on December 21 | in Affirmations | by Matthew Catlett | with 11 Comments

In mantra meditation, you repeat a particular sound or short phrase again and again. This can be done out loud (chanting), in your mind, or in some combination of the two. In many spiritual paths, you cant just arbitrarily pick a mantra your spiritual mentor or guru assigns one to you according to your phase of spiritual development and then later changes it in intervals as you grow. In other forms of meditation, spiritual or not, you pick a mantra from a given list of phrases that are thought to resonate positively. Not all mantras work well for all people, and unless youre taking spiritual direction from a mentor you should feel free to try another.

Using a mantra while youre meditating helps suppress the thoughts and distractions that arise and gives you a tool to use when youre not meditating. Repeating a meditation mantra during times of stress, for many people, brings about some relaxation and helps them to better deal with whatever the crisis of the moment is. Depending on your belief system, the mantras may also do things like get you in touch with the true nature of the universe, help you spiritually closer to God, and/or activate energy centers.

Theres a lot of ways to meditate. Besides using mantras, you could also focus on your breath, music, a real object, a mental visualization, or nothing at all (Zen). If youre just starting out, dont feel like you have to start by picking a mantra you can start meditation shopping the different approaches. Many of the guided meditations are contemplative exercises for gratitude, cleansing, energy, and healing where its not a single idea that holds focus, but an exploration of concepts or guided imagery.

For that matter, even in mantra meditation you could pick nearly any short phrase and have the same sort of cleansing, buffering effect against the mental trivia that inevitably rises during meditation. Theres some serious hitters backing the idea of your mantra having no meaning:

Despite those three very hefty precedents, though, repeating something life-affirming and spiritual can add something positive to our consciousnesses. Theres abundant cultural heritage behind choosing something with meaning or else I couldnt supply you with this list, which just scratches the surface. Theres a ton more Hindu and Buddhist ones you could look at using, at least, and some people outside those paths just go directly to using the Lords Prayer or the name of God according to their religion of choice. My suggestion to you is that you simply explore to see what feels best for you, especially if youre just getting started.

Aum / Om

Ham-Sah / So Ham

Om A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

The Ego Self and New Beginnings 5 Christmas Prayers

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21 Mantras for Meditation - Programming Life