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Anahat
USA
14 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 13 2014 : 10:50:25 AM
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Hey there and good morning to everyone. Hope everyones days are being filled with an outpour of bliss. Got an interesting question ild like to put out there.
To start off, ive worked with the ayam mantra on and off for about four years now. By on and off I mean that ive taken the liberty to experiment with other mantras out there using the same mental procedure. Ive worked with bija mantras, and even meditating on AUM for certain periods which interestingly enough has not caused any noticeable complications in my waking life, infact I get more rough patches from meditating on ayam than aum. Looking back at it I realized ive created a bad habit for myself in switching my vehicle for moving inward, however after practicing for so long I can still enter into stillness with fairly good ease and my waking life is still perpetually blissful. Of course ild like to kick this habit and just have ONE vehicle that I can take with me for the rest of my life.
I felt inside that I wanted to come back to simply AYAM, which has always been my tried and true mantra. this brings me to my question regarding its nature and our intitial meanings that we assigned to it and that we ultimately have to strip away from. Now Ive never been initiated into a TM mantra but I love studying maharishi"s materials on the nature of transcendental meditation. One of the things that I came across was regarding the choice of mantras given and their absence of inherent meaning that makes them powerful vehicles in which to penetrate into the more subtle levels of primordial thought. I have been able to strip away personal meaning from IAM through the years and understand its role as simply a vibration. However im curious as to whether or not IAM can be fully stripped of its personal meaning. we naturally use " I am" in our waking states and we all have some meaning associated with it. In the long run, because of its disposition, can it really be that suitable for a mantra or would it be best to use a mantra that has no meaning what so ever in our waking state to travel inward. Can AYAM ultimately lead us to the same place as those "prescribed" mantras that are given in TM and primordial sound programs?
I wanna mention I have had tremendous success with this curriculum. My only concern is regarding the choice of mantra and whether or not im using the best possible tool for the time that I put into it. Lemme know any insights you all have and thank you
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BillinL.A.
USA
375 Posts |
Posted - Jun 13 2014 : 1:32:23 PM
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Hi Anahat, I'm surprised you didn't make any reference to the AYP mantra enhancements.
Since you can enter the silence they sound like the ideal long term solution you're looking for...at least on paper.
I'm not that consistent at calming down and after trying one of the enhancements for several weeks I went back to Ayam.
But it sound like it might be ideal for you???
This lesson gives links to the other "enhancement" lessons too:
http://www.aypsite.org/369.html |
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Anahat
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Jun 13 2014 : 2:19:59 PM
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hey bill thank you for your response. in regards to the enhancements I have tried them in the past however I cant quite seem to convince myself to stay with them. that's really my only issue with it. there was a month and a half that I was working with shree ayam namah and it was pretty nice, but for me using a shorter syllable mantra just worked better, less is more so to say. from that formula I transitioned for a short time to simply om. Ive done om with the DM technique in the past with little to no complications arising that I was aware of.
OM appealed to me because simply its recommended by every source outside of AYP, including various scriptures. Its sure fire and time tested as far back as spiritual science was recorded. Now I am aware that OM is introduced along with enhancements, but like I said I just cant convince myself to stay with them. I would prefer to use just a one or two syllable mantra as opposed to a drawn out formula. And as much as I do love working with AYAM as a mantra, however in regards to its origin its rather vague. I have personal experience to back up that it is working but im curious as to whether I would get a better long term result working with maybe a mantra like OM or even a bija of some kind.
There is a sort of temptation to move away from ayam and work with something that is time tested and recorded, But then again there is a temptation to go back to ayam simply because I realize that I don't always know what is the best course of action for me to take and ayam seems to work for everyone else. and in the end im digging too many holes, but on a positive note I do still receive the bliss of meditation regardless of the mantra im using, I just wanna kick this habit of dabbling with mantras. looking back that's the one thing that has sort of kept me from possibly moving in a steadier pace forward, ive introduced too many external influences to my sadhana
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Ecdyonurus
Switzerland
479 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2014 : 04:05:13 AM
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Hi Anahat, if I undertood you well, you always get benefits from meditation by using different mantras. So what is the problem?!  Maybe you are just the kind of person that likes or even needs to experiment with different tools. But, again, if you reach the main goal (bliss), you are a lucky person!  So why should you force yourself to use only one mantra forever? |
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Anahat
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Jun 16 2014 : 1:35:53 PM
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hey ecdy,
I dunno. it was always my understanding that when taking up a mantra practice the best results come by sticking to one mantra and traveling inward with it for a long duration of time. Every source I read that discusses mantras mentions that after a certain point of consistent repetition the mantra reveals its innate character and divine potency. That and after such a long and consistent use of a mantra allows the mind to more easily enter into stillness and penetrate deeper. Digging in one hole for a long time gives you....well, a pretty damn deep hole lol.
but like I said, all I really wanna know is where im going to get the best long term result, in terms of choice of mantra, for the effort that I put into it. And I understand if that's a very difficult question to answer outright but I welcome anyone's personal insight to the matter. thank you and namaste
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Jun 16 2014 : 3:18:06 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Anahat
hey ecdy,
I dunno. it was always my understanding that when taking up a mantra practice the best results come by sticking to one mantra and traveling inward with it for a long duration of time. Every source I read that discusses mantras mentions that after a certain point of consistent repetition the mantra reveals its innate character and divine potency. That and after such a long and consistent use of a mantra allows the mind to more easily enter into stillness and penetrate deeper. Digging in one hole for a long time gives you....well, a pretty damn deep hole lol.
but like I said, all I really wanna know is where im going to get the best long term result, in terms of choice of mantra, for the effort that I put into it. And I understand if that's a very difficult question to answer outright but I welcome anyone's personal insight to the matter. thank you and namaste
Hi Anahat,
What you say is true, in terms of digging one hole in one place in order to find water. However with mantras, it is slightly different. This is because we are using mantras to activate and purify the subtle body and each mantra will work in a specific way to achieve this. The full AYP mantra is Shree Om Shree Om Ayam Ayam Namah Namah.
Using only the Ayam aspect of the mantra will bring good results over time, but using a more expansive mantra can bring about further purification. This is the lesson on adding the first manta enhancement which explains why we would want to expand the mantra:
Meditation- first enhancement of the mantra
And in this lesson Yogani gives a detailed account of how all the AYP mantras work together to purify the body:
Mantra design 101
So the well analogy doesn't work so well with mantras. A better analogy would be, what equipment do you need when you are climbing a mountain? On the gentle approach, some good walking boots would do. Higher up you might need some ropes and climbing gear. Near the summit, you will need a good down jacket and a warm hat and so on. It is the same with mantras.
Could you become enlightened using only the Ayam mantra? Sure. It would just take longer.
Christi |
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kriyaboy
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - Jun 23 2014 : 4:12:06 PM
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It seems that you have been pondering a question, Anahat, that I have wondered about for a long time, which is whether mantras really matter.
Having been initiated in TM, I always wondered how mantras were selected. Never having gone on to take the teaching training, I never was privileged to that information but a few years back I came across some ex-TM teachers that have posted the mantras lists on the Web. Of course, that doesn't really answer how they were selected. In one advanced lecture I watched by Maharishi, he is asked that question and gives a rather circumspect answer--something to the effect they come from his tradition.
Intuitively, I do think they matter. One of the most interesting explanations I have read about the rationale behind AUM is by Gabriel Axel at http://health.usnews.com/health-new...ce-of-mantra. He claims that AUM is onomatopoeic, and its effects are the the result of the fact that it consists exclusively of sonorants.
I have for the most part stuck with my TM mantra, although I have experimented with some others. Trying to observe their effects seems to be beyond my ability for now. |
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mikkiji
USA
219 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2014 : 9:15:47 PM
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It's been a while since I checked in here--I'm the AYP resident TM teacher on duty, sorry for the delay in answering! So, yes, I actually studied for 2 years with Maharishi from 1974-1976. The training was quite rigorous. Kriyaboy, if you were initiated in TM you must realize how alike the instructions for the technique of both meditations are--virtually identical. And, the "I Am", or "Ayam" mantra IS, in fact, one of the several dozen ones I learned from Mahariahi when I was trained. I myself still use the mantra given to me by Maharishi in Teacher Training nearly 40 years ago! As for how the TM mantras are chosen, it is a very objective and precise system of specific personal criteria--things such as such as gender, age, marital status, education, occupation, etc. Using "Om" or "Aum" is almost universally contraindicated as a mantra for 99% of everyone--it was explained to me that it is a mantra for a monk or recluse, and if you are a householder and use Om, it will cause you to withdraw and become reclusive! I'd recommend that you stick with your original TM mantra--if you'd like to enhance it, I can tell you that adding the two syllables "na-mah" suffix after your original TM mantra, just as with the AYP enhancement, would be perfectly all right. Don't over-think this stuff--it's aural mechanics, pure and simple, vibrational harmonics which initiate an autonomic mental and physical reaction in the nervous system. It matters not a bit what you think is happening or why. Doing the technique correctly--begin the mantra easily, repeat effortlessly, return to the mantra easily when you notice you are off it--this is all that matters. The rest is, as Woody Allen said, merely mental masturbation...! Be easy with both the practice and with the joyous cumulative results of your practice, live your life in as pure and innocent a manner as you can (this ACTIVE part of Life is as important as the SILENCE part...), and just Be... Happy...
namaste,
Michael |
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Meaning attatched to mantra
