Mantras

The Mother stated that repeating a mantra can be a very powerful form of spiritual practice.  The mantra can be in any language, but will be most effective if it arises from the soul of each individual in a spontaneous and intuitive way.  She often used the mantra “Om Namo Bhagavate,” when she was working on transforming the cells in the body:

“I saw that the mantra has an organizing effect on the subconscient, on the inconscient, on matter, on the cells of the body, all that — it takes time, but through repetition and persistency, in the long run it has an effect. It has the same effect as doing daily exercises on the piano, for example. You repeat them mechanically and in the end your hands are filled with consciousness — it fills the body with consciousness.”

Sri Aurobindo was a poet and master of the English language.  He understood that writing can be made mantric, which is why he wrote in long, rhythmic sentences that convey not only the idea but also the consciousness of the yogic truths he describes.  All of his writings and poems are mantric, but his greatest work was Savitri, an epic poem in which he raised the English mantra to its highest level of expression.  To read Savitri is a spiritual practice in itself.  This is why we have a weekly reading of Savitri, followed by meditation, which has been ongoing in Boston for almost 50 years now