A Passage for September

To carry over the mantram theme from last week, we decided to choose a passage for this month that focuses on repeating the mantram. 

In this passage, the mantram is referred to in several different ways: “the sweet name of God,” “His holy name,” “Father Compassionate,” and “His name’s thunder.” This reflects the various terms used for the mantram across the world’s cultures and spiritual traditions, such as “Holy Name,” and “prayer word.” 

This passage reminds us that repeating the mantram in good times (“with beaming face”) will help us remember to repeat it in times of great need (“when danger stares in your face”). 
Join us this month in memorizing or putting into rotation “Chant the Sweet Name of God” and may its words inspire us to increase our collective mantram usage!

As always, feel free to share in the comments which lines you find striking, how this passage might inspire you, or any other thoughts. We love to hear from you.

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Chant the Sweet Name of God – A Song of Sri Ramakrishna

With beaming face chant the sweet name of God
Till in your heart the nectar overflows.
Drink of it ceaselessly and share it with all!
If ever your heart runs dry, parched by the flames
Of worldly desire, chant the sweet name of God,
And heavenly love will moisten your arid soul.

Be sure, O mind, you never forget to chant
His holy name: when danger stares in your face,
Call on Him, your Father Compassionate;
With His name’s thunder, snap the fetters of sin!
Come, let us fulfill our hearts’ desires
By drinking deep of Everlasting Joy,
Made one with Him in Love’s pure ecstasy.

Furiously Mantraming

This week we have a post from Logan, a YA who's recently moved back to her home state of Texas. Logan shares below how she's using the mantram to navigate difficult times. 

Once again, I find myself in a time of tumultuous transition, unsettling uncertainty, and unexpected change. This chaotic mix is multi-faceted with contributing factors from a number of life’s elements. I just drove a U-Haul nearly two thousand miles across the country without a certain place to live, my grandfather is in the hospital, my finances are wonderfully low, and the dynamics of a close relationship changed without warning. It feels like such a mess!

But lo and behold! I have a toolbox full of things to help me navigate these stormy waters: Easwaran’s eight-point program of passage meditation. And the most powerful tool in the arsenal? The mantram!

As I became overwhelmed with all these things happening at once, I truly felt like I was desperately treading water in a stormy sea, watching as all my ships sank around me. My thoughts became difficult to control as my turbulent emotions hijacked my mind. The storm winds of fear and anger were tossing the waves all around me -- truly a tempest was raging within. Then I stuck out my hand in the dark and found the mantram and, boy, did I hold on for dear life!

Never in the seven years that I’ve been practicing passage meditation have I felt such intense surges of emotion. I didn’t know what to do with all the energy it was causing! I felt like screaming, so I screamed the mantram. If I wasn’t in a place conducive to screaming (such as my grandfather’s hospital room), I furiously wrote the mantram, the pen flying across the page. Every time a rage or fear-inducing thought arose, I clenched my teeth, and OM MANI PADME HUM!

The upsides? These past seven years of repeating the mantram ensured that it was there when I needed it, although there was a bit of groping around until I was able to grab hold of it. The intensity of my emotions means that the intensity of the mantram is also at an all-time high, and just like vigorous workouts yield potent results, so too, I am told, will vigorous mantraming.

Easwaran has taught me that this practice helps us turn fear into fearlessness, that it can transform anger into selfless work, that the power of our selfish desires can be fuel for driving us deeper in meditation. Well, thank goodness, because otherwise this mess would be only a mess, rather than an opportunity to drive my mantram deeper and to challenge the limits of my strength. And man, are they being challenged. Those muscles of the mind are going to be sore. But when the storm passes and the sea is still for a little while, I think I’ll be able to see just a little bit deeper into those waters.

Easwaran on One-Pointed Attention

In June, we shared the first half of a talk that Easwaran gave in 1991 on the benefits of training the mind. This week, we’re eager to share the second half! We really enjoyed Easwaran’s practical examples of how we can work on one-pointed attention in our everyday lives. Whether it’s during mealtimes, or running errands at the post office, Easwaran highlights how slowing down and one-pointed attention can benefit not only ourselves but all of those around us. 

We think this portion of the talk works well on its own, by the way, though you’re welcome to go back and listen to the first half if you’d like to do so.

We’d love to hear from you – what are examples of where you work on training your mind throughout the day? Share your thoughts in the comments below.