This month, we’re taking a closer look at one of the core points of the eight-point program of passage meditation: Repetition of a Mantram.
To get us started on this topic, we have a reading study below. This reading will also prepare us for next week’s optional real-time satsang during our Online Workshop.
Online Workshop Invitation
We warmly invite you to join us for an Online Workshop on Saturday, November 16 from 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. San Francisco time. This is a 75-minute workshop and many members of the eSatsang will be taking part, so it’s a chance for some real-time satsang on our theme of Repetition of a Mantram.
Reading Study
During the Online Workshop we’ll be studying sections from The Mantram Handbook. Here on the eSatsang, we’ll have the opportunity to study and discuss the excerpts featured in the online workshop in more depth, and to develop our understanding of mantram repetition by reviewing additional readings throughout the month.
In the excerpt below, Easwaran clearly states that after many years of repeating the mantram the day will come when you “…are delivered from the turmoil of the mind and the mantram is with you all the time.” But, he adds, to accomplish this we must repeat the mantram in earnest, filling all the little moments throughout the day.
Please share any reflections you have on the reading below. We are always eager to hear from you!
What are some routine times you can find in your day to repeat the mantram?
What benefits would you gain from this? Remember: keep your eyes out even for the small, simple little benefits.
The excerpt below is from the book The Mantram Handbook by Eknath Easwaran.
Many years ago, after I took to meditation, I started treasuring every moment that I could repeat the mantram. I did not undertake these practices out of frustration: by Indian standards, I was successful and had everything that was thought to be desirable in life. But just at this hour of fulfillment, all these things no longer satisfied me. The ground shifted under my feet, and I turned inward. It was then that I began to repeat the mantram in earnest, using it everywhere during the day and at night. Two minutes here while on my way to class, two there while waiting at the bank, two minutes there waiting for the bus, five minutes there waiting in a restaurant – I don’t think I wasted many opportunities.
All of this did not come naturally to me. I was not noted for devotion in my early life. I had come from a very deeply religious family, but I was more interested in the modern world and came under the influence of Western culture very early in life. Yet it was my enormous good fortune, when I began to face the storms that life is full of, that I could remember my grandmother’s unshakable strength and begin to rely on her mantram myself. Since then, every day has brought a deeper realization of the mantram’s power to turn fear into fearlessness, anger into compassion, and hatred into love.
After many, many years there comes a day when you are delivered from the turmoil of the mind and the mantram is with you all the time. Then no insecurity can come into your heart. No ill will can come into your mind. You can go into any situation, and you won’t get upset. You won’t be overwhelmed. You will be able to give your very best and you will be at your very best, whatever the circumstances.
This was my goal: to repeat the mantram so long and so often that it would become established in my consciousness. Today I don’t have to make an effort to repeat the mantram. It goes on all the time. The benefits are enormous, and I will be telling you about them later in this book.