In Mantra Yoga a person comes in touch with the mysticism of sound when he begins to see and understand; he begins to see that he gains power by sound, that in every vowel, word, composition, a certain effect or element is hidden, because life and the whole of manifestation is the outcome of what may be called vibrations. The scientist today says that life is motion, but the mystic has said so for thousands of years. At the same time he has worked with what the Hindus call Nada Brahma: sound-God or vibration-God. He has worked with life according to the law of vibrations, and has seen what great power vibration has. The whole of Mantra Yoga is based on this law of sound or vibrations. But this is a very big subject.
Hazrat Inayat Khan, In an Eastern Rose Garden
Indeed it is a big subject, but a vitally important one. And here we will only touch upon it.
A mantra (Pali: manta) or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्)[1] is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers. Some mantras have a syntactic structure and literal meaning, while others do not.
The earliest mantras were composed in Jain prakrit in India. At its simplest, the word ꣽ, ॐ (Aum, Om) serves as a mantra, it is believed to be the first sound which was originated on earth. Aum sound when produced creates a reverberation in the body which helps the body and mind to be calm. In more sophisticated forms, mantras are melodic phrases with spiritual interpretations such as a human longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action. Some mantras without literal meaning are musically uplifting and spiritually meaningful.
The use, structure, function, importance, and types of mantras vary according to the school and philosophy of Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. In Japanese Shingon tradition, the word Shingon means mantra.
Tantric Mantras
Tantric Hindu traditions see the universe as sound. The supreme (para) brings forth existence through the Word (shabda). Creation consists of vibrations at various frequencies and amplitudes giving rise to the phenomena of the world.
Buhnemann notes that deity mantras are an essential part of Tantric compendia. The tantric mantras vary in their structure and length. Mala mantras are those mantras which have an enormous number of syllables. In contrast, bija mantras are one-syllabled, typically ending in anusvara (a simple nasal sound). These are derived from the name of a deity; for example, Durga yields dum and Ganesha yields gam. Bija mantras are prefixed and appended to other mantras, thereby creating complex mantras. In the tantric school, these mantras are believed to have supernatural powers, and they are transmitted by a preceptor to a disciple in an initiation ritual. Tantric mantras found a significant audience and adaptations in medieval India, Southeast Asia and numerous other Asian countries with Buddhism.
Majumdar and other scholars suggest mantras are central to the Tantric school, with numerous functions. From initiating and emancipating a tantric devotee to worshiping manifested forms of the divine. From enabling heightened sexual energy in the male and the female to acquiring supernormal psychological and spiritual power. From preventing evil influences to exorcizing demons, and many others. These claimed functions and other aspects of the tantric mantra are a subject of controversy among scholars.
Mantras are not restricted to Eastern religions, though they frequently carry that association. The Western Abrahamic religions and the gnostic traditions of the west also have their versions of mantras and chants that can serve the same purpose as their Eastern brethren. Whether the phrase or word has meaning or not is actually irrelevant. Meaning can be helpful in some contexts, as it increases intensity and focus of the chanter, but selected syllables or even pure vowel sounds can serve the same function. The key point is that the phrase used as a mantra or chant must be capable of inducing an inner vibration in the aspirant. The vibration can lead to profound states of samadhi, or inner bliss and rapture, and permanent elevations of one’s spiritual capacity and expression. Much of the everyday language we use is not capable of providing this characteristic of vibration for most of us.
Examples of mantras in western cultures include the effective and heavenly “Hu” chant used by the Sufis of Islam as well as the Eckankar school in the West, chants and songs associated with the names of God and the Shekinah of Judaism, recitation of lines of Psalms, “Kyrie eleison” and “Maranatha” of the Christian tradition, selected verses of the Bible (e.g. John 3:16) and indeed, any of the words that may be used in conjunction with centering prayer can serve the same purpose.
Chants and mantras sung or toned seem to go deeper. It appears that the musical note acts as a sort of carrier wave to take the enunciation of the word or words deeper into the interior than it might otherwise go. Heartful meaning and intention granted by the chanter can serve the same function.
Via Perennis 