Mantras
Mantras play a most important part in the
Tantric discipline, just as sacrifices and hymns in the
disciplines of the Vedas, and the Puranas respectively.
The word MANTRA means, literally, ‘that which, when
reflected upon, gives liberation.’ The Mantra is the
sound equivalent of the Deity, that is to say, chit or Consciousness;
the external image is the material form of the Mantra.
The
sound-vibration is the first manifestation of chit and nearest
to it. It is really intermediate between pure consciousness
and the physical object, being neither absolutely immaterial
like the former nor dense like the latter. Tantra regards
vibration as a manifestation of the cosmic energy, or Sakti,
and teaches that as such it can lead to the realisation
of chit, which otherwise eludes the grasp of even an intelligent
person.
Thus Mantras are not mere words, but are forms of concentrated
thought of exceeding potency; they are revealed to the seers
in the hour of their illumination. The aspirant finds that
a Mantra and the deity with which it is associated are identical.
The deity being the illumination embodied in the Mantra.
To the ignorant, the vibration created by the Mantra is
only a physical phenomenon and the Mantra itself nothing
but a sound, but to the adept it is both illuminative and
creative.
Illumination is hidden in the Mantra, like a tree in a seed.
As soon this illumination is expressed, the Mantra becomes
endowed with a wonderful power and reveals the cosmic energy
latent in it. Tantra believes that some of the basic Mantras
have not been created by human brains, but are eternally
existent, and that through their repetition the aspirant
attains to perfection.
