Universal Mantra Meditation

This meditation comes from an ancient Indian text called the Malini Vijaya Tantra, which dates back about 5000 years. It is a very easy meditation, yet very powerful in its capacity to quiet your mind and connect you with your Essence or Inner Spirit.
 
This meditation uses a mantra as your object of focus. A mantra is a word or phrase that has the power to catalyze a shift into deeper, more peaceful states of awareness. The mantra most used for this meditation is: Aum. Aum does not have a literal translation. Rather, it is the essential vibration of the universe. If you were to tune into the actual sound of the cosmos, the perpetual sound of Aummm is what you would hear.

Although this mantra is sometimes chanted aloud, in this meditation, you will be repeating the mantra mentally... silently. Before we get to the actual steps, there are a few important points to be aware of.

• One of the keys to this meditation is repeating the mantra gently or faintly in your mind.


• The power of this technique comes from letting go and allowing your attention to dive into the deeper realms of awareness. Therefore, even though you will be focusing on the mantra, staying focused on the mantra is not the aim of this meditation. Trying too hard to stay focused would keep your attention from descending into the deeper realms. Instead, you will be repeating the mantra with "minimal effort", and giving your mind the space to wander a bit.


• Resist the temptation to make something happen, and allow the mantra to do the work.

• Sit comfortably, with your eyes closed and your spine reasonably straight.



• Begin repeating the mantra gently in your mind.



• Repeat the mantra at whatever tempo feels most natural. There is no need to synchronize the mantra with your breathing, but if this occurs naturally, it's ok.



• Allow the mantra to arise more faintly in your mind... repeating it with minimal effort.



• Continue repeating the mantra faintly, and allow for whatever happens.



• If at any time, you feel that you are slipping into a sleep-like or dream-like state, allow it to happen.



• If and when you notice that your attention has drifted completely off the mantra, gently begin repeating it again, and continue with minimal effort.



• After 10 or 15 minutes, stop repeating the mantra, and come out of your meditation slowly.