Easwaran Revisited: The Power of the Mantram

It's the Sunday before Christmas and I'm up at dawn trying to steal a few minutes of solitude before the first of my two kids saunter sleepily down the staircase, rubbing weary eyes and asking for something warm to eat for breakfast on this chill winter's morning. The next twelve hours or so are going to be busy ones as my husband and I intend to start and finish all of our Christmas shopping.

I breathe deep, letting the air expand my lungs, a glorious feeling, and then exhale feeling my muscles relax. I woke up to my mantram this morning. "Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.", resonating from the depths of my subconscious and rising upward, ushering me into a new day with peace.  This short prayer has been used by the Eastern Orthodox church for ages to center oneself in the presence of God and is one of the mantrams that Eknath Eswaran suggests to practice for those who follow his teachings.

It's been a couple of weeks since I've published my review of Eknath Easwaran's book, Original Goodness, and I've been meaning to write more about how his teachings have had a profound impact on my daily living.  There is much I'd like to write, but I'll first start with sharing Easwaran's idea of repeating a mantram, since I woke up to mine this morning and will be thrusting it foreward in a line of defense against the stresses and distractions of the day that often have a way of stealing peace. This simple practice is easy to incorporate into anyone's spiritual disciplines regardless of their particular religion or belief system.  In fact, it is found in all of them.

I will let Easwaran describe his definition of what a mantram is as an introduction. You can read his book, Passage Meditation, on his website for free. (www.easwaran.org) In one part of it, he writes:

A mantram is a spiritual formula of enormous power that has been transmitted from age to age in a religious tradition. The users, wishing to draw upon this power that calms and heals, silently repeat the words  as often as possible during the day, each repetition adding to their physical and spiritual well-being....The mantram, repeated regularly for a long time, enables us to cross the sea of the mind.

In that same section, Easwaran quotes Gandhi's thoughts on mantrams:

The mantram becomes one’s staff of life and carries one through every ordeal. It is not repeated for the sake of repetition, but for the sake of purification, as an aid to effort. It is no empty repetition. For each repetition has a new meaning, carrying you nearer and nearer to God.

 A mantram is not just empty words repeated without reflection, but while repeating the sacred words one allows them, as Easwaran  has often described, to "drop like pearls into the depths of one's subconscious". It anchors us to the present moment while allowing the spiritual beauty of our mantram's sentiment to blossom within the depths of our consciousness sewing seeds that bear fruit for moments yet to come.

In his book, Original Goodness, Easwaran has described this ancient practice as a spiritual investement that helps us store our energy. Most often our energy is wasted in the futility of wandering thoughts that take the form of brooding about perceived wrongs and injustices inflicted on us as well as anxiety and other negative emotions that steal our sense of peace and empathy towards others, clouding our clarity towards situations. 

When we are immersed in our mantram in the present moment, our energy is not spent playing our ego's senseless  games of merry-go-round that flip flop our emotions and toss our thoughts to and fro. Instead, our energy is focused and more apt to respond in love towards others and not with the hurtful words that so often are elicited in moments of unbridled frustration and anger.  Opportunities for reconcilation flourish as the reptition of the mantram creates space for edifying moments of loving kindness to arise. Instead of burning bridges between ourselves and others, we begin to build them, gracefully gilding them with the gleam of understanding framed with  the strong foundation of love.

I have seen the tangible fruits of this practice take form right before me as I've applied it in my daily living. My children have chosen a mantram of their own and I have seen, as I've helped them learn to apply it, moments of frustration and anger, like raging waves of emotion threatening to rise up in a perfect storm,  be transformed to moments that calmly ripple with a gentle peace and quiet joy. My children's chosen mantram is "Om mani padme hum", and is one of the Buddhist mantrams that Easwaran recommends. It truly amazes me how this mantram has worked wonders in wedging itself into the the fulcrum of moments, between stimulus and response, and has birthed spontaneous peace.

Right now I am recalling just a couple of days ago when  my children were angrily lashing out at each other in a dispute where the concept of sharing was being questioned. I was ready to just lose my temper entirely when I remembered the mantram and the opportunity that I was being presented with in that moment. I drew both my children close to me and took a deep breath, telling them to calm down and just breathe. It took a few moments, but we all ended up just being close to one another, just breathing.  I then reminded them of their mantram and they began to repeat it with one another. Tears dried as anger turned to empathy and unprompted apologies were exchanged. Smiles formed on their faces and it was as if the entire dispute dissipated as they cheerfully broke free and returned to their desired activity, this time sharing without any further discussion or conflict, the toy that caused the chaos in the first place.

The repetition of the mantram does not come very naturally to most at first and does require a sense of dedication in pursuing.  It's an effort to even remember to practice it at times when you first begin the practice! I often start the morning practicing it when I take my dogs out for their first walk of the day, trying to lay a foundation for continuing on with it during the rest of the day.

Easwaran reflects his experience of initially practicing the repetition of the mantram and his eventual success in assimilating it as a permanent fixture in his present moments.

" This does require determination, I admit. I used to hunt through my days for opportunities to repeat the Holy Name (mantram), scavengig leisure moments like those curious characters who dowse for buried treasures at the beach, scanning every inch of sand with a metal detector at the end of a long wand. It calls for a great deal of patience, but the effort pays off. Today, because of all that effort, I no longer have to make myself repeat the Holy Name. It repeats itself, warding off every negative state of mind."

  ~ Original Goodness, 53-54

I would highly recommend  anybody that wants to enter into a deeper awareness of God and experience more peace and clarity to consider adding the repetition of the mantram to his/her spiritual disciplines. To view all of the suggested mantrams that Easwaran recommends check out his page of suggested mantrams: http://www.easwaran.org/mantrams-recommended-by-easwaran.html

Easwaran does instruct the practitioner to end up choosing one mantram and not to use more than one in his practices, so be sure to find which one suits you best.  His site also includes all the free information anyone could possibly want in becoming familiar with and beginning to practice his teachings. I hope you have fun exploring it!

Thoughts? I'd love to hear them! Please leave them in the comments section. Thank you!

* Since writing this article my mantram has changed to Om Namah Shivaya. I was pretty early on in the practice and I don't think it's uncommon to play with mantrams a bit to see what fits best. Anyways, do you have a mantram? If so, please share what it is!