Mantra
The oldest and perhaps most widely used concentrative technique is the mantric sound. Mantra is primarily a concentrated 'thought form' composed of nuclear syllables based on the esoteric properties believed to be inherent in sound vibrations. Tantra has developed a system of sound equations which may vary from simple to complex, exerting its power not so much through expressing meaning as we normally understand it but more deeply, through its emphasis on a 'phonic element'. For example:
the vocables Hrim, Srim, Krim, Phat, which are found through-out the tantric texts, may seem meaningless, unintelligible and irrelevant to the non-initiate, but to the initiate they have positive symbolic connotations. Whether recited audibly or inaudibly they run through most of the rituals like an uninterrupted symphony.
The recitation of the mantra without understanding its proper meaning or the mantra technique is an exercise, and it is said to be inert.
According to Saradatilaka, mantras may be divided into male, female and neuter; masculine mantras end in 'hum' and 'phat', the female in 'svaha', and neuter mantras end with 'namah'. The power of a particular mantra lies in a set of inter-connected factors:
its pattern of sound waves and the mode of its proper intoning.
Generally, it is considered that the mantra is efficacious only when it is 'received' from the mouth of the guru by his disciple. A mantra thus 'awakened' activates vibration channels and produces certain superconscious feeling states which aid the disciple in his sadhana.
Yantra with mantra.
T h e very sound of a m a n t r a or a c o m b i n a t i o n of t h e m has t h e capacity to arouse the divine forms or their energies. Each divinity possesses a bija m a n t r a , or seed syllable, w h i c h is its equivalent.
T h u s the bija m a n t r a is the r o o t v i b r a t i o n or a t o m i z e d f o r m of sound representing the essential n a t u r e of divinity.
T h e monosyllabic bija m a n t r a is to tantric sadhana w h a t a seed is to a t r e e : just as the seed possesses the potential of the tree, in the same w a y a single sound can contain the s u m - t o t a l of divinity in its vibration. T h e t e r m bijakshara, 'seed syllable', consists of t w o w o r d s : bija, m e a n i n g seed or g e r m , and akshara, w h i c h connotes b o t h 'syllable' and 'imperishable'. T h e true bijakshara ends w i t h i n an anusvara, or u p t u r n e d semicircle w i t h a d o t in its centre, a n d in romanized transliteration the anusvara is indicated w i t h a d o t a b o v e or b e l o w t h e letter m. T h e anusvara is described as a continuous nasal sound w i t h o u t any modification and is an adaptation o f a n ' u n p r o n o u n c e a b l e v i b r a t i o n ' . T h e d o t i n t h e anusvara represents the b i n d u , a n d is t h e visible f o r m of Siva-Sakti.
H a n s - U l r i c h Rieker has m a d e an i l l u m i n a t i n g o b s e r v a t i o n : Period (dot). It does not stand like a tombstone at the end of a Sanskrit sentence, but is the sign for vocal vivification. The dot above the consonant (which is always connected with a vowel) changes a dull ka into a rich kam or kang, a ta into tarn or tang, pa into pam, and so on, through all the consonants. It adds vibration to the dull sound. It is especially significant that it raises O from the chest vibration to the Om sound in the head, the higher sphere. Thus it raises the physical sound to the chakra of consciousness, the ajna chakra between the eyebrows, and gives it meaning. In this way, the dot becomes the symbol for sense.31
T h e seed m a n t r a is considered to contain the entire potentiality of full significance of a d o c t r i n e . A treatise r u n n i n g to several thousand verses, for instance, m a y be condensed i n t o few stanzas, and then s u m m a r i z e d into a few lines, and finally abbreviated to a bija m a n t r a w h i c h , t h o u g h the smallest s o u n d unit, will still retain the full p o w e r of the d o c t r i n e . T h e manifested bija m a n t r a creates cerebral vibration, and it is believed that even after the repetition of a seed m a n t r a has ceased, its effect continues. It is further held that the p o w e r a particular bija m a n t r a generates can be stored up in t h e cerebral centre and activated at will.
O m , the m o s t p o w e r f u l of all sounds, is t h e source of all m a n t r a s and a key to realization. It is m a d e up of t h r e e sounds, a, u, m, w h i c h symbolically represent t h e t h r e e u l t i m a t e tendencies or gunas - creation, preservation, dissolution - and encompass all the k n o w l e d g e of the different planes of the universe. It is referred to as
the 'quintessence of the entire cosmos', ' m o n a r c h of all s o u n d e d The seed-syllable Om.
Chakras in the etheric body.
Rajasthan, 18th century. Ink on paper. Running parallel to the organic body of the yogi is the cosmocized etheric body with its two main nerve channels, Ida on the left side and Pingala on the right. The yogi can terminate their separate functions by reconciling R = Sakti, I = transcendental illusion; the nasal sound m = p r o g e n i t o r of t h e universe.
Krim: Kali-blja representing the p o w e r over creation and dissolution; recited m a i n l y for the conquest of limitations.
K = Kali, R = absolute, I = transcendent p o w e r of illusion;
m = p r i m a l s o u n d (Varada Tantra).
Sum : Lakshmi-bija; represents the female e n e r g y of abundance and m u l t i p l i c i t y ; recited for the a t t a i n m e n t of w o r l d l y j o y s and gains. S = transcendent divinity of a b u n d a n c e , R = wealth, I = fulfilment; m = limitlessness.
Klim: bija m a n t r a of t h e procreative desire of Siva as K a m a ; represents j o y , bliss, pleasure. K = transcendental desire, L = lord of space, I = satisfaction; m = pleasure and pain.
In a similar w a y , K r o m stands for Siva, A i m for Sarasvati, Em ajapa-j a p a ; t h e y generate ceaseless vibrations of a monosyllabic sound.
T h e m a n t r i c s o u n d of ajapa-japa is assimilated in such a w a y that is only w h e n all these factors are in accord that a favourable c o n c o m i t a n c e is achieved.
T h e m a i n function of the m a n t r a is identification w i t h or internalization of the divine f o r m or its energy. T h e bija mantra, w h e n repeated in accordance w i t h the rules of the doctrine, serves as a means of a n c h o r i n g or centering a u d i t o r y perception and is a
Painting representing yogic asanas.
Asanas, divided into two principal groups, either facilitate
concentration or are performed for physical well-being. The one
represented here is Pasanimudra, with the legs wrapped around the hack of the head (pasha), used mainly as a physical posture.
Rajasthan, c. 19th century.
Gouache on paper.
tangible 'support' to concentration that helps to attain continuity in awareness. The practice of japa, or silent repetition of the mantra, brings outwardly-directed and diffuse mental currents together in a point or centre. With the condensation of the power-field the sought divine form is, as it were, drawn towards the aspirant until it is totally internalized.