The seekers of Mantra Vidya – the philosophy and science of mantras, should first accomplish four prerequisites. These concern with the integrity and piety of character, strengthening of mental stability and concentration, refinement of vañi and awakening of faith and sraddha in divine disciplines and sentiments of goodwill, love and equality for all the living beings….Sincere attempts and determined pursuit for inculcation of these virtues is an integral part of all spiritual endeavours including the Mantra Sadhanas.
Different kinds of Yama-Niyama (yoga disciplines) and training practices are prescribed as essential lessons in the elementary phase of Mantra Vidya. The most important and common yama-niyama include – Brahmacarya; self-restrain over the tongue with respect to speech as well as eating habits; sincere attempts to abate the ego and selfish desires; creativity, active participation/contribution in social service with serene sentiments of love and compassion, respect for others, etc.
Thorough control over speech and thoughts, use of affectionate and respectful language in day-today conversation, practices of phonetics and music for proper pronunciation and for consistency of accents, rhythm, amplitude, and simple (elementary) exercises of Nada Yoga and Sabda Yoga provide substantial support in refining the Baikhari and the Madhyama Vañis. Strict observance of truth in every aspect of life is desired for further refinement of vañi and awakening of sraddha.
Belief in the existence of thy-love and thy-disciplines and hence in the divine principles and high moral values, and acceptance of the same through thoughts, deeds and inner emotions help arousal of sraddha hidden in the inner self. Sraddha is the ultimate support for one’s challenging struggle against his own vices and untoward samskaras during spiritual enlightenment. The holy Gita states – ‘Yo Yacchadhdayah Sa Eva Sah’ – meaning, one is what one’s sraddha is…..’ Sraddha and faith in the power of a mantra add specific force of consciousness in its sadhaka and thus activate his vañi with the consonant energy of Sabda.
The role of vañi is more obvious in the process of mantra-japa and so is the relation between sound and mantras. The realization of the power of sound has led to the advanced scientific developments of infrasonic to ultra- and supersonic applications in the present times. Noting that – the functional power of a mantra largely resides in its sonic configuration, it should be possible by scientific developments in related areas to use the suprasonic power of mantras and invent the constructive applications that appear ‘unimaginable’ today….
Our universe is a limitless ‘ocean’ of continuous flow of infinitely many energy-waves, of which, only a few – namely, the audible and the ultra and infra sound waves; ultra violet and infrared light rays; X-rays, Gamma rays, Lasers, Microwaves etc – have been discovered and utilized via the modern scientific research. The wavelengths of these waves measure in a wide range – from angstroms, microns and millimetres to centimetres and meters. The frequency (vibrations) and hence the energy and properties – of these waves also differ drastically.
The properties of ‘physical sound’ have significant relation with the five basic elements (panca tatvas) of Nature’s manifestation. For instance, the velocity (in ft/sec) of the sound waves propagated along the flow of air is about 1088; along the flow of water is about 4900; and along the vibrations in the earth is about 16400. The essential practices and rituals of Prañayama, Arghdana, Dipa–Dhupa and Havan – often prescribed along with the mantra–sadhanas – are indeed associated with the conditioning of mind for soothing effects of the sonic powers of the basic elements of air (vayu), water (jala), earth (prathvi) and sun, fire and heat (agni).
Our ears and the mouth (and the vocal- cord) play very important role in hearing and pronunciation of a wide variety of sounds and are therefore of significant importance in the experiments of Nada Yoga and Sabda Yoga. No transducer or any advanced technological device could be as sensitive and perfect as these ‘natural devices’ are. Our ears can simultaneously catch different frequencies of sound in the audible range. So efficient is their connection with the brain that, for a blind person, the ears also work like the eyes – a blind person can recognize different objects by sensing the latter’s sound (vibrations).
The relation of mind with the functioning of the ears is equally remarkable. At times, in absentminded states or because of the disinterest or indifference of our mind, we do not really hear – what the person sitting next to us is telling…! Whereas murmuring at some distant place can also be heard by us if our mind keenly concentrates there…. Such familiar experiences clearly explain the need of mental concentration and meditation during mantra-japa and other exercises of the Sabda and Nada– Yogas.
The importance of manasika-japa also is obvious in the above context. Although, a mantra is enunciated only mentally in this practice of Sabda Yoga, its (the mantra’s) vibrations are well received in the connecting sensors of the tongue and the ears and are hence registered in the brain as per its sonic pattern and the ‘mental signals’ of its sadhaka.
In the sadhanas of Nada Yoga, the ears are trained by deep meditation and willpower to grasp the otherwise non-audible sounds existing in the cosmic expansion. By such practices, the sadhaka, while performing the mansika-japa of a mantra, can hear (link his mind with) the subliminal sound of this mantra and can thereby attract the corresponding energy-currents of the omnipresent Sabda. This in short is the secret of the supernatural powers attainable by the mantra vidya.
Source: Eternity of Sound and the Science of Mantra
