Lesson 115 - Q&A – Mantra, language and meaning

From: Yogani
Date: Thu Feb 12, 2004 0:49pm

New Members: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the web
archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first
lesson is, "Why This Discussion?"

Q: English is not my first language. I am wondering if I should
translate the mantra "I AM" to my own language and use that for
meditation.

A: It is a good question. Others have asked it too. Even those of us
who have english as our first language should take note of the
following suggestions.

No, don't translate the mantra. As has been said before, the mantra
is not about language or meaning. If we had been given it orally,
there would be no spelling, no language, and no meaning. Just a sound
vibration to use in meditation in that specific way that allows the
mind to go naturally to stillness.

Since we are doing all this in writing, we have to spell the mantra.
With or without spelling, it is just a sound that is found to have
certain good qualities deep in the nervous system. This was reviewed
in lesson #59 – "Some mantra particulars." It is found in the
english/christian tradition as "I AM." It is also found in other
traditions and languages in similar forms, and sometimes identical.
The natural vibrational qualities in our nervous system are
universal, and not determined by language.

If the I AM spelling is distracting, then think of the same sound
spelled another way like – AYAM. Same pronunciation, no meaning,
and no language. If we try and attach a meaning to it, we will not be
doing our meditation a favor. Let there be one sound in our life that
does not have a worldly connection. Let it be the mantra. The mantra
should mean only one thing – It is our ticket to ride to the
infinite. Let us use it for that, and for that alone when we are
meditating.

If meanings and language come up in meditation, we just regard them
as any other thoughts coming up, and easily go back to the mantra at
whatever level of quietness or fuzziness it is. Then we continue our
inner march to stillness, inner silence, pure bliss consciousness.

The mind settles down to stillness best when using the vibration
alone. Meanings tend to pull us to the surface of the mind, so we
easily let them go and favor the finer levels of the vibration of the
mantra. Meanings and language are for the outer word. Vibrations
naturally becoming finer and finer are for the inner world of pure
bliss consciousness. The mantra is for that. It is not a word of
meaning. It is a vibrational vehicle that refines and disappears as
we ride to the infinite every day.

In time, with the easy daily practice of meditation, our inner world
of silent pure bliss consciousness becomes always present in our
outer world, and vise versa. The gateway of our nervous system opens
wide. We experience the truth of yoga, the joining of the infinite
with our every day life. We come to find we are That.

This glorious outcome has nothing to do with language or any outer
meaning of the mantra. We leave all that behind when we meditate.

The guru is in you.

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