Efficacy of Mantras

All religious orders and spiritual organisations endorse chanting of words and syllables. The intent of these words is to silence the mind, helping it move from cacophony to symphony.

Among Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs it is the cantillation of Om. Those professing Islam undertake incantations of Qur’anic passages, or the names of Allah. Christians offer praise to the Lord by chanting scriptural texts, especially the Psalms. Jews too chant from the Old Testament.  

Mantras acts at the subconscious level of the mind and amortises turbulence which acts as a trigger to achieve the impossible. Like Hindus invoke deities like

Narayana, Shiva, Guru, Shakti, and Hanuman to become mentally strong to overcome difficult situations in life.

 

Mystery behind the mantra

Several years ago, lived a Zen Master who specialised in teaching mantras. The foundation of his teachings was absolute faith in the mantra being chanted. Once two disciples approached him and expressed a desire to learn a mantra that would help them fly in the sky. The wise Master wanted to know if they were sure that they would carry out his instructions in toto and with absolute faith.

The mentees eagerly agreed to do so and regularly practise the mantra. Very soon they began to levitate and over a period began to fly like majestic birds and gain momentous heights.

Somewhere in the stratosphere one day, the two met and exchanged notes. Said the first novitiate, “Brother, what is the syllable imparted to you by the Holy Master?” “La,” replied the second freshman. “Oh! I was given the mantra ‘Ba’,” remarked the first greenhorn. They surmised that if they were to combine the two mantras, surely their powers would get magnified and they could then circumnavigate the universe. In their minds they thought it extremely unfair on part of the Master to impart only one half of the mantra to each of them.

 

Their energy and enthusiasm doubled, but faith got puncture. Now they chanted the mantra ‘Ba-La,’ with great vigour. Much to their surprise they came hurtling down and landed with a big thud on mother earth blaming their teacher.  The enlightened master with his clairvoyance had disseminated the sacred words his students which was to be chanted for spiritual growth and not for gamesmanship and acquisition.

Upend the pyramid

There once lived a young boy, whose mother appeared to be on the last leg of her life. His father and the entire family were traumatized and overwrought. The young boy overheard the doctor tell his father that only a miracle could save the patient.

In all innocence he rushed to the chemist housed in the hospital and placed all his savings, adding to a few paltry rupees, on the counter. He wanted the magic drug called ‘miracle’ to treat his dying mother. Taking pity on the child, the chemist gave a few vitamin tablets. The child prayed to almighty God and handed over the ‘miracle’ medicine to his father, quite certain that his mother would now be saved.

Much to the amazement of the medical fraternity and the family, the lady of the house regained consciousness and slowly recovered. The ‘wonder drug’ had a placebo effect in the mind of the child and the entire family was subsumed with positivity, which resulted in the startling recovery of the mother, much to the amazement of the medical fraternity. 

Buddha once famously said, “We are shaped by our thoughts.” Thus, the efficacy of a Mantra is not in merely parroting it but imbibing its intrinsic pristine quality to achieve spiritual growth.