The power of sound, the power of music, the power of vowels, and the power of speech are the great creative forces of the universe: as custodians of these, human beings possess tremendous spiritual power. For centuries, mystical scriptures and teachers of the East have taught mantra as a means for harnessing this power.
Mantra is a Sanskrit word with many shades of meaning: 'tool of the mind', 'divine speech' and 'language of the human spiritual physiology' are just a few of these. In the context of this article, mantra is a tool for healing problems that we all face in life. As the mystic Sufi master Vilayat Inayat Khan states, 'The practice of mantra actually kneads the flesh of the body with sound. The delicate cells of the elaborate bundles of nerves are subjected to a constant hammering, a seizure of the flesh by the vibrations of divine sound.'
Mantra increases our spiritual wattage
By chanting mantra we allow our chakras to 'switch on' safely and to operate at a higher 'wattage'. When we practice Sanskrit mantra, we increase the ability of the chakras to hold a spiritual charge. It is as if a 25-watt bulb becomes able to hold 50 watts, then 100 watts, 500 watts, 1000 watts. Mantras' power derives not from any particular meaning that their syllables convey, but from the vibrational effect they create when they are pronounced repeatedly.
The process of intoning these ancient formulas works in the everyday world even if we don't understand what we are saying, because mantras are fundamentally about energy rather than meaning.
There are fifty letters in the basic Sanskrit alphabet. These letters correspond to the fifty petals on the six chakras from base to brow. Like the chakras themselves, advanced spiritual adepts can actually 'see' the letters on the petals of the chakras. When a Sanskrit mantra is uttered, the petals corresponding to the letters contained in the mantra vibrate in spiritual resonance. This sets off a cascade of energetic effects.
First, the petal itself – the outer energy of the chakra – is stimulated by the vibration and becomes tuned to a higher energy state. Then, as a stone causes a ripple to travel across a pond, the petals of the chakra vibrate the energy of the corresponding plexus in the physical body. These vibrations have stimulating, strengthening, and regulating energetic effects that are healing to our physical systems. Just as lifting weights increases the ability of our muscles and even our skeletal structure to handle tasks requiring more strength, chanting Sanskrit mantras provides a workout for our chakras. We experience a net gain in our spiritual energy and a corresponding increase in our capacity to process powerful kundalini energy. Moreover, when we focus the sound vibration of mantra with a consciously held intent, we can even direct its energy (prana) to specific parts of the body.
Through the vibration of mantra, ambient spiritual energy is attracted to and gathered into the chakras of the chanter, increasing that person's total spiritual energy.
In addition to energizing the chakras and bringing in energy from the 'near surround' (as they say in physics), mantra also balances the feminine and masculine energies that crisscross the body, allowing kundalini to flow through the body.
As the kundalini fills each chakra, the 'sunflowers' begin to straighten on their stalks, their flowers no longer closed and drooping but fully opened and spinning with new levels of energy that provide even more vitality to the physical body.
Perfect harmony
As mantra stimulates and energizes the chakras, allowing them to take in and send out more energy to the subtle body and the physical body, there is yet another effect that is taking place: karma is being burned off. The vibration produced by chanting mantra begins to alter our inner condition, both physically and spiritually, and to break down energy patterns stored in the subtle body. These can be anything from subconscious habits or predispositions to a karmic potential for mishap.
When we pronounce mantras, we initiate a powerful vibration that corresponds to both a specific spiritual energy level and a state of consciousness in seed form. Gradually, the vibration of the mantra begins to override all of the other lesser vibrations. These eventually become absorbed by the mantra. After a length of time that varies from person to person, the great wave of mantra stills all other vibrations within individual organs and systems. Ultimately, the individual will be in perfect harmony with the energy and spiritual state represented by and contained within the mantra.
Thus, just as mantra cleanses and energizes the physical body, mantra repetition has a similar effect on the subtle body. Even speaking a mantra very softly influences the chakras that correspond to the nerve centres of the physical body. Just thinking a mantra – pronouncing it subvocally in your mind – can further the process of clearing away spiritual impurities, energizing the chakras, and burning off karma.
From Healing Mantras, © 1999 by Thomas Ashley-Farrand, published in 2000 by Gateway.
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