Science and Spirituality: Psychological Basis of the Magnificent Effects of Mantra-Japa
Most spiritual saints and sages affirm Mantra-Japa as a powerful mechanism for augmenting the willpower and self-awareness. It can thus be regarded as a procedure for mental strengthening, self-control, and psychological improvement along with the development of vigorous and virtuous personality.
The human mind at the conscious and subconscious levels is an ensemble of uncountable numbers of diverse thoughts and emotions. The nature of thoughts and emotions also varies enormously in terms of quality, stability, and impact. Thoughts and emotions generated by internal desire or mental resolution, or existing because of the predominant sanskāras are more intense and cannot be waned out or refined easily. Sincere practice of japa of a mantra helps to control such perturbations because japa is an activity that engages the major faculties of mind with natural harmony and 'tunes' them coherently with the rhythm and vibrations of the mantra which is being enunciated or chanted. This positive effect is most prominent in the case of the Vedic Mantras, because of their sublime phonetic/sonic patterns and corresponding syllabic configurations discovered/realized by the spiritual acumen of the great rishis in a deep state of trance.
Śraddhā in a mantra adds to the positive effects of its japa, as it provides instant moral support, deep emotional linkage, and hence inner courage and sublime energy to enable the sādhaka struggle and diminish the untoward instincts and disturbing intrinsic tendencies and thoughts. It is a principle of psychology that — if certain incident/experience, thought, lesson/story, song, or image, is often repeated before one's mind, the latter begins to grasp and assimilate the same in the deeper layers of its memory.
Unique Mental Experiment
Mantra sādhanā by japa is like a mental-experiment in which the retention and repeated enunciation of the mantra coupled with meditation and emotional faith generates specific psychological and spiritual activities at a steadily increasing pace. The process of mantra-japa naturally encompasses the following four aspects (in terms of modern theories of Psychology) of training and improvement of the mind: (i) memorizing by repetition; (ii) retention and recalling; (iii) learning by experience; and (iv) believing by conviction/convincing self-experience. In terms of spiritual philosophy, training of the mind focuses upon: (i) self-observation, (ii) self-analysis, (iii) self-refinement, and (iv) self-development — the gradual steps during the enlightened march of the individual self towards the realization of God.
Chanting of God's names through the heart has been uniformly regarded in almost all the religions/faiths and schools of philosophy across the globe as an important spiritual activity or a requirement for spiritual enlightenment. Short mantras like Oṁ Hari Oṁ, or Sohaṁ, or God's names such as "Sri Ram" or "Allāha", are like compact formulae or symbols in short-hand scripts to represent and remind the grandeur of divinity and the power of divine principles. Mantra-japa is a spiritual exercise aimed at the main purpose of the spiritual elevation of the sādhaka. These results may appear meek initially but are definite, gradually augmenting, and everlasting if the japa is practiced sincerely and regularly.
Sublime Impact on Human Body and Mind
The rishis were pioneers and absolute experts of the ancient sciences of yoga. They discovered that 'Yat Brahmāṇḍe Tat Piṇḍe' — the human body is a miniature model of the universe. The extrasensory energy nuclei and streams/channels of the subtle currents of prāṇa and bio-electricity — namely, the ṣaṭ cakras, panca kośas, tri-granthis, the seventy-two thousands nāḍis and the fifty-four uptyikās in the human body — as experienced and identified by the rishis, are as vast and phenomenal as the expanse of the planets, stars, and the galaxies in the cosmic 'sphere.' The science of mantras deals with the activation — by the sonic waves of Śabda and Nāda — of these sublime/extrasensory centers and channels existing in the human body.
The Tantra Scriptures describe the tongue as Śakti (the Goddess Parvati) and the heart as Śiva (God Shiva). The activation of Śakti by japa (through the tongue) and the realization of Shiva by the intrinsic force of śraddhā (awakened in the emotional core/heart) during mantra-sādhanā generate a 'current' of the sublime force of Śabda. The latter, being empowered by the eternal Consciousness-Force, induces supernatural sonic effects and inculcates absolutely beatifying impressions in the subconscious, unconscious and superconscious domains of the mind.
The Parable of Gautam Buddha
Once, Gautam Buddha didn't hear from one of his disciples for a few days. He became worried and asked Anand about him. Anand said that the mentioned disciple is suffering from diarrhoea. Buddha went to his house and saw that the sick disciple was lying unconscious, covered with feces, as no one had nursed him. The sick disciple said, "No sir, no one came to serve me. I have heard that they are all busy in their daily religious rituals. Hence, I didn't disturb them either."
Gautam Buddha immediately said, "I will serve this man and nurse him." Buddha cleaned the sick disciple's face and body with clean water. Seeing the Lord nursing the disciple, other disciples also started helping him. In the evening, after the prayer, he called all his disciples and said, "Disciples! Meditation, Yoga, and rituals of worship are all essential, but when someone needs help, these become secondary. You cannot achieve anything in life without helping the needy. You should give more importance to serving and helping people than to daily meditation and rituals. Your purpose of joining the group and becoming a monk will be fulfilled only then."
Significance of the Gayatri Mantra
The Gayatri (Gāyatrī) Mantra — revered as the origin of divine powers — is signified in all the scriptures of Indian Philosophy and the science of spirituality and yoga as the supreme source of cleansing, awakening, divine-illumination and strengthening/empowerment of the mind and the inner self.
The rishis had recognized the Gayatri Mantra as the mother (origin) of all Vedic mantras. Spiritual saints, eminent scholars and noted great personalities — including Swami Vivekanand, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Arthur Koestler, etc. — of the Modern Age have also revered this great mantra as the eternal source of righteous intellect and inspirations for the foundation of world religion and culture of great human values. Linguistically, this mantra enfolds the foundational principles of all the religions of humankind in a compact compilation of just twenty-four special syllables/words of Sanskrit. Its meaning implies a universal prayer for the illumination and righteous orientation of the intellect and awakening of the divinity indwelling in the inner self.
Conducting experiments on japa-sādhanā of the Gayatri Mantra by more and more people is, therefore, of vital importance in the present times. It would eventually lead to the collective awakening of human consciousness, rising of prāṇa, and the illumination of intellect towards the righteous path of divine evolution of the mind and the inner self.
Glossary
Mantra-Japa (Japa): Rhythmic chanting with mental and emotional engrossment of a mantra.
Mantra: A 'verbal instrument' of and for the mind, which liberates the mind of all ignorance, vices, thraldoms, and worries. In the state of trance, the spiritual acumen of the Vedic rishis had realized the Vedic Mantras as specific configurations of sonic vibrations.
Sanskāras: Deep impressions and assimilations 'inscribed' in the unconscious mind (since earlier lives and the past phase of the current life). These are the sublime carriers of intrinsic tendencies, nature, talents, and potentials of a being in the continuous journey from one life to another.
Śraddhā: Intrinsic faith, reverence, and unflinching urge for divine ideals, values, and virtues; absolute reverence and devotion for God.
Prāṇa: Vital spiritual energy.
Śabda: Eternal, cosmic element of sound generated by the evolutionary impulse of Brahṁ; absolute self-existent source of all expressed sounds, spoken/written/mentally generated words, and unexpressed, sublime sonic vibrations in the etheric expanse.
Nāda: The rhythmic flow of (eternal) musical sound generated by the perpetual currents (vibration) of Śabda.
"Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in." — Isaac Asimov
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." — Albert Einstein
"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." — Edith Wharton
"Japa does not mean a tongue exercise. It is only effective when we put our mind where the sound is so that the sound can vibrate unpleasantness out of mind." — Radhanath Swami