Welcome to Day 31 of our 40 Day Retreat 2009.
Yesterday, I spoke about the brain stimulating pranayama. It is amazing how in the yogic science there is this breathing exercise that can stimulate left and right brain and a wonderful exercise for cleaning the Nadis.
Today, I want to continue with the subject of pranayama but I am bringing another dimension to it. I am bringing the mantra to it. Mantra, the word has two syllables ‘man’ and ‘tra’. ‘Man’ comes from the activity of the mind and ‘tra’ means to protect or to save. Mantra is that which protects the mind and that which eventually liberates. When mantra is joined with pranayama it can become very powerful. Today, I want to look into that and I want to explore that.
Pursue Goals with Discipline, Focus and Desire
First of all I would like to say to you that when we begin the spiritual journey some preparation is required, as I would have spoken to you before. We need to be focused; we need to have a goal before us, and the desire to achieve that goal. We need to be disciplined. Discipline is an important thing on the journey. In fact without discipline we cannot achieve anything, whether it is in secular life or spiritual. The need for discipline is primary. Sometimes we wonder why we are not achieving anything; all we need to do is to look into self-discipline. Those who are most disciplined and focused and have a strong desire to achieve, they are the ones who reach faster. Where are you?
I am saying this primarily because in the exercise of today, we learn how to discipline the mind; a very primary exercise. We learn how to go deeper into the energy body unlocking the energies of the chakras. What I have found in normal life is that mental indiscipline is everywhere. Few people really want to manage the mind and even fewer go the extra length to keep it really disciplined every day and in every moment. Wouldn’t you agree?
We do a little exercise of meditation for about 15-20 minutes and that is all the discipline we want to do for the day. Yet we are thinking throughout the day. Whenever we sit to be silent the momentum of thinking continues. Even though we do not want to think and we are saying, “Let us be calm,” the momentum of thinking is there. It is the same as if you pull the power off a fan for example, the fan is going to continue to spin based on momentum, although the power is not there. The momentum is based on how the fan was spinning before, that energy that is still there continues.
When you are habituated to so much thinking and you want to be quiet, the mind is going to continue to think. You want to learn how to manage the mind, which is a primary discipline that we need on the path. Because a scattered mind means scattered energy and a focused and disciplined mind means power.
This exercise is very powerful in terms of mental discipline and in terms of tuning into our energy body, but it requires constant effort. The breath itself is a powerful tool as I have been showing you in terms of managing the mind. The moment you bring the breath in it is easier to manage the mind. If you are spiritually awakened then you will feel that when you move the breath that something is happening in the energy body to support you.
How to Manage the Mind
Self-discipline and management of the mind, doing it every day, doing it for your 20 minutes and then taking that same principle in your life, that is how you manage the mind. It requires constant awareness. The senses are like wild horses and will take you everywhere. If you do not engage some kind of restraint or control then you will never be at peace nor can you go further on the spiritual journey. That is why some people retreat from the attractions of life; they go into solitude. In a society like today no matter where you go you are invaded by information and the presence of people. We need to find that solitude inside, we need to retreat inside, we need to exist more inside, and to be centered more inside!
Soham RepetitionCan Take You Straight to Liberation
I would like you to really think about this exercise seriously, a very powerful exercise; it can take you straight to liberation. It just involves breathing and the mantra that goes naturally with the breath. It is called Soham. It is an old yogic technique. When shared by the masters and taught to us by the masters the technique carries power. In performing this technique all we need to do is give attention to the natural flow of the breath and begin to listen to the breath as it moves. And if you engage the Ujjai technique you will actually feel more control over the breath. It is slower, longer and it makes a wonderful sound, the ocean sound.
Breathing in gives a sound similar to ‘so’. It is easy to harmonize the thought ‘so’ with the sound of the breath coming in and easy to harmonize the sound ‘ham’ with the breath going out; Soham.
Managing the Ida Pingala with Energy Of Sushumna
Now normally before spiritual awakening we breathe through the two Nadis, Ida and Pingala, through the two nostrils and they keep us in Tamo and Rajo Guna. When perchance they become little balanced breathing through the two nostrils, we feel a sense of balance. When your energy body is awakened by a master, or by the influence of masters, another channel comes alive and becomes active that is the Sushumna Nadi alongthe center of the spine. When that happens, we begin to experience the Satvic Guna. We begin to manage the Ida Pingala, because we have a new rush of energy coming into us bringing a different kind of awareness. That is the advantage of getting the technique from the masters. With the technique comes spiritual energy, with spiritual energy comes awakening and when this begins to move inside, the mantra actually begins to take a new dimension. You will actually feel as if the breath now is moving almost by itself, automatically.
Tie Sound of the Breath Mentally with the Mantra
It is important to tie the sound mentally with the mantra ‘So’ and ‘ham’, ‘So’ and ‘ham’, ‘So’ and ‘ham’,because that begins the mind control and mental discipline. Just staying with the ‘So’ and the ‘ham’ no and other thought. That is how you learn to discipline a wayward, restless and scattered mind. A simple exercise but yet very effective. ‘So’ and ‘ham’ and you stay with it, you stay with it, you stay with it…after 20 minutes you begin to feel, yes I am managing my mind a little better. Day after day when you persevere, it gets better to the extent that you can feel you can make the mind empty and you can think what you want, when you want, how you want. That is real power. It requires discipline.
Ajapa Japa – Effortless Repetition of Mantra
Now the repetition of mantra is called Japa in the ancient wisdom of India. It is meant for disciplining the mind and awakening energies. Now the yogis also speak of Ajapa Japa. When Japa becomes effortless, when the sound takes over your mind and you can hear it automatically inside, then you are reaching the stage of Ajapa Japa. It means effortless Japa.
You need to move from that stage of mental repetition and struggling with the mind into a stage where it becomes effortless. The mantra comes into the mind unbidden and it stays with you. Then as your chakras become unlocked and opened, you begin to experience a different quality of energy each time you repeat. You can engage this Soham mantra as you breathe, with the chakras that you feel drawn to. If the heart is active you can do the Soham Japa with the heart, or the throat, brow, the navel or the lower chakras. They give you different experiences. Then what happens is that you begin to learn how to manage the energies of the chakras by keeping the attention firm.
As you go deeper and deeper when the brow center opens up, you begin to realize what the mantra really means. ‘So’ means the Universe or the supreme and ‘ham’ means ‘I’. Soham actually means “I am connected to the Universe, I am a part of the Universe, my nature is the same as the nature of the Universe.”
As you continue with the Japa inside and you begin to become more aware, the awareness comes that “I am connected to the Universe. Every time you say ‘ham’ and you breathe out and you breathe in ‘so’, you actually feel like you are engaging with the Universe and that you are in oneness with the Universe. This is when the Ajapa Japa comes to fruition, this is where mantra can take you, not just from managing the mind but to a space of liberation. My greatest wish is that you could really understand what I am saying and use it.
Realizing the Potency of the Mantra
Mantra is not only to be used when you are sitting down for meditation it is to be used constantly in the world around you to protect you from other energies. We are so distracted by so many thoughts without control. If only you learn to engage a mantra in the mind and keep on repeating it until the mind becomes disciplined, you will find that you are disciplined in normal life in terms of thinking. That is a very powerful tool. We need to learn how to do this, sitting down and managing the breath and keeping the ‘so’ and the ‘ham’, repeating it until we feel the whole mind is engaged in Soham. Then letting it go and experiencing what it really means and how it feels and realizing the potency of the mantra. It is a powerful experience. That is what I wish for you. If we are to go deeper into the energy body this is a powerful tool to engage us deeply inside. You have seen how by practicing the breathing exercises how much more energized you feel and how much more in control you feel. Take it a step further, bring the mantra into it and manage the mind in a powerful way. Soham, Soham, Soham!
In fact, you can use any other mantra as well if you wish but engage it with the breath. Soham is so natural and the sound can be harmonized with the sound of the breath. It engages the mind and the attention very easily.
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