Ad Guray Nameh: Meditation to Clear Past Present, and Future
Chant it once to the east, once to the south, once to the west and once to the north

AD GURAY NAMEH,
JUGAD GURAY NAMEH,
SAT GURAY NAMEH,
SIRI GURU DEVAY NAMEH

is the Mangala Charn Mantra, and is chanted for protection. It surrounds the magnetic field with protective light, and means "I bow to the primal Guru (guiding consciousness who takes us to God-Realization), I bow to wisdom through the ages, I bow to True Wisdom, I bow to the great, unseen wisdom."

*I am the light, in me there is no darkness*

helped me through a long hard trip of ... 600µg acid + 200mg of rue-fumarates

focus on the higher!

Seconded. I was going to post this if it hadn't been posted already.

I would recommend any mantra in english or your native language instead of one written in sanskrit, as I consider it to be important to actually understand what you are saying. Altough after some 6 months of using some mantras I gave them up, didn't see any need for doing them.

'I Am'

Sister's take on mantra is that they are in fact a form of yoga, or a method to control or still the waves of the mind. Regardless of the language or tradition/religion from which they spring the desired effect is the same, a still mind. That was the reason sister started using mantra, that is the reason sister continues to use mantra.

The reason many mantra are repeated in a language other than that of the practitioner, like Gurmukhi for instance, is because there are certain combinations of sound that have been found to be more effective at stilling the mind than other. If they were translated, this would preserve the meaning at the expense of the effect. Those same patterns of sound divorced from meaning makes them no less effective. One might even argue that it would make them more effective since the mind does not need to engage with their meaning. Once the mind is engaged it becomes an exercise in contemplation.

Nothing wrong with contemplation or meditation, but it is a longer route to the same destination, as it engages the mind rather than bypassing it.

Just... because you mentioned meditation.

I don't think the aim of meditation is to 'bypass' the mind as such, but rather at the one time: to fill your entire consiousness with the one thought, so you are in alignment with the pure thought of the supreme being, and at the same time, to notice yourself as you move through what ever karma you may be experiencing, so you may take the middle path, change it, whatever.

in my opinion, Karma isn't moral or good or bad, all karma comes from the idea that you must be, since there is no nonbeing-ness.

so, meditation should be effortless really. since you are being on the highest level in every moment, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not.

and i find your idea of a 'longer route to the same destination' absurd. there is no destination, only an unchanging process of change. which is a very 'yin' idea. it's only here, and now, in this instant. if you've tuned it in or tuned it out, that's the question.

If you want to fill your head with a mantra then by all means!! I think the understanding is that there's no thought without nonthought. I don't know if ultimately that is true. supposedly all thoughts have the same origin, since spirit is higher than thought.

For sister, the objective in using mantra and meditation are the same, to bring the mind to stillness. Her objective is her destination for lack of a better word. A still mind.

In some traditions, kundalini yoga for example, mantra is considered a form of meditation.

In her previous post, however, Sister was referring to the more classical form of meditation, where the mind, as you say, is initially focused on one thought, concept , sensation, colour or object. But that object of meditation is only a crutch or stepping stone to a much higher state where even the thought ceases and is replaced by pure awareness. Eventually the object is not required. It takes years of practice and discipline to achieve that state. Sister has had only glimpses of it after close to eight years of sustained practice. Some days all she is capable of is following the sensation of her breath, other days much much more.

Whereas, the use of mantra is not nearly as subtle. A complete layperson, with no previous experience whatsoever, can practice mantra and experience its benefits almost immediately.

So, when your Sister says one is a longer route, she is referring to the amount of time required to learn and become proficient with the technique. Years of practice have not radically improved the results Sister gets from mantra (but it has its place), but years of practice have improved the results Sister gets from meditation. Sister uses mantra as a sort of intercept for unwanted or negative thought patterns. A crude and short term, but effective way of blocking them. Meditation on the other hand is where she goes to get her ego unravelled.


Wahe Guru!

You might enjoy reading the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Sachidananda authored a wonderful interpretation of them if you are interested.

focus on the *highest*