Acharya Shree, do mantras lead to enlightenment?
This question is asked to many monks, teachers, spiritual teachers, and masters in the past and in the present.
Mantra is a divine sound.
This sound can heal you physically, mentally, and spiritually. When I am using the word "heal" just heal.
If you practice mantra loud it helps to maintain the good health physically and it calms down your mind.
Also, spiritually you get healed.
But the people who are claiming or the masters who are claiming that mantra can give you liberation or can lead you for the liberation, they are totally wrong.
Mantra, they don't have that much power. Mantra is just a tool. Like other practice. If you practice suppose austerity or fasting or reading a spiritual book or listening a lecture or the spiritual discourses from the masters...
...that is just helpful to understand. Mantra doesn't make you understand the reality. Yes, it helps to calm you down.
And once you calm down, there is a chance in that calmness, in that tranquility, if you jump suddenly in meditation.
And when you are in meditation and there is no selfishness, no selfish motivation, then it happen. The meditation begins to burn your karma.
So at least meditation is a fire. Mantra is not a fire. Mantra is a sound. And sound just works because it is a divine sound so maybe it will create divinity around you.
Mantra is also for protection because it is a Sanskrit...if we define it, what mantra means, 'Mananat trayate iti mantrah'. If you recite it, you are protected because it is a divine sound...
...and divine sound, sound turns into electricity and electricity enter into your body. That's what it was an ancient practice that go to the under the dome of the temple and you recite the mantra there.
Because the sound turns to electricity and that dome, rounded, it refine that electricity and it reenter into your body - that's why it heals your body.
And if you are, your mind is calm, so when it is calmness there, and the toxins automatically begin to leave from your body. That's what mantra's role is.
Any other tool...that mantra is a one tool. Ultimately if someone wants to get liberation or achieve enlightenment they have to do something else.
They have to go deep into meditation. They have to understand what is life and what is meaning of life.
Because people even they are not familiar with the life. There are lives around you but we don't see it.
Even we are thinking to get, achieve enlightenment - no it is not. It is not possible. You have to have knowledge where the life is. And where there is a life you have to be careful not to hurt that.
Because the other lives like suppose animals or flies or butterflies or birds, they don't know much about if they can grow spiritually.
But they seems to be very peaceful. They seems to be very calm. And but they don't have developed mind.
That's why it is problem. So, with the developed mind it is a blessing that we have developed mind so we can use it as a tool.
And we can understand the reality, the truth. And that's what we are very much blessed.
Enlightenment is not easy thing. It is like crossing the whole ocean by swimming by your arms. And it is not easy thing. Or to achieve enlightenment it is like walking on the edge of the sword.
Or walking on the thorn. It is not easy. It is very difficult to achieve enlightenment.
If mantra can give you enlightenment, everybody will be enlightened in the world.
So the people who claim that mantra can lead you towards enlightenment, don't listen to them much because it is a tool.
Yes, it helps. It helps for the beginners. But ultimately you have to look at yourself. You have to go deep into your being.
And your being is hidden inside your body. You have to find it. You have to go backward journey. And before you go to backward journey you have to have lot of understanding.
It is the understanding which leads you to enlightenment, which leads you towards liberation.
Mantra is just a little tool, can help you if you are scattered, if you cannot focus. Yes, it helps.
But anything can help. Mantra is one of them.
Like if you stare on the one point somewhere and you don't recite even mantra. You still get very peaceful.
I will give you one technique - very easy. That you can focus better than repeating mantra. But it is also a tool. I can give you that one.
That you don't have to do anything. If you are scattered and if you are not able to do anything. Not focused on your study, not focused on your work, not focused on any spiritual practice.
You just do nothing else. You just do. You sit down and keep your half eyes open. And look at your tip of the nose.
And you will be surprised that you will be jumped into the sushumna channel. And sushumna channel is the best one. It runs between backbone.
And that sushumna channel brings you balance. Once the balance is created you are very peaceful, you are very calm. And when things happen into your life, it happen only in calmness or in peace.
If you are much disturbed, tense, and you are resisting lot of things, it doesn't happen. Good thing doesn't happen. That's why I always repeat again and again. And today I am repeating again.
That the proverb is "Necessity is the mother of [invention]... because we need lot of things and we need more things and we think that our necessities are leading towards the new invention.
But I say that when you are calm, when you are relaxed, relaxation is the mother of all invention. When you are relaxed, you will feel yourself and when you are touched with your being you will be surprised you are going towards liberation...
...you are going towards enlightenment.