Stephen Knapp - The Power Of The Maha-Mantra: What Is So Special About Chanting Hare Krishna

Mantra-Yoga:

A Necessity for this Age

Using mantras or prayers is a means of doing a number of things, depending on our purpose. First of all, it is a method to raise our consciousness and prepare ourselves for perceiving higher states of being. It can also help us enter into the spiritual dimension, or to invoke the blessings of the Divine. It is also a means to call on the positive energies to help us overcome obstacles, enemies, or to assist in healing our minds and bodies from disease or negativity. There are two basic kinds of mantras, those for spiritual and inner progress, and those for outer or more material needs. This little book is for only focusing on the means for spiritual progress, especially with the use of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra .

Concentrating on a mantra is also called mantra-yoga, especially when it is for our spiritual upliftment, or to unite us with the Supreme. Mantra-yoga, or the art of focusing on the sound vibrations in mantras or prayers, is actually a mystical tradition found in almost every spiritual path in the world. It may involve the softly spoken repetition of a prayer or mantra for one's own meditation, or it may be the congregational singing of spiritually uplifting songs, prayers, or sacred names of the Supreme Being. It all involves the same process, but in the Eastern tradition it is called mantra-yoga because it is the easy process of focusing our minds on the Supreme through His names, which helps spiritualize our consciousness. Man means the mind, tra means deliverance. Therefore, a spiritual mantra is the pure sound vibration for delivering the mind from material to spiritual consciousness. This is the goal of any spiritual path. Although all spiritual traditions have their own prayers or mantras, the Vedic Sanskrit mantras are especially powerful and effective in uniting us with the spiritual realm. However, a complete yoga process is generally a blend of a few yoga systems, such as ashtanga-yoga with bhakti-yoga, and bhakti-yoga with mantra-yoga. Therefore, some yoga systems also include mantra-yoga, or the process of concentrating on the sound vibration within a mantra. This is especially important in this age of Kali-yuga.

Many years ago the brahmana priests could accomplish many kinds of wondrous deeds simply by correctly chanting particular mantras. Many of these mantras still exist, but it is very difficult to find those who can chant them accurately. This is actually a safety measure because if the wish-fulfilling mantras were easily chanted, there would no doubt be many people who would misuse them. But other mantras that are available can easily help purify one's consciousness, give spiritual enlightenment, and put one in touch with the Supreme.

In Bhagavad-gita (10.25) Sri Krishna explains that He is the transcendental om mantra and that the chanting of japa (chanting a mantra quietly for one's own meditation) is the purest of His representations and sacrifices. It is understood that by chanting japa and hearing the holy sounds of the mantra, one can come to the platform of spiritual realization. This is the process of mantra-yoga. However, even though the mantra is powerful in itself, when the mantra is chanted by a great devotee, it becomes more powerful. This is also the effect when a disciple is fortunate enough to take initiation or diksha from a spiritually potent master who gives him a mantra for spiritual purposes. Then the disciple can make rapid progress by utilizing the mantra.