … I had an almost detailed awareness of these myriads of cells opening to this vibration; the vibration of the first sound is an absolutely special vibration (you see, above, there is the light and all that, but beyond this light there is the original vibration), and this vibration was entering into all the cells and was reproduced in them. It went on for months in this way.
[Mother’s Agenda, Oct 11 1960]
Mantra in Sri Aurobindo’s poem Savitri
As when the mantra sinks in Yoga’s ear,
Its message enters stirring the blind brain
And keeps in the dim ignorant cells its sound
The hearer understands a form of words
And, musing on the index thought it holds,
He strives to read it with the labouring mind,
But finds bright hints, not the embodied truth:
Then, falling silent in himself to know
He meets the deeper listening of his soul:
The Word repeats itself in rhythmic strains:
Thought, vision, feeling, sense, the body’s self
Are seized unulterably and he endures
An ecstasy and an immortal change;
He feels a Wideness and becomes a Power,
All knowledge rushes on him like a sea:
Transmuted by the white spiritual ray
He walks in naked heavens of joy and calm,
Sees the God-face and hears transcendent speech.
[Sri Aurobindo. CWSA vol. 33-34, Savitri, Book IV, Canto 3, p 375]
Some Mantras (from various sources)
- Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Aravindaya (recording link)
- Om Anandamayi Chaitanyamayi Satyamayi Parame. (another link)
- Om Sri Aurobindo Mirra
- Om Tat Sat Jyotir Aravinda (another link)
- Om Satyam Jnanam Jyotir Aravinda
- Om Sri Mata Aravinda Charanam Nama
- Om Vishwani Deva Savitur Duritani Parasuva Yad Bhadram Tanna Asuva
- Gayatri Mantra: Om bhur bhuvas suvah, tat savitur varenyam, bhargo devasya dhimahi,dheeyo yo naha prachodayat. (youtube link)
- Sri Aurobindo’s Gayatri Mantra : Om Tat Savitur Varam Rupam, Jyoti Parasya Dhimahi Yannah Satyena Dipayet. (recording link) (Mohan Mistry’s rendition) (Joya Di’s rendition) [Tat = That, Savitur = Sun-god who is the Creator, Varam = most auspicious, Rupam = form, Jyotih = Light, Parasya = of the Lord (since para = Transcendental), Dhimahi = meditate on (since Dhi = Intellect), Yannah = by which, Satyena = Truth, Dipayet = illumine (dipa = light) ]
Note: According to M.P.Pandit, the original Gayatri Mantra was intended for illumining the intellect, while Sri Aurobindo’s modification of the Gayatri Mantra is intended for supramentalization of the entire being. Refer to M.P. Pandit’s book “Sri Aurobindo and his Yoga” page 107 (google book link)
Related Posts
Other pages on Mantras
CD & booklet by Arun Amin
Click on the picture for details.
More Mantra CDs at Auromere Ayurvedic Products
Books
Click on the image to see the catalog entry.
And
Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother 
Where did you find the mantra “Om Sri Aurobindo Mirra.” What is its background?
Indeed Mantra Japa has great power: “Om Anandamayi Chaitanyamayi Satyamayi Parme”
Raj,
I got it off a mailing list. Also see Letters on Yoga, Sadhana through Meditation, page 746, “As a rule the only mantra used in this sadhana is that of the Mother or of my name and the Mother’s.”
-Sandeep
The entire mantra is:
Om Sri Aurobindo Mira,
Open my mind, my heart, my life,
To your light, your love, your power,
In all things may I see the Divine.
I remember reading that Sir Aurobindo gave this mantra to Champaklal.
The Vishwamitra Gayatri has intonation (swara) as a part of it. Does Sri Aravinda’s have its own?
I have no idea. I will have to ask someone
This is the answer I received from someone in the Ashram:
1.Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Aravindaya
2.Om Anandamayi Chaitanyamayi Satyamayi Parame
Shravan,
You have just listed the first two Mantras. Was there something you wanted to add?
-Sandeep
02 OM Namo Bhagavate (Mantra) can be heard at
[audio src="http://sriaurobindoashram.info/Content.aspx?ContentURL=_StaticContent/SriAurobindoAshram/-09%20E-Library/-03%20Disciples/Mohan%20Mistry/Multimedia/Dhyana_1%24%24%24/02%20Om%20Namo%20Bhagavate%20(Mantra).mp3" /]
thanks. I fixed the link above.
in comparison to its practical impact the little book of Sri Ramakrishna Das ‘Nama-Japa in the Yoga of Transformation’ carves out a quite miserable existence at the end of this thread. Jonathan Cooke has reviewed it for SABDA:
‘Sri Ramkrishna Das begins this work with a bold and uncompromising statement: “In the Yoga of Transformation, there is only one sure and certain way to overcome all seemingly insurmountable obstacles, to pass securely through even the most cunning and subtle attacks of the hostile forces and to safely reach the goal. This way is to surrender at the feet of the Mother like a small child and repeat her name. It is never safe to tread the path of this yoga without this impenetrable armour.” The rest of the book consists of a lucid and compelling illustration of this central theme.
The words of a realised man carry a natural authority, power, and simplicity that cannot be imitated. Very few people can be said to be in a position to write about this yoga with any true authority and even fewer still could presume to write on the yoga of transformation from a perspective of illumined experience. But the stamp of Truth can always be recognised. Therefore the discriminating reader will immediately perceive that when writing Nama-Japa in the Yoga of Transformation, Sri Ramkrishna Das was doing so as a man who had lived the yoga and embodied it in his own person.
Nama-japa has always been recognised as a potent means of realisation, not only in India but in all countries where mysticism has been practised. The Mother, however, took up japa for a new purpose-the transformation of the body. It is this practice of japa by the Mother herself and the statements that she made about it that support Sri Ramkrishna Das’ thesis that nama-japa is the only way to achieve the physical transformation. The Mother stated in 1959: “I have also come to realise that for this sadhana of the body, the mantra is essential…because only japa has a direct action on the body.”
But according to the author, it is not only in the final stages of the yoga that nama-japa should be practised, rather that it is desirable to practise it from the very outset. For Sri Ramkrishna Das puts forward an idea of immense significance; namely, that there exists an essential identity between the supramental power, the Mother and the Mother’s name-‘Ma’. The natural implication of this is that the Mother’s presence and the transforming action of the supramental power are always with those who constantly repeat the Divine Name with a sincere attitude of aspiration and surrender. Sri Ramakrishna Das further emphasises that in this way even those who have only just begun their sadhana can quickly develop constant awareness and intense aspiration.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, what the reader actually encounters in this remarkable text is a powerful impulse pushing him to fulfil his ultimate spiritual destiny. He is shown the goal and shown also a straightforward and entirely safe and dependable means to achieve it-a simple reliance upon the name of the Divine Mother.’
in addition to SABDA’s printed issue an online copy exists. thanks to ‘The Mother’s Work in Orissa’ it can be found here:
Click to access Nama_Japa.pdf
in comparison to its practical impact the little book of Sri Ramakrishna Das ‘Nama-Japa in the Yoga of Transformation’ carves out a quite miserable existence at the end of this thread.
It certainly wasn’t intentional. Most of the page is taken up by direct quotes from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Thanks for the details and the link to the book.
don’t worry, dear Sandeep, i don’t want to interfere you in no case. yours is a very profound blog, and i am thankful to be allowed to contribute a little bit. but i love to express myself with at least humor – if not even irony. it is so joyful the Topic that i always fail to remain grave. there are, outside, so many crying contradictions, and the world is full of extremely enlarged stupidities. but inside there is the Certainty that – for the future is going to be fashioned by the Divine – there is no problem at all.
Ok 🙂 I just wanted to clarify it was not an oversight. Ramakrishna Das‘s booklet “An Experience in the Body”, is also quite noteworthy.
where can i find this booklet? it is not available from SABDA nor motherorissa.com.
dispatched!
Hello;
some guy wanted to have a copy of the Booklet “An Experience in the Body ” ?
I have one, if required i can scan it and send it by email.
Ramana Maharshi speaks about adhikara or authority with regard to mantras.
“Can anyone get any benefit by repeating sacred syllables (mantras) picked up casually?
M.: “No. He must be competent and initiated in such mantras.”
Maharshi illustrated this by the following story: A King visited his Premier in his residence. There he was told that the Premier was engaged in repetition of sacred syllables (japa). The King waited for him and, on meeting him, asked what the japa was. The Premier said that it was the holiest of all, Gayatri. The King desired to be initiated by the Premier. But the Premier confessed his
inability to initiate him. Therefore the King learned it from someone else, and meeting the Minister later he repeated the Gayatri and wanted to know if it was right. The Minister said that the mantra
was correct, but it was not proper for him to say it. When pressed for an explanation, the Minister called to a page close by and ordered him to take hold of the King. The order was not obeyed.
The order was often repeated, and still not obeyed. The King flew into a rage and ordered the same man to hold the Minister, and it was immediately done. The Minister laughed and said that the
incident was the explanation required by the King. “How?” asked the King. The Minister replied, “The order was the same and the executor also, but the authority was different. When I ordered, the
effect was nil, whereas, when you ordered, there was immediate effect. Similarly with mantras.”
[Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, 2006]
This example shows that the transitive property fails when it comes to Mantras. The Minister must have received the Mantra from a competent authority and therefore benefited from its power. However, the Minister himself had not reached the state of self-realization where he could initiate others. Therefore, it was judicious of the Minister to decline to initiate the King.
As the Mother writes above, “A mantra given by a guru is only the power to realize the experience of the discoverer of the mantra.”
While it may not be as powerful, it is better to chant a Mantra than spend one’s time engaged in idle chit-chat. You never know when the Mantra might reveal its hidden power in a sudden spark during inner withdrawal.
l’ve always just used ‘Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Aurobindo Mother’ and if l need their protection – ‘Jai Guru Sri Aurobindo Mother Jai Guru’.
ln particular, l’ve seen the second one work for me.
could you please give me mothers original handwrittten endless progress word or signature ie endless progress written in mothers handwiritng thanks
The Mother says above, ” Nobody can give you the true mantra. It’s not something that is given; it’s something that wells up from within. It must spring from within all of a sudden, spontaneously, like a profound, intense need of your being – then it has power, because it’s not something that comes from outside, it’s your very own cry.”
It seems Sri Aurobindo had such an experience in 1908, when he found a Mantra arising from within him.
“Before parting from Lele I asked for his instructions. He was giving me detailed instructions. In the meantime I told him of a Mantra that had arisen in my heart. Suddenly while giving instructions he stopped and asked me if I could rely absolutely on Him who gave me the Mantra. I replied that I could always do that. Then Lele said that there was no need of further instructions.”
(A.B. Purani, Life of Sri Aurobindo, p 103)
Sandeep – i’ve searched the online pdfs/editions but cannot find this text:
‘The Mantra as a mental armour
The significant use of गिर्वण: (girvaṇaḥ) indicates that the safety from mortal strokes is also claimed as a result of the Vedic mantra. “Let not those who would slay, do harm against us (अभि [abhi] in our direction); do thou Indra, lord of mental force, in the strength of the mantra, govern our bodies and when the blow comes in our direction ward it off or enable us to ward it off (यवय [yavaya], causal).” The reference seems to me to be to that power of the mental force in which the Indian yogin has always believed, the power which, substituting a divine mental action for the passive helpless and vulnerable action of the body, protects the individual and turns away all attempts physical or otherwise to do him hurt. If I am right in my interpretation, we see the source of the Tantric idea of the stoma or stotra acting as a kavaca or mental armour around the body which keeps off the attacks of suffering, calamity, diseases, wounds or death.
(Sri Aurobindo. Secret of the Veda, Hymns in Praise of Indra’
—————-
Has it been ”edited out”? If you have a link for this passage in the SOV – please can I have it. Thanks.
It was part of the SABCL edition (vol 10, page 501) but has been eliminated from the CWSA edition. I presume it will appear in CWSA vol. 14 (Vedic and Philological Studies) which has not yet been released. We just have to wait and see.
I wish the Ashram Archives would communicate more with the external world on the changes in progress so we can anticipate and ensure that our favourite passages do not disappear.
In the meantime, I am going to update the citation to indicate it belongs to the SABCL edition
Om Sri Aurobindo Mira,
Open my mind, my heart, my life,
To your light, your love, your power,
In all things may I see the Divine.
This is the mantra that i repeat every day and it helps
We have thoughts that we display through minds that comes as speech as the mantras we chant
see the 2 links under “related posts” above on Vedic Vak
“It is this practice of japa by the Mother herself and the statements that she made about it that support Sri Ramkrishna Das’ thesis that nama-japa is the only way to achieve the physical transformation. The Mother stated in 1959: “I have also come to realise that for this sadhana of the body, the mantra is essential…because only japa has a direct action on the body.”
l wonder if this is really possible at the moment [physical transformation] because Sri Aurobindo said He would be reborn in the First Supramental Body created in the Supramental way – so how is it possible for anyone else to achieve this at the present moment [perhaps in preparation for a future life, l suppose]….
very useful ln purna yoga
Would you have the complete words of the mantra ‘Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Aravindaya’ mantra by Sunil Da? Thanks
You mean the Gayatri Mantra, right. l think it’s the one below:
“Om
Tat savitur varam rupam
Jyotih parasya dhimahi
Yannah satyena dipayet
Om namo bhagavate Sri Aravindaya
Anandamayi chaitanyamayi satyamayi parame”
And sung in this video
Can anyone send me book “an experience in the body” by Sri Ramakrishna Das?
Jitender Mohan
my email – Jmohan738@gmail.com
Very good web site for Mothers child
Can Integral Yoga be done in its completeness without taking SA and Mother as the Ishta ?
My mind naturally takes them as gurus and had exceptional regard for them, but they don’t come to my mind as forms of Divine itself.
I know SA allowed disciples to take up any form of Divine, but this doubt comes from this statement:
“As a rule the only mantra used in this sadhana is that of the Mother or of my name and the Mother’s.”
I am also accustomed to a different mantra. Though mantra is not a firm part of my practice.
The path to the Supramental (essential goal of Integral Yoga) can be found easily under the guidance of SA and the Mother, but that does not preclude finding it without their help.
Does considering them as my gurus and recalling the formlesss God(and sometimes in form of Ram and Seeta) amount to not accepting their protection/guidance/help ? My love for them as gurus is certainly strong.
In the Letters, some disciples seem to meditate on Krishna and other traditional forms.
I have never thought to ask SA for help, I don’t think. And yet I consider him to be my primary guide through his writings. No one else has helped me as much as he through the books I have read. He has changed my life. Now that I am almost finished with Life Divine I plan to review both it and Synthesis of yoga to come up with a practical daily program of things to remember, reflect on or do.
@ Pete: That’s the attitude I too have.
I rarely pray etc. I just trudge along with reading and meditating. When I do pray, I have my traditional forms in mind or just a silent aspiration to the Formless Infinite.
So a mantra such as “Om Namah Shivaya”
Is Shiva is a personification of concept, an archetype if you will? Or a personal entity that is invoked?
Well, the Mother was talking to these Beings/Gods like Shiva all the time in the waking state so l’d day they are objectively real as personal entities.
She says all this in the agenda. She spoke to Ganesh, Shiva, Durga etc.
The mantra I use is ‘Om Sri Aurobindo Mother’ – it calls them and their Power which has worked for me. They’re Power is the Divine Power, which is beyond the Gods/Overmind – so in effect the ultimate.
ALL MANTRAS GIVEN BY SRI AUROBINDO AND MOTHER HAS GOT TREMENDOUS POWER. ESPECIALLY THE MANTRA GIVEN BY SRI AUROBINDO FOR OPENING IS EXTREMELY USEFUL, BUT THE GREATEST OF ALL MANTRAS AT LEAST TO ME IS “MAA” OR “MOTHER”
Something else I have been doing instead of Mantra: I got it from a Yoga Nidra technique. Simply counting to 100 and then back down to 0. Very effective. Somewhere in the process I notice myself drifting in to dream land but am much more aware of it and can review the process as witness. Experiencing the mind in this way is amazing and beyond description. Not necessarily enjoyable but interesting.
MRI scans show that memorizing ancient mantras increases the size of brain regions associated with cognitive function
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/a-neuroscientist-explores-the-sanskrit-effect/
Has anyone had similar experiences memorizing Savitri? And does anyone or has anyone memorized Savitri?
just found this:
http://savitri.in/library/resources/articles-various-authors/ragarding-savitri-by-heart
“Do you want everyone to learn Savitri by heart?” Nirodbaran
A few years ago I had the good fortune to be sitting near to Nirodbaran, the “scribe” to whom Sri Aurobindo dictated so much of the final version of Savitri. I told him very briefly about our plan to try a new approach. He commented: “Do you want everyone to learn Savitri by heart?” Since then, how many others have asked the same question! The answer is “Regretfully, no, we have something else in mind”….. regretfully, because learning favourite passages by heart, enjoying them, meditating upon them, making them part of our lives, allowing them to inspire and guide us, is the best approach of all. Then, as the Mother said, “all that we need we will find in Savitri.”
http://savitri.in/blogs/light-of-supreme/savitri-by-heart-by-sonia-dyne
I know a couple who recited Savitri every night continuously for months and the lady literally returned from the dead ie from terminal illness, miraculously. The husband had “yog” for wife’s death in his horoscope leading to a second marriage. This was averted by Savitri recitation.
But memorizing Savitri is impossible without understanding it, I suppose. And to understand it, no other better source than MP Pandit’s “Savitri Study”. I converted the whole 1500 + page material into ebook format. Whoever needs, can be shared.
Thank you Sandeep. Here is an excerpt from Pandit’s ‘The Yoga of Transformation’ on the topic of memorization:
Transformation of the physical (1): “Today in this age of calculators, computers, in this era of artificial intelligence, we have begun to let the memory-power fall into disuse. We use the calculators as memories, but in the process we lose our own powers of retention. In the ‘Brain of India’, Sri Aurobindo regrets that the modern method of education is beggared by forfeiting this practice of committing to memory. It is never too late to commit to memory. But you must take interest in it. In an early age, in the school-going age, whether you have interest or not, the cells are young and they absorb. At a later age, interest helps to memorize. Developing memory is part of this discipline. ” p.114-15
***The ordeal for me is to definitely find an interest!
Found this very insightful (short) letter from Sri Aurobindo to a young disciple regarding memory: http://auromaa.org/loss-of-memory-in-sadhana/
I can relate to the symptoms the young disciple shares in the letter (in my youth as well): “My mind has almost lost its power of memory. Can’t remember anything.”
This quote interests me:
“…by the change of the consciousness there can be a more conscious and perfect functioning of the memory replacing the old mechanism.” SA
When would this “conscious and perfect functioning of the memory” happen? In the above quotation by MP Pandit, he is speaking primarily of youth rather than elders. How might this be for a person in their second half of life (60 +)? Even in the article you presented, the study involves young people: “A hundred dhoti-clad young men sat cross-legged on the floor in facing rows, chatting amongst themselves.”
I finally remembered your blog titled “How does the mind change with yoga.” My answer is there. Thank you.
I just discovered Deva Premal. I guess she has been popular for quite a while.
not heard of her, but she is probably popular in some circles
Om Miraravindaya vidmahe atimaanasaya dheemahi
tanno jyotih prachodayat 🙂
What is this mantra? Given by Sri Aurobindo’s?
I meditate upon the supermind borne of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo, May that light inspire my intellect
Pranams
Can you give the mantra of Life given to Mother in Astral travel by Theons guidance and later shared to Sri Aurobindo
Kkrishnan
I don’t know that Mantra
A note about Yogi Sri Ramakrishna das:
I asked one old foreigner ashramite who knew him. The devotee said about Ramakrishna Das: “He was no ordinary person like you and me. He was a God realized yogi even before he joined the ashram. In the ashram he had undergone lot of transformation. Like one day I was sitting around him with others listening to him. He was seated in the bed slightly above us. He was old around 80+ age. He was almost bald and his scalp could be clearly visible. I asked a question and in reply to that he bent slightly downwards and I saw the Thousand petal lotus appear on his head!! I was shocked and forgot what was my question! ”
Me: ” Was it a vision?”
Devotee: “No. Of course not. I saw it with my physical eyes”
Me: “Was there blood there since the lotus was coming out of his head?” – I asked quite a silly question, later I thought.
Devotee: “Not like that. Just like nerves swell sometimes on our skin and appear clearly visible on our hand, similarly the lotus appeared from his scalp…For this reason, later on he started wearing a cap in old age to hide it. He could cure diseases of disciples with his touch and also could control the weather. He had a child-like simplicity to his personality and used to be very happy whenever someone shared their own personal good news about them”
………………
My 0.002 cents
There is a difference between “doing a miracle” vs “being the miracle”. People who “do a miracle” are magicians/tantriks, they need to perform some methods to do the miracle. Yogis who become the miracle, dont need to put any effort and the miracle becomes their law of nature just like walking or talking.
Can you tell me the correct pronunciation of mother’s mantra as written in Mothers Agenda? – i.e., “om namo bhagavateh.” It is the last syllable, “teh,” I am unsure about. Namaste
Hello,
The aurobindo.ru website is not working anymore please look into it please resolve this at the earliest thank you.
the person who was managing the website has passed away
someone else is working to restore it
will update here if a replacement website comes up
site is operational again