Mantra Practice

The lotus, a flower that lives in the murkiest of waters. Each night it sinks to the bottom of the surrounding body of water, before rising up through the muddied environment, ready to bloom each and every dawn. It opens a single petal at a time and has, for millennia, symbolised rebirth, spiritual enlightenment, as well as strength, endurance and purity. Make of symbols what you will, the narrative changes and they are simply there to serve the light, or, to serve the light in you, to be more precise.

It is unlikely that one definition, or story, can ever be true, since history easily reveals the evolution of collective narratives across the globe, but some things stand the test of time, and they are usually practices that work. Mantra is a form of deep meditative and spiritual practice, a repetitive form of dialogue with the divine. This oftentimes harsh, brutal and ugly world tells us many lies, and degrades one’s life force, time and energy into something malleable and easily manipulated. To rebuild at your core, to grow inward, or downward, as the lotus flower does, it requires ultimate faith in yourself and your capacity to benefit from tried and tested practices, even where they perhaps scare you, seem strange, or reveal a resistance to what is good for you, simply because it comes from another culture, time and place.

The lotus flower, anchored in mud, reaching for the light daily, retreating at the will of the light divinely placed to call it upward each dawn, it is a cycle of exchange, one those living through an awakening tend to dwell in. In my own experience, the light would pull me up out of the murkiest, dankest hell, before revealing a promise, be it a perception shift, a change in felt sense, or a connection never before made. Then the light would fade, just as the sun does daily, and I’d be called on to sit back beneath the surface, in the muds of The Self, before breaking free of patterns once again. Faith will always matter, but where you find that faith matters not at all; be Buddhist, be Muslim, Agnostic, Christian or Sikh. Just be of faith and open your heart up to The Unknown.

Mantra, a select few countries embrace the practice from birth, raise their children through such energetic light work and contribute to a peace found only in moments, never an extended narrative beyond The Now. Science has almost caught up to ancient wisdom, when we embrace both together will we find the collective harmony we seek? Embrace The Unknown, embrace parts and pieces of The Self that yearn for this kind of loving gift and blessing, and enjoy the feeling of connection to the divine spirit within your own being and Self.