Meditation is an essential tool for self-transformation and spiritual development. One of our goals is to make meditation available to all people free of charge. Specially trained teachers give personal instruction in the process of mantra meditation. While we offer group instruction from time to time, the primary mode through which meditation is taught is individual instruction. In this way the unique needs of each student can be best addressed and mantra can be given that is best suited to that individual.
This science of mantra meditation originated many thousands of years ago. The form in which we practice today was refined for modern practitioners. Mantra meditation involves concentrating on the idea – the feeling – of bliss or infinite happiness. If we could truly grasp the ultimate Bliss or Ananda in Sanskrit, we would already be Self-realized. So that positive thought is introduced into the mind through the sound vibration and meaning of a mantra. Man means “mind,” and tra means “that which liberates.” So mantra means a word or phrase which “liberates the mind.” The ancients discovered that sound actually has a powerful effect on the mind. So the internal sound of a mantra is the most powerful way of concentrating the mind. It concentrates the mind on a particular idea – the idea (or rather feeling) of infinite peace and happiness.
The mantra has three qualities which empower it to do that:
- Pulsative: It flows rhythmically with the breath so as to deepen one’s peaceful state.
- Incantative: Everything has a particular vibration. You like music with a congenial vibration to your own. You like someone when their vibration suits your own. The mantra also has a particular wavelength, and that wavelength vibrates the mind with the feeling of infinite happiness – bliss.
- Ideative: “As you think, so you become.” This powerful psychological principle is the mainstay of meditation. If you think negatively, your life will be negative; if you think positively, your life will be positive. We are continually in the process of becoming the object of our ideation. So the meaning of the mantra is vital. It must be the most uplifting ideation; the most positive of thoughts. Again: infinite happiness; perfect peace and contentment – bliss.
In order to receive instruction in meditation from a qualified instructor, you need only contact our center. Again, there are no prerequisites, you need not hold any set of beliefs or provide financial compensation. Only a sincere interest in and willingness to try the practice meditation is asked of you.