Meditation with a Mantra
Meditation with a Mantra
Let's explore together the suggestions for those who choose to meditate with a mantra. These guidelines are suitable for any meditation involving the repetition of a phrase, prayer, or mantra, whether it is non-denominational meditation or if prayers are involved.
Position
For "formal" meditation with a mantra, adopt a seated posture, ensuring your back is straight. You can use a cushion, yoga block, or sit on a stool or chair if it's more comfortable. For informal practice, you can repeat the mantra in the back of your mind, with your eyes open, during other daily activities. Buddha taught that meditation occurs in four positions: sitting, standing, walking, and lying down. This means that the attention and sensitivity of meditative practice should be developed at every moment of the day and during all our activities.
Speed
Chanting the mantra quickly energizes. Reciting it with a steady rhythm calms the mind. If the repetition is too fast or too slow, it can become an automatic process, and your mind may become bored or wander too much or fall prey to sleep – this is perfectly normal! The speed of mantra recitation also varies depending on the length of the mantra: shorter ones (one to three syllables) are often repeated more slowly than longer mantras. Since the speed varies depending on the technique you are adopting, it is advisable to experiment with different repetition speeds and determine which is most effective.
Whether repeating the mantra quickly or slowly, the mind may access a state of silence where background noise or unnecessary thoughts are canceled out. However, the "flavor" of that silence may differ depending on the speed at which you recite the mantra. When repeated slowly, a deeper type of theta wave-like depth is more common. Repeating it quickly makes it easier for mental silence to flow more intensely as gamma waves are generated. In any case, it is better to maintain a consistent repetition speed rather than changing it multiple times during a session.
Strength and Volume
If your mind is very noisy or if you are new to the practice, "increasing the volume" in mantra repetition, making it louder and more incisive, might be helpful. If your mind is quieter or if you are already familiar with this type of meditation, the mantra can become subtler and be recited in a low voice, like a high-frequency sound that can barely be heard. Some mantras can also be recited only mentally (e.g., the breath mantra "so hum").
Breathing
You may or may not be able to synchronize the mantra with your breath. Some options to better achieve this are:
1. Inhale and exhale while pronouncing the mantra. Pronouncing a word while inhaling is almost impossible (try it!). If the mantra is very short, like "om," you can repeat it several times while exhaling. If the mantra is long, you can recite half of it during the first exhale and the second half during the second exhale. If you are reciting the mantra only mentally, you can also divide the timing with inhalation.
2. Be independent of breathing. Just focus on the mantra, paying attention to your breath. Over time, the breath tends to synchronize naturally with the mantra rhythm.
Mind
Whether you are repeating the mantra or simply listening to it, your mind's task is to actively pay attention to each repetition. Unite your mind with the mantra; let it absorb the mantra and become a part of it. Let every part of your attention be directed toward the mantra, and repeat it each time as if it were the first time: with strength, intention, awareness. Allow your emotions to flow into the practice – desire, curiosity, reverence, gratitude, or whatever makes sense for that particular mantra. Observe them and let them go; if you do not resist them but instead act as an observer, they cannot take you over.
After some time, you will notice that even if some thoughts still cross your mind, the mantra is on a deeper level of your mind. Shift your awareness to that deeper level and try to stay there as long as possible. Finally, do not force your mind. Doing so would only create tension, which does not favor meditation. Your task is simply to maintain a fluid mind, centered (not concentrated) on the mantra, without it weighing too heavily on your thoughts in a state of continuous and relaxed awareness.
Progress and Levels
The more you repeat your mantra, the more energy you confer upon it. A one-syllable mantra, it is said, after 125,000 repetitions "comes to life": our repeated attention works with the mantra and charges it so that it becomes the most powerful thought in the mind. Then you can truly rely on it to bring peace and concentration into your life.
Once the mantra gains this momentum, repetition becomes easier and almost as if you simply "start" or "access" the mantra, and it continues on its own, leading you to a state of inner silence.
This is the traditional progress of the practice:
1. Verbal recitation – you repeat it aloud. This simple mechanism engages your senses, making it easier to maintain focused attention.
2. Whispering: lips and tongue move but produce only a faint sound. This practice is subtler and deeper than verbal recitation.
3. Mental recitation – repeat the mantra only in your mind. Initially, there may be some movement in the tongue and throat, but over time, these will cease, and the practice will be purely mental. This phase is the most common in mantra meditation.
4. Spontaneous listening – at this point, you are no longer repeating the mantra, but the mantra continues on its own in your mind, spontaneously, always. There is no longer a need to worry about volume, speed, etc. Simply listen to it being repeated as it naturally wants to be repeated. This level is called ajapa japa.
A common mistake for beginners is wanting to skip levels and start directly with mental repetition or spontaneous repetition. Although it is not impossible to reach these levels immediately, it is much simpler to follow this scale to master meditation with a mantra.
Wherever you are on this scale, if you realize your mind is drifting from the mantra, distracted by other thoughts, or sleep, pause for a few seconds and then make a more conscious effort in using the mantra until you achieve an effective result.
Happy meditation!
Let's explore together the suggestions for those who choose to meditate with a mantra. These guidelines are suitable for any meditation involving the repetition of a phrase, prayer, or mantra, whether it is non-denominational meditation or if prayers are involved.
Position
For "formal" meditation with a mantra, adopt a seated posture, ensuring your back is straight. You can use a cushion, yoga block, or sit on a stool or chair if it's more comfortable. For informal practice, you can repeat the mantra in the back of your mind, with your eyes open, during other daily activities. Buddha taught that meditation occurs in four positions: sitting, standing, walking, and lying down. This means that the attention and sensitivity of meditative practice should be developed at every moment of the day and during all our activities.
Speed
Chanting the mantra quickly energizes. Reciting it with a steady rhythm calms the mind. If the repetition is too fast or too slow, it can become an automatic process, and your mind may become bored or wander too much or fall prey to sleep – this is perfectly normal! The speed of mantra recitation also varies depending on the length of the mantra: shorter ones (one to three syllables) are often repeated more slowly than longer mantras. Since the speed varies depending on the technique you are adopting, it is advisable to experiment with different repetition speeds and determine which is most effective.
Whether repeating the mantra quickly or slowly, the mind may access a state of silence where background noise or unnecessary thoughts are canceled out. However, the "flavor" of that silence may differ depending on the speed at which you recite the mantra. When repeated slowly, a deeper type of theta wave-like depth is more common. Repeating it quickly makes it easier for mental silence to flow more intensely as gamma waves are generated. In any case, it is better to maintain a consistent repetition speed rather than changing it multiple times during a session.
Strength and Volume
If your mind is very noisy or if you are new to the practice, "increasing the volume" in mantra repetition, making it louder and more incisive, might be helpful. If your mind is quieter or if you are already familiar with this type of meditation, the mantra can become subtler and be recited in a low voice, like a high-frequency sound that can barely be heard. Some mantras can also be recited only mentally (e.g., the breath mantra "so hum").
Breathing
You may or may not be able to synchronize the mantra with your breath. Some options to better achieve this are:
1. Inhale and exhale while pronouncing the mantra. Pronouncing a word while inhaling is almost impossible (try it!). If the mantra is very short, like "om," you can repeat it several times while exhaling. If the mantra is long, you can recite half of it during the first exhale and the second half during the second exhale. If you are reciting the mantra only mentally, you can also divide the timing with inhalation.
2. Be independent of breathing. Just focus on the mantra, paying attention to your breath. Over time, the breath tends to synchronize naturally with the mantra rhythm.
Mind
Whether you are repeating the mantra or simply listening to it, your mind's task is to actively pay attention to each repetition. Unite your mind with the mantra; let it absorb the mantra and become a part of it. Let every part of your attention be directed toward the mantra, and repeat it each time as if it were the first time: with strength, intention, awareness. Allow your emotions to flow into the practice – desire, curiosity, reverence, gratitude, or whatever makes sense for that particular mantra. Observe them and let them go; if you do not resist them but instead act as an observer, they cannot take you over.
After some time, you will notice that even if some thoughts still cross your mind, the mantra is on a deeper level of your mind. Shift your awareness to that deeper level and try to stay there as long as possible. Finally, do not force your mind. Doing so would only create tension, which does not favor meditation. Your task is simply to maintain a fluid mind, centered (not concentrated) on the mantra, without it weighing too heavily on your thoughts in a state of continuous and relaxed awareness.
Progress and Levels
The more you repeat your mantra, the more energy you confer upon it. A one-syllable mantra, it is said, after 125,000 repetitions "comes to life": our repeated attention works with the mantra and charges it so that it becomes the most powerful thought in the mind. Then you can truly rely on it to bring peace and concentration into your life.
Once the mantra gains this momentum, repetition becomes easier and almost as if you simply "start" or "access" the mantra, and it continues on its own, leading you to a state of inner silence.
This is the traditional progress of the practice:
1. Verbal recitation – you repeat it aloud. This simple mechanism engages your senses, making it easier to maintain focused attention.
2. Whispering: lips and tongue move but produce only a faint sound. This practice is subtler and deeper than verbal recitation.
3. Mental recitation – repeat the mantra only in your mind. Initially, there may be some movement in the tongue and throat, but over time, these will cease, and the practice will be purely mental. This phase is the most common in mantra meditation.
4. Spontaneous listening – at this point, you are no longer repeating the mantra, but the mantra continues on its own in your mind, spontaneously, always. There is no longer a need to worry about volume, speed, etc. Simply listen to it being repeated as it naturally wants to be repeated. This level is called ajapa japa.
A common mistake for beginners is wanting to skip levels and start directly with mental repetition or spontaneous repetition. Although it is not impossible to reach these levels immediately, it is much simpler to follow this scale to master meditation with a mantra.
Wherever you are on this scale, if you realize your mind is drifting from the mantra, distracted by other thoughts, or sleep, pause for a few seconds and then make a more conscious effort in using the mantra until you achieve an effective result.
Happy meditation!