Meditation is the key that opens the mind and clears out obstacles in order for us to see what is pure, true, and all-knowing, to recognize our primordial nature and abide in emptiness and peace.
There are several meditation techniques that are all beneficial in their own way, depending on what one's purpose is. Most techniques guide you to empty your mind.
But because we have gathered so much karma, the mind is agitated and cannot focus. That is why meditating with mantra is an easier technique and it starts manifesting an early display of inner productivity and outgrow combined with a relaxed state of being.
Here are two methods to work with the mantra:
- Meditating by concentrating on the mantra, and avoiding outer thoughts, and working towards clearing the mind, unblocking it from the mass of karma that you accumulated. With time you shall observe that the mind becomes still and undisturbed, and you gain the power of will and presence.
- Meditating with mantra and observing thoughts that arise, without judging them or cataloging them as good, bad, by being completely detached from whatever may arise. This way you will understand that thoughts are just displays of negativity and agitation, and they are all mere illusions. Inner balance is acquired with practice and patience.
Focusing on the breath is another productive meditation method, for breath is the source of life. But focusing on the breath without having samadhi first, will cause various problems, that will take over as we do not have the mental and physical strength given by samadhi to handle them and see them as illusory.
The advantage of mantra is that you are able to practice it in the classic positions: lotus, half-lotus, or laying, but also while walking, doing dishes, cleaning, riding the subway/bus, in any given situation. Before an interview, exam, when scared, agitated or confused, when suffering from insomnia or any other distress or the quotidian. Often as you can, wherever you please and feel like. At first, it may seem hard to remember to do it, but with time it will all become a healthy habit.
Active meditation is very auspicious as we spend most of our lives in public places surrounded by people, engaging in active actions. Therefore integrating meditation with a mantra to our lives will change our entire existence. There are no excuses for not meditating and with the mantra, you can meditate in any situation. Focus on the mantra and recite it whenever, and as often as you can and you will see results within hours.
A more advanced level of meditation is by concentrating on whatever doubts you may have when looking for an answer. Meditating about higher questions of spiritual cultivation, on what the nature of mind is, about emptiness, consciousness, awareness, wisdom, and the five skandhas.
Meditate on the different situations in your life that you are uncertain about, all the answers are in your mindstream, with enough merit and after clearing the karma that lays a veil of fog onto our spiritual sight, we receive all the answers we are seeking from the mind (universe).
Meditate for the benefit of others, and countless benefits will arise.
Above spiritual cultivation, meditation can bring forward resources to cultivate the mind, and mindfulness to work towards attaining goals in life, the power to develop a strong body, and fresh, healthy habits.
Samadhi results from mantra practice. Your mind becomes still and concentrated, while mind-body flow spreads through the body, at which point you no longer lose it in day to day situations and gain presence leading to Samadhi (perfectly balanced concentration), which, being inner, empowers outer presence, and, in general terms, leads to improved performance (such as the state of flow described by athletes). Samadhi can be fully attained by practicing meditation with mantras. Samadhi is meditative absorption, and it is quickly reached by the practitioner as mantra eases and protects the mind, clearing it to attain Samadhi. Voice, which is the active wisdom that unites body and mind, is then blooming with insightfulness and will emerge from the root of pure inspiration, surging with intelligence, flow, and spiritual realizations, which are then mirrored in our productivity, achievements, and healthy future habits that are soon to mature.
The three following mantras can be used in any situation, the trio has countless benefits, Vajrapani protects and increases activity, Om Mani Padme Hum clears karma and eliminates obstacles, while Vajra Guru attracts wealth, and you gain full awareness. These are just a few of the qualities gained once Samadhi is attained. Below are the mantras with the complete description for each.
You can use mantra any place, any time while driving, walking, while at work, when in trouble, when feeling sick, when you need to relax or are in search for an answer, inspiration, or when you simply want to meditate and abide in emptiness and peace.
Vajrapani
Mantra of Peaceful Vajrapani: Om Vajrapani Hum Phat
Wrathful Mantra of Vajrapani: Hum Vajra Phat
In the union of the three highest aspects –compassion (Avalokiteshvara), wisdom (Manjushri), and power, Vajrapani is pure power, the ultimate energy of enlightened mind, and the union of the three qualities itself.
With flames like water, his endless transformative power blazes with ecstasy and destroys any obstacles and attachments. Vajrapani transforms hate into wisdom, and this karmic body, with its neurotic mess of entanglements, into Vajra awareness beyond any concepts.
Utterly indestructible and undefeatable, he is the Vajra champion that subdues any inner and outer demons, whether imagined, karmic, or real, or any possible combination thereof which gives rise to states, situations, or presences that are an obstacle.
Gaining Samadhi with the Vajrapani mantra, one instantly finds the strength to overcome the aggregated mess of obstacles that daily life often is, and builds a swift road to joy and freedom.
Vajrapani means Thunderbold in Hand, or Vajra Hand, where Vajra itself can be translated as Indestructible Diamond of Mind. Vajrapani also has another name, Guhyapati — Lord of Secrets, because he is the one who imparts tantric insight, but also because the Vajra itself is secret insight, it is the primordial nature of all beings, both hidden and always in plain sight, strong and indestructible like a diamond, active and immediate like thunder, peaceful and wrathful at once, but only becoming truly known once Mind itself is realized.
And Vajrapani is wrathful, in an unbridled, energetic way, deeply, powerfully wrathful, with all the non-conceptual wrath that is needed to bust through all of a human being’s problem. This wrath, however, should not be confused with karmic anger, with loss of control, or the inability to be peaceful and kind. It is a noble, stable, understanding wrath, an energy that needs no target, that needs not consume itself but is just pure presence, boundless potential ready to be unleashed, without restrictions as to the enlightened form it might take.
Vajrapani is both a noble friend and a noble adversary, and he doesn’t lose from either posture.
In other words, gaining Samadhi with the Vajrapani mantra is the guarantee for being able to perform in any situation, to be truly present and deal with any kind of energy, to accept both friendship and adversity, both good and bad, and master them all with kindness and power, transforming them into primordial good for everyone.
Beings have problems, inner and outer, and those problems lead to blockages, also inner and outer, and the mix of problems and blockages manifests as a terrible, continuous incompleteness, and as the feeling of incompleteness, and this — this manifests as everything else that is wrong in one’s life. Vajrapani instantly unites body and mind, empowering spontaneous completeness with limitless Vajra power, and from there, all blockages and problems are shattered, and all good qualities are free to grow and become active.
No negativity stands in front of Vajrapani, and his conquest of all negative states and aspects is relentless and fierce, his energy and endurance limitless, and his understanding and methods limitless. In short, he smashes anything in order to fully create happiness and success in all things.
His empowerment is felt most incredibly by those who are afraid, who lack courage and strength, who cannot act and are powerless, because they quickly become another caliber of being and find a destiny they thought lost, or perhaps one they never truly knew, because of problems and miseducation. And those who do have strength find that there is actually far more strength than they ever could have imagined and that it is far nobler than they ever would have dared to dream.
Vajrapani’s power is equalizing — it equalizes the differences between beings, their destinies, it equalizes power itself, in all ways, and kindness, in all directions, activity and stability, work and dreams, great auspiciousness and great dedication to the welfare of all beings, all of it suddenly present and utterly protected within the Vajrapani Samadhi.
Due to karmic blockages, most human energy is unconscious. The hidden energy of consciousness is often the most afflicted by suffering — this is where the pain and toxic reflexes accumulate, where the howl of stifled primal potential grows ever more tense and uncomfortable, and where the hooks of bad situations and relationships — of human past and social karma — are most deeply sunk in. Change, real change, requires being able to deal with this baggage. But this does not merely mean having a big enough engine, because the because isn’t truly baggage, it needs to transform into the engine itself, to become usable and beautiful, it needs to claw it's way back to human form and fulfill its own destiny. It needs to become awake, energetic, the nature of change itself.
There is a karmic body, the body of accumulated tendencies and substances, of ignorance and uncontrollable impulses. And there is a Vajra body, which is primordial, essential, the simple indestructible presence of Mind, right here and now, the matrix which contains the structure of the karmic body, which all its flows of blood and energy and matter, its organs and bones and consciousness systems. Vajrapani unleashes the Vajra body directly, with the fearless intuitive power that is the right of every being, smashes through accumulated mental and physical karma, destroying consciousness dysfunctions and physical illness with the force of great compassion and the infinite courageous enlightened energy of Mind.
He is the fierce raw face of the reality that can overpower all inner demons, granting unobstructed progress on the spiritual path and good relations with all beings.
And what are the aspects manifesting out of Vajrapani’s immense power? His endless growth, like his body, spans the Dharmadhatu, the blue realm of the real, which contains the five distinguishing features or aspects: body, speech, mind, qualities, and activities of all the Buddhas.
The 1000th and the last Buddha to appear in this fortunate eon, Vajrapani will appear after the 999 Buddhas of this eon have left and he has promised to teach everything that the 999 Buddhas would have taught.
According to the Tantra of the Supreme Origination of Vajrapani: “If the disciple renders one obeisance to Vajrapani, he attains more merits than he would have secured through rendering numerous obeisances to myriads of Buddhas as many as the total grains of sands in ninety-two million Ganges Rivers… If he relies on Vajrapani as his Yidam Buddha and recites the Mantra, he will surely be protected by Vajrapani from all hindrances. No demons can hurt him, all illness will be cured, his merits will be increased and prosperity augmented. All his wishes will be fulfilled. Thus, the benefits of practicing this ritual are beyond description, nothing can afflict those who practice it. The practitioner of this ritual will also accomplish all the four activities — Pacifying, Enriching, Magnetizing, and Wrathful. He will encounter no obstacles. Therefore, one should always rely on Vajrapani, take him as one’s shelter and refuge. Also, those who have chronic diseases will be cured by reciting the Mantra of Vajrapani. “
Vajra Guru Mantra
Mantra: Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum
“Any sentient being who sees hears, or thinks of the mantra will definitely be established among the ranks of the male and female Awareness Holders.”
These are the words of Padmasambhava, the benefits of the Vajra Guru Mantra.
“However, in such times as those, this essential Vajra Guru mantra — if recited with vast bodhicitta aspiration in great sacred places, in monasteries, on the peaks of high mountains and the shores of vast rivers, in places inhabited by gods, demons and evil spirits, at the heads of valleys, geophysical junctions and so on — with unbroken Samaya, vow-holding monastics, faithful men, women of fine qualities, and the like, however, many times — one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, ten million, one hundred million, etc. — will bring inconceivable benefits and powers. Countries everywhere will be protected from all plague, famine, warfare, armed violence, poor harvests, bad omens, and evil spells. Rain will fall on time, harvests and livestock will be excellent, and lands will prosper. In this life, future lives, and on the pathways of the bardo, fortunate practitioners will meet me again and again — at best in actuality, or else in visions, and at the very least in dreams. Having gradually perfected the levels and paths, there is no doubt that they will join the ranks of male and female Awareness Holders in Ngayab Ling.
“Even one hundred recitations per day without interruption will make you attractive to others, and food, wealth, and enjoyment will appear effortlessly.
If you recite the mantra one thousand, ten thousand, or more times per day, you will bring others under your influence with your brilliance, and blessings and powers will be continuously and unobstructedly obtained.
If you perform one hundred thousand, ten million or more recitations, the three worlds will come under your power, the three levels of existence will fall under your glorious sway, gods and spirits will be at your bidding, the four modes of enlightened activity will be accomplished without hindrance, and you will be able to bring immeasurable benefit to all sentient beings in whatever ways are needed.”
If you are unable to recite the mantra, use it to adorn the tops of victory banners and prayer flags; there is no doubt that sentient beings touched by the same wind will be liberated. Otherwise, carve it on hillsides, trees, and stones; after they are consecrated, anyone who merely passes by and sees them will be purified of illness, spirit possession, and obscurations. Spirits and demons dwelling in the area will offer wealth and riches. Write it in gold on pieces of indigo paper and hang them up; demons, obstacle-makers, and evil spirits will be unable to harm you. If you place the mantra upon a corpse immediately upon death and do not remove it, during cremation rainbow colors will flash out and the consciousness will definitely be transferred to the Blissful Realm of Amitabha. The benefits of writing, reading and reciting the Vajra Guru mantra are immeasurable. For the benefit of sentient beings in the future, write this down and conceal it. May it meet with those of fortune and merit.
Om Mani Padme Hum
Mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum
It’s very short, so it can be practiced by anyone anytime, in any situation, and it eases everything balances relationships, and removes negativity. In general, it radiates compassion, both outward and inwards, but you can also say it radiates its own essence (heart essence), and this essence permeates situations and places, and in time, it permeates one’s own destiny. Also, in general, mantras lead to Samadhi (perfectly balanced concentration), which, being inner, leads to outer presence, and in general terms, improved performance (such as the state of flow described by athletes).
It has the benefit of being extremely powerful in balancing one’s presence and generating good activities, purifying and pacifying and stabilizing everything, removing negative states in one’s being, in others, and in the environment, and it opens the heart. Also, because it is so short, it is very easy and natural to practice, and easy to get samadhi ( perfect balanced concentration) with it, which allows the other benefits to flow freely.
Love,
Teodora
