zarzari: > Maharishi came from one of the most conservative > traditions in India. He would never teach us the > Gayatri mantra, would he? > The recitation of the Gayatri isn't neccesary in the practice of TM. That's because the Gayatri isn't considered a bija mantra in the Tantric Tradition. Since MMY, via SBS, follows the Sri Vidya, only bijas are used in TM meditation.
Sri Vidya consists of 'indestructible seed' syllables rather than words, so the bijas transcend such mundane considerations as semantic meaning. Accordingly, a bija-only mantra meditation is not merely esoteric but inherently superior! Thus the Vedic Gayatri is a lower form of the Sri Vidya. According to Sri Vidya, the Gayatri gains its esoteric signigicance only when it is interpreted as Sri Vidya bija mantra. Seed-syllables (bijasaras) are the purest form of mantra. They do not make a request or praise a God. According to Brooks, the Gayatri cannot match Sri Vidya bijas because it is still in common language; it is Veda and mantra, but when transformed into the Sri Vidya bijas "its greatness increases".
