When we talk of God, we are not referring only to a Being… but a phenomenon that happens, that occurs….

Enlightenment is a divine phenomenon. It is when Divinity happens in you…. I do not say “to you” but “in you”, which is very different…. There is no technique or method to provide God or the transcendental experience to us as a result. In other words, there is nothing we can do about enlightenment, apart from waiting….

Enlightenment cannot be accelerated by methods, techniques or practices, however essential they may be in the path of returning to our origin…. Hence, the only resort left is waiting….

Yoga is nothing else but the art and wisdom of proper waiting because even though it is impossible to do anything in order to reach God, the quality of our waiting can accelerate the process….

Yoga is an integral meditative wait; it transforms every aspect and plane of our being into waiting….

We cease to be a calculative waiting with its expectations of results, in order to be an unconditional waiting… an eternal waiting….

Wait eternally… for we understand that it is the only thing we can do in this human life. Wait until the waiting transforms into the most favorable situation so that what can happen, does happen….

What yoga teaches us is not how to bring the sun into our house, but how to open our windows. It teaches us not how to reach love, but how to open the doors of our hearts.

Every yoga has the power to integrally affect the different aspects of the human being, creating the situation that I call “the yogic wait”, which is meditative in all planes — action, emotional, energetic, and mental….

In this chapter, I concern myself with mantra—yoga, which is the yogic outlook that deals with everything that is related to mantras. A mantra is a door toward reality; it is a powerful force, energy or mystical power; its essence is encapsulated in the structure of a sound vibration.

Reciting or chanting a mantra with purity and devotion can profoundly affect the physical, energetic, mental, and emotional levels of the performer as well as his audience, creating harmony and equilibrium while broadening the dimensions of consciousness.

The chanting of mantras can open us to the Divine because this meditation creates a situation where the mental and emotional planes are transcended without effort. This is brought about because melody and song are capable of repeatedly capturing, embracing, and rescuing the unstable mind; they maintain the meditative state. Melody and rhythm, just as the transcendental vibrations that comprise a mantra, direct the mind toward an incessant meditative flow. 

This yogic way is defined in the Mantra—yoga Saṁ hitā (1.4) as follows:

“Yoga is practiced with the support of adequate disposition (bhāva), sound (śabda) and through the support of the being that is made of name and form (nāma—rūpa). This is called mantra—yoga.”

Mantra—yoga is an authoritative path, supported by the Vedic scriptures. Among the various ancient texts that mention and explain in detail this type of yoga are Mantra—mahodadhi, Mantra—mukta—āvalī, Mantra—yoga Saṁ hitā, Mantra—kaumudī, Mantra—mahārṇava, and Tattva—ānanda—tarańgiṇī.

Mantras

The Sanskrit term mantra is made of the Sanskrit root man, which means thinking plus the suffix tra, which means tool or instrument. If we translate it literally, the meaning will be “an instrument of thought.” On the other hand, if we take the root man to mean manas or “mind” and the suffix tra as tram or “liberating”, we can say that mantra is “an instrument capable of liberating us from our mind.”

Practically any word in the Vedic literature can be categorized as mantra in a general way, but it is important to go deep into the subject, and understand that mantras are powerful weapons with different ends: enchanting a serpent, maintaining good health, enlightenment, and liberation from the illusion of the world…. Vedic mantras are a priceless treasure and an esteemed legacy bequeathed to us by the ancient ṛṣis of Hinduism who directly experienced sound in its pristine form, in its origin, in the most elevated and abstract levels of consciousness and expressed it at the gross audible level for the benefit of Humanity.

Each mantra displays two clear understandable aspects: the literal, which is related to the mind, and the mystical, which is related to the emotional level. In the mental aspect, a mantra can be considered as a small prayer, as we pay attention to its literary meaning and the words that comprise the mantra and its message. We address the Lord with a phrase of deep meaning. For example, we understand the mantra “Oṁ  namaḥ Śivāya” to literally mean “Reverences before Lord Śiva”, the mantra of Lord Gaṇeṣa “Oṁ  Śrī Mahā—Gaṇapataye namaḥ” to mean “Reverences before the great Lord Gaṇeṣa” and the mantra of the Divine Mother Kālī “Oṁ  Śrī Mahā—Kālīkayai namaḥ” to mean “Reverences before the Great Mother Kālī”.

For the mystical or esoteric aspect of the mantra, we look into the profound, secret meaning enclosed within the grammatical roots of each letter and syllable.

The Vedic scriptures say, ”Oṁ  mantrāya namaḥ tan—mantāram trāyate iti mantraḥ”, meaning, ”he who meditates and internalizes the arcane, subtle meanings of the mantra, is protected by it.” This profound phrase invites us into the mysticism, to search beyond the letter and the sound.

For example, let us examine the mantra:

Oṁ  namaḥ Śivāya

Oṁ  — Oṁ  or Oṁ kāra is considered to be Divinity itself as sound, as it is mentioned in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad: “This world is Oṁ . Oṁ  the past, present and future, and is simultaneously transcendental to these.”

Na — is a syllable that denotes negation.

Maḥ — is related to the sense of possession.

Śi — is a grammatical root that denotes auspiciousness and prosperity.

Va — symbolizes an expansive movement.

Ya — is a unique Sanskrit letter. We find it in a root form in the center of the heart and it is a symbol of pure love, the experience of communion with Divinity or the Lord in the depths of the heart.

The mantra “Oṁ  namaḥ Śivāya” will be much more effective on all levels, if we understand that by reciting Oṁ , we are invoking Divinity, by saying namaḥ, we are renouncing any sense of possession in our hearts, allowing the ascent of our soul to exalted levels, and at last, Śivāya, expansion to new spaces and dimensions, until the realization of communion with God….

Limbs of Mantra—yoga

From the Mantra—yoga Saṁ hitā, we understand that mantra—yoga has sixteen ańgas or limbs.

Bhakti: devotion

Śuddhi: cleansing, purification

Āsana: posture

Pañca—ańga—sevana: service to the five ańgas or members.

Ācāra: conduct

Dhāraṇā: concentration

Divya—deva—sevana: service to divine space, or place

Prāṇa—kriyā: ritual breathing

Mudrā: locks

Tarpaṇa: satisfaction

Havana: invocation

Bali: offering

Yajña: sacrifice

Japa: repetition, recitation.

Dhyāna: meditation

Samādhi: enlightenment, ecstasy