So, this is where we are now, on the threshold of mantra meditation. Mantras are transcendental sound vibration. Either material or spiritual there is nothing more powerful than sound. Nothing influences us more in life than sound. It starts at birth and continues for the rest of our life.
People are always trying to steer us in life with their words, ”Go here, do this, do not do that, buy this, do not buy that, learn this, learn that.” Sound is very, very influential. Whom we listen to will determine where we go in life. And written sound is the same whether it is in the form of speaking or the form of writing. And you read it. It is the same message.
So, those who choose to go in the spiritual direction should pursue the influence of transcendental sound, make a conscious effort to arrange one’s life to be in contact with transcendental sound on regular basis.
Transcendental sound origination is in the spiritual world. There are two distinct worlds: the material world and the spiritual world. We are spirit souls in the material world covered by material body.
So, we spend our whole life taking care of our bodies: our food, our shelter, our clothing, recreation. And then our mental bodies, they need their food: books, magazines, newspapers, cinemas, videos, television, Internet, computer games, food for the mind. And if we honestly look at our life as it is today we often see this is my life. This is all I do. My whole life, my whole time, my whole energy is spent taking care of these two bodies.
But that is not who we are. Remember, we are spirit souls. And as spirit souls we need spiritual food. The mantras are that food. They nourish us spiritually. Without this food, no matter how perfectly I arrange my material situation, there is still something missing. Think about it. You arrange your life as perfectly as you can but there is something missing. So, it is like having a bird cage and a little bird inside. All day long we polish the cage. We have a very beautiful cage, but we never feed the little bird. The little bird is hungry, the little bird is never satisfied, the little bird never sings. We are like that little bird. Yes, as a spirit soul we need spiritual food. And the mantas are that food. They nourish us spiritually.
There is two categories of meditation. One is silent meditation. And that is what most people think of when they think of meditation: sitting perfectly still, perfectly quiet and doing something internally. It may start off with visualization of beautiful scenes and nature. May be we do the silent witness technique, where we sit aloof from our mind and watch our thoughts, confirming we are not the mind. I can change my mind, I can put my mind on this subject, on that subject. I can separate myself from my mind. It is a silent witness technique. May be you look at a candle flame. I learnt this in martial arts. You sit in a dark room and just focus on the flame to develop one-point concentration. Meditating on the breath in the nostrils. So many silent meditation techniques.
But number one, it is very difficult. Number two, there is no real potency there, no potency. You are trying to reach the level of perfection when you have no thoughts, which you never do, but you try. And then there is a moment when you have no thoughts, and then you go: “Oh, I am not thinking of anything”. And that’s a thought. “Jeez! What did I do that for?” You are trying to do it again, but you cannot because now you are thinking about not thinking. It is a really frustrating type of meditation. Mosquitoes come, knees hurt, back hurts, body does not want to sit still. Many people come up to me and say:
– Oh, I tried meditation. I cannot do it, it is too difficult.
– What type did you try?
– I am trying to just sit and think of nothing.
– Yes, I cannot do it. It is not recommended by the Supreme Lord for this age.
But there is a recommended meditation. Back to the harmony, back to coinciding with the Supreme direction. And that is mantra meditation. The mantras have potency, they have power. They have spiritual power. They come into our bodies through the ears into the mind, purifying the mind, ultimately going to the heart, and purifying the heart of what it called anarthas, unwanted desires of the heart; unwanted for the spiritualists, not for the materialists. The materialists thrive on anarthas: all the material wants and pleasures.
But for a spiritualist, he understands, this is keeping me in this illusion of material happiness. It covers my true nature of the servant of the Supreme. He does not like those anarthas.
The mantras clear those away gradually and remove karma. We all are heavily laden with karma from innumerable lifetimes, not just this life. If we could see how much karma we have accumulated it would frighten us beyond belief, and how much we are continuously building up as we go.
But the mantras can take this away. And gradually we begin to become aware, conscious, we wake up. Along the way as the purification takes place we become more and more interested in spiritual subject matters. The more materially diseased I am the less interest I have. I do not want to know that stuff, I do not like this idea, I do not like this subject. But the more healthy spiritually we become the more we are enthusiastic about knowing the truth. No one can drive us away from the message. We are thirsty, we are hungry, we seek it. We begin to find real happiness, real satisfaction. The mantras are the magic, the mantras do this. If we apply them to our life, guaranteed, they will work.
So, we are going to practice two different types of meditation. If you were with us last night we did this last night. But we are going to do it again tonight. You cannot do this too much. In the beginning it may seem like five minutes is too much, “How long is this gonna go?” But as we become more and more purified five minutes is nothing. The first time I heard sankirtan, chanting with music, I went to a gathering where this was being presented. And there was about thirty minutes of chanting. And to me at that point in my life it seemed like a year, “This is nice, but come on, guys, you do not have to make a career out of it.” But thirty minutes now – very short. On a regular basis we gain more and more access to the spiritual sweetness of the holy names.
So, our GAURANGA mantra. This is the name of the latest incarnation of the Supreme Lord, Lord Gauranga. The Supreme Lord has a form, but it is a spiritual form. But when He comes in the material world, He manifests it so that we can perceive it with our material eyes. His name Gauranga means “He, whose body is more beautiful than molten gold”. One of the attractive features of the Supreme Lord is that He is the most beautiful. Everyone is attracted to beauty, and no one is as beautifully attractive as the Supreme.