Meditating with a mantra is a way to ground attention in the here and now , an anchor in the present moment; something equivalent to meditation with the breath, plus a door that opens through the meaning of the mantra, or its vibration.Mantras are often in Sanskrit: Sanskrit is a sacred language, made up of syllables that have their own particular vibration and also the combination of syllables from a particular meaning to a word with respect to another.In short, it is a language, in quotes, “magic”; and every single sentence, every word, opens doors: it would therefore be useful to know the meaning of the mantra you want to choose.
Suppose you want to choose the word “om” for example: om is the primordial sound, the divine sound, the noblest part of ourselves to which we all aspire; and this is why it is combined with meditation.
I don’t love meditating with mantras very much, I do it every once in a while although it’s not my main standard, but sometimes I like to experiment; I have my favorite mantras, and om is my favorite.
Let’s open a parenthesis on how to choose a mantra.
The net is full of mantras, but I advise you to know its meaning; I noticed, in fact, that many people use a mantra without knowing what “key” they are using: imagine you have a key in your hand and you don’t know what to do with it, you only have it because someone told you to do it.
I find this approach very limiting, I advise you to go online and look for the meaning of that mantra; even if it is in a language, a little bit strange, like Sanskrit.
How to recite a mantra?
You can do it in a high or low voice but, in general, you do it mentally; however, if you are alone at home, it may be useful to recite it, at least for a while, aloud so as to experience what happens on a vibrational level.
To recite a mantra: you sit down, relax, bring attention to bodily sensations (I always start from there); you can anchor yourself to the breath, which is always a good anchor, and when you feel “centered”, having found the sensation of your body and your breath, you can introduce the mantra by repeating it, as you will tend to do generally, mentally inside yourself.
In meditation with the breath, when the mind wanders and goes away, you bring your attention back to the breath; in meditation with the mantra the same thing happens: try to keep the attention to the sound of the mantra, to its vibration; a vibration that will be more internal, if you repeat the mantra mentally, but you will see that, in some way, something happens.
Set a timer and, for the duration of the meditation, continue to recite the mantra; at the end of the meditation, gently break the mantra and return to the breath and the sensation of the body: and here you have done a beautiful meditation.
