Saturday, April 15, 2023

The Mantra


The mantra: 

it seems the first and most common belief in meditation is of an absolutely empty mind, an absence of all thought, and that the mantra is chanted for this deliverance, forcing the mind to stay on a certain track until this silence is achieved. In practice though, our mantra isn't chanted at all, but is only a soft vibration gently entered to the mind, being just a faint impression that roams a great expanse of an already present stillness and then leaves a trail for us to follow. This is a gentle action, only a thought, and it's the vibration alone that works on our behalf, without any forceful concentration or great effort needed on our part. We simply think the mantra, gently, easily...

carried by its vibration. 

and that's meditation, or at least a mantra method that I've practiced for almost 30 years now. It's a valuable and meaningful part of my day, the beginning and closing ritual of listening to this soft vibration of a word as it leads me to an ever deepening stillness. Of course this stillness is always present and meditation doesn't grant me a privilege that's not available to others. This is just a practice that I prefer, not really a method as it is a means of self-reflection, that I'm listening to the entirety of my existence vibrate as the mantra and not for any purpose or reason save the joy of simply listening. 

any benefits that follow are secondary to this joy.  

it's the mantra, vibrating, echoing throughout me...this is my reality.

at least for the moment that I'm listening. 

~

Peace, Eric 

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