Bija Mantras

[Guest guest]

Om Sankrarrukku

 

To use Bija Mantras in Japa is to use them in their capacity of

Bija Mantras. If used, they can only be used their full capacity,

they cannot be used just for the sound. Sound is vibration and it

is the both audible and inaudible vibrations of Mantras that make

them Mantras, awakening dormant centres of the mind and

psyche, tuning psychological, physiological and astral faculties

to OM, to Brahman.

 

Also, it makes no difference whether one knows or does not

know that the Bija Mantra one is using is a Bija Mantra. The

Mantra will do its job regardless of whether the one performing

Japa on it is aware of what that job is.

 

While it is factual to say that Bija Mantras are meaningless, it is

can also be misleading. Bija Mantras do not a surface, dictionary

meaning. But they do have inner, divine power. All Saguna and

Nirguna Mantras have a Bija Mantra embedded in them. It is the

Bija Mantra that gives the Saguna or Nirguna Mantra the special

power of Moksha. Bija Mantras are seed mantras. Each is

connected with one of the six major chakras below the

Sahasrara Chakra. They vibrate in the chakras and release

blockages in the nadis that connect the chakras thus allowing

kundalini to flow more freely.

 

Just as the Saguna Mantras are different aspects of Brahman,

so too, the Bija Mantras are different aspects of OM.

 

In addition to Bija Mantras being embedded in Saguna and

Nirguna Mantras and being used on their own in a formal

meditation practice, Bija Mantras are also repeated by serious

Hatha Yogis during some forms of pranayama and during each

asana.

 

Om Namah Sivaya

 

Omprem

 

, "sankarrukku" <sankarrukku> wrote:

> TM - Meditation

>

> Hi evil_djinia ! I am tempted to say, "a good question", but I

have

> seen that more often than not when someone says it is a good

question

> that means he does not have a ready answer. It is not that I

have a

> ready answer, but as a person who has been initiated into TM,

I do

> have some opinions.

>

> 1. In TM Maharshi Mahesh Yogi is not the Guru. The Guru is the

> Sankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth. This was the position in 1975

when I

> was initiated.

>

> 2. The mantras for TM are supposed to be without any

meaning. The

> initiator is supposed to choose the mantra depending upon

your

> suitability. Beeja Mantras are also used. Beeja mantras are

used in

> Mantra Sasthra.They are used not only in SriVidya but also in

> Hinduism in general. In TM they are not used as Beeja

mantras, but as

> a source of sound. TM is meditation by sound. I know people

who have

> been initiated with meaningless Sanskrit sounds. The Beeja

mantras

> have no significance in TM, as they are not used as Beeja

Mantras.

> You are also not told that it is a Beeja mantra.

>

> 3. I got myself initiated into TM in 1975. I was told that it would

> relieve stress. All the literature given to me emphasized the

stress

> relieving aspect of TM and effect on reducing blood pressure. A

> similar meditation was taught in the Stress Management

Programme

> conducted in a 5 star hotel that I attended. In my company we

were

> conducting meditation classes and getting people initiated into

TM as

> a part of our Executive development programmes. What I am

trying to

> emphasize is that for most of the people TM is not spiritual.

>

> Nowadays you will find a number of Meditation courses, which

stress

> mostly on the Health and other non-spiritual aspects. They

address a

> market in which there is a need for reducing stress. Meditation

has

> proved extremely useful in relieving stress and also helps in

> improving your concentration so that you make better

decisions. It is

> reported that the captains of the Industry in Japan are all Zen

> masters.

>

> The meditation courses are being marketed like any other

consumer

> product. One of Swamijis in India for whom I have a lot of

respect

> regularly conducts programmes in five star hotels for the CEOs

and

> top executives of companies. The explanation is that these

programmes

> are tailored to suit the requirements of these people, and as

these

> people can afford to pay, the programmes are made

expensive. In fact

> if you make the programme free or at a nominal cost these

people will

> not attend.

>

> The same marketing techniques are used whether it is a

consumer

> product or charity programmes or meditation programmes.

Some of the

> Non governmental organizations pay fabulous salaries to

recruit

> highly qualified and experienced marketing professional for

their

> organizations. You will find experienced marketing

professionals in

> Spiritual organizations also. Here most of them do it for free.

>

> The justification for such courses is that such programmes

bring at

> least some of the rich and famous in contact with the spiritual

> world. Some of them may turn spiritual later. When a CEO of a

company

> attends a programme, in many cases he goes back and

initiates this

> programme as part of HRD in his company.

>

> Today thanks to Maharshi Mahesh Yogi and Swamijis of his

kind,

> meditation is an accepted practice all over the world. Even if

one

> percent of these people who are initiated into different kinds of

> meditation turn spiritual that will be an achievement worth

striving

> for. I know of many people who started with TM and who have

become

> spiritual later. You must be aware that there is a spiritual basis

> for even the Martial arts like Kung Fu and Karate. In my case in

our

> childhood one of our favourite pastime was to put a black spot

on the

> wall and stare at it. We firmly believed that it would give us

> magical powers. Though we almost always landed up with a

solid

> headache we never gave it up. Since I grew up in a family

where we

> looked upto Swami Sivananda in our day-to-day living, I read

his

> books and was fascinated by meditation. Unfortunately I had

mistaken

> the power of concentration for meditation. So all my attempts at

> different methods of meditation ended in a failure. Then I was

> initiated into TM and for the first time was successful in

> meditation. The TM people gave me books on spirituality. But

at that

> stage in my life I was not ready. I still practice Meditation but not

> TM.

>

> I am writing all this because I owe at least this to Maharshi

Mahesh

> Yogi. He was a pioneer in the art and science of Meditation. He

made

> the practice of meditation known all over the world. He is a very

> much-respected figure in India. He has his own Maharshi TV

channel,

> University and a host of spiritual and charitable activities. In

> India he is not controversial and continues to attract followers.

>

> I am not an expert on TM or any other kind of meditation nor will

I

> ever be one.

>

> About charging $ 2000, we meet many people from the west

who have

> spent their life savings to travel to India in search of

> spirituality. Again I have also seen people from all over the

world

> coming to India and paying US $ 2 as donation for boarding

and

> lodging in an ashram. Rs.100 per day. That is US$ 2 per day.

Tell me

> does two dollars buy anything in US other than peanuts. They

come

> after spending a holiday in Java or Maldives where they pay

upto US$

> 200 per day. As a matter of principle these ashrams do not fix

their

> rates.

>

> I am unable to understand why people expect courses in

meditation to

> be inexpensive. If you spend $ 2000 for a meditation course

you will

> think very hard before giving it up half way. Last year we had

gone

> on a long pilgrimage cum trekking trip to Kangra valley. One of

my

> colleagues had remarked that with the money I spent on the

trip, we

> could have gone on a vacation tour to Europe. So it all depends

on

> your priorities.

>

> About not being successful in the practice of TM there could be

two

> reasons.

>

> 1. Regular testing is to be done by the initiator to ensure that

TM

> is practiced properly. If you do not get yourselves tested

regularly

> you may fail.

>

> 2. The kind of meditation may not be suitable for you. I have

seen

> many people who did not find TM useful.

>

> My suggestion is that you can do some reading up on

meditation and

> try some other form of meditation.

>

> Other than Swami Sivananda's works on the subject the two

good books

> are

>

> Meditation - Monks of the Ramakrishna order - Ramakrishna

Math,

> Madras - Contains articles by different monks.

>

> Meditation and Mantras - Swami Vishnu Devananda - Om

Lotus Publishing

> Company - New York

> This is an Authoritative text by one of the great masters of Yoga.

>

> I thought someone in our club who has a better knowledge of

TM than

> myself will reply. Since no one has come forth so far, here I go.

In

> Tamil we have name for such person. Mundhirikottai.

>

>

> Sankar