A foundational practice of all spiritual paths is to harness the mind in order to focus on Reality or Truth. The constant voice in your head is not you. The you that is YOU is not your mind. The you that is You is pure awareness, pure love and joy. How quickly the material world lets us forget our essential Truth. A mantra can help us pull back to our Truth.

“All teachings of Sages have one common Goal

They All teach the way to achieve self-control

The highest religion consists of just this:

To bridle the mind and in Truth become fixed.”

                                               —Atma Gita

Spiritual Practice to Calm the Mind

MANTRA

 

Mantra is a word or sound repeated to get control of the mind and aid concentration in meditation. Two of the mantras given in the Walt Baptiste Method of Raja Yoga are the simple words:

“Peace, Harmony, Well-being” or “Joy, Peace, Bliss”.

Or you may choose to repeat a name of the divine according to your wisdom tradition.

Choose a mantra and practice a daily round (108 repetitions) on your prayer beads (malas, pictured above). Hold the beads in one hand and finger each bead with thumb and finger as you perfectly repeat the mantra before going on to the next bead.

The cells of your body, and fluctuations of the mind will respond beautifully to these positively charged words. Repeat the words with feeling.

Remember to practice your mantra here and there throughout the day instead of unconsciously reacting to situations that life presents. Thus you will harness the mind and become the embodiment of what these words represent.