Mantra meditation oddities

**Korpo** · 16th May 2010, 04:00 PM

I've been practicing a variation of mantra meditation on and off lately. Eknath Easwaran recommends using a bit of scripture for mantra meditation, but instead I chose a few sentences dear to me as they have strong spiritual intent in them.

The instructions he gives are clear - stay with the words you recite, don't jump ahead. Speak each word inwardly in a way it has maximum effect, speak it consciously in your mind.

I found now several times that something odd happens. I feel a second voice following my usual "thinking voice," trying to say the words as well. This voice is quieter, almost quiet, and it is slower. So the first thing I tried is speaking the words so slowly that it can catch up. In fact this can become waiting for syllables. Several times I had to slow down my reciting as I found the thinking mind wants to skip syllables or go ahead, but when I slow down I start to get into alignment with that quiet voice.

In fact, as I spoke slower and let that voice catch up I felt greater effect with each word. As if each word had an inward impact. At this point it's almost as if I'm trudging along, each word is spoken against some resistance which it then dissolves, the words change something within me, I can feel effects in my body, I can feel energy on the move, my field of vision is full of bright energetic shapes, almost white.

And then I'm speaking the words through that voice instead. As I keep its rhythm I can stay with that voice, speak with that voice, which gives me unexpected strange effects. My field of vision is now full of this bright, white shapes, they almost fill it entirely, but I can see them forming and reforming. For a moment I feel like I'm choking while speaking the words inwardly, which panics me a bit, but I realise shortly after that this must be something in my throat chakra because nothing can possibly impair my breathing as I didn't change position. I just accessed a block wherever I am now.

My third eye region has been cleansed from tension that whole time I was reciting, and now there energy is moving much smoother, I can feel the ease with which it is moving. That must be the brightness I am "seeing" in my mind's eye. My meditation timer runs out, I finish my mantra for the last time and get up.

Brightness in my mind's eye has been more and more a feature of my meditations lately. Maybe it's a third eye effect, can't really say.

I should meditate more often, I've been lazy lately, finding excuses not to. When one came up today that's when I sat down to do it, to counter that tendency as it arose. The more often we counter such tendencies the less grip they have on us, I'd think.

Oliver

Ouroboros · 16th May 2010, 04:40 PM

Fascinating! Mantra is my main style of meditation lately. I shall have to pay extra attention and see if I can identify a similar subtle voice to align my mind's voice with.

**Korpo** · 16th May 2010, 05:03 PM

Initially it's like your words are reverberating almost. Then you try to wait out that reverb till it's finished before going to the next word. That was the first thing adding extra effect.

I also added a short prayer before starting meditation, asking guides and teachers to support me in this meditation, and thanking them afterward.

Oliver

**Korpo** · 16th May 2010, 05:08 PM

Oh, I forgot to ask: What are you using for a mantra?

Oliver

Ouroboros · 16th May 2010, 05:17 PM

It depends on the situation. At home, I usually use a two-syllable mantra that is one of the many suggested by Thomas Campbell in My Big TOE, sah-roon. (Meaning isn't important, I think it's more about the resonant qualities of the syllables.)

On the bus though, and sometimes at home, it's just too difficult to focus on such a short mantra. In those cases I use "Om Mani Padme Hum," which I have found is a very nice and calming mantra (I use the pronunciation from the chant you can find on youtube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4noQ0MD1_8s is a pretty version with a long instrumental introduction...good for background listening!)

I think I know what you mean about the reverb, sometimes I get a resonant echo on certain syllables. It should be interesting to see if I can pick up on anything further.

**Tutor** · 16th May 2010, 05:18 PM

**eyeoneblack** · 17th May 2010, 04:03 PM

"Om ah hung, benza guru pema siddhi hung" - (phonetical spelling) from THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING. I've used this mantra more in the way of Seinfeld's father when being nagged by his wife, "Serenity Now!".

I really don't like my voice, it's the sort that makes identifying myself on the phone redundant

It isn't the least bit sonorous and I can't make it so, so I employ the mantra chiefly as a tool to shut out mental distraction.

But, I really just wanted to mention the book - a very interesting read, one of the foundations of my 'understanding', but Korpo, it describes the process of the soul after death exactly opposite to Leadbeater.

**Korpo** · 17th May 2010, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by eyeoneblack

But, I really just wanted to mention the book - a very interesting read, one of the foundations of my 'understanding', but Korpo, it describes the process of the soul after death exactly opposite to Leadbeater.

I've read Kurt Leland's interpretation thereof in "The Unanswered Question" - it depends what spin you put on it. For me Buddhism is just another spin on the same story, I don't regard it as especially accurate anymore, as opposed to what I believed before.

"The Unanswered Question" juxtaposes the experiences of Emanuel Swedenborg, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying and NDE accounts, and also his own experiences. It is very interesting.

Oliver