Mantra yoga is the process by which we use verbal repetition of sounds to produce specific effects in the brain and nervous system. It helps develop and refine key skills such as deep listening and concentration. Thus, mantra has actual magickal implications we must consider. The affect this yoga has on us is continually being refined and understood by our involvement and participation in it.
Everywhere you look, life is engaged in a simple equation - you get out what you put in. To dissect this further and make the concept more practical, I like to think of the mantra yoga practice in the same way. To really engage effectively and efficiently in anything, any task, we are required to put our focused attention on the action, whilst holding a desired outcome in mind, in order to direct the action. This helps to illustrate the way that we create magickal utility from the mystical or esoteric, like the process of repetitious chanting of mantra. When I refer to magickal utility, I’m talking about how our actions are engaged in a specific way to produce an outcome. Please consider that magick is not in reference to sleight-of-hand tricks done by a magician on stage. We are talking about influencing the unseen forces underlying our material existence - something that everyone is doing, regardless of whether or not they ‘believe’.
We develop a bridge to the unseen through our mantra, and one way to do this is to personify the mantra or sound being spoken (such as ‘OM’) in such a way that it is familiar and personal. This is one way to develop a relationship to any practice that you are engaged in - connect with it, embody it. Make it deeply personal. What I mean by making it personal, is that we create a symbolic link between the mantra and a particular experience. This can be any outcome, a goal, a feeling, a thought, or a resolution. It’s important to be crystal clear on this. This helps to develop the mental faculty of psychic projection - creating an internal mental image of something and projecting it vibrationally outward. If anyone would consider this for a moment they would realize that this is exactly how everything that we see in the manifest world was formed. A human, using the brain, conjured a mental image of something ‘not here’ (not in this physical plane) and created a yoga (Union) to a psychic form of the unseen object, projecting it vibrationally until the density crystallized and the object appeared in this dimension. It is sacred alchemy: to transform a thought form into something of ‘realer’ density. It’s how Thomas Edison made a lightbulb, or Henry Ford the Model T. Everywhere you look, there are examples of this. If you can think of it, there is potential. Application using the triad of will, knowledge and action will produce the kinetic energy necessary to transform potential into reality.
These are my personal interpretations of manifestation and applied magick. Observing how things come to be, we see that it is our innate spiritual creativity at play. As humans we are the bridge between the unseen and the seen, between the spiritual and mundane. Every human being possesses this faculty, and when we see great inspired feats of human achievement we are seeing examples of people who’ve applied this principle of psychic projection into their reality until the world was influenced by their vibrational state, and thereby shifted externally to match their frequency. If the vibration is not held with enough duration, intensity, or both (depending on the degree of material influence demanded), the thought form will never manifest.
These concepts are just observations on a Law that we are all bound by, as it is the nature of the cosmos to have an organizational structure. If manifestation worked in the ways we hear about in the latest blogs on metaphysics, then everyone would have their dream home in an exotic place with a private vegan chef. The problem, then, is not that we are not applying ourselves to our psychic images of what we want. It’s that we are, much of time, scattered in our attention and the direction of our willful intent, and prana. We may find that when we become really clear on what we want, and what we are willing to do to get it, other ‘energy sinks’ become less important and our focus on them diminishes.
The magick happens when we *really* clarify our intention before performing any rite, ritual, ceremony or practice; then, we find a way to work with those practices that bring us into alignment with said intention, with what our heart’s greatest desire actually is. The paradox here is that as we begin to do all this work to attract the desired outcomes, our level of personality changes. What might have been an initially selfish motivation for practicing slowly transforms, coinciding nicely with the gradual awakening processes that happen alongside any truly spiritually transformative pursuit. And this is where mantra comes in. By performing repetitive chanting, with awareness, we end up developing our concentration and ability to maintain a focal point. The practice of mantra chips away at all the unnecessary crud that is the accumulated conditioning within our system, which then helps us to hold the vision of what we want in a sharper resolution, and for longer durations. It is a purification, or the polishing of a lens.
As mentioned, we draw a symbolic link between the mantra and our desired outcome (what we want, or our ‘intention’). At its essence, we use the mantra as a symbol of the ‘thing’. This is very much like a key on a computer keyboard, which is the icon or symbol of a specific action, that we know (through our repetitive use) will produce a specific result on the computer screen . To take the analogy further: we don’t need to ‘know’ the HOW - the details of the circuitry, the mother board on the computer, etc, or the mechanism behind the act of pressing the ‘A’ key, which then produces the letter A on the computer screen in the word document. We do not need to know this information, for it to work. Similarly, we *do not need to know* certain details of the mantra for it to still work! The details work themselves out. This answers the common question - “but what does ________ mantra MEAN?!” Do it and find out!
Knowing that the mantra is an icon that is symbolic of a greater result or action, we then use our chants as vehicles for our prayer, for our intention. As we practice, we must really start to embody the feeling as if we’ve already achieved our result. This is how we change our vibrational state to match the frequency of the thing we’re after. Every cell in our body is resonating, like strings on an instrument in the same tune. While we are performing this internal alchemical process, we are chanting the mantra as the psychic projection of our feeling state. The mantra then becomes the object to be worshipped, and we, as the worshipper, are observing ourselves orbiting the object like a star. Each time we invoke the mantra using more of our undivided attention, with more of our being, with a deeper concentration, with more love, our orbit gets a little closer to the star. We might even feel the heat of the mantra, as the central object we are orbiting, very much like a sun. If our attention slips, or we become distracted and not totally absorbed in our sadhana, our orbit may widen. If we stay in total harmony during our pursuit, constantly remembering our intent, applying the mind’s will to strengthen the yoga that is being established, we will find that the orbit shrinks and we get ‘closer’ to the mantra. Eventually, there is no longer a distinction or separation between ‘you’ and ‘it’. The mantra, the act of chanting the mantra, and the practitioner, all become One thing. That is to say - you are now vibrationally of the same frequency and resonance to that state of being which previously you perceived yourself as separate from. Another way of saying this is : observer, observed, and the process of observation become One. This is the state of Yoga described by the sages and masters in various texts. It is union.
When the supreme state has been reached, there most certainly are various psychic and spiritual attunements that occur, although it is not my wish to conceptualize them or lead the reader with any inaccuracies that may potentially serve as barriers to their own path. We are not after attainments for attainments’ sake. I only wish to offer my perspective toward the process. To those walking a similar route, it is worth sharing any insights I’ve gleaned in my own practices that might provide inspiration or guidance, and that which does not may be set aside. No matter your path, circumstances, or situation, I encourage everyone to consider the power of the mind, and the power of the mind’s projections. When we use our mind to project our pains from the past, we find evidence to support and maintain the illusion of our story - this will perpetuate our pain and suffering. If, instead, we project a supreme reality (something that exists first as an idea!) then we are well on our way to building a bridge to a beautiful life. A place that some may even refer to as Heaven. The more we unify our vision towards a greater common good, the quicker and cleaner the transition will be. Yes, it is coming. We must all be practicing accordingly, as each individual universe is a deeply influential and powerful contribution to the cosmic Whole. Each individual is a microcosm OF the macrocosm, and so thus it is each individual’s responsibility to unify their vision and clarify their intent in order for the whole thing to work. At this point - I am speaking to myself. I see myself as you, and I trust in you. I believe in what you’re capable of and I see your potential. Together, we rise.
Om Namah Sivaya 🔱
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