Guest guest Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Dear Sri PVR Narasimha: I have a naive question for you. Recently I came across a story narrated by Ramana Maharishi that perturbed me. A disciple asked the Maharishi whether mantras could be chanted without initiation. The Maharishi replied that no it shouldn't be and the same will not work. He then narrated a story which I paraphrase: A king asked a similar question of his minister and asked for an explanation. The minister without answering the question asks the king's guard to arrest the king. The guard of course doesn't budge, in spite of repeated requests from the minister. The king gets angry at the minister's insolence and asks the guard to arrest the minister, which the guard promptly does. The minister laughs and tells the king: See, this is the answer to your question, it is a matter of authority. The same command was uttered by the two of us, but only one of us had the authority to make it work. On the other hand, we can assume that someone or some saint is our guru and we with full faith use this mantra as if received from him. But then the story of Ekalavya, who did exactly this comes to mind. Can you please give your insight on this topic? Which mantras do we need initiation in? Are these all the veda mantras used in homams? What about the mantras used in the pradhana homam? For example if one is chanting Sri Suktam, do we need to be initiated in this? Regards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Namaste, Here is my view on this. As one does enough sadhana with a mantra, one accumulates some shakti with that mantra. As one meditates with a mantra initially, one's account starts with a zero balance. As one controls senses and focuses the mind on a mantra without any desires, slowly the account starts to increase. The rate at which shakti accumulates is very slow at the beginning, but ramps up after crossing a thereshhold. However, if one is unable to control the mind and focus on the mantra without any desires, shakti does not accumulate. It keeps leaking. If one is initiated by a guru who has already accumulated some shakti with a mantra, some of it is transferred to the person. Thus, it is beneficial to be initiated by a guru. However, if one is unable to control the mind and focus on the mantra without any desires, one will slowly leak and waste the shakti of the mantra that was transferred by one's guru. Thus, I consider it far more important to develop the right attitude, devotion adn the ability to focus the mind without any desires, than to be initiated by a guru. If you find a good guru who actually has some shakti with a mantra and is willing to initiate you, that is excellent. But don't think that the job is done. It is only means a good start and you still have a lot to do. If you do not find a guru to initiate you, do not worry and just work hard. I gave an analogy for this in homam manuals. A young man who started a bank account with a starting balance of one million dollars, thanks to a rich father, can eventually waste all the money and become a pauper. A young man who started a bank account with a zero balance can work hard and eventually become a billionnaire. As far as homam is concerned, those who are particular about having a guru can think of me as the guru. Listen to my mp3 and/or see my youtube video and think of me as a guru and start doing homam. Best regards, Narasimha Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpana Spirituality: Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org - " suvarnatejas " <suvarnatejas Friday, April 10, 2009 9:33 PM Initiation into Mantra > Dear Sri PVR Narasimha: > > I have a naive question for you. > > Recently I came across a story narrated by Ramana Maharishi > that perturbed me. > > A disciple asked the Maharishi whether mantras could be > chanted without initiation. The Maharishi replied that no > it shouldn't be and the same will not work. > > He then narrated a story which I paraphrase: > A king asked a similar question of his minister and asked for > an explanation. The minister without answering the question > asks the king's guard to arrest the king. The guard of course > doesn't budge, in spite of repeated requests from the minister. > The king gets angry at the minister's insolence and asks the > guard to arrest the minister, which the guard promptly does. > The minister laughs and tells the king: See, this is the answer > to your question, it is a matter of authority. The same command > was uttered by the two of us, but only one of us had the authority > to make it work. > > On the other hand, we can assume that someone or some saint > is our guru and we with full faith use this mantra as if received > from him. But then the story of Ekalavya, who did exactly this > comes to mind. > > Can you please give your insight on this topic? > Which mantras do we need initiation in? > Are these all the veda mantras used in homams? > What about the mantras used in the pradhana homam? > For example if one is chanting Sri Suktam, do we need to be > initiated in this? > > Regards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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