Mantra, an effective tool for mind calming concentration<\/p>\n
By Rahayu Ratnaningsih<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Erick, a soft spoken and aloof 23 year old with
\nsevere depression, came to one of our meditation retreats. He has
\nattempted at least five suicides by taking insecticide, which he
\ndid twice, once mixed with a soft drink, jumping in the river and
\noverdosing on drugs. He comes from a dysfunctional, well-to-do
\nfamily where his older brother was in a graver condition and also
\nrecently attempted suicide by jumping from a second-floor window
\nin the family house.<\/p>\n
Sitting still was agonizing for him since he was experiencing
\nsevere hallucinations aggravated by drug abuse. He claimed to
\nconstantly hear voices from inside his body; from his knees,
\nchest, head and hands, which scared and angered him at the same
\ntime and hampered his efforts at concentration. It was like
\nsimultaneously tuning into a hundred different radio channels at
\nfull blast. The voices were typically of a bunch of people
\ngossiping about him, talking to him in a derogatory manner,
\ndictating to him or repeating the order \"trust me\". One suicide
\nattempt was lured by these persuasive voices. He takes a few
\nseconds before answering any question or responding in a
\nconversation since he needs to fight off all this distraction.<\/p>\n
His older sister stated that it started when their mother died
\ntwo years ago from a short terminal illness that he and the
\nfamily were unprepared for. Erick, the youngest in the family,
\nwas close to his mother, who apparently spoiled him and the other
\nseven children. As she was illiterate and uneducated, she perhaps
\ndidn't see much importance in education so she let Erick drop out
\nof school during the fifth grade of elementary school. His older
\nbrothers did the same. Their father, who associated parental
\nresponsibility, dignity, social status and success solely with
\nmoney and hard work, blamed this and the fact that all his four
\nsons were \"irresponsible brats and junkies\" on his late wife. He
\nwas recently married to a woman younger than his oldest children
\nafter a three-month previous \"marriage\" with another woman.
\nSuppressing apparent anger toward his father, who Erick thought
\nhad little concern for his wife and children, self-destruction
\nwas an easy, if painful, way out and represented some form of
\nvengeance for him.<\/p>\n
Erick was basically obedient and sweet. Though he would rather
\nbe somewhere else than sitting in a small room doing nothing
\namong strangers, he didn't try to escape the program his sister
\nenrolled him in. He made an effort and claimed that he regretted
\nwhat he did in the past and wanted to change. But because he was
\nso restless, we had to separate him from the others and give him
\na special class on relaxation that allowed him to open up and
\ntalk about all his troubling thoughts. Under a mild hypnotic
\ntrance, he began to tell uncanny stories that referred to Kwan
\nYin, the goddess of mercy, in Mahayana Buddhist tradition. He
\napparently saw a mother figure in her, which was confirmed by his
\nsister who said that all the sons were ritually \"given away\" to
\nKwan Yin when they were children. He still prays to her, calling
\nher \"ma\", asking for help, comfort and protection.<\/p>\n
Understanding his devotion to the goddess, the other
\ninstructor, who also happened to be Buddhist, excused himself to
\nthe other non-Buddhist participants and gave him a mantra, which
\nreferred to Kwan Yin as one of the bodhisattvas, recorded on
\ncassette. A bodhisattva is a being that compassionately refrains
\nfrom entering nirvana, a state of cessation of the cycle of birth
\nand death, and thus all sufferings, in order to keep going back
\nto the world to help other suffering creatures achieve salvation.
\nThe mantra said \"Om mani padme hum.\" It was the mantra of great
\ncompassion. Literally, Om (the jewel in the lotus) and hum (a
\nTibetan who is typically an adherer to the Mahayana tradition)
\nmeans that all is well in the universe, and the force of good and
\nlove is everywhere, competent in helping all beings out of any
\ndifficulty.<\/p>\n
And the mantra worked. It was soothing and powerful at the
\nsame time. It was like a flood of water appeasing a raging fire.
\nIt effectively eliminated the distraction Erick was experiencing.
\nHe could now sit still and concentrate or quietly repeat the
\nmantra for 45 minutes -- or perhaps forever if we didn't stop
\nhim. He chanted nonstop at times, an \"idleness\" he previously
\ncould barely manage for more than 15 seconds. He became calmer.
\nWhat astonished me was after I, a skeptic then, recited the
\nmantra for awhile, I suddenly felt a surge of deep and
\noverwhelming emotion burst out of my chest and I couldn't stop
\nthe tears from streaming down my cheeks. For some inexplicable
\nreason, I could vividly feel the pain and suffering Erick, and
\nperhaps many others like him, were experiencing. I could feel
\nthe universal love and compassion of bodhisattvas who overcome
\ntheir self-interest for the sake of others. And this vision of
\nunconditional selflessness touched me to the very core. At one
\npoint I sensed Erick was quietly sobbing as well while chanting
\nthe mantra.<\/p>\n
Some Tibetans combine the mantra with a visualization in which
\nthey see the six jeweled syllables on a turning wheel in the
\ncenter of the heart, radiating rainbow-colored rays of the five
\nwisdoms to bless all beings throughout the universe. The stream
\nof the mantra connects with the constant vision of radiating
\ncolors and flows back and forth in the form of loving energy.<\/p>\n
Other mantras can also be used in the same way. If the mantra
\nis Jewish, Christian or Islamic, you can use it to create the
\nsame kind of positive stream in your mind. Surely you can combine
\nit with a visualization of Moses, Jesus or the word Allah.
\nSecularistic agnostics can even chant the word one, or perhaps
\neven something as mundane as thank God it's Friday repeatedly.
\nThe difference perhaps will be in the lack of faith and meaning,
\nand thus the positive energy associated with the act of chanting.
\nThe mantra can be in some cases, like Erick's, a powerful driving
\nforce in certain people of faith. Tibetans, whose lamas were
\nknown to be able to maintain a meditative state right to the end,
\nbelieve such a practice will be especially valuable in the
\nprocess of impending death. By learning to let it flow
\nautomatically, it will carry the spirit harmoniously through
\nrough spots in the passage of death and between transitions.<\/p>\n
The writer is the director of the Satori Foundation, a
\ncenter for study and development of human excellence through mind
\nprogramming and meditation techniques.<\/p>",
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