MANTRA - The easiest tool to fix your Mind

I have this mind that thinks, thinks... and just thinks ALL the time, literally! I have tried all kinds of meditations - focusing on the breath, the body, trying to relax it as much as possible and all that but, Nahh. They just "seem to" work for a few minutes, aannd... the noises are back in no time.

It took me years to finally give up my meditation altogether, and just accept the fact that my mind is permanently screwed-up so I'll have to just live with it for the rest of my life. It tells me all kinds of horrible things and I have no choice but to believe. All attempts to control it have gone in vain and to add to it, my emotions are so strong and more negative than ever. I started thinking that I am entirely unfit to even try controlling my mind.

Until, it was proven wrong.

We have this practice of chanting complex Sanskrit mantras for devotion, and I noticed that the days on which I chant a mantra (especially in the morning), my mind just keeps playing it in the background. It kinda replaces these negative thoughts. In fact the more complex it is, the more it steals the mind's attention and thus, the more it stays throughout the day.

Now don't be mistaken here. I am not asking you to memorize long tongue twisters okay?

At the same time, a simple affirmation won't do much good for a negative wandering mind either. The existing thoughts are strong enough to overpower a plain positive sentence.

So where are we going with this?

Before getting into what we can do, let's look at what a Mantra is and how & why it works.

Imagine a really really dark room, and suddenly a point of light. Well, what happens to you attention?

Now. Imagine you're lost somewhere deep in the woods and wherever you go, you're not quite sure where you are. Wouldn't you require a compass to at least know the direction you're walking in?

Now that's how a mantra helps your mind. When it's all dark, it throws a ray of hope. Similarly when your mind is lost, it shows where to go, unless of course you're repeating a wrong Mantra. It then leads you all south (metaphorically speaking).

The word "Mantra" comes from two Sanskrit words. "MAN" meaning "Mind" and "TRA" meaning "Vehicle" or "Instrument". A Mantra thus is a vehicle to steer your mind in the right direction. It's an extremely powerful sound or vibration that can transport your mind from a state of restlessness to one of peace and bliss.

To understand why a Mantra can be powerful, visualize an entire paragraph full of dull grey text, with a sentence somewhere in the middle written colorfully in bold.

A Mantra has qualities that distinguish it from normal everyday thoughts. The same is the case with music, which is why songs not just catch our attention but can even move the mind (sometimes blow it off too!). But a Mantra is easier to just repeat anytime and can be done in the privacy of our own thoughts too.

Alrighty! Now that we understand the uses and the importance of a Mantra, let's get into what kinds of Mantras can be chanted, and if we can even go a step further and integrate this with an affirmation practice.

Let me give you an example of a simple Mantra - "Om Shanti" (pronounced as Aum Shaanti). Om is a beautiful spiritual sound, which is chanted as aa-uu-mm, and as you chant you can feel the vibration in your body. It refers to the origin of the Universe itself, which is also your origin. Shanti means peace. So in essence you're saying "Let there be peace", or in a sense, "I am peace itself" or "Peace is my nature". Notice how different this is from literally repeating any of the above sentences about peace.

There are many such simple Mantras and there's loads of information available on the internet regarding this. "Om" in itself is a powerful Mantra - a sound that can still the mind.

There is no one-size-fits-all here. If you are already used to chanting and can pronounce complex words, you can go for a more complicated Mantra with a deep meaning and can keep repeating it whenever you need to get your mind back on track. I personally listen to and chant the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra or verses from the Vishnu Sahasranama. Don't give up if they sound too complex. You can literally pick any Mantra of your choice. More than anything, what matters is that your mind notices and registers the sounds of a Mantra so well that it becomes the background of your thinking process. Essentially, you will begin to basically improve your life on auto pilot with such ease. For me, it was the relief that my mind did not produce negative thoughts anymore!

Getting into the affirmation practice, I love this one - "Everyday in every way, I am getting better, better and better". Whenever I find my mind a little calm and positive (which is obviously due to Mantra chanting), I start repeating this affirmation, and it makes me feel more energized. Now you can ask me why can't we directly jump to the affirmation practice and why is even a Mantra required?

I have found that an affirmation is not just ineffective but sometimes becomes counter-productive if the mind is not in a calm state. And there must be some way to calm the mind, which goes back to the very beginning of this post where none of the meditation practices worked for me and finally, Mantra came to the rescue! Now I feel more empowered to even try other meditation techniques.

To summarize,

1. A Mantra is a powerful sound that directs your attention the right way so, pick a Mantra of your choice and start chanting it (in your head and out loud if you are alone.)

2. Once your mind calms down, practice repeating your favorite affirmation to feel more positive and energized.

3. Repeat everyday, consistently.