‘Mantra for wise living’

Mantras help draw energy from both external and internal universes. They are like ladders to a cosmic dimension.

Peace is not made in documents; it is made in the hearts of individuals.Tragically though, we tend to look for peace outside.We seek joy in the world of objects. A mind that is only extrovert is caught up in the myth of security. Can there be an enlightened approach to security? We live in a universe and the universe lives within us. The art of looking within is the mantra of wise living. Mantras help draw energy from both external and internal universes. The nature of our thoughts is largely compulsive.We are conscious beings but we live like machines.

Our likes and dislikes are programmed. Addictive thoughts take away from the soul of the individual as a conscious being. By chanting mantras with understanding, compulsive thoughts are transformed. The mind becomes calm and our perception will be wise with respect to both the external and internal universes. If we look at life in silence, the world becomes a divine university. Just by observing, one can learn so much.

The lotus, for instance, was considered to be one of the gurus of Sage Dattatreya.The lotus grows from muddy waters, yet it gives out fragrance. Despite the many bad things happening around us, we should strive to be as fragrant as the lotus. Dattatreya observed a hen which was furtively looking for grain in garbage. Similarly, in the garbage of worldly difficulties, let us look for the good things. Let’s not get lost in worrying. A noisy, compulsive mind invalidates the miracle of life. A man worriedly sat up all night in front of a river. Frustrated and angry, he picked up the little stones lying next to him and started throwing them into the river.

At sunrise, he got up to go home. He noticed along the way that all that he threw in anger were in fact diamonds, and not pebbles, as he had thought. There was a bag of diamonds next to him and due to the darkness he could not observe this. This is the state of a noisy mind. Silence is created by understanding; by chanting a powerful mantra and by having a commitment to grow. A noisy mind is not good for the body, for the mind or for the soul.Worrying leads to release of unhealthy chemicals in the body, which could cause diseases.With worrying thoughts, the mind loses its clarity to see what is and starts seeing what should be. With worrying thoughts one exists in the world of the mind and not beyond the mind, where the soul exists. When a powerful mantra like the Gayatri Mantra is chanted, higher centers in us open up. The higher centers are constantly communicating. But since the lower centers are impure, the mind is unable to receive the fine vibrations of the Divine. In a nuclear reactor, an atom is split and great energy is released.

Similarly, once our ignorance is destroyed, a great awakening happens within us. Mantras facilitate the awakening of our hidden energies. Just as fire in the wood has to be eventually released, so too, powerful energies hidden within us have to be realized. Unless there is a commitment to grow, no growth can happen. The commitment to excel should be the way of life. Creativity is not doing something new and different; it is about bringing a new energy of love and joy in whatever one does.We should connect the universe within us to the one outside us. Mantras give a mystic dimension to connect. Mantras are like ladders. Climb them with love and trust. ■