--- On Mon, 8/10/09, BillyG. <wg...@yahoo.com> wrote: > From: BillyG. <wg...@yahoo.com> > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Questions about mantra shakti and saying mantras > out loud > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Date: Monday, August 10, 2009, 5:57 PM > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, > Damjan Jovanovic <dj...@...> wrote: > > Hi > > I learned TM at the age of 10, and found it to be one > of the most wonderful and profound things I've ever > experienced. However only 2-3 years later, my mantra > completely stopped working, and hasn't worked since (for the > 13-14 years till present day). > > > > The only thing I did wrong, according to what I was > told during the course, was to say my mantra out loud a few > times (ok maybe more than just a few), mostly by accident. > My TM teacher told me it didn't really matter, but if that > didn't do it, what did? > > > > After much searching, on this forum I found the > (Tantric?) idea that what makes mantras work is the shakti > they receive during initiation. Is this really the case? > > > That's really a great question Damjan, however, there is NO > evidence what so ever, to suggest that TM is a *diksha* > initiation where the Guru (MMY is NOT a guru per se) charges > the mantra with his shakti or enlightenment.
The TM teacher probably somehow produces the shakti during the puja. The actual mechanics would be fascinating to find out, I definitely plan to. > TM, ostensibly, is a simple mental technique using amiable > Sanskrit mantras, MMY himself said we could even use simple > words like 'mike' (as in microphone, etc.) and TM would > work, but we choose mantras because they have > 'special' sound properties... That's probably taking things out of context. MMY was discussing his meditation in general. Sure 'mike' works for transcending - if you get 'mike' during TM initiation, with some shakti. > If your TM isn't working it is more than likely because > you're looking for results, IMO. A simple checking > would be in order, I'm sure that is all you would > need! Forget that *shakti* idea, MMY NEVER suggested > that, at any time I am aware of, that is another kettle of > fish my friend, good luck! > IMHO you couldn't be more wrong. My recent experience now proves (at least to me) TM is 100% shakti. Some time last week I gave up experimenting, attended a TM intro talk and decided to get (secretly re-)initiated into TM. I was sure to ask when the teacher learned TM, so I could find ahead of time the mantra I was going to get. Yesterday morning I looked up the closest matching mantra table on a certain well-known website, got the mantra, and sat with my eyes closed repeating it for a few minutes. Absolutely nothing. And yes, I've looked at those mantra tables before, and played with several - generally either getting absolutely nothing, or very very mild effects, almost never producing what I'd describe as transcendence, and absolutely never producing physiological effects typical in proper TM like deep relaxation and slowed breathing. So yesterday afternoon I went for the initiation. And now? To say the mantra works is an understatement: it works so well, that I don't remember ever feeling this good. It exceeded even my wildest expectations :-). So apparently: 1. Mantras don't really work before initiation. 2. Mantras work really well after initiation. 3. Mantras can lose and regain their effectiveness. (My new mantra is just a minor variation of the old one, yet it works.) 4. Even a priori knowledge of the initiation and the mantra you're going to get doesn't compromise its effectiveness. 5. When a mantra works, the technique is irrelevant, you always get some effect, eg. even if you strain during meditation you get a headache. When a mantra doesn't work, no technique does anything. Which is why checking can fix a bad technique, but not replenish lost shakti. How do you explain all this except by shakti? > > I really want to get back into TM. Will getting > initiated for the second time work for me? What else can > recharge a mantra with shakti? > > > > And where does one find out more about this shakti? > > There is NO magic *shakti* in the TM technique other than > the shakti you generate yourself by practicing it regularly > and living a clean life. Over time, mantra-shakti generates sadhana-shakti, making meditation more effective because both shaktis are at work. So you're half right, you do generate shakti by practicing regularly, but you still have to have some shakti to start with. For example, some quotes from Sir John Woodroffe's "The Garland of Letters: studies in the mantra shastra", chapter 28, "Mantra sadhana": "There are thus two Śaktis, viz., the Mantra-Śakti and the Sādhana-Śakti, that is the Śakti of the Sādhaka generated by Sādhanā. It is the uniting of these two Śaktis which accomplishes the fruit of Mantra-sādhana." "In the case of Pūjā, Dhyāna and other Sādhanās, it is only the Sādhaka’s Sādhanā-Śakti which operates, whilst in the case of Mantra-sādhanā, Sādhanā-śakti works in conjunction with Mantra-śakti which is all powerful and re-inforces Sādhanā-śakti which is imperfect and meets with obstacles." If you're still convinced in the non-existance of shakti in TM, please say your mantra out loud a couple of hundred times, and post your evaluation of its effectiveness before and after. But don't say I didn't warn you. Anyway, I'm back on the straight and narrow :-). Thank you to all those that tried to help. And to the other people who like me had TM stop working for them (yes I found a few eg. http://www.network54.com/Forum/254541/message/1216514543/Re-+Moved+on+to+TM+%97+the+real+thing): just get initiated again, it's that simple.
