Mantra

In recent times the word mantra has been adopted by English speakers to mean something like: "a phrase repeated incessantly in order to hypnotise oneself, or others, into belief". This is an example of the destructive misappropriation of words from other cultures. In its original sense, a mantra is a poetic address or invocation to an aspect of the Divine. A more appropriate word than mantra to have borrowed, to mean a repetitious phrase, would have been the Indian word japa.

A mantra is a means of concentrating and directing a specific quality of the Supreme Self for a purpose. A mantra need only be said once, but is only effective if uttered in a true state of meditation: a state in which the utterer is one with the Self. The formula of a real mantra will always acknowledge that the divinity or quality being invoked is truly a part of the Single Supreme Self. Mantras are composed in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-European language with marked similarities to Latin and Greek. A form of Sanskrit called Pali spread, with Buddhism, as far East as Japan. A true mantra, in the ancient Sanskrit language, begins by addressing the Supreme Self thus: om twameva sakshat..., which means something like "Amen, verily Thou art...", then names a deity or archetypal principle. Mantra is an important feature of religions which originate in India, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. The Zoroastrian religion of ancient Iran also has the practice of mantra (called manthra in the Avestan language, a close relative of Sanskrit).

"The Sanskrit word mantra- (m. मन्त्रः, also n. मन्त्रं) consists of the root man- "to think" (also in manas "mind") and the suffix -tra meaning, 'tool', hence a literal translation would be "instrument of thought".
Another explanation is that the suffix -tra means "protection".
The Chinese translation is zhenyan 眞言, 真言, literally "true words", the Japanese on'yomi reading of the Chinese being shingon."

-Wikipedia

The famous Gayatri Mantra invokes "the universal Brahman as the principle of knowledge and the illumination of the primordial Sun" -Wikipedia :

Om Bhūr Bhuva Svaha
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi
Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayāt.

The Supreme Self, coextensive with the Universe, is available at all times and places, but as the self-realised writer Franz Kafka realised, it is sometimes necessary to invoke it in one of its infinite variety of aspects.

"Life's splendor forever lies in wait

about each one of us

in all its fullness,
but veiled from view,

deep down, invisible, far off.

It is there, though,

not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf.

If you summon it by the right word,

by its right name,

it will come."

- Franz Kafka

Brahman

Brahman, in the scriptures of India, is the infinite, eternal Self underlying all things. It is all that exists and does not exist. The idea of Brahman is at the core of Hinduism, though it is often a hidden core. It is the hidden monism or monotheism underlying Hindu polytheism; however, it would be imprecise to equate the term Brahman with 'God'. In the Taittariya Upanishad Brahman is described as "the nature of truth, knowledge and infinity". Since it is eternal and infinite, it comprises the only truth. The goal of Hinduism, through yoga, is to realize that the soul (Atman) is actually nothing but Brahman.

Brahman cannot be conceptualised, but it is referred to in various great sayings

that form the true basis of Hinduism:

"Brahman is knowledge"
"The Self (or the Soul) is Brahman "
"I am Brahman"
"Thou art that"
"All this that we see in the world is Brahman",
"Brahman is existence, consciousness, and bliss".

Truth is non-possession

The Self-knowing One said:
There is an island standing in the midst
of the fearsome torrent of transience and death,
a refuge to those who flounder
in the flood of impermanence.

Possessing nothing, attaching to nothing,
That is the incomparable island,
That is the ending of decay and death.
I call it Perfect Beatitude
Those who have found refuge there
Are themselves the island of refuge
Where the realm of delusion is no more

Be a refuge unto yourself
Take refuge in none other
Islanded by Trueness
Take refuge in Trueness
Take refuge in none other

Trueness is self-possession
Trueness is non-possession
Of matter, thought or emotion.
Through this one abides
An island unto himself
A refuge unto himself
And is out of the darkness.

-Buddhist text

"So we must train this mind to hear the Dhamma, to cultivate the Buddho, the clear and radiant awareness, that which exists above and beyond the ordinary mind and knows all that goes on within it. This is why we meditate on the word Buddho, so that we can know the mind beyond the mind. Just observe all the mind's movements, whether good or bad, until the one who realizes that the mind is simply mind, not a self or a person. This is called cittanupassana, Contemplation of Mind. Seeing in this way we will understand that the mind is Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless. This mind doesn't belong to us."

the word 'I'

We set up a word at the point at which our ignorance begins, at which we can see no further, eg., the word 'I", the word 'do', the word 'suffer':- these are perhaps the horizon of our knowledge, but not 'truths'.

-John Banville

What controls the effectiveness of a writer's use of words is not the capacity to clasp meaning tightly, it is an almost tactile knowledge of the layout of their property lines, and even more, their litigations over common ownership. For the writer, almost everything in the word is a border, and almost nothing is contained.

- Julien Gracq

Schrodinger

The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one perceived. Subject and object are only one. The barrier between them cannot be said to have broken down as a result of recent experience in the physical sciences, for this barrier does not exist.
There is obviously only one alternative, namely the unification of minds or consciousnesses. Their multiplicity is only apparent, in truth there is only one mind.
The material world has only been constructed at the price of taking the self, that is, mind, out of it, removing it; mind is not part of it...
Matter and energy seem granular in structure, and so does 'life', but not so mind.

Erwin Schroedinger (1887-1961) Austrian theoretical physicist, was a professor at several universities in Europe. He was awarded the Nobel prize for his work on Quantum Mechanics, in 1933. During the Hitler era he was dismissed from his position for his opposition to Nazi ideas and he fled to England. He was a keen student of Advaita Vedanta philosophy.

The Analogy of the Moon's Reflection

"Being verily one, the Self-of-all-beings-and-elements is present in every being. It is beheld onefold and manifold simultaneously, like the moon reflected in water."

- Amrtabindu Upanisad 11-12

"There is but one moon in the nightly firmament, yet it is reflected in numerous water jars standing in the moonlight. The jars, perishable clay, are compared to individuals."

- Heinrich Zimmer, Philosophies of India

The Absolute

All is verily the absolute Self.
Distinction and nondistinction do not exist.
How can I say, "It exists; it does not exist"?
I am filled with wonder!
It - the universe.

The essence and the whole of Vedanta is this Knowledge,
this supreme Knowledge:
That I am by nature
the formless, all-pervasive Self.

- Avadhuta Gita

HH Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has said that, at the level of Sahasrara (the seventh subtle centre), one realises the Absolute Self, which, because it is not relative to any other, can not be conceptualised or compared to anything.

Time

Physicists have long struggled to understand what time really is. In fact, they are not even sure it exists at all. In their quest for deeper theories of the universe, some researchers increasingly suspect that time is not a fundamental feature of nature, but rather an artefact of our perception."

It is not reality that has a time flow, but our very approximate knowledge of reality. Time is the effect of our ignorance.

- New Scientist January 2008

The persistent illusion of ego is also due to ignorance about the nature of reality.

Thoughtlessness

The mind of man searches outwardly all day.
The further it reaches, the more it opposes itself.
Only those who look inward can censor their passions.
Being able to cease their thoughts, their minds become tranquil.
To tranquillize one's mind is to nourish one's spirit.
To nourish one's spirit is to return to nature.

- a Daoist poem

Emergence

The universe is my mind; my mind is the universe.

-Lu Xiangshan, 1139-1193

Science is unable to explain how consciousness and a sense of self emerge from insentient matter. According to many Self-realised teachers matter emerges from consciousness and Selfhood. Until science recognises the Self as the substrate of the universe, from which things emerge, and not as an emergent property of the universe, it will not solve the problem of emergence.

The Inexpressible Self

This Self has no other,

this First has no second,

yet It is not alone,

yet It has no peers.

It is not empty

nor does it contain anything.

It is inexpressible.

- Shri Adi Shankaracharya

The Vastness of Self in Dickinson

The Brain - is wider than the sky -
For put them side by side -
The one the other will contain With ease -
and You - beside -

In this small poem Emily Dickinson tells that the Self is vast, perhaps
coextensive with all space and time.

On the egolessness of great things she writes:

By intuition, Mighty Things
Assert themselves - and not by terms -
"I'm Midnight" - need the Midnight say -
"I'm Sunrise" - need the Majesty?
Omnipotence - had not a Tongue -
His lisp - is lightning - and the sun -
His Conversation - with Sea -
"how shall you know"?
Consult your eye!

Realising that the oceanic Self contains/owns all things
and all possibilities, Emily felt a great satisfaction that dissolved
all desire for ownership.

'Tis little I - could care for pearls
Who own the ample sea -
Of Periods of seas -
Unvisited of Shores Themselves the Verge of
Seas to be

Eternity - is Those -

The Constraint of Language

Physicist David Peat wonders if the language that physicists think in could be part of the reason that a grand unified theory of physics has eluded them.

The American quantum theorist David Bohm pointed out that quantum effects are much more process-based than those of classical physics, and they require a process-based language to describe them accurately.

In European languages nouns (objects) predominate over verbs (processes); however, the native American Algonquin family of languages "have a wide variety of verb forms, while they lack the notion of dividing the world into categories of objects."

"The world view of Algonquian speakers is of flux and change, of objects emerging and folding back into the flux of the world. There is not the same sense of fixed identity - even a person's name will change during their life. They believe that objects will vanish into this flux unless renewed by periodic rituals..."

New Scientist, Jan 2008

.
The mind - and so the individual self - does not exist as an object, but as a process.

The Force

"I assert that the cosmic religious experience is the noblest driving force behind scientific research."

-Albert Einstein

Becoming and Realising

"There is no such thing

as becoming one with God;

there is the realisation that the mystic

is already one with God.

This is why we speak of 'realisation'

and not transformation,

though external transformation occurs."

- Ikkyu, Japanese Zen master.

Ikkyū (一休宗純, Ikkyū Sōjun?, 1394-1481) was an eccentric, iconic Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and poet. He was also one of the creators of the formal Japanese tea ceremony. Ikkyu was born in 1394 in a small suburb of Kyoto. He was the illegitimate son of Emperor Go-Komatsu.

Grace as Mother

"It is impossible for anyone to get established in the experience of reality, being-consciousness, except through the power of grace, the Mother [chit-para-sakti]. Other than through grace, the Mother, no one can attain reality, the experience of Sivam, which is truth. Except through that exalted light, which is the grace of consciousness, the supreme power, it is impossible to transcend the conceptualizing power of the mind. The ego can only be destroyed by the power of grace, not by the dark, perverted knowledge [suttarivu]."

~ Padamalai, Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi Recorded by Muruganar