In the process of learning something or acquiring a skill, we ultimately engage our thought on a particular subject matter. For example, if we are learning economics, we start by reading a book or books that deal with that subject. We listen to teachers or lecturers or tapes or videos and absorb more information on the subject. Slowly, as we repeat the process our creative consciousness comes to grasp the knowledge of the subject and manifests the result.

If we wish to learn a sport, say tennis, we start by getting some instruction on how to hold the racket and how to line up and connect with ball. Then we get a partner and start hitting balls back and forth or go to a backboard and practice our shots over and over.

Both the tennis and economics examples share a pattern. Through directed thought, we put our attention on a particular object or ‘study’, and over time, by repeating the process, the knowledge of that skill or quality unfolds in our body. In theory, this is the science behind the success of all pursuits however basic or subtle. The key words here are directed thought and repetition. The combination of both brings about certain skills or powers in our being.

The practice of mantra is essentially the same principle. We take thought, particularly a single thought, and we consciously repeat that thought or vibration or sound, paying particular attention to the subtlest nuances of the meaning. The result is that over time, the meaning or quality or skill or power of that thought being consciously repeated begins to manifest in our being.

The rhythm of our thought is important. Suppose we wish to find out the deeper meaning of ‘heartspace’. We can sit down, close our eyes and begin to consciously repeat at regular intervals: ‘heartspace…heartspace…heartspace…’ Each successive utterance is a pulse that keeps us alert, for in the gap between pulses we remain conscious awaiting the next pulse and our attention does not have a chance to stray or waver into other thoughts. The result is a steady stream of awareness. As we repeat, we may find ourselves going deeper inside, and quite naturally slowing the cadence, maybe shortening the thought to ‘heart...heart...heart...’ and observing longer and longer gaps between successive pulses. As we journey into deeper levels of our consciousness, we feel deeply connected to spirit. Our rhythm of repetition naturally slows, our breath becomes finer, possibly to the point where the thought-pulses stop and we are perceiving beyond the word-resonance level.

Up until that time, the resonance of the thought is felt. Just like in poetry or literature, certain words or sounds carry certain inherent meanings or feelings. For example, ‘sibilant’ has a much different resonance or feeling to it than ‘truck’, just as do the sound vocables ‘mmmm’ and ‘argghh’. Similarly, we may hear somebody speak in a foreign tongue, but by the emotion or overtone or resonance they put into the words, we can understand that that person is angry or elated or sad or afraid or any number of possible feelings.

Meaning, rhythm and resonance constitute the three basic principles of mantra. However there is yet another aspect, undoubtedly more important than the mentioned three. That is the background perception from where the thought originates. This is a kind of invisible field that is constant throughout the application of mantra. If we carefully observe, we see that the sound or resonance of the thought is just the background in manifest form! Really it is all one flow, one substance!

The application of mantra is so universal that practically anything is possible with correct application over a sufficient period of time. Just as we can become a PhD in a particular field or become great tennis player or a great craftsperson or communicator, so really we can accomplish our hearts desire with the proper application of directed thought. First, we decide on what skill or quality we deem important enough to merit unfolding. Then we adopt a ‘thought’ or ‘sound’ or ‘feeling’ to study and apply the thought with the proper meaning, rhythm, resonance, and of course with patience and perseverance! After that it is up to the grace of Spirit to see what the outcome is.

By repeating certain sounds, we acquire an energy field accordant with the nature of those sounds. If we repeat sounds (thoughts) whose nature and resonance is full of confidence and light and happiness, we radiate that vibration, in the same way that if we dwell on worries we become a worried person.

Meditators and spiritual seekers have employed the repetition of sounds and thoughts as a technique in order to purify the mind and achieve higher levels of consciousness. They have repeated and meditated on the sound ‘Om’, which in Sanskrit is the word for ‘Self’ or ‘Spirit’. Actually it is from this particular application that the original meaning of the Sanskrit word mantra came: ‘man’ meaning ‘mind’, ‘tra’ meaning ‘release’; taken together, ‘release from mind’ - i.e. release from the ordinary human perception that cannot grasp the subtlest meaning of the word or words being repeated.

September 2001