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Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.
There is a very clear difference between stothras and japa. Stothras are to be uttered and recited loudly. Most of the Vedic Suktas, Veda mantras, they are recited loudly but there is a difference between these hymns and suktas which are recited in praise of different Gods and Goddesses and then mantras. Mantra is supposed to be chanted by the mind alone. The definition of a mantra is like this.
mananāt trāyate iti.
Mananāt, by keeping in the mind, by revolving in the mind, by preserving in the mind, the man who does so will be protected, protected.
Mantra japa is very, very effective. You cannot say how effective it is. There is a category of people who are called mantravadis. I like to call them white-magic people, not black-magic, white-magic. Their services are requisitioned by various people. Their strength is their mantra. Any mantra, it is said, if you chant it akshara-laksha, means what? - As many letters as the mantra has, so many lakhs of times you should recite it. Suppose Gayatri, 24 letters are there. So, you have to recite Gayatri 24 lakhs of times. Then, they say the person has gained the siddhi over that mantra. Means what? That mantra, he has become very, very competent, not competent, what is the right word to be used? He has done so much of austerity with that mantra, that the mantra has become very effective for him and he can employ it for whatever purposes he wants.
Generally, these mantravadis, white-magic people will have a mantra which they will do minimum akshara-laksha. So, you can imagine, to chant Gayatri 1000 properly, slowly chanted, it will take 3 hours. 3 hours for 1000 times. So, 100,00 times, how much? 300 hours. And 300 multiplied by 24, just see how much it is! Why I am telling you this is you should understand that our mind is very, very resourceful and powerful. To access this mind and to live in the mind, the only way is to take to a mantra.
These mantravadis and the others who resort to mantra japa, they believe in number and they try to complete the number. Suppose you chant many, many, many times a mantra, don’t think that the mind will always be focused but while you chant a mantra, a hundred times or five hundred times, at least a little of concentration will be there, though not fully. Like that it goes on working.
In our Brahmavidya deeksha and sadhana, the mantra is not used like that. It is not counting or number; it is reflecting over the mantra. Whatever mantra you have, you should reflect upon it, try to understand it, associate yourself with the message and content. So, it is not merely the application of the mind but the application of the intelligence also. So, the mantra institutes in you a particular type of contemplation.
So suppose you start chanting a mantra like “My dear God, I prostrate before you”. Now you say that “My dear God, I prostrate before you”. By saying I prostrate before you, you really don’t prostrate. And who is this God whom you prostrate? If you start applying the intelligence on this mantra, it will make you reflect upon – “Who is this God before whom I prostrate? Am I really prostrating?’ Or I say “I am prostrating”. Suppose you say “I am eating”, “I am eating”, will it mean that you are eating or you have to have your food specially in a plate, go to the dining table, sit on a chair and take your food? When you are having your food, do you have to say “I am taking food”? No. Suppose you are not taking food and you say “I am taking food”, will it mean that you take? No. So, there is something missing here.
“Oh God, I prostrate before you”. Which God? And how do I prostrate? Do I bend my body, touch the ground with my forehead? What is this prostration, and especially to God? Who is this God?.He is present inside as well as outside. A presence that is inside and outside, can I offer Him a physical prostration? So, what is this prostration to God and who is this God? When the mind starts reflecting upon in this manner, this is called Tattva manana. Then the mantra assumes a totally different content, message and level. It is such contemplative, contemplative, contemplative process that we mean by real manana and nidhidhyasa. It is upto you to enter into your mind with the mantra and after entering there, make the mantra a cause, a means for your contemplation.
When you start reflecting upon “Which God am I prostrating before? What is meant by prostration? Am I really prostrating when I say ‘I prostrate’? What would be the real prostration? And who is this God to whom I offer this prostration?” When you start thinking in this manner, the mantra japa is taken over by tattva vichara. And the tattva vichara will be far more effective. A person who does tattva vichara, his mind and intelligence will be very deeply involved in the process. You cannot do it without the involvement of the mind and intelligence. But in any case, you should find that, you should know that you have to enter into the mind plane and engage yourself there. Whether it is by a mere repetition of a mantra or by a contemplative pursuit of that mantra, that is up to you.
For our purposes, we will not simply say chant the mantra, chant the mantra alone. Whatever is the content and message of the mantra, you should contemplate upon it. And that contemplation will today or tomorrow make you plunge in your own inner essence. Our Upanishads say,
From where words recoil, along with the mind, that is the Supreme state. So, by chanting the mantra or engaging the mantra in the mind or mind in the mantra, there will come a time sooner or later, when the whole thinking process itself dissolves. Where will it dissolve? Into its own inmost source. That is where you discover, realize and feel the self that you are.
I don’t know when I explain it like this, you are following me and getting the spirit of it and you can apply it. You have to enter into the mind level and plunge there to such an extent that you will go to the very source of thinking, knowledge, experience, everything, the source of everything. Think about it. Think about it. All that you need is your mind which you have and a thought process which you can have and then apply the thought process in such a manner that you will have the depth, the vastness, and absorption that is desired. I think it is simple, provided you get drawn to it fondly.
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.