Mantra Meditation by Vishnujana Swami

Pankaja_Dasa · November 6, 2004

"For some of you who haven't heard of this type of

meditation before, this is called mantra meditation. The word

man means mind, and tra means to free. So the sounds we are

singing from the ancient Sanskrit language of India are actually very powerful

sound formulas which are meant to free the mind of all anxieties and all

misconceptions of our self and everything around us. This mantra

meditation actually is very easily practiced; even a child can allow his body to

sway and allow this sound vibration to swim around his being.

This sound vibration is so wonderful that if you

allow your mind to absorb in it then automatically you can reach the reservoir

of pleasure. That's what the name Hare means; Hare means the

reservoir of pleasure, Krishna means all-attractive, and Rama means the enjoyer.

So these three words -- Hare, Krishna, and Rama -- are put into this formula:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama,

Rama Rama Hare Hare. And this formula will stop the wandering of the mind

and will stop the mind from accepting one thing and then rejecting it for

another: accepting-rejecting. This is usually what are mind does. It accepts

something for pleasure, then it rejects it and goes on to something else for

pleasure. In this way the mind is always kept wandering and it never finds that

reservoir of pleasure.

So in yoga the whole idea is to come in

touch with this reservoir of pleasure. Then the mind no longer has to reject it

and go on to something else, but can remain ever expanding in this ecstasy. And

this is what we experience from this chanting. The proof of the pudding is in

tasting it. We invite everyone to dive into this pudding, dive into this

nectarean flow of this manrta -- Hare, Krishna, and Rama. So we're going

to chant some more songs along with Hare Krishna, then there'll be a

lecture on this science of yoga and a lecture about this festival, what

we're celebrating here today with this little castle we're building out of

flowers. And then after that we'll serve a beautiful vegetarian feast. You're

all going to be invited to help us decorate this house, by the way. Right after

the lecture we'll invite everyone to chant around this house and decorate it

with us..."

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