Mantras....again with feeling

March 24, 2001

Om Amrtesvaryai Namah!!

Namaste dear sister Anna!!!

your letter,(sent privately) dear sister is just the reason i posted

that letter to Kalika Devi on the GJ List rather than just send it

privately to her, as i had originally intended...

i would be VERY careful about which mantras i chant, and would be

very sure that they are precisely as given....Sanskrit, like English,

and French, is a Language...and if you pronounce it wrong, you may be

saying an entirely different word, which will mean something else, and

may just backfire the mantra on you....and cause more troubles than

you were trying to solve.....

as i have learned from our learned Vaishnava friends, the best

practice in this Kali Yuga is Hari Nam Kirtan....which means to be

singing the praises of the Lord....in their case Krsna....in my case,

both Sri Krsna and the Divine Mother...and Whoever else pulls at my

heart...like Siva Mahadeva....

as i understand it, Gayatri was meant for the "higher" ages...when we

had a lot longer to get where we're going...our lives were much

longer...and so on and it was important thus to be exactingly precise

in all the rituals, and one had time to learn them all properly...Now

we have very short lives, and don't have time to learn the tantras and

yantras and mantras properly, especially if we intend to apply them to

worldly problems, as most of us would like to....if we are saying a

mantra for say, Sri Lakshmi out of BHAKTI, it will be quite a

different thing from saying it because we want a job and money...

if we are saying it for job and money, Sri Lakshmi will be MOST

demanding in the exactitude of the rituals and the

pronunciation....and if you get it wrong...She will not only NOT give

you more wealth, but She may just REMOVE what wealth you already have,

just to cure you of arrogance....so that's the result of the worldly

approach...

Also Sri Laksmi (although my "Beloved Deity" as She is represented by

the Graha Venus...) is EXTREMELY FICKLE...and may leave just as fast

as She arrived...so you will have to be very particular in your

treatment of Her if you want Her help....(She probably doesn't

appreciate my comments about Her Fickleness either!!)

However if you are loving Her for Herself, this is a different

matter....then She doesn't mind so much at all whether you got all the

rituals of the puja right, or whether you pronounced Her name just

quite rightly or not....She'll indulgently smile at your two-year old

antics with Her Name...and run laughing to pick you up into Her Cosmic

Lap...and give you a hug....

So, dear sister it depends upon what you want...if you ask for the

kingdom of heaven, as Jesus suggested, then all things will be added

unto you....if you take utter refuge in your beloved Deity, (which i

assume is Christ), He will HAVE to take care of you...He has promised

as much many times in His teachings.. Krsna and many other Great Ones

including Amma have proclaimed exactly the same message...if you take

utter refuge at the feet of your Beloved Deity, S/he will take care of

everything...even bringing you what you need without asking....

The reason i say this is because even though i am as yet unable to

take TOTAL refuge at my Amma's Lotus feet...(and thus the lessons

continue), still She does take care of me in the most amazingly

noticeable ways...such that i can feel Her presence in these

events....so my solution is not to do mantras for the Servants, the

Grahas, but do chant the mantra of the Divine Mother...the mantra that

Amma gives everyone without asking, the mantra that we all already

know...the most powerful mantra known to me, and that mantra is so

simple.....you just call out: AMMA AMMA AMMA AMMA.

or MA MA MA MA MA MA MA MA....just like a little baby calling out to

Her Mother....if you actually try this...and really dedicate yourself

to it, while feeling how much you love Her, (you could think of the

Virgin Mother Mary, if you love Her like that...)and just call

lovingly out to Her where ever you are...all the time...you don't need

a special place, although it is nice to have one...the best places are

out in the wilds, or in a park where there are trees, and streams and

birds and so on....so that a feeling of peace is easy to cultivate. If

you love Sri Krsna, you could call out Krsna Krsna Krsna....with love

dripping from every word...

So rather than going to the servants, this child suggests that you

should just go directly to your Divine Mother...or to your Beloved

Jesus Christ, or Sri Krsna and actually work on developing such a

loving relationship with that Beloved One, that you can feel His

Loving Presence all the time...or at least when you call Him....

This is not all fairy stories, i am speaking from my own personal

experience here...

in fact i started with no particular mantra just repeated some loving

prayers to the Mother all the time...which ended up being like mantras

of a sort, and helped to keep my mind upon Her loving Form...and when

my mind would wander, or get into some negative space...thinking ill

of another lineage's music for example...Mother would immediately (and

still does) discipline me...i would stumble over a log and give myself

a bruise which lasted several weeks or cut my self, or.......a good

reminder to pay attention, and not think bad things about anyone....

i feel that when i am outside wandering in nature, Mother is right

there...everywhere, the Formless Mother...She Who is Immanent and

Transcendant, as well as embodied in all of this creation....and She

is SO responsive when once She knows that you care about Her...it's

too amazing for words...and you're probly dropping off to sleep

listening to enthusiastic me....

So if you want to sing the mantras for Love of the Deity, then it

doesn't matter so much how perfect they are. After all doesn't a

Mother love Her child no matter which baby name he might use to call

Her....However if you intend to turn Her into your SERVANT...to get

you a job...or whatever, then you must be VERY careful...She is much

more approachable as a Mother, than your Servant...

Personally, i am not attracted to chanting any of the planetary

mantras...i have my Amma, and i have a Mantra (actually two! or three

or so...)which She has intitiated me into...so that's what i'll

use.....

Jyotishis should REALLY have a Beloved Deity, and this is why Inderjit

Sahney posted that information ...when you sing Gayatri, the Sun

becomes your deity...or the Divine Mother Who is associated with

Light, with Sun, Whose Name is Gayatri Devi.

if you are very serious about getting a mantra which will help you in

life, i would seriously advocate that you go to meet Amma in Chicago

or somewhere on the East Coast this summer....She's coming again

soon...May 31 in the Seattle area.

That would be my best advice....Mother Knows Best!!!

Or you could just get a picture of Her or your Beloved Deity and just

call out in your heart...asking Him/Her to reveal Herself, over and

over and over....like a little child wanting her mother...that longing

heart cannot be refused by the Divine...if you are REALLY LONGING for

Her Darshan...and if you are calling calling calling all the time, day

and night, it won't take long before you know that She heard you...and

is answering...

of course if you are not seriously into all this, you could just

forget it all.

However i suggest to you that you are in your current predicament,

that you might find your way home to the Divine Lap....sometimes we

have to be absolutely at the bottom of the gutter, before we can crawl

back up, with a helping hand from above.

Before that we are too arrogant....it takes some seriously bad karmic

events, to remind us that the world IS NOT our oyster...we are not in

charge.....that we are just staying in this hotel overnight, and will

have to be on our way in the morning....this is all intended to drive

us into the arms of our Beloved Deity, for when we cannot save

ourselves, we are forced in all humility to cry out to our Beloved

Deity for Help....and it will come. how do i know this...again my own

experience...the blessed grace of Sade Sati...at the end of which, i

met Amma....after the Saturnian pummelling...when the ego has no

further down to go....then the Mother comes.....

So be of good cheer, dear sister, you are not so far from Her....

But not before the Deity is really sure you are serious in your

calling....first She'll throw you a few toys, or a couple sweets...to

test you...or it might be quite a few more negative events...as you

may not have quite reached the bottom where all the rain

collects.....and only to the humble, childlike one, does the Mother

come.

(unless you'd like to see Her with Her axe coming to remove a few

nasty egos....)

So you could just try the "Ma Ma Ma Ma" mantra...it's simple. it

works. guaranteed...or your money back. i've used it many times when

in very nasty or dangerous situations, and it always has helped me

feel a warm protecting energy surrounding me after a few

repetitions.....although the situation may not improve....i have sofar

managed to come thru them all...if by the skin of my teeth.

if you prefer a mantra for Jesus Christ, we have one in our tradition

that goes:

Om Christave Namaha!

or for Sri Krsna:

Om Sri Krsnaya Namaha!

i suspect that Christ or Krsna won't care too much if you mispronounce

it....

or of course you could just say His Name over and over lovingly,

tasting its sweetness on your tongue....Christ Christ Christ....

or KRSNA KRSNA KRSNA....these kinds of mantras you don't need to be

initiated by a Guru for...in fact they might very well CALL the Guru

to you...this could be called "nama smaran" remembering the name...and

is a valid approach too.

the other ones which are politically calculated to offset the

well-earned Karmas as presented by the various

Grahas......weeelllll.....i'll let you ponder that one.....do you

think it will have to be precise...or?

In my Amma's Divine Love

and in Her Service,

this child,

bows most humbly

to You

Her Darling Daughter,

and Yourself,

an Embodiment

of the Sacred Om

as ever,

Your Own Self,

visvanathan

Om Amrtesvaryai Namah!

March 25, 2001

Dear Visavnath,

You Wrote,

<i would be VERY careful about which mantras i chant, and would be

very sure that they are precisely as given....Sanskrit, like English,

and French, is a Language...and if you pronounce it wrong, you may be

saying an entirely different word, which will mean something else, and

may just backfire the mantra on you....and cause more troubles than

you were trying to solve.....>

One should be very careful while doing Tantrik Mantra , which are done for

killing , attraction or other bad things. One should be very careful and should

do these Tantrik Mantra under the guidance of a teacher.

But these Vedic Mantra are prayers to the Lord ; who is above all languages ,

who needs your emotions :Your submission; A mistake done in chanting in Mantra

will do the same harm as it will be to a child done with his unclear words by

his mother.

These prayers are to the highest Conscious, one should know the meaning that

what he is praying and God understand your meaning , he is not an examiner ,

giving you negative marking for your mistakes in Sanskrit Pronunciation.

In north India Gayantri Mantra is used in Schools at morning times by children

in prayers.

Don't attach fear of Tantar with these simple Mantras.

It is for the benefit of all , who had not limited themselves in any boundary.

Shanti Maya has sung it beautifully.

Even if one cannot do it exactly , it does not matter , it is a talk between an

imperfect and perfect, and the perfect knows what is the meaning of imperfect

prayers to him.

But do it with devotion .

A little devotion will do the miracle. But no harm not even .0000001 percent. I

am sure.

With best wishes,

Inder Jit Sahni.

March 25, 2001

Dear Visvanathan,

Thanks for the inspiring post. Your conviction is so strong, as is your devotion

to Amma- it simply doesn't matter where your convictions are coming from!! Your

enthusiastic post just reminded my analytical mind that

most things cannot be analyzed in a way so familiar to me. Thanks for that. As

I've already told you, it's just my discomfort regarding mantras and gems in

particular,- doesn't have any rational reason- on the contrary,

it's quite acceptable to me that every part of our living-earth, influences each

other. However I do trust my gut feelings, not having any authority opinion to

either support or weaken it.

I think that your post would reach many with the same dilemma as mine is, and we

all we'll have different feelings and convictions, I guess. However, it's good

to hear others- not to stick to our own fixed thinking pattern..That's MHO.

Regards,

Anna

-

kasi_visvanath

gjlist

Sunday, March 25, 2001 12:49 AM

[gjlist] Mantras....again with feeling