FOUR STAGES OF MANTRA

                                                 THE SOUND OF MANTRA

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                     IF YOU HAVE EVER ATTENDED ANY OF MY MEDITATION CAMPS OR DISCOURSES IN PERSON, THEN YOU MUST KNOW THAT I ALWAYS BEGIN THEM WITH A SHORT INVOCATION AND BY OFFERING MY OBEISANCE TO THE DIVINE IN YOU. I THEN QUIETLY  WHISPER, NARAYANI NAMOSTUTE, WHICH MEANS THAT I BOW DOWN TO THAT DIVINE ENERGY. I THOUGHT RATHER THAN OFFERING YOU INFORMATION ON VARIOUS STAGES OF ATTAINMENT BASED ON AGEOLD TEXTS, I MAY AS WELL OFFER YOU MY OWN PERSPECTIVE, IN MY VOICE, BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE IN THE PRESENT AGE.

                   WHEN I SAY THAT I OFFER MY OBEISANCE TO THE DIVINE IN YOU, I ACTUALLY MEAN IT. IT'S NOT OBEISANCE TO THE DIVINE IN YOU, I ACTUALLY MEAN IT, IT'S NOT SIMPLY A MATTER OF MAKING A STATEMENT FOR ME. IT'S A PROFOUND EXPRESSION OF HOW I FEEL ABOUT EACH LIVING ENTITY THAT I ENCOUNTER. WHEN YOU CONTINUALLY MEDITATE THAT I ENCOUNTER. WHEN YOU CONTINUALLY MEDITATE ON DIVINE MOTHER, YOU START TO SEE HER IN EVERYTHING. YOU SEE HER IN EVERYBODY, AND PEOPLE - THEIR FACES,  BODIES, COLORS AND FEATURES- SIMPLY DISAPPEAR. THE FIRST THING THAT COMES IN FRONT OF YOU IS THE FORM OF DEVI.

               THE FIRST LAYER IS DEVI, GODDESS, ENERGY, DIVINITY, WHATEVER NAME YOU WANT TO GIVE, AND THE SECOND LAYER IS LIGHT. I SEE EVERYBODY AS A LIGHT. THEN THE LIGHT DISAPPEAR, AND THE THIRS LAYER THAT I SEE IS THE ACTUAL HUMAN BODY. IT WASN'T LIKE THIS BEFORE, IT'S NOT THAT IT HAS BEEN LIKE THIS SINCE I WAS BORN. THIS EXPERIENCE CAME ABOUT AFTER MY INTENSE SADHANA IN THE HIMALAYAS. AND THE PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE ENERGY OF MOTHER DIVINE IS SO REAL IN MY LIFE THAT I REALLY HOPE BY THE TIME YOU FINISH THIS BOOK, THAT YOU WOULD WALK AWAY WITH ENOUGH INSPIRATION, AS WELL AS LEARNING, TO MANIFEST THE SAME IN YOUR LIFE.

                 WHEN THAT HAPPENS, THE CONFLICT BETWEEN YOU AND OTHERS WILL LESSEN DRASTICALLY. YOU BEGIN TO FLOW GENTLY WITH LIFE. THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU BECOME WEAK - YOU REMAIN STRONG, YOU KNOW WHEN TO BE FIRM AND WHEN TO BE SOFT. BUT YOU NO LONGER USE WORDS TO HURT OTHERS. WHEN YOUR SPEECH BECOMES PURE, WITH A PURE HEART AND PURE MIND, YOU BECOME AN EMBODIMENT OF PURITY. PURITY AND LIGHT ARE SYNONYMS OF ENLIGHTENMENT, OF FREEDOM, WHILE THE IMPURE IS TRAPPED AND CONFINED, THE PURE IS ETERNALLY LIBERATED.

                   ULTIMATELY, THE WHOLE SADHANA OF GAYATHRI IS TO PIRIFY YOURSELF. OTHERWISE, CHANTING HAS LITTLE MEANING AT THE END OF THE DAY. IF WE FAIL TO PURIFY OURSELVES INTERNALLY, THEN NO MANTRA WILL EVER YIELD ANY SIDDHIS OR POWERS. AND SIDDHIS WILL COME TO YOU, SIMPLY IF YOU ARE PURIFIED.

               SOMETIMES, PEOPLE ASK ME, "DO YOU READ MINDS"? OR HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM OR MY PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE? YOU KNOW IT'S NOT THAT I SAT DOWN AND CHANTED ANY SPECIFIC MANTRA TO INVOKE THAT KIND OF ENERGY IN ME. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SOME SADHANAS THAT CLAIM TO DO THAT, I NEVER DID THEM. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE IS A SADHANA OF A PISHACHINI CALLED KARNA PISHACHINI. KARNA IS YOUR EAR AND PISHACHINI IS A LOWER FORM OF ENERGY. IT IS SAID THAT DEVI SPEAKS IN YOUR EAR. IT'S A TANTRIC SADHANA OF THE LEFT-HANDED PATH.

              MY GURU, NAGA BABA, WHO WAS A GREAT TANTRIC, ONCE PICKED UP HIS CELLPHONE AND SAID, "BETA, THIS IS KARNA PISHACHINI. YEH KARNA PISHACHINI HAI, SHE IS NEXT TO YOUR EAR AND TELLS YOU EVEYTHING". HE WAS REFERRING TO HIS PHONE. THIS IS THE UBER-CONNECTED LIFESTYLE WE HAVE IN THIS DAY AND AGE. ANYWAY IT'S NOT THAT I DID ANY SADHANA FOR THAT - IT JUST HAPPENED NATURALLY.

          

                   THROUGH PERFORMING THE MANTRA PROPERLY, A GOOD MEDITATOR, A SADHAKA, WILL NATURALLY START TO SEE THROUGH PEOPLE, BECAUSE THE LAYERS OF VARIOUS ENTITIES ARE PEELED AWAY. THEN, YOU ARE NOT LISTENING TO PEOPLE'S WORDS, YOU DONT HAVE TO SEE THEIR INTENTIONS, YOU ARE NOT LOOKING AT THEIR BODIES. INSTEAD, YOU ARE CONNECTED ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL ALTOGETHER AND WHEN YOU ARE CONNECTED, YOU AND THAT OTHER PERSON IS FEELING, YOU SEE WHAT THE OTHER PERSON IS SAYING, AND YOU RECALL WHAT THE OTHER PERSON KNOWS. THIS CONNECTION IS WHAT TRULY DIFFERENTIATES AN ORDINARY PERSON FROM SOMEBODY PURIFIED, SOMEBODY WHO HAS REALLY WALKED THE PATH OF THE LIGHT, OR IN OTHER WORDS, THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ASPIRANT AND ADEPT.

               FOR THIS LEVEL OF SPIRITUAL ATTAINMENT, YOU CAN NEVER IGNORE THE QUALITY OF OUR SADHANAS, IT'S JUST AS IMPORTANT FOR YOUR WELLBEING. WHAT IS THE SENSE IN CHANTING MANTRAS, WHEN YOU FEEL INCREASINGLY RESTLESS IN YOUR MIND, WHEN YOU FEEL AS ANGRY, HURT, JEALOUS AND NEGATIVE AS YOU FELT BEFORE YOU UNDERTOOK ANY SADHANA? NEVER OVERLOOK OR UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF PURIFYING YOURSELF. OTHERWISE, WE ARE JUST BEING PARROTS WHEN WE CHANT.

           A MAN WENT TO A PET SHOP, WHERE THERE WAS A PARROT IN A CAGE, CONSTANTLY CHANTING, "FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM"

          THE MAN SAID TO THE SHOPKEEPER, DOES IT ONLY KNOW ONE WORD"?

            "NO", THE SHOPKEEPER REPLIED, "THIS PARROT KNOWS ONE MORE WORD, AND THE PARROT STARTED CHANTING "LIBERATION, LIBERATION,LIBERATION"

            "THAT'S AN ENLIGHTENED PARROT, I'D LIKE BUY". AND SO HE BOUGHT THE PARROT AND TOOK IT HOME.

               ALL DAY, THE PARROT KEPT CHANTING, "FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM", AND THE MAN'S WIFE SAID, "WHY DONT YOU SET THIS POOR BIRD FREE? IT WILL THANK YOU," THE MAN THOUGHT, THIS IS A  KIND GESTURE, I CAN CERTAILY DO THIS MUCH. SO, HE OPENED THE CAGE DOOR, AND SAID, "OKAY BIRDIE, THE DOOR IS OPEN. OFF YOU GO, FLY AWAY, MY FINE- FEATHERED FRIEND", BUT THE PARROT STAYED ON ITS PERCH AND KEPT CHANTING, "FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM, BECAUSE IT NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHAT FREEDOM WAS. 

             CHANTING A MANTRA WITHOUT AWARENESS IS LIKE CHANTING "FOOD, FOOD, FOOD, FOOD, " AND EXCEPTING YOUR HUNGER TO BE SATISFIED - AS IF YOU COULD SAY, " SHAHI PANEER", DOSA, IDLI, OR PASTA, AND NO NEED TO FEED YOURSELF. IF YOU REDUCE A MANTRA TO A VERBAL ACTIVITY, CHANTING RECKLESSLY JUST TO FINISH THE ROUNDS, IT WON'T TAKE YOU ANYWHERE.

            THERE ARE FOUR KINDS OF CHANTING, WHICH LEAD TO FOUR PROGRESSIVE STAGES OF SOUND. THE FIRST KIND OF CHANTING IS CALLED VACHIKA, WHICH MEANS AUDIBLE, VERBAL, SOMETHING YOU SPEAK. IN VACHIKA, GAYATHRI JAPA WOULD BE YOU CHANTING OUT LOUD, OTHERS AROUND YOU CAN HEAR YOU EASILY. IT IS THE MOST BASE LEVEL OF JAPA. IT WILL QUICKLY TIRE YOU, AND CREATE RESTLESSNESS IN THE MIND IF DONE OVER A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME.

             THE SECOND TYPE OF JAPA IS CALLED UPANSHU - YOUR LIPS MOVE, AND YOU MAKE ONLY A WHISPERING SOUND. IT IS LIKE TALKING WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO BE  HEARD. TWO PEOPLE IN LOVE, WHEN CLOSE TO EACH OTHER, OFTEN WHISPER THAN TALK OUT LOUD.

             SOMETIMES, MY MOTHER'S FRIENDS USED TO COME HOME AND TALK LIKE THIS. WE WOULD BE SITTING ALMOST NEXT TO THEM AND NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WERE SAYING. SO IT IS WITH UPANSHU. ONLY SOMEBODY WHO IS NO MORE THAN A FEW FEET AWAY FROM YOU CAN HEAR YOU. UPANSHU JAPA IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN VACHIKA.

           THE THIRD KIND OF CHANTING IS CALLED MANSIKA WHERE YOU RECALL THE WHOLE MANTRA IN YOUR MIND. THERE IS NO WAY I CAN DEMONSTRATE THAT. USUALLY, THE MIND KEEPS ON TALKING, SO RATHER THAN LETTING THE MIND RAMBLE ON, SAYING WHATEVER IT WANTS, MANSIKA JAPA IS MAKING THE MIND SAY THE PARTICULAR MANTRA YOU ARE CHANTING.

                THE FOURTH JAPA, THE ULTIMATE ONE, IS CALLED AJAPA. IF YOU ADD "A" IN FRONT OF JAPA, IT MEANS THE OPPOSITE OF JAPA. THEREFORE, AJAPA MEANS YOU ARE NOT ACTUALLY CHANTING - THE MANTRA IS CHANTING ITSELF. WITH PRACTICE, YOU WILL GET A GRIP OVER THIS. SOME PEOPLE WILL UNDERSTAND IT IN A MATTER OF HOURS, FOR SOME IT MAY BE DAYS, WHILE FOR OTHERS IT COULD BE WEEKS. BUT IF YOU STAY ON COURSE, YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY HERE.

                WHILE IN THE WOODS, I USED TO SIT FOR VERY LONG HOURS - ONE STRAIGHT STRETCH OF TEN HOURS, AND THEN GET UP AND DO ANOTHER STRETCH OF SIX HOURS, AND SO ON. IT WAS VERY TIRING. I WOULD JUST SIT LIKE THIS AND MENTALLY CHANT (READ RECALL) MY MANTRA. AT THE END OF EVERY SESSION, I WOULD MARK MYSELF. AND IF DURING THE TEN HOURS I TURNED MY HEAD BECAUSE THERE WERE RATS AND OTHER CREATURES THERE DISTRACTING ME, I WOULD IMMEDIATELY DEDUCT FIVE MARKS OUT OF TEN, BECAUSE MY GOAL WAS TO STILL LIKE A ROCK, UNMOVING.

SOMETIMES, WHEN I WOULD CRY OUT FOR DEVI IN DEVOTION, IT WOULD ACTUALLY INTERRUPT MY MEDITATION, BECAUSE TEARS WOULD ROLL DOWN MY CHEEKS. IT WAS ICY COLD, AND WHEN THE TEARS EMERGED THEY WERE WARM, BUT BY THE TIME THEY ROLLED DOWN MY CHEEKS, THEY WERE COLD AND MY BODY CONSCIOUSNESS ROSE.

WHEN YOU SIT STILL FOR LONG HOURS WITH EXTRAORDINARY STILLNESS AND SUPREMEN CONCENTRATION, YOU LOSE AWARENESS OF YOUR BODY FOR A SUSTAINED PERIOD OF TIME. YOU ARE SITTING, YOU ARE MENTALLY AWARE, BUT THE BODY IS NOT THERE ANYMORE. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING I EXPERIENCED ON A DAILY BASIS, BUT THIS WOULD DO A BREATHING TECHNIQUE AND SOMETIMES LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS, I USED TO FALL. THERE WAS A LITTLE WOODEN PLANK ON THE WALL. THE WALL ALSO MADE OF WOODEN PLANKS, AND MY HEAD WOULD HIT AGAINST THE PLANK WHEN I FELL, AND THEN I WOULD COME BACK TO CONCIOUSNESS.

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