Mantras

[Maddie]

I had previously started a topic on this in the Buddhist room, but thought it might be interesting to "widen the net" so to speak.

 

Over the past couple years mantras have seemed to evolve into one of my primary practices. I don't hear much said about them here and would be interested to hear feedback from others that use mantra in their practice and what experiences they have had with them.

 

As a Buddhist I tend to primarily use Buddhist mantras for a variety of various purposes. As a nerd I like to try to observe any cause and effect correlations I notice while and after using them.

 

Probably some of my most used mantras over the years have been the Zhunti mantra, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (no I'm not a Nichiren Buddhist) Om Mani Padme Hum, Medicine Buddha, Amitofu, various Tara mantras, and Vajrapani. It tends to get weird with some, especially Zhunti.

 

I would be very interested if anyone else uses mantras and would like to share their practice and experiences. 

 

[thelerner]

My personal mantra practice, most often done in the shower, is more a canticle, thus longer than Indian ones.  Like them its repeated, has sacred meaning and the vibrations themselves are important.   From Rawn Clark's interpretation of the Hermetic tradition.  His YHVH practice.  Uniquely, it has you locate sounds on certain body parts as well as feeling/swirling other sounds around the body.  

 

If anyone's interested instructions are here- http://abardoncompanion.de/IHVH-Info.html

 

I think everyone can benefit from a mantra/kotodama sacred sounds practice.  For me they make the shower into a sacred spot.  

[dwai]

I have been practicing mantras for past 30 odd years. Primarily the gayatri mantra. It is powerful and raises the vibrations rather rapidly. Feels like everything turns to light after meditating on the mantra. I practice it ritualistically like I’ve been taught during initiation. 

[Vajra Fist]

The teacher I'm with at the moment doesn't emphasise mantras, but I was well into them at one stage, so I still use them as a supplemental practice.

 

Personally, I tend to feel that mantra offers a very subtle, very gentle steer, generating certain qualities in the mind that can be beneficial to meditation.

 

For instance, the mani will help generate metta, which is a good basis for jhana, the usnisa vijaya dharani helps me avoid some of the pitfalls from laziness that arise when practice becomes comfortable.

 

I don't believe that mantra can focus the mind enough to lead to genuine insights that liberate the mind. But it can lead to energetic shifts in your body that can have a beneficial effect on your meditation.

[Maddie]

4 minutes ago, Vajra Fist said:

The teacher I'm with at the moment doesn't emphasise mantras, but I was well into them at one stage, so I still use them as a supplemental practice.

 

Personally, I tend to feel that mantra offers a very subtle, very gentle steer, generating certain qualities in the mind that can be beneficial to meditation.

 

For instance, the mani will help generate metta, which is a good basis for jhana, the usnisa vijaya dharani helps me avoid some of the pitfalls from laziness that arise when practice becomes comfortable.

 

I don't believe that mantra can focus the mind enough to lead to genuine insights that liberate the mind. But it can lead to energetic shifts in your body that can have a beneficial effect on your meditation.

 

They typically do seem subtle, except Zhunti mantra, Zhunti mantra is never subtle lol.

[Nungali]

" Its going to be different ."

 

A 'mantra' a woman was using when , after breaking a long term relationship, she was looking for a new one .  Her friend advised her to be mindful of this .  She embarked on a new relationship with a guy that was ...... well ,   

 

each time some really stupid or bad stuff happened with him   "   Its going to be different .... its going to be different . "

 

Not a spiritual result .....  but   jeeze it was funny ! 

 

then there is the story of the  simple man meditating and thus causing the engagement of 'Mara the tempter ' , ( the tempter 'away from' enlightenment  ). he didnt have time for complexities so he asked a monk for a meditation that was simple easy and to the point . The Monk suggested whatever happened he  remember ' All is transitory, this too shall pass '  ... Mara did not like that and  caused all sorts of distractions pain and anguish for him , but the man would " All is transitory, this too shall pass " , which further enraged Mara causing him to inflict all sorts of  stuff , eventually killing the man and causng him to be reborn as an elephant .

 

But as we know    elephants have good memories  , so he soon remembered  ... it went on, eventually Mara in frustration annihilates him  causing him to be reborn as  Lord Maharbrahma  , Lord of all possible universes , past and present .

 

Mara  laughed in glee as now the man was further  from enlightenment than ever . he floated in a sea of cosmic goop , watching universes   grow out of it be born live and die  and more born and eventually .... hey !  All if THIS is transitory   and then  'flash ! '

 

he was back as a man  ' All is transitory .... "  but , he had the experience , but it had confused him somewhat as he was not sure he WAS a man chanting ;'all is transitory' and imagining he was Lord Mahabrahma   OR  he  was Lord Mahabrahma , imagiing he was a man chanting all is transitory .

 

And with that thought , his enlightenment became complete .

[old3bob]

a few out of a myriad:

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by old3bob

[Sahaja]

In the tantric yoga I practice we use mantras to support the practice of asana, usually silently, usually based on bijas or Sanskrit alphabet sounds.  One of the effects of using mantra during asana practice is to trigger kumbhaka. These gaps in the breath  are not imposed by the mind  but naturally arise reflecting an internal process at work extending the breath. There are also other practices based on listening for sounds and using specific mantras at more advanced levels. In tantric yoga sound and speech (vak) is quite important to the practice and are central to its cosmology.
 
I’ve also have used mantra/dharani in other lineage practices as well. Generally I found those mantra practices based on simple sounds that direct energy down into the lower abdomen to be the most useful.

[EFreethought]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:37 AM, Maddie said:

Probably some of my most used mantras over the years have been the Zhunti mantra, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (no I'm not a Nichiren Buddhist) Om Mani Padme Hum, Medicine Buddha, Amitofu, various Tara mantras, and Vajrapani. It tends to get weird with some, especially Zhunti.

 

 

 

 

Could you elaborate on your experience with the Vajrapani mantra? I would like to know more about it.

 

Isn't that supposed to give you more energy and focus?

[Maddie]

32 minutes ago, EFreethought said:

 

Could you elaborate on your experience with the Vajrapani mantra? I would like to know more about it.

 

Isn't that supposed to give you more energy and focus?

 

The reason I do it is because its supposed to remove negative energy and offer protection. Vajrapani is said to be the Boddhisattva that represents the Buddha's power, while Manjushri represents the Buddha's wisdom. I do feel like when I do the Vajrapani mantra regularly that I have more energy. Usually if I want to increase focus though I do the Manjushri mantra. 

[searcher7977]

I chant rotate and chant a variety of mantras and japas: Aum, heart sutra, ten line life prolonging kannon sutra, various of the smaller zen okyo and lay chants, nembutsu, ganesha short japa (om gam ganapataye namaha), panchakshara mantra (aum namah shivayah), metta in english, hong-sau (SRF's version of soham), and spring forest qigong pronounciation of avalokiteshvara's six syllable mantra (ong mali beme hong), and last pavamana mantra (asatoma sadgamaya...), various of Isha Foundation's Vairagya mantras. 

 

As for any effects, only chanting the heart sutra and nembtsu seem to give a subtle help in energy and clarity. Pachakshara brought immense fear at one point. I think the hindu mantras need a lot of effort to really perceive the effects, at least for me. Which is...confusing to me lol since its at least classically an older and more defined school/system.

[Maddie]

Even thought I do mantra, I don't understand it, but if I stop doing it, it almost feels like I'm suffocating. It's really weird. 

[Dainin]

I don't have a daily chanting practice at the moment, but meet with one of my teachers weekly on Sunday mornings for a 30 minute online chanting session (including preliminary and concluding prayers). These are primarily of Hindu origin, with occasional Buddhist ones as well. When I attend the Zendo, the opening service always includes chanting either the Heart Sutra or Hakuin's Song of Zazen, and sometimes the Sandokai (The Identity of Relative and Absolute) and Kanzeon mantras. Then 3 rounds of the 4 vows at the conclusion of the session.

 

I've done extended daily periods of the Bihar School's 3 mantra morning sadhana (11 Mahamrityunjaya, 11 Gayatri and 3 rounds of the 32 names of Durga) which I really enjoyed (it's energizing) and will probably go back to doing eventually. I've dabbled a bit with the Maha Mantra (Hare Krishna...) and some of the Pure Land mantras (Amituofo, etc.). I'd like to try working with the Threshold Society's 18 minute Zikr at some point also.

Edited December 20, 2023 by Dainin

[senseless virtue]

On 11/28/2023 at 11:36 PM, searcher7977 said:

I chant rotate and chant a variety of mantras and japas

 

35 minutes ago, Dainin said:

These are primarily of Hindu origin, with occasional Buddhist ones as well.

 

I can't imagine what sense or attainment could be found in using, even if having separate sessions, mantras from distinct traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism as if these traditions were interchangeable or philosophically in agreement.

 

Being a Hindu on weekdays and being a Buddhist on weekends and holidays? Is commitment to a single tradition that boring?

[Maddie]

I thought I would bump this topic because I find it one of the most difficult topics to make sense of. I have noticed in my own personal experience that doing mantras does seem to have profound effects but I can not rationally explain it at all. If anyone else has any insight I would appreciate it. 

[Keith108]

12 minutes ago, Maddie said:

I thought I would bump this topic because I find it one of the most difficult topics to make sense of. I have noticed in my own personal experience that doing mantras does seem to have profound effects but I can not rationally explain it at all. If anyone else has any insight I would appreciate it. 

I suppose the obvious answer is not everything has a rational explanation. One my favorite expressions about practice, and applies here I would think, is to just practice and see what happens.

[Maddie]

20 minutes ago, Keith108 said:

I suppose the obvious answer is not everything has a rational explanation. One my favorite expressions about practice, and applies here I would think, is to just practice and see what happens.

 

This does not seem to have a rational explanation 

[silent thunder]

now my mind is softly repeating 'irrational-non-explanation' with a wide internal grin...

[snowymountains]

There are different ways to chant Mantras, which feels differently, at least for me.

 

In Zen it's considered among other things to be an energetic practice and how you sing is where the emphasis is.

 

In Theravada Sutta chanting done differently and emphasis is on understanding what you say.

 

So depends on how you do it.

 

I haven't seen an explanation for the Zen chanting, once I heard it's related to the vagus nerve but never verified that statement ( not saying it's necessarily false, just never spent time checking it ).

Another theory I've heard ( which likewise I haven't verified) is that sound frequencies may resonate with cavities in our bodies.

 

Tbh given there's no full clinical understanding of other energy practices, I wouldn't expect a clinical understanding of mantras to exist either, which will nonetheless be very cool when it's out.

It will also allow practice of entirely secular mantras, creation of new mantra tunes etc, but it's not there yet.

 

 

[liminal_luke]

For people like me who like real simple stripped-down practices, there's humming.

 

THE HUM BOOK – Zapchen Somatics

[EFreethought]

2 hours ago, Maddie said:

I thought I would bump this topic because I find it one of the most difficult topics to make sense of. I have noticed in my own personal experience that doing mantras does seem to have profound effects but I can not rationally explain it at all. If anyone else has any insight I would appreciate it. 

 

Do you ever practice mantras with a group? Or just solo?

 

And if in a group: Chanting, or is everyone meditating silently?

[EFreethought]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:37 AM, Maddie said:

I had previously started a topic on this in the Buddhist room, but thought it might be interesting to "widen the net" so to speak.

 

Over the past couple years mantras have seemed to evolve into one of my primary practices. I don't hear much said about them here and would be interested to hear feedback from others that use mantra in their practice and what experiences they have had with them.

 

As a Buddhist I tend to primarily use Buddhist mantras for a variety of various purposes. As a nerd I like to try to observe any cause and effect correlations I notice while and after using them.

 

Probably some of my most used mantras over the years have been the Zhunti mantra, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (no I'm not a Nichiren Buddhist) Om Mani Padme Hum, Medicine Buddha, Amitofu, various Tara mantras, and Vajrapani. It tends to get weird with some, especially Zhunti.

 

I would be very interested if anyone else uses mantras and would like to share their practice and experiences. 

 

 

I have a few questions about the Zhunti mantra: Isn't there a long form and a short form? I think Bodri wrote that you start with the long form, and  after a certain number of repetitions you do the short form. Have you done enough to do the short form?

 

If I remember correctly, the other karma mantra, Vajrasattva, also has a long and a short version. But I think for that one you can just go with the short version and skip the long version.

[steve]

1 hour ago, silent thunder said:

now my mind is softly repeating 'irrational-non-explanation' with a wide internal grin...

 

Off topic, this is a technique my Bön teacher recommends when trying to understand an abstruse teaching or concept.

I recall him first suggesting it when teaching on the 21 Nails of Bön which is a very esoteric series of descriptions of different characteristics or aspects of the nature of being.

Negate the statement and consider the meaning of the opposite, then return to the meaning of the original.

It can be surprisingly helpful. 

 

And now my mind is also softly repeating "irrational-non-explanation''.... 

I'll let you know if it ever stops.

[silent thunder]

2 hours ago, steve said:

 

Off topic, this is a technique my Bön teacher recommends when trying to understand an abstruse teaching or concept.

I recall him first suggesting it when teaching on the 21 Nails of Bön which is a very esoteric series of descriptions of different characteristics or aspects of the nature of being.

Negate the statement and consider the meaning of the opposite, then return to the meaning of the original.

It can be surprisingly helpful. 

 

And now my mind is also softly repeating "irrational-non-explanation''.... 

I'll let you know if it ever stops.

[steve]

2 hours ago, EFreethought said:

Do you ever practice mantras with a group? Or just solo?

 

Both and I prefer practicing mantra with others whenever the opportunity arises. Online, not so much.

 

2 hours ago, EFreethought said:

And if in a group: Chanting, or is everyone meditating silently?

 

Everyone chants aloud and the result can be very powerful and transcendent..