|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Emil
Australia
141 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 23 2008 : 07:36:23 AM
|
Hi all,
I had a mantra which I used for more than 10 years until about 2 years back I added a prefix and a suffix to make it longer. I added "Sheree" to the beginning of my mantra and "Namaha" to its end. So it became something like "Shree Em Namah". The problem I have now is that after more than 2 years, my mantra still starts as Em. It seems like my mind never accepted "Sheree" and "Namah" as parts of my mantra. In a sense, my mind knows Em as the equivalent of deep inner silence. Whenever I think of Em my mind goes silent and whenever my mind goes silent my mind is thinking of a deep and faded form of Em.
So the prefix and suffix which I added never come into the picture. What I'm unhappy about is that I don't seem to be benefiting from the prefix and suffix I added. If I try to bring them into the game, that would be trying to make the mantra clear which is against the instructions of deep meditation.
At one stage I found myself too much wondering about this whole thing so I changed my mantra all together to "I am I am" but after 2 days I started badly missing the depth which my original mantra was giving me as well as the purity I felt when I meditated with it. So I converted back!!! I know It's starting to sound a bit crazy but that's the story... Any opinions?
|
|
|
Katrine
Norway
1813 Posts |
Posted - Aug 23 2008 : 10:35:10 AM
|
Hi Emil
I was introduced to meditation about 25 years ago. I stayed with the first mantra for about 10 years. Then I went through a period of severe reumathoid arthritis that over a period of two years was cured by a macrobiotic diet and meditation. I changed fields work wise (I was a flutist at the time) and studied medicine and homeopathy. One of my teachers taught meditation. He got his mantra from a guru in India. It was a rather long mantra and it was first sung out loud, then spoken and finally repeted inside. I stayed with this mantra for about 12 years. Then - 2,5 years ago I found AYP and Yogani through the internet and here I am.......
In AYP deep meditation we use the mantra .....I am......
It is just said once.....and we gently come back to it when we find we are off it.
I certainly am not qualified to tell you which mantra to use. But I can tell you that 2 days of trying out a new mantra is really way too short a time to know whether it is working for you or not. You have to make a commitment to stay with it for at least some weeks. A new mantra is always a bit "bumpy" in the beginning. Your nervous system needs time to adjust to it.
Do you think you could try it again? This time staying with one 'I am' at a time (if two were best, I am sure Yogani would have informed us).
If you haven't already, you can read Yoganis lesson here:
http://www.aypsite.org/13.html
and about mantra enhancements here:
http://www.aypsite.org/116.html
and
http://www.aypsite.org/186.html
and about mantra design here:
http://www.aypsite.org/188.html
Good luck 
|
 |
|
|
Emil
Australia
141 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2008 : 08:17:13 AM
|
Hi Katrine,
Thanks for your reply. Nice history you've got :-)
I quite agree with you in that 2 days wasn't enough to test a new mantra. I'm sure I'd need to give it more time if I start on it again.
I have read Yogani's lessons on meditation and mantra enhancements as well as mantra design but couldn't find any instruction on how to treat mantra enhancements. i.e. Whether to treat the whole mantra as one long word or as separate words.. and what to do when one part of the mantra comes to the mind and the rest of it doesn't?
Can I have some wisdom on that please :) |
|
|
|
tadeas
Czech Republic
314 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2008 : 08:41:14 AM
|
Hi, I think it's best to start thinking the mantra as it is written - as separate words. But it really isn't necessary to complicate it. Just think it as you would read the words, it's simple.
When only one part of the mantra comes to mind, which means you forgot the enhancements, just come back to the version you're doing when you realize you're not doing it. Pretty simple again :) |
|
|
|
Katrine
Norway
1813 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2008 : 08:42:05 AM
|
Hi Emil
quote:
have read Yogani's lessons on meditation and mantra enhancements as well as mantra design but couldn't find any instruction on how to treat mantra enhancements. i.e. Whether to treat the whole mantra as one long word or as separate words.. and what to do when one part of the mantra comes to the mind and the rest of it doesn't?
Can I have some wisdom on that please :)
Usually the most simple is the most effective. I would suggest you don't treat the mantra at all......you simply say it as you do when reading it. As you say any sentence and don't think about it. As for only one part of the mantra coming to mind......just gently favor saying the whole mantra. I repeat: If it doesn't come......you favour saying it. It will require a very gentle effort on your part.
The way I see it, the favoring is the effort.
Easy....like this.
Good luck |
|
|
|
Katrine
Norway
1813 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2008 : 08:43:05 AM
|
Hi tadeas
Our posts crossed each other |
|
|
|
Emil
Australia
141 Posts |
Posted - Aug 26 2008 : 07:45:41 AM
|
Thanks Katrine and Tadeas,
I understand what you're saying and they work for most common scenarios. But there's a tricky bit in my case and that is: since I've meditated with one word for a long time, my mind has a very refined understanding/memory of that word but the new parts of the mantra seem to be more crude in my mind at this stage. This means if I favor the complete version of the mantra, I'd be going from delicate to crude rather than the other way around. It would be like undoing the deepening process of meditation which naturally moves from a cruder form of mantra to more refined form. The same goes for trying to imagine it as written. When the mantra has started as a very fade rhythm, imagining the written form would make it more crude and "clear" which is against the instruction.
So I saw my options as: a)Totally ignoring the issue and going with whatever mantra that comes into mind or b) starting with a new mantra that consists of words that I haven't used before. That is what left me where I am now 
Exhausted option a in 2 days and started on option b while still feeling I'm missing on the benefits of a long mantra!
|
|
|
|
yogani
USA
5201 Posts |
Posted - Aug 26 2008 : 10:48:10 AM
|
Hi Emil:
Any new mantra, or mantra enhancement, will tend to be clunky in the beginning, and refine over time of practice. The advantage of an enhancement is that it covers a wider sweep in the mind and produces broader purification as it becomes more refined, much the way shifting to a higher gear in a car enables us to go faster with no additional effort.
It is suggested to review the lessons on mantra design and enhancements for more on this: http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....OPIC_ID=2159
All the best!
The guru is in you.
|
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
Mantra Enhancement Issue
