I have a whole stock of mantras; they have all come spontaneously, never from the head. They sprang forth spontaneously, as the Veda is said to have sprung forth. I don't know when it began - a very long time ago, before I came here, although some of them came while I was here. But in my case, they were always very short. For example, when Sri Aurobindo was here in his body, at any moment, in any difficulty, for anything, it always came like this: 'My Lord!' - simply and spontaneously - 'My Lord!' And instantly, the contact was established. But since He left, it has stopped. I can no longer say it, for it would be like saying 'My Lord, My Lord!' to myself. I had a mantra in French before coming to Pondicherry. It was Dieu de bonté et de miséricorde ... [God of kindness and mercy], but what it means is usually not understood - it is an entire program, a universal program. I have been repeating this mantra since the beginning of the century; it was the mantra of ascension, of realization. At present, it no longer comes in the same way, it comes rather as a memory. But it was deliberate, you see; I always said Dieu de bonté et de miséricorde, because even then I understood that everything is the Divine and the Divine is in all things and that it is only we who make a distinction between what is or what is not the Divine. My experience is that, individually, we are in relationship with that aspect of the Divine which is not necessarily the most in conformity with our natures, but which is the most essential for our development or the most necessary for our action. For me, it was always a question of action because, personally, individually, each aspiration for personal development had its own form, its own spontaneous expression, so I did not use any formula. But as soon as there was the least little difficulty in action, it sprang forth. Only long afterwards did I notice that it was formulated in a certain way - I would utter it without even knowing what the words were. But it came like this: Dieu de bonté et de miséricorde. It was as if I wanted to eliminate from action all aspects that were not this one. And it lasted for ... I don't know, more than twenty or twenty-five years of my life. It came spontaneously. Page 192 Just recently one day, the contact became entirely physical, the whole body was in great exaltation, and I noticed that other lines were spontaneously being added to this Dieu de bonte et de misericorde, and I noted them down. It was a springing forth of states of consciousness - not words. Seigneur, Dieu de bonte et de misericorde Seigneur, Dieu d'unite souveraine Seigneur, Dieu de beaute et d'harmonie Seigneur, Dieu de puissance et de realisation Seigneur, Dieu d'amour et de compassion Seigneur, Dieu du silence et de la contemplation Seigneur, Dieu de lumiere et de connaissance Seigneur, Dieu de vie et d'immortalite Seigneur, Dieu de jeunesse et de progres Seigneur, Dieu d'abondance et de plenitude Seigneur, Dieu de force et de sante. Lord, God of kindness and mercy Lord, God of sovereign oneness Lord, God of beauty and harmony Lord, God of power and realization Lord, God of silence and contemplation Lord, God of light and knowledge Lord, God of life and immortality Lord, God of youth and progress Lord, God of abundance and plenitude Lord, God of strength and health. The words came afterwards, as if they had been superimposed upon the states of consciousness, grafted onto them. Some of the associations seem unexpected, but they were the exact expression of the states of consciousness in their order of unfolding. They came one after another, as if the contact was trying to become more complete. And the last was like a triumph. As soon as I finished writing (in writing, all this becomes rather flat), the impetus within was still alive and it gave me the sense of an all-conquering Truth. And the last mantra sprang forth: Seigneur, Dieu de la Verite victorieuse! Lord, God of victorious Truth! Page 193 Like a triumph. But I didn't write that one down because I did not want to spoil my impression. Of course, these things should not be published. We can file them in this Agenda of the Supramental Manifestation for later on. Later on, when the Victory is won, we shall say, 'If you want to see the curve ... ' But what is going to come now? I constantly hear the Sanskrit mantra:
OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH* It is there, all around me; it takes hold of all the cells and at once they spring forth in an ascension. And Narada's mantra, too:
Narayana, Narayana ... (it is actually a Command which means: now you shall do as I wish), but it doesn't come from the heart. What will it be? It will simply spring forth in a flash, all of a sudden, and it will be very powerful. Only power can do something. Love vanishes like water running through sand: people remain beatific ... and nothing moves! No, power is needed - like Shiva, stirring, churning ... When I have this mantra, instead of saying hello, good-bye, I shall say that. When I say hello, good-bye, it means 'Hello: the Presence is here, the Light is here.' 'Good-bye: I am not going away, I am staying here.' But when I have this mantra, I believe something will happen. (silence) For the moment, of all the formulas or mantras, the one that acts most directly on this body, that seizes all the cells and immediately does this (vibrating motion) is the Sanskrit mantra: OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH. As soon as I sit for meditation, as soon as I have a quiet minute to concentrate, it always begins with this mantra, and there is a response in the body, in the cells of the body: they all start vibrating. 1.The first syllable of NAMO is pronounced with a short 'a,' as in nahmo. The final word is pronounced BHA-GAH-VA-TEH. Page 194 This is how it happened: Y had just returned, and he brought back a trunk full of things which he then proceeded to show me, and his excitement made tight, tight little waves in the atmosphere, making my head ache; it made ... anyway, it was unpleasant. When I left, just after that had happened, I sat down and went like this (gesture of sweeping out) to make it stop, and immediately the mantra began. It rose up from here (Mother indicates the solar plexus), like this: Om Namo Bhagavateh OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH. It was formidable. For the entire quarter of an hour that the meditation lasted, everything was filled with Light! In the deeper tones it was of golden bronze (at the throat level it was almost red) and in the higher tones it was a kind of opaline white light: OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH, OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH, OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH. The other day (I was in my bathroom upstairs), it came; it took hold of the entire body. It rose up in the same way, and all the cells were trembling. And with such a power! So I stopped everything, all movement, and I let the thing grow. The vibration went on expanding, ever widening, as the sound itself was expanding, expanding, and all the cells of the body were seized with an intensity of aspiration ... as if the entire body were swelling - it became overwhelming. I felt that it would all burst. I understood those who withdraw from everything to live that totally. And it has such a transformative power! I felt that if it continued, something would happen, something like a change in the equilibrium of the body's cells. Unfortunately, I was unable to continue, because ... I don't have the time; it was just before the balcony darshan and I was going to be late. Something told me, 'That is for people who have nothing to do.' Then I said, 'I belong to my work,' and I slowly withdrew. I put on the brakes, and the action was cut short. But what remains is that whenever I repeat this mantra ... everything starts vibrating. So each one must find something that acts on himself, individually. I am only speaking of the action on the physical plane, because mentally, vitally, in all the inner parts of the being, the aspiration is always, always spontaneous. I am referring only to the physical plane. The physical seems to be more open to something that is repetitious - for example, the music we play on Sundays, which Page 195 has three series of combined mantras. The first is that of Chandi, addressed to the universal Mother: Ya devi sarvabhuteshu matrirupena sansthita Ya devi sarvabhuteshu shaktirupena sansthita Ya devi sarvabhuteshu shantirupena sansthita Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah The second is addressed to Sri Aurobindo (and I believe they have put my name at the end). It incorporates the mantra I was speaking of: Om namo namah shrimirambikayai Om namo bhagavateh shriaravindaya Om namo namah shrimirambikayai. And the third is addressed to Sri Aurobindo: 'Thou art my refuge.' Shriaravindah sharanam mama. Each time this music is played, it produces exactly the same effect upon the body. It is strange, as if all the cells were dilating, with a feeling that the body is growing larger ... It becomes all dilated, as if swollen with light - with force, a lot of force. And this music seems to form spirals, like luminous ribbons of incense smoke, white (not transparent, literally white) and they rise up and up. I always see the same thing; it begins in the form of a vase, then swells like an amphora and converges higher up to blossom forth like a flower. So for these mantras, everything depends upon what you want to do with them. I am in favor of a short mantra, especially if you want to make both numerous and spontaneous repetitions - one or two words, three at most. Because you must be able to use them in all cases, when an accident is about to happen, for example. It has to spring up without thinking, without calling: it should issue forth from the being spontaneously, like a reflex, exactly like a reflex. Then the mantra has its full force. For me, on the days when I have no special preoccupations or difficulties (days I could call normal, when I am normal), everything I do, all the movements of this body, all, all the words I utter, all the gestures I make, are accompanied and upheld by or lined, as it were, with this mantra: Page 196
OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH ... OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH ... all, all the time, all the time, all the time. That is the normal state. It creates an atmosphere of an intensity almost more material than the subtle physical; it's like ... almost like the phosphorescent radiations from a medium. And it has a great action, a very great action: it can prevent an accident. And it accompanies you all the time, all the time. But it is up to you to know what you want to do with it. To sustain the aspiration - to remember. We so easily lapse into forgetfulness. To create a kind of automatism. You have no mantras that have come to you, that give you a more living feeling? ... Are their mantras long? Yes, they are long. And he' has not given me any mantra of the Mother, so ... They exist, but he has not given me any ... I don't know, they don't have much effect on me. It is something very mental. That's why it should spring forth from you. (silence) This one, this mantra, OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH, came to me after some time, for I felt ... well, I saw that I needed to have a mantra of my own, that is, a mantra consonant with what this body has to do in the world. And it was just then that it came.2 It was truly an answer to a need that had made itself felt. So if you feel the need - not there, not in your head, but here (Mother points to the center of her heart), it will come. One day, either you will hear the words, or they will spring forth from your heart ... And when that happens, you must hold onto it. 1. The tantric Swami. 2. The different mantras or prayers that came to Mother and which She grouped under the heading Prayers of the Consciousness of the Cells, are included as an addendum to the Agenda of 1959.
page 192-97 , Mother's Agenda , volume 1 , 16th Spet - 1958
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I have also come to realize that for this sadhana of the body, the
mantra is essential. Sri Aurobindo gave none; he said that one should be
able to do all the work without having to resort to external means. Had
he reached the point where we are now, he would have seen that the
purely psychological method is inadequate and that a japa is necessary,
because only japa has a direct action on the body. So I had to find the
method all alone, to find my mantra by myself. But now that things are
ready, I have done ten years of work in a few months. That is the
difficulty, it requires time ...
And I repeat my mantra constantly - when I am awake and even when
I sleep. I say it even when I am getting dressed, when I eat, when I
work, when I speak with others; it is there, just behind in the
background, all the time, all the time. page 301 , Mother's Agenda , volume 1 , 19th May - 1959 |
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But I wasn't speaking to you with words ... Everything I see at night
has a special color and a special vibration. It's strange, but it looks
sketched ... When I said that to you, for example, there was a kind of patch,' a
white patch, as I recall - white, exactly like a piece of white paper -
a patch with a pink border around it, then this same blue light I keep
telling you about - deep blue - encircling the rest, as it were. And
beyond that, it was swarming - a swarming of black and dark gray
vibrations ... in a terrible agitation. When I saw this, I said to you,
'You must repeat your mantra once in my presence so that I may see if
there is anything I can do about this swarming.' And then - I don't know
why - you objected, and this objection was red, like a tongue of fire
lashing out from the white, like this (Mother draws an arabesque). So I said, 'No, don't worry, it doesn't matter, I won't disturb a thing#!' (Mother laughs mischievously)
All this took place in a realm which is constantly active, everywhere; it is
like a permanent mental transcription of everything that physically takes place
... They aren't actually thoughts;
1. Original English.
2. Traditionally, one's mantra is never to be repeated before anyone except the guru. page 443 , Mother's Agenda , volume 1 , 22nd Oct. 1960 |
Nobody can give you the true mantra. It's not something that is given: it's something that wells up from within. It must spring from within all of a sudden, spontaneously, like a profound, intense need of your being - then it has power, because it's not something that comes from outside, it's your very own cry. I saw, in my case, that my mantra has the power of immortality; whatever happens, if it is uttered, it's the Supreme that has the upper hand, it's no longer the lower law. And the words are irrelevant, they may not have any meaning - to someone else, my mantra is meaningless, but to me it's full, packed with meaning. And effective, because it's my cry, the intense aspiration of my whole being. A mantra given by a guru is only the power to realize the experience of the discoverer of the mantra. The power is automatically there, because the sound contains the experience. I saw that once in Paris, at a time when I knew nothing of India, absolutely nothing, only the usual nonsense. I didn't even know what a mantra was. I had gone to a lecture given by some fellow who was supposed to have practiced "yoga" for a year in the Himalayas and recounted his experience (none too interesting, either). All at once, in the course of his lecture, he uttered the sound OM. And I saw the entire room suddenly fill with light, a golden, vibrating light.... I was probably the only one to notice it. I said to myself, "Well!" Then I didn't give it any more thought, I forgot about the story. But as it happened, the experience recurred in two or three different countries, with different people, and every time there was the sound OM, I would suddenly see the place fill with that same light. So I understood. That sound contains the vibration of thousands and thousands of years of spiritual aspiration - there is in it the entire aspiration of men towards the Supreme. And the power is automatically there, because the experience is there. page 131 , Mother's Agenda, volume 4 , 11th May 1963 |
And in the morning, oh! ... All mornings are difficult. It's odd: life as a whole goes by with almost dizzying speed - weeks and months go by like that - and mornings, about three hours every morning, last like a century! Each minute is won at the cost of an effort. It is the time of the work in the body, for the body, and not just one body: for instance, all the vibrations from sick people, all those problems of life come from everywhere. And for those three hours, there is tension, struggle, acute seeking for what should be done or for the attitude to be taken.... It's at that time that I have tested the power of the mantra. For those three hours, I repeat my mantra automatically, without stopping; and every time the difficulty increases, a kind of Power comes into those words and acts on Matter. And that's how I know: without the mantra, that work couldn't be done. But that's why I say it has to be YOUR mantra, not something you received from whomever - the mantra that arose spontaneously from your deeper being (gesture to the heart), from your inner guide. That's what holds out. When you don't know, when you don't understand, when you don't want to let the mind intervene and you are ... THAT is there; the mantra is there; and it helps you to get through. It helps to get through. It saves the situation at critical moments, it's a considerable support, considerable. For those three hours (three or three and a half hours), it's constant, constant, without stop. So then the words well up (gesture from the heart). And when the situation becomes critical, when that disorder, that disintegration seem to be gaining in power, it's as if the mantra were becoming swollen with force, and ... it restores order. And that wasn't just once, or for a month, or a year: it has been like that for years, and it goes on increasing. But it's hard work. page 201 , Mother's Agenda , volume 5 , 23rd Sep - 1964 |
So, how is your mantra? Fine, Mother, it's a beautiful Mantra.I had a rather interesting experience. You know, there is always an impression that if you let someone else know the Mantra, it will lose some of its force, but I said to myself, "Never mind, I will do it," and the minute the decision was made, naturally I stopped thinking about it - it was gone. And in the evening of the day when I told you the Mantra, towards the end of the day, suddenly the words came with a warmth and intensity, as if ... (how can I put it?) they were rounded out with force. Then, at the same time, I remembered I had told you the Mantra, so I looked, and I saw it was what your consciousness had added to it - I was very glad. I told you there was a great power in it, but it has become (how can I explain?) warmer (Mother laughs). I don't know how to put it ... yes, it's as if a warmth of richness had entered into it - like a potential power (not yet manifested, that is, but potential), a very warm power of joy that had come into it. So I was very happy. (silence) I have a whole mantra [besides the main Mantra], I told you, for years now, and it is extremely complete: it applies to all necessities and all occasions, it's a long series. But for some time it has become very spontaneous, too, and very self-living: when I want to see quite concretely where someone stands (someone meditating in front of me, for instance), I recite the mantra (within, of course) and I watch the reactions, because the mantra deals with the surrender of all the parts of the being and all the modes of life: it's very complete. So according to the reactions [in Mother's centers], I see very clearly. The other day, when X came, I did it (it was the first time I had done it with him), I did it, and when I came to a certain point ... (Mother smiles) he couldn't bear it! He sort of stiffened, bowed to me and got up. Before that, he had remained very silent, very quiet. But that ... (Mother laughs) You see, I invoke the Lord and ask Him to manifest His various ways of being or realizations (it's not taken in a mental sense, not at all), but when I said - I say many things, but up to that point he had been quiet, silent, still, and at one point (because it comes in a logical succession), I said, "Manifest Your Knowledge" - he felt uneasy, as if he felt he was being thrown out of himself! So I tried to calm that down, but he couldn't bear it - after five minutes, he got up and left. A real unease; because, as for me, I am inside people (I am everywhere, of course), I feel just as if it took place in my own body.page 120-21 - Mother's Agenda , volume 6, 9th June - 1965 |