Mantra, Chanting and Positive Affirmations

Many people in today's rushed Western society have taken up the practice of repeating mantras or positive affirmations as part of an effort to focus the mind, to meditate or to calm and destress themselves. Chanting is the process of repeating a mantra or positive affirmation either aloud or silently, with the number of times being dependent on the time or the tool used (mala, rosary, etc). Chanting can be quite beneficial during meditation, while driving, washing dishes or other tasks that don't require constant focus or if one finds oneself in a situation where emotion is quickly leaving joy and happiness for anger or sadness.

There lies a perceived difference among people between mantra and positive affirmation. A mantra is a religious or mystical syllable or poem, typically from the Sanskrit language, and varies according to the school and philosophy associated with the mantra. A positive affirmation is a word or phrase that evokes a positive state in a person, such as the word "love" or "peace" or the sentance "I am strong and beautiful".

Beyond being sacred sounds and having millenia of strength of use behind them, Sanskrit (or Buddhist, etc) mantras also have the benefit of being foreign, thus they normally do not have a negative belief already attached to them.

For instance, if one is using "I am divine" as a positive affirmation that phrase, repeated long enough, will "re-wire" the brain and the sub-conscious will begin to believe it - it will become truth. But if one's subconscious, or subjective mind, hears "I am divine" and starts to go off on a tangent about how I cannot be divine because I yelled today and I'm always yelling, etc, etc, then the phrase has negative beliefs deeply ingrained and will, in essence, backfire on the user.

One often has little idea how deeply ingrained or hidden negative beliefs are, so using a Sanskrit mantra like "Om Namah Shivaya", meaning I bow with respect to the divine (in me and in the universe), can often be more beneficial as it does not have any negative beliefs attached to it. But the bottom line remains: use what you feel works the best for you. Experiment with both during meditation or while driving and see what resonates with you. Once you find the phrase that works best it will become a valuable tool for you to find your way to inner joy and happiness - santosha.

Mantra History
Mantra is from the sanskrit root "man"- to think, and "tra"- to liberate; thus, to liberate from thought. Mantras are primarily used as spiritual conduits, words or vibrations that instill one-pointed concentration in a person. Mantras originated in the Vedic religion of India, later becoming an essential part of the Hindu tradition and a customary practice within Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. The use of mantras is now widespread throughout various spiritual movements which are based on, or off-shoots of, the practices in the earlier Eastern religions.

Mantras have two components of primary importance - Meaning and Sound. First is the actual meaning of the word or words and the second is the effective sound (vibration).

Aum: The most basic mantra is Aum (or Om), which in Hinduism is known as the "pranava mantra," the source of all mantras and the first sound/vibration created, as the universe is sound. For this reason, Aum is considered to be the most fundamental and powerful mantra, and thus is prefixed and suffixed to all Hindu prayers. While some mantras may invoke individual Gods or principles, the most fundamental mantras, like Aum, ultimately focus on the One reality. A very common mantra is formed by taking a deity's name. Called Nama japa and saluting it in such a manner: "Aum namah ------" or "Aum Jai (Hail!) ------" or several such permutations. One of the most common is Aum namah Shivaya (Aum I bow to Lord Shiva, considered to be the One Holy Diety / God).

Mantra Japa means repetition of mantra, and has become an established practice. It involves repetition of a mantra over and over again, usually in cycles of auspicious numbers (in multiples of three), the most popular being 108. For this reason, Hindu malas (bead necklaces) developed, containing 108 beads and a head bead (sometimes referred to as the 'meru', or 'guru' bead). One performing japa using his/her fingers counts each bead as he/she repeats the chosen mantra. Having reached 108 repetitions, if he/she wishes to continue another cycle of mantras, one must turn the mala around without crossing the head bead and repeat.

It is said that through japa one attains one-pointedness, or extreme focus, on the chosen deity or principal idea of the mantra. The vibrations and sounds of the mantra are considered extremely important, and thus reverberations of the sound are supposed to awaken the prana (chi or spiritual life force) and even stimulate chakras (energy centers within the body) according to many Hindu schools of thought.

History of Mantra in Other Traditions
Transcendental Meditation, also known simply as 'TM', uses what the group refers to as 'simple mantras' - as a meditative focus. They believe the practice can result in a number of material benefits such as relaxation, reduced stress, better health, better self image; but it can also benefit the world by reducing violence and crime, and generally improve quality of life. The founder was well versed in Hindu tradition, but TM attempts to separate itself from that tradition these days. Simple two-syllable mantras are used.

Mantra practice has also been enthusiastically taken up by various New Age groups and individuals, although this is typically out of context, and from the point of view of a genuine Hindu or Buddhist practitioner lacks depth. The mere repetition of syllables can have a calming effect on the mind, but the traditionalist would argue that mantra can be an effective way of changing the level of one's consciousness when approached in traditional way.

Some forms of Jewish meditation use mantras, although they do not call them by that name. Hasidic Jews sing phrases from the Hebrew Bible over and over, in a form of rhythmic chant, often accompanied by drumming on the table. They also use wordless sacred meditation tunes called niggunim, which are revealed through the higher consciousness of the Rebbes (Hasidic leaders). This practice is done to achieve deveikut which means "cleaving (holding on) to God."

In the Islamic Sufi tradition, chants of the 99 Names of Allah are popular invocations of attributes as are the names of the Prophet.

In Christianity, repetitive prayer using prayer beads such as a rosary includes well known mantras such as the Our Father and Hail Mary. A form of Christian meditation was taught by Dom John Main that involves the silent repetition of a mantra.

Mantra history information excerpted from Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.


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