Om Swami - The Hidden Power of Gayatri Mantra

Published by Jaico Publishing House
A-2 Jash Chambers, 7-A Sir Phirozshah Mehta Road
Fort, Mumbai - 400 001
www.jaicobooks.com

Om Swami

THE HIDDEN POWER OF GAYATRI MANTRA
ISBN 978-93-88423-24-3

First Jaico Impression: 2019

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.

Why This Book

I once read a beautiful story that really touched my heart.* A master and his disciple were seeking alms and they stopped by a small house. Whether the tiny size of the house was more worthy of ones notice or its dilapidated condition was anyones guess.

Praise the Lord! the master hollered and knocked on the door. Weve come for alms. There was no response from anyone who might be inside that one-room house. Bheeksham dehi, he said in a loud voice again and waited for another minute. No one came out. In line with their tradition, he made a third and final call. Soon, a little girl came running out.

Sorry, master, she said, but we have nothing to give you.

The monk looked at her lovingly and said, Dont say no, my daughter. Can you give me a handful of dust from the ground?

Dust? she said, surprised.

Yes, a handful will do.

Obliging the master, the girl bent down, took a bit of mud from the ground and put it in the masters bowl. He blessed her and walked away with his disciple. The disciple was both intrigued and upset. Intrigued because he thought his masters action was absurd, and upset for their tradition permitted alms from one house only on any given day. Who eats dust? Will have to do with water today. My masters lost his mind or what?

Why, master? he said, unable to control his curiosity. What are we going to do with dust? We could have just visited the next house and gotten proper alms.

My son, the master said, by remaining hungry, today we have transformed one life.

The disciple couldnt make sense of this statement while the master continued speaking, I introduced her to the joy and merit of charity. Aaj dhool di hai, kal phool bhi degi. (Today she learned to give a handful of earth, one day, shell give a flower too.)

So it is with sadhana, the path of elevating your life and others by continuously purifying yourself. Today if you undertake a basic spiritual practice, overcome a small hurdle, tomorrow youll be able to take on a more advanced one, handle bigger challenges. Since my last book on mantras, I have met over 1500 people in one-on-one meetings and more than 3000 in groups. A common issue, even complaint, is that what I wrote in that book is daunting, to say the least. Some of the steps were not clear, they said. That, its very hard to muster the courage to undertake intense sadhana. That, if I could recommend just one sadhana, which one would it be. And finally, if I could give them a simpler method, something that appears more within reach, it would motivate them.

It made me think and like the monk in our story, I thought if I could introduce you to a simpler (read easier) way of sadhana today, then who knows, tomorrow you may feel confident and motivated to take on something more intense. After all, when you go to learn music from a teacher, not every student spends his time learning ragas, some just want to be able to sing or play simple songs and find joy in that.

Ive written this book with the view that at least I should introduce you to the power, rewards and joy of sadhana. For instance, once you know how to play/sing a few songs, you may feel inclined to go deeper. In doing so, I am still expounding on the thirty-six core steps of sadhana as well as giving you the much shorter method of using only seven key steps. You can undertake whichever you like more based on your temperament, schedule and goals. Both ways are almost equally rewarding, one being more immersive than the other.

Thank you for trusting me; it is the basis of my inspiration and writings. As always, in this book too, I share with you the truth as I know it. Even for a moment I dont forget that my utmost duty is not to fascinate you with tall claims of something out there, something supernatural, but to share with you the miracle of whats inside us naturally. This discovery is just as beautiful, empowering and liberating.

Lets take a walk.

* I have paraphrased this story a bit but I first read it in Kadve Pravachan by Muni Tarun Sagar, the famous Jain monk.

Why Gayatri Mantra

Where should I begin? Although I have chosen the path of meditation in my own life, much of what I know, if not all of it, is attributable to the grace of Divine Mother. In this day and age, when we are conditioned with Western thought, it is natural to question the efficacy or the relevance of mantras.

I can tell you from my firsthand experience that the power of mantras is one, immense; two, real; and three, accessible. When we listen to music, we can hear the harmony within it and we know that certain chords, melodies, rhythms and scales can evoke certain emotions in us. This is regardless of whether we know how to sing, play an instrument or read music notation, etc.

As a listener, listening to music can make you cry, it can make you laugh and so on. Similarly and its not just a metaphor: it is very real whether or not you know it, the sound of mantras can bring alive long-forgotten memories in you. Tendencies, feelings, emotions, knowledge, wisdom, powers and siddhis you have been carrying within yourself over lifetimes can be evoked and invoked with the power of a mantra.

The abiding dilemma in Sanatana Dharma is, what is that one supreme energy one should tap into? People ask me this all the time that there are so many gods or forms of God, to whom should we pray? Most fascinatingly, even in a religion as diverse as Sanatana Dharma, with as many sects as stars in the sky (okay, maybe not as many), theres one Vedic mantra that has been widely recognized as the quintessential mantra of our dharma.

Even though Im calling Sanatana Dharma a religion commonly known as Hinduism it is actually not a religion but a way of life, a manner of thinking. Therefore, in Indias ancient or medieval history, you will never find an episode of two kings or states going to battle just because they prayed to a different form of God. It is quite remarkable that in a country with tens of languages and hundreds of dialects, a country with extraordinary cultural and historical diversity, where states were eternally fighting territorial and political wars, there had never been any persecution in the name of religion. Thats because Sanatana Dharma allowed peaceful co-existence of contradictions.

Wherever you might have been in this beautiful country, through any period in its several millennia-old history, Sanatana Dharma has stood on four pillars Gau, cow; Gita, the Bhagavad Gita, which means the Song of the Lord, and is our scripture; Ganga, Mother Ganga; and Gayatri.

Adi Shankaracharya wrote in Bhaja Govindam, Gaiyam gita naam sahasram, dheyam shripati roopamajasram, neyam sajan sange chitam, deyam deen janaye chavittam.

The purpose of human life is fourfold. Gaiyam gita naam sahasram; Shankaracharya urges that whenever your mind has a moment to spare, chant the holy names, sing the divine glories and express your gratitude to the Divine. (Its better than gossiping, sulking or speaking ill of anyone.) Because, as you have heard in my earlier discourses, nothing gives you strength like gratitude, happiness and inner peace. Happiness is a direct outcome of your gratefulness. The more grateful you are, the happier you will feel.