This lecture was given on November 10, 2019, at the Vedanta Society of Northern California by Swami Tattwamayananda.
-Sacred mantras gain a spiritual potency because they have been meditated upon by great saints and sages for millennia.
-Mantras are not written; they are a fundamentally sound phenomenon.
-When we chant mantras with a sense of sanctity and sacredness (‘shraddha’), we realize the mantra's real meaning. We realize the Reality within ourselves, which is present everywhere.
-Vedic knowledge has survived because the Vedic mantras were chanted, meditated upon, and their meaning was realized.
-Chanting holy names is also practiced by Christian mystics and monks.
-Mantras have no author (‘apauruṣeya’). This can be understood only through practice.
-A mantra is a live wire connected with a spiritual current, so it should be practiced properly.
-Word ('vak') and meaning ('artha') are connected, with the practice of prayers, we realize the more profound meaning.
-Patanjali explained the science of mantras in his Mahabhashyam on Panini’s grammar.
-Our understanding of a mantra evolves from gross to subtle. In descending order they are: ‘Para’ (identification with reality of/ realization of the essence of the mantra), `Pashyanti’ (completely focused on the meaning and essence of the mantra), `Madhyama’ (mental repetition but verbalized, not audible) and `Vaikhari’ (verbal repetition with sound audible).
-At the highest level, in the Way of the Pilgrim, the pilgrim learned the art of unceasing prayer and could see all creatures as children of Christ.
-Nineteen forms of practice are mentioned in the chanting of Vedic mantras.
-The “Altar Fire” by Frits Staal is the most profound book on the subject written by a scholar not born into the tradition.
-Worship, prayer, and practice of mantras with sincerity and a sense of sanctity transform our consciousness.
-The Gayatri mantra awakens higher consciousness and insight into all things.
-In the Mundaka Upanishad, the imagery of two birds is used to illustrate the spiritual journey. One bird eats sweet and bitter fruits, while the other sits above unperturbed. As the lower bird evolves, it realizes its identity with the higher bird. As we practice our mantra, we evolve and our whole life becomes spiritualized.
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