ABOUT MANTRAS

First of all, why mantras in connection with our Angel work? Three main reasons:

1) Westerners in particular, leading busy lives outside of the Ashram context, often find it very difficult to adopt an effective meditation regimen which will attune their super-physical bodies to the vibratory rate necessary to move towards working consciously (i.e. to seeing and communicating) with the Angels). Mantra yoga is a concentrated system which achieves that attunement by the spiritual effect and power of sound. It also gets us past the block of not being able to meditate because of tension, lack of concentration, worry etc., and in a very short time settles us down and centres us effectively. Although, as in all forms of yoga, it requires practice, application, and effort, it is a very effective and economicasl approach of time outlaid on it.

2) The recitation of some mantras, particularly the Gayatri, the Tisarana, and The Kyrie invoke certain orders of Angels who have learnt to associate themselves with Humanity in various helpful capacities through certain major religions of the world, therefore the sincere recitation of these mantras in itself is an effective part of the co-operation between the Human and the Angelic Kingdoms.

3) The intoning of these mantras surrounds us with many helpful influences, not only from our Angel Brethren, but also from the benevolent thought atmosphere of generations of Saints and Holy people who have intoned the same sounds down the centuries, in some cases on their way to Adeptship.

THE GAYATRI

A'um Bhuuhh, A'um Bhuva'-hh, A'um Suva'-hh, A'um Maha'-hh,

A'um Jana'-hh, A'um Tapa'-hh, A'um Sat-yam.

A'um Tat Sa,vi-tur vare'e,nyam

Bha'rgo De-va'sya dhimahi dhi,yo yo nah pra,cho-daya'at.

A'um Aa,po Jyo,ti Ra,so amritam Bra,mha

Bhuur Bhu,vas Su,var A'um.

SOME TRANSLATIONS OF THE GAYATRI:

1) Simple translation: O three in one, light adorable on whom we meditate, illumine our hearts with thy Divine Effulgence that we may come to thee.

2) Richer translation: May we contemplate, receive, absorb, or assimilate the radiant effulgence, the glorious energy, of the divine and all-creating Sun, so that it may stir up, quicken, illuminate, inspire and vitalize our intelligences.

3) Literal translation: Om Physical, Om Astral, Om Lower Mental, Om Causal, Om Generator, Maintainer, Truth (all on the Buddhic plane).

Om! Upon that glorious effulgence of the Shining One, O Savitur (Sun - Solar Logos), we meditate. May it quicken and energize our Intuition.

Om! the Waters, the Light, the Elixir, the Immortality, BRAHMAN - the ONE.

Earth, Desire, Lower Mental, Om!

This is one of, if not the greatest, publicly available mantras known to Humanity. It starts with the sacred word Om, and the enumeration of the planes (lokas or worlds) upon which its action is desired. It should be noted that these planes do not uniformly correspond with all the seven major planes of Nature described in Theosophy but end instead in the Buddhic plane. According to Annie Besant, the first four of these planes are respectively the Physical, Astral, Lower Mental, and Causal whilst the last three are all parts (sub-planes?) of the Buddhic Plane. Until we are very close to Adeptship our consciousness would not normally be able to freely function far beyond the Buddhic. Even achieving some continuity of waking consciousness at the Buddhic level would however, be considered a glorious and wonderful achievement for any human being.

As C.W.Leadbeater tells us, as each plane is mentioned, the Angels belonging to that plane flock round the singer with joyous enthusiasm to do the work, which by the recitation of the mantra he/she is about to give them.

The Angels connected with The Gayatri: C.W.Leadbeater also tells us that the Angels who respond are connected with the Lord Shiva - Nilakantha - the Blue Throated, and consequently have a vivid blue appearance. They are Angels of the First Ray as might be deduced from the fact that the mantra was given by the Manu, the great Adept Leader of Caucasian race, therefore qualities of dynamism, will and leadership can be expected to be inherent in the Angels and energies connected with this Mantra.

Fuller information about the mechanism of the Gayatri is found in the following journal article by C.W. Leadbeater:

" As all Theosophists know, it is an invocation to the Sun - of course, really to the Solar Logos, who stands behind that greatest of all symbols; and the great shaft of light which immediately pours down upon and into the reciter comes as though from the physical Sun in whatever direction that Sun may happen to be. The effect is especially curious when the Sun happens to be below the horizon, for then the shaft comes up at once through the earth! This shaft is white just slightly tinged with gold; but when it has filled the very soul of the reciter he promptly shoots it from him again in seven great rays having the colours of the spectrum. It is as though the singer acts as a prism; yet the colour rays which dart forth are of a shape the reverse of what we usually find in such cases. Commonly when we send out rays of spiritual force they spring forth from a point in the body - the heart, the brain, or some other centre as the case may be; and as they shoot out they steadily broaden fanwise, as do those shining from a lighthouse. But these rays start from a basis wider than the man himself - a basis which is the circumference of his aura, and instead of widening out they decrease to a point, just as do the rays of a conventional star, except that they are, of course, cones of light instead of mere triangles. Another remarkable feature is that these seven rays do not radiate in a circle in all directions, but only in a semi-circle in the direction which the reciter is facing. Furthermore, these rays have a curious appearance of solidifying as they grow narrower, until they end in a point of blinding light. And a still more curious phenomenon is that these points act as though they were living ; if a man happens to come in the way of one of them, that point curves with incredible rapidity and touches his heart and his brain, causing them to glow momentarily in response. Each ray appears to be able to produce this result on an indefinite number of people in succession; in testing it on a closely packed crowd we found that the rays apparently divided the crowd between them, each acting on the section that happened to be in front of it, and not interfering with any other section.

Fig.1

"... All the triangles which radiate from him have the diameter of his aura as their base. That which shoots out straight in front of him is an isosceles triangle; all the others on each side, having the same base but a different inclination, are increasingly smaller and narrower as they are farther from the middle line.

" These are of course really cones ; and the size of the base of these cones is determined by the size of the aura of the reciter. If he happens to be a quite ordinary person with an aura extending perhaps eighteen inches from his physical body on all sides, the base of the cones will be an oval, some nine feet in length by five in width. If, however, he is a more developed man, with an aura extending fifty yards on every side of him, that base will be almost a circle, as the difference between the height and the breadth of his physical body would be practically negligible in proportion to the size of the whole aura. As we are looking down from above, we must draw a horizontal line through the middle of the man's aura to represent the base of our triangles; but as the force flows out horizontally in front of the man, the circle which defines the base of our cone must be thought of as a hoop standing not horizontally but upright about the man - as an arch over his head, involving of course a similar inverted arch beneath his feet.

" That is a curious fact regarding the aura which is very often forgotten ; it is built of astral and mental matter, which of course freely interpenetrates everything physical; so to whatever height a man's aura extends above his head, it has an exactly similar extension into the earth beneath his feet . . .

Fig. 2

" If a number of people chant the Gayatri together, only one shaft of much greater diameter comes down from on high. The auras of the singers are for the moment welded into one, and the diameter of that blended aura forms the base of the cones.

" . . . An endeavour to trace the origin of the mantra and all the peculiar arrangements made with regard to it brings us into the presence of the Lord Vaivasvata Manu Himself, before He led His hosts over the Himalayas.

" As to the question of the language of the mantra, it seems to be of minor importance. The recitation of the words in English having the full intention behind them produced the full effect. The recitation of the same thing in Samskrit with the same intention brought about exactly the same result, but in addition built round the radiating shafts a sound-form resembling a wonderfully intricate kind of carved wooden frame-work; it provided us with something which might be imaged as a seven-fold gun through which the rays were shooting out. This sound-form extended only for a short distance and did not seem to make any difference at all to the power or size of the rays."

C. W. Leadbeater, The Theosophist, April 1926

THE TISARANA

Tisarana is a Pali word (the language spoken by the Lord Gautama Buddha), its equivalent in Sanskrit is Triratna. The word refers to what in Buddhism is called the Three Refuges of: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The idea of a refuge is not a place to hide, but of something which uplifts and strengthens the heart. The mantra is intoned by Buddhists following the invocation to The Buddha during the recitation of Pansil. The repetition of the mantra using the words Dutiyam Pi (for the second time) and Tatiyam Pi (for the third time) is a device which is intended to differentiate the words from their day to day use, in other words to reinforce their sacred nature connected with the Path Ideal. Mdm. Blavatsky indicates that the inner meaning of the mantra refers to the development of wisdom, understanding of the spiritual laws of the Universe and their manifestation in spiritual exponents or Adepts.

The Angels connected with the Tisarana: According to C.W. Leadbeater, the Angels that come when the Tisarana is chanted are connected with the Yellow Robe and they bring with them a wonderful peace and joyousness, for although they are so peaceful they are amongst the most joyous in the world. Naturally, these are Angels of the Second Ray and the Tisarana may be considered to have an excellent balancing influence on the Gayatri which invokes Angels of the First Ray.

THE KYRIE

The Kyrie: Is included here because of its history connected with the devotional side of Christianity. In the Greek Orthodox Church the Jesus Prayer which is practically the same as the Kyrie is claimed as a discipline leading to high yogic realisation such as is exemplified in the case of St. Seraphim of Sarov (1759-1833) who, not only developed great love and mystical capacities but, also had acquired the higher siddhis which enabled him to help sufferers. In any balanced system of development Will and Wisdom need to be blended together by Loving Devotion, the Kyrie is intended to address the latter. According to Bishop Wedgwood “The usual translation... ‘Lord, have mercy upon us’ conveys a somewhat wrong impression. The Greek word is akin to ‘eleemosynary’ “pour forth thy love upon us”. Bishop Leadbeater indicates it is an invocation to God and the Christ to manifest themselves to us and within us.

Conclusion: An important point to be made when practising these mantras in private is that one should not overlook the importance of repetition. Whilst a great initiate may achieve significant results from a single recitation most of us need to work hard at repetition to achieve the necessary “attuning”. Consider making yourself a rosary out of wooden beads and cord obtainable from a Craft Shop. It should have at least 49 beads (7x7 recitations) and should be separated at by a larger bead at 7, 21, and 49. Thus, depending upon where you start on the rosary and the time available, you have the option to perform 7, 21, or 49 recitations. An element of realism is required here. Eastern aspirants are prepared to spend many hours intoning their mantras, but for some reason we Westerners seem to think that we can get results from just the odd recitation now and again. One of the encouraging aspects of Mantra Yoga is that the results become evident right from the start in respect to effecting positive mood change. However, the spiritual realisation aspect can be expected to take us much longer, unless of course we have experience under our belts from past lives, which can in some cases concertina the time necessary to achieve expansion of consciousness.

I need hardly mention that it is necessary to memorize the mantras supplied on the enclosed sheet, that is if we wish to use them as part of our discipline for expanding our consciousness; the Tisarana and the Kyrie are very simple but the Gayatri is more complicated and therefore requires more practice. When the words have been memorized and can be recited automatically it is helpful to read the translation (printed on the sheet in small italics) during the intoning. Eventually, we will thus be able to keep in our minds the meaning of the mantras whilst we are reciting them, which is an important staging post prior to yogically experiencing their higher effects. Of course we could chant the mantras in English, which would solve the problem of the meaning, but then we would lose some of the mantric effect and in any case attempting to do the two things at the same time has a very effective “stretching” effect on our consciousness.

There is an interesting chapter on mantras in C.W.Leadbeater's The Masters and the Path which it well worth reading and from which some of my information has been drawn.

Bill Keidan

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