Reacting to circumstances is an ADDICTION

Reacting to circumstances is an ADDICTION, and the addict can not find the desired end state, satisfaction, in temporary things.

Learn how to master your state, understanding that you are the only consciousness, and know what is an addiction vs what is a “desire”

Working in addiction, detox and relapse prevention, I discovered something. I found that the addict’s cravings and needs are deeper, because the void is deeper. The void is deeper because the spirituality of the addict is deeper. The addict among us can’t drown their pain with relationships, with food, or with the usual ways, so they reached for something heavier. Their void is deeper, and as a part of balancing forces, their spirituality is deeper. Noticing these ways that people reach for a fix, in their own way, has made me clearly understand that any disempowered relationship to any outer substance, person, or behavior, is in its own way, an addiction. The concept of “reacting to circumstances” that LOA brings up, is at its core, a call to take your power back. Nothing outside of self has any power over us, unless we assign power to it. The power to make us feel better. This is the exploration of todays post. Master your state, NO MATTER WHAT.

The deeper need is a deeper need for LOVE, for affection and for CONNECTION. A need for acceptance, a need for being seen and heard, but most of all, the need for the bliss of spiritual awakening, and oneness. This need is not obvious to the addicts, or even to most people, it is revealed to us as we go through life, either as we achieve all our dreams and still have a yearning for something, or as we encounter difficulties that force us there. But the shortcut is to go straight there. Seek first the kingdom!

Along with this need we also have the need for relating harmoniously with loved ones, especially with our partner, and, especially, but also, for harmoniously with all of humanity. Relating in a way that is not based on FEAR and DREAD, with a sense of anxiety or a sense of pressure. “I’m afraid”, “I’m afraid that I will be hurt”, “I’m afraid that you will leave me”, “I’m afraid that I will be ridiculed”, “I’m afraid to outright admit to myself what my true desires are because I might never get them”, and so on.

We have hardwired into us, the need for love that is based on the depth of connection, a love that is based on the BEAUTY of ATTACHMENT. Our cultures have had us depart quite far from this, so most people seek other things as a means to GET this connection that we need. We seek money, fame, success, beauty, and all sorts of other things that are supposed to give us love and connation. This depth of love and connection can happen in the heart that is comfortably aware of being love itself, of being continuously connected through the heart, to the divinity, at all times. It doesn’t happen through manipulation.

In this post I will talk about addictions to things, specific situations, specific person, to having things your way, and to love or relationships, and fear, anxiety, anger or ego driven demands on people, and how this is caused by an addiction to circumstances.

Love is the ultimate desire, in its unconditional and awakened form. Even if a person is unaware of this desire at this time, this is the ultimate desire for all.

In certain states of mind, this desire is replaced with the desire for things or people. This is such a common state of mind that we accept it as the norm, but we are not staying stuck in that stale old state of mind, we are on a path of discovering our divine nature.

Beginning this journey of recovering from reacting to circumstances goes through four steps:

1) love and empathy for self 

2) loving others 

3) loving the whole.

4) Understand that you are being loved by the divine, and the divine sees no division.

The summary is simply love, as a universal and unconditional force, but we begin with considering that we ourselves are part of that love.

A love that is based on the depth of connection….

A love that is based on the beauty of attachment….

Has your culture caused you to deny yourself this simple, human, desire for true harmonious connection?

The Law Of Assumption, as the current name is for these teachings of manifesting, manifesting with awareness, and understanding that our inner reflects out as our experience, forces us to look at things very differently. These teachings are eye opening, it is the bridge between spirituality, the physical experience and psychology. In some ways LOA is The missing piece. But without understanding that the unconditional love for the whole is always everyone’s true nature, whether we are aware of it in our current state, or not, this practice can make the addiction worse. The greatest reward for the happiness of discovering the nature of love, is happiness and love itself. If the only reason you hold yourself back from realizing, and from admitting your desires, is that you will not get them, listen, this is all for you. If you are chasing circumstances as if they had power to trigger you, this is for you.

Reflected consciousness:

By now, you all know about the mirrored consciousness, EIYPO, at least if you have been following this blog. Everything and everyone is a reflection, a mirror of our own consciousness. Nothing in this world is not a mirror. In your experience, you are grappling with your own reflected consciousness. In the world, we are grappling with the reelection of each others relationships. If everyone started by healing within, and then healing their relationships, and then healing THEIR view of the world, we would experience “Eden”. We all individually have the power to experience our own “Garden of Eden”. You might understand this on an intellectual level, but today we will bring this understanding into the heart space as well, because THAT is where we can personally experience our “garden of Eden” our ” kingdom of heaven”. The mind and the heart can be light years apart, so bridging this distance creates the fulfilment that you are seeking. But how?

Oneness.

Oneness between you and God.

Oneness between mind and body.

Oneness between your animal instincts and your divine nature.

Oneness between yourself and all of humanity.

How?

There is one way to experience oneness and it is to become present, and to become present you must feel your own emotions, it is much easier not to feel them, to run from them. To overeat instead. To put all your focus on a specific person instead. To strive to keep up with the Joneses instead. To have a drink. To over exercise. To create an artificial sequence of events that becomes a MUST to feel relief. But all behaviors that lead outward, away from your own heart, ultimately leads away from our desired experience oneness. There is a deep bliss inside of all of us, but it is hidden under the pain of yearning in most.

These behaviors are an addiction. Not only substances and clearly negative destructive behavior is an addiction. Any dependence on the VOID, which is what the circumstances are , is an addiction.

The circumstances are the void.

There is no other void.

The world is a mirror forever reflecting what you are doing within yourself

Neville Goddard

Our divine nature located within the heart, and our divine nature is felt as satisfaction, and fulfillment, and bliss.

To not experience the void, or the feeling of being lost, to not experience knee jerk reactions and being triggered, it is necessary to turn our attention around to the heart, and this requires us becoming present. The more present, the more you will be able to experience bliss and fulfillment. You have heard this before, being present, but how?

You can’t go from a fear based relationship (to the world, or to your SP) unless you get in touch with your emotions. Getting in touch with your own emotions happens in the present moment. If you want a relationship to the world that celebrates love and connection with every neuron, then you can’t suppress and reject who you are. This doesn’t meant “sitting” with your emotions, and it doesn’t mean “purging”. It means to be present with yourself.

Manifesting is all about being present.

Manifesting is NOW.

What are you afraid of?

Ask yourself, “What do I want, what do I yearn for?

What do I need?

Don’t bury yourself under hypocrisy or spiritual bypassing.

Don’t use LOA as a means to gaslight yourself.

If you do, it will always backfire on you. Why? Because you ARE reflected consciousness, and your own lack of empathy for YOURSELF will be shown to you through your circumstances. It is like Neville said:

“Those that go searching for love only make manifest their own lovelessness, and the loveless never find love, only the loving find love, and they never have to seek for it.”

D.H Lawrence

― D.H. Lawrence

(Actually it was D. H. Lawrence that said it, but Neville quotes him.)

WE have the power to change, and by that change, our lives change. We change by understanding that states of consciousness, or states of mind contains the current experience, and a state can be changed. A change of state brings with it a change of emotions, thoughts, behaviors and so on. By changing state, the reflection also changes. The reflection is the circumstances. This is why the circumstances are the void, there is NOTHING there, it all begins within. You can learn this “the hard way” or you can choose to explore it right here and now. You are free, and have been given free will to change state at a moments notice. Nothing is required from you first.

Why is it that reacting to circumstance is an addiction?

Circumstances are YOUR mirror,

Chasing a circumstance is like chasing a mirage in the desert, it just keeps disappearing, It isn’t really there. When we seek happiness in circumstances it is the same way, the happiness just keeps disappearing, because it isn’t really there. The happiness is within, and if you seek for it there, it naturally reflects out. The reflection of happiness is cast from its own source, a source that is shining through us, and reflects onto the screen of space. Like a projector in an old school movie theater. The light bulb in the projector is our consciousness, and the movie showing is our inner that shines onto the screen of space. Behind all that, in the little room that holds the projector and the movie reel, sits a person who is operating the projector. This person does not fall for the seeming reality of the movie, he has seen it hundreds of time. THIS is your true nature. Be this person, and know that you can change the movie reel if you want to.

Attempting to change your life by becoming dependent on a certain set of circumstances, is like believing that the movie is real.

Seek first the Kingdom of God means to be aware at all times, that a lightbulb is shining a light through a projector, and to keep your focus on that.

If you DON’T “seek the Kingdom first”, then you are falling for the seeming reality of a movie.

You are chasing a mirage.

A hologram.

Another way of saying this is “Let Go”.

“When something really really really matters to you, LET IT GO!

Say to the universe:

” You know what I want. Give it to me in the path of least resistance. Give it to me the easiest way as possible.”

-Abraham Hicks

Let go of believing that circumstances have power.

You have to “love” yourself first, BUT, Yourself is the I am that creates the circumstances. The void. This self does not refer to the ego self. The egos self creates divisions, creates more circumstances, and if you try to “love yourself” from that standpoint, you have to first split yourself into two, first create a self to love, and a self that loves, otherwise, how do you love yourself? This just creates more division, and not a greater experience of oneness. Instead, just think of LOVE in a greater sense, and know that the greater love, applies to all, and that includes you.

Again: The four step thought process:

1) love and empathy for self .

2) loving others .

3) loving the whole.

4) Understand that you are being loved by the divine, and the divine sees no division.

To make this concept more accessible, and less esoteric, I will clarify how this is different from “self love”.


Everyone has their own unique definition of love, and it is related to our state of mind, our level of consciousness. I don’t use the term self love for that very reason, there are too many interpretations of love. LOA is based on the nonduality teachings of for example Vedanta, Kabbalah, and Tantra and so on, which are all teachings that transcend the concepts of the mind.

Transcending is: Love based in consciousness, not mind.

Imagine that a nondual spiritual teaching is based on oneness.

Love thy neighbors as thyself because the neighbors is thyself. Not only that, the neighbor is God. So self love is really JUST love. But a love that encompasses ALSO yourself. Imagine that you might feel love for someone else who has made a mistake, now imagine that the same love also includes yourself. You also get compassion and empathy if there is a mistake made, or if you have flaws in your personality.

When for example a person who has not had a transcendent awakening experience, is told to self love, they think of their ego self, the part of self that causes the split and the division among all of humanity in the fist place. THIS DOESN’T WORK, because THIS self, the EGO self, wants love from others, noy from self. When a person who has had an awakening experience thinks of “loving self” , they can’t because ALL is self. That is the transcendent oneness experience. There is no self from that state of consciousness, so remember that when you hear the term “self love”. All is self, and there is no self. Love is all.

It is necessary to transcend the egoic concept of self in order to experience, on an internal level, what oneness feels like, and love is all that there is from that state of consciousness.

On an egoic level, self love is yet another divide. One part of self that tries to love another part. Lets’ make the distinction now, so that you can move go through the four steps of recovering from addiction to circumstances. Instead of thinking “self love” think GRREATER love that encompasses you as well.

The word “love’ is enough in and of itself, there is no need to talk about “self love”. Just love.

If you are hurting. Love.

If your are craving. Love.

If your have been rejected, love.

If you have been cheated on, lied to and betrayed, love.

Imagine if a baby is sad and crying, you juts apply love. Love and soothing comfort, but you don’t create a division in your mind about “the baby” “I have to love the baby”. You JUST love. I want this to really sink in, because people feel a lot of confusion around the “self love” concept, and rightfully so. This is why I don’t usually use this term.

Rather than self love, just use the word love, and use it the way it would be used if an infant was crying. This way it is innate in you, a universal, instinctual and unconditional love. Just love. Whatever the problem may be, still, just love. FOR the hurting part. All parts are mistakenly identified as parts, but they are part of a whole.

When the “self love” topic is discussed, the intention is to put the oxygen mask on self first, no other mental gymnastics is needed. Fill your own cup, so that you can share from a full cup.

Today, we often hear about self care as well, and this comes down to the very basics, it isn’t harder than that. Self care is not a course you sign up for, it is not a 10 card at a hot yoga studio, although it CAN be those things too. Self care is taking a shower every day. Self care is paying the bills on time. Self care is having your own income, and going to work, or showing up for your own business as scheduled. Self care is being present with your own emotions and having empathy for yourself. Holding space for yourself.

Self care is showing empathy for your self when you are in pain, when you are crying, when you are angered, when you are jealous.

These are actionable steps, not an esoteric lofty idea of “self love”.

Showing empathy for yourself means that you give yourself space to feel the way a human feels.

What does empathy mean? It means that instead of saying “what is wrong with you“? You say: “What happened to you to make you feel this way“?

Do you blame and shame yourself?

Apply love towards the shame, and have empathy for yourself for having been hurt. Those are actionable steps of showing love.

You must have empathy for yourself before you can have empathy for another, you can never have empathy for another unless you have it for yourself, the only thing that will happen is that when they go though a difficult time, and they feel unseen, or unheard, or unloved by you and they bring it up, it will trigger your own wounds and you will respond in defensiveness. It is that simple. You will be triggered by their unhealed wounds because you refused to heal your own.

You are god, God is self. But if you are addicted to a certain type of circumstance, then you are an unhealed Godself who has built a wall around your heart. And the heart is your only access point to your Godself. You created a separation from you and your divinity, and also a separation from everyone that you want to feel a connection with.

There is no one to change but self: that self is simply your awareness, your consciousness and the world in which it lives is determined by the concept you hold of self.

Neville Goddard

Empathy for self

If you don’t create space for your pain, you will have no space for their pain.

If your SP is triggering you badly, watch what is happening in your heart and soul, and your nervous system and create space for you to heal this, Before you react to them, make sure that you have taken the log out of your own eye.

If YOU can’t go from your reptilian, limbic system brain, to your divinity, how will you show love and empathy? If you are in your reptilian brain there is no way that you can tune into the frequency of your divinity. Two different states. Do you want to develop relationships that are not based on fear?

The divine state is transcendent.

It is still a state. A state of mind, an attitude of mind, a state of consciousness.

If you are in survival mode you tune into rational or irrational consciousness. But, you can not tune into transcendent consciousness. You’ll be defensive. Angry. Afraid. Full of dread.

When you are triggered there is a tiger in the room, and it has you cornered. A wild animal has cornered you.

Some of you try to apply affirmations or techniques from that state, or you try to meditate and use all these techniques to feel better but when you are triggered, those methods don’t work. If there was a real tiger attacking you right now, would you think, “Oh, I should say my affirmations right now”? No, you would run.

When for example, your girlfriend, who is your third girlfriend since your very painful divorce that you still haven’t recovered from, asks you about how to make the combined Christmas Hannukah plans, and you get triggered, it isn’t because she is a horrible person, just like your ex wife, and all those others, no it is because you haven’t had self empathy, so you haven’t allowed space for yourself to heal from a childhood filled with trauma around divorce and holidays where you were unheard unseen, forgotten, or used as a pawn. That is what TRIGGERED is. An unhealed wound within. Suddenly you react as if there is a wild tiger attacking you and you destroy this relationship too. THEN you want to manifest that “your girlfriends conforms to you” and you start with your affirmations…. because that is the toxicity that LOA has provided you with, and it is just easier, to believe that you are a puppet master, that SHE doesn’t have FREE WILL, than to you take the log out of your own eye. THIS is why REACTING to CIRCUMSTANCES are an ADDICTION. You create a false sequence of events that is crafted so that you will never have to face your own wounds, and heal them by having empathy for your own painful experience.

It is a behavior pattern that you employ as a defense, INSTEAD of healing.

Just like reaching for alcohol, is a defense that has been created INSTEAD of facing the situation.

Eventually this has become habitual.

The remedy is:

To heal your own wounds by giving space to yourself and having empathy for what you have been through

You are possibly from a generation that swept everything under the rug so maybe you don’t even know what I am talking about. So you decide that “making your SP conform” is the way to go.

NOW, Your heart is even more walled off from yourself, and your reptilian self has a mountain between itself and your divine self. You are addicted to the circumstances “never triggering you“, because you are to afraid to feel what you are actually feeling, and too afraid to admit to what you are actually wanting: A deeper connection, to be seen, to be beautifully attached, and to feel a strong loving need for someone that you can depend on to be there for you and with you no matter what has happened to you in the past. Someone who doesn’t say “what is wrong with you”, but rather: “what happened to you to hurt you so?”. That someone also has to be you. You ,for yourself, before you can be that for someone else. THAT is self care. That is empathy for yourself. THEN, your inner reflects out very differently. As compassionate and empathic. THEN when you bump into a mirror image of unhealed wounds, you will not be triggered. You have learned a new skill. Empathy for yourself, and that leads to empathy for others.

So what am I saying with this?

Don’t be afraid.

Don’t be afraid of broken places.

Don’t be afraid of broken people, even if they are your relatives, even if they are your parents’ or children. Even if it is your sp.

Don’t be afraid of your own brokenness.

Don’t be afraid of broken souls.

Don’t be afraid of confronting broken places.

The divinity in you is greater than all of that, and heals everything as you allow for the divinity enter into your consciousness.

Godself does not have to be a puppet master, Godself has free will and gives free will. Because he doesn’t need to control.

We like to see wholeness, and positivity, but we are always confronted with brokenness. How we meet this brokenness, is how we dealt with our own hurt.

When we create space for ourselves to be healed, we give space to our loved ones to do the same, and you develop the courage to believe in the dream of the heart.

If you can look your SP in the eyes and really hold space for their triggered pain, becoming and empathetic witness for their pain then you can become a catalyst for their healing. This where magical healing can take place, but it starts with your self. THIS has nothing to do with making your SP conform. THIS is you understanding that LOVE is what makes us all one. An it has NOTHING to do with violating your own boundaries, or letting an SP walk all over you.

Real love is an emotion that intensifies throughout life. Creating this takes courage.

Toxicity

LOA has in some ways become a community of toxicity, there is nothing painful allowed to exist. Only peace, and perfection. Only abundance and “getting “what you want. Hiding wounds. Again, this is covered up with the concept of “self love”, but, whilst gaslighting yourself. Again, imagine the crying infant, and whatever you would NOT do to that infant, do not do it to you, or to your sp.

There is no separation.

The illusion of separation begins as soon as we believe ourselves to be separate from one another and separate from God. There is no one part of yourself that has to love another part of self. It is JUST love. Expansive, unconditional love. Not constricting, conditional love.

Your circumstances are a perfect holographic reflection, a projection of your inner world, and an addiction is any belief in any circumstance person or substance outside of yourself as having any power over you. Nothing has power over you, your state has no power over you. You always has the power to change states.

 

A belief hat the circumstance is separate from us is our first mistake

Mistake number two is that we give the circumstance the power over us.

This is what an addiction is in a nutshell. A belief that something has POWER OVER US. It can be alcohol, or drugs, or sex or smoking. Those are recognized forms of addiction, but there IS NO OTHER addiction, no matter how specific we get besides giving power away. Is it gambling? Same thing. Is it a need from your SP to NEVER TRIGGER YOU? Same thing.

Point Blank there is no other addiction than “giving power away” to a sequence of events that is supposed to momentarily cover our unhealed self.

The hands down easiest LOA technique is an NLP version of Neville Goddard’s imaginal scene, it is called switching. In short, you face a reaction within you, and this causes an active imagination of a negative sequence of events that you believe will happen, but before you allow that imagination to spiral, you take charge, and replace it with an image of your ideal self. I can talk more about this if you guys want me to. The image should have no content, it is an energy of how you feel when you experience your self as your ideal self. This switching technique don’t work so well for unhealed people who are used to suppressing every emotion, so before you master manifesting you have to get honest.

Step two, love others.

The LOA puppet master community that teaches nonsense like “making someone conform”, whilst forgetting that God would never need to do that. God always knows that as within, so without. And…how can someone else truly love you if you are s full of yourself? If you are “Gods gift to humanity” how can love even exist?

We are all God in human form, literally God. Not just you. No one will ever love you as much as you love yourself. Sure. This is being taught all over the place. But if you stop there, you might as well skip love and romance and marry yourself. Why bother being with someone then?

How can you ever truly love someone else and how can they ever truly love you? There is a difference between selfish love and selfless love. If all you want is to have your own needs met, eventually, this love will fade. If they always try to “get something from you, but they reject your needs, eventually this love WILL disappear. If there is a limit to the discomfort that you will go through from you SP your love will be fleeting.

Life long love has to be selfless. Please get this. Unless you bring in the divinity within, within you and WITHIN THEM this type of life long selfless love can not be experienced.

This is why LOA, even though being the PERFECT TOOL for experiencing this life long, deep love, often lead you down the wrong path. Instead of believing this, coaches lead you astray, and make the teachings less, by telling you that “sp will conform to you”. You can continue believing this as long as you want to, but you’ll come back when you have disappointed yourself enough times, wondering what else you can do.

Step 2 in the recovering your addiction to circumstances is LOVE OTHERS , not control others.

Let’s get back to the basics before we end this sequence.

You manifest what you are not what you want.

So in the state of addiction, what are you?

You are needy , you are craving,  you are desperation. 

In the state of the divided egoic “self love” what are you manifesting? A mirror image of the same. MAYBE nobody can love you exactly the way you love yourself, but MAYBE, another person, your SP, has something else to show you, a different love, something that will grow you and expand your heart? Maybe this is how your love can deepen.

If you use LOA as a means to control your circumstances, you will be on a constant search for love, forever unfulfilled, so EVEN THOUGH, the fist step is love and empathy for self, THE SECOND STEP is LOVE OTHERS AS THYSELF.

You matter, what you think and feel and say matters, but so do others.

Step two is love others as if they were yourself, because they are yourself, we are connected as one, and seeing and experiencing this truth has to start somewhere, and what better place than with the one you love? Try to become utterly selfless, give to them, carry them trough their hard times, and don’t let them down. This is step two, and not step one, because unless you have experienced the ability to have empathy for yourself you will not be able to love another person this way. You will recoil at the very idea.

MANIFESTING is the recognition that your inner reflects outward. WHY would you then be afraid to fully love and deeply commit to love? The only reason is because you haven’t healed on the inside and you know that your unlovingness is going to be reflected back to you.

In order for something to work long term, it has TO BE long term. It takes five to seven years just to build and establish trust, according to studies. We see love has an instant emotion, mostly thanks to movies and pop-culture, but when that fades, we blame the other.

The inner reflects out. Why are you still blaming circumstances, why are you still blaming others? Why are you still chasing the high of infatuation FROM ANOTHER. Establish now, that you WILL experience a life long love that grows deeper and more and more intimate over time, not the other wat around.

 

When you have understood and started to apply empathy towards your self, and you begin to genuinely experience fearless empathy to wards your SP, you have tipped the scales. Your dominant energy has become love.

Take this to heart. It is real, and it is what you need to hear.

An addiction wants to keep the addiction going. 

It is the nature of the addiction to want to keep it going. 

An alcoholic wants his alcohol. 

A drug addict wants his drugs. 

A sex addict wants his sex. 

An unhealed person wants their partner to provide them with their needs.

An unhealed person wants to never be triggered.

If you are in a relationship and you a giving but you are not getting your needs met, or you want marriage but you are actually afraid of marriage at the same time:

Example:

“I am scared that I will be seen as inferior.”

Children who are criticized, learn that only those who are brilliant, or beautiful, or talented are worthy of love. Even though they may dream of love, and meeting someone who will love them exactly as they are, still think that the only people who can or would love them exactly as they are would have to a be a complete idiot or a total looser. WHY would I want a person like that? This fear when unhealed means that yo can ATTRACT love, go on dates, have short term relationships with a GREAT person but the fear is that eventually, they will find out about you. You won’t be able to keep up the appearances and they will leave you. So what do you do? you keep people at a distance, this way, others will not discover the awful truth about you.

Come back to step one, empathy for self, what would you say to yourself if this was you? Or if someone else came to you and asked what they should do, what would you tell them?

1. You can fake it till you make it, pretend that you have high self esteem, role play with yourself.

2. Pick a qualities you ARE sure about that is good about you. There is at least one quality about yourself hat you know for a fact, is good, and is also true. Feel into the state of knowing this truth, and superimpose that feeling onto your low self esteem.

This is LOA. This is shifting state. It is using the imaginal scene, without content, with only an image of your ideal self.

Remember that nobody is prefect, and you don’t have to be either, and you can be loved BY THE ONE YOU LOVE.

There are so many beliefs and messages that we receive about marriage and relationships and this is the only thing that you have to solve. Just sit down with yourself for a while and really get to the bottom of your belief, and then decide to change that. Don’t ‘try”, there is only doing.

If you feel that you are giving more than you are receiving that simply means that you stopped loving. In a real lifelong relationship there is no longer any such thing as selfish love, you have taken the step to embrace the divinity with you and them, now you have to live and love by that choice. Love thy neighbor as thy self. AS THYSELF. This is why we went over how important it is to embrace a love that encompasses yourself.

“I’m scared of the unknown”

“What if” scenarios can run rampant. To overcome this face your fears and embrace the unknown. Decide to do all the things that you are afraid of, (except for dangerous things obviously). Change the unknown into “adventure” and” playfulness“, and decide to keep an open mind.

Do all these healing things OUTSIDE of the relationship. In your mind, take yourself out of the relationship, always do this when you work through your issues, otherwise your work is only done with an ulterior motive. There is nothing WRONG with having an ulterior motive, and there is nothing wrong with doing healing work together, but the result won’t happen in the same way. Work empathically with yourself, for yourself, and your results will be real and quick.

Always go straight for the “end”. meaning, do not qualify one manifestation on another. If you want happiness, just go straight to happiness, for example.

(By the way, it is impossible to manifest bad or evil things, I’ll just throw that in here, universal law prevents evil from manifesting because it belongs to the “mirage” to the void. I won’t go into that anymore here, but keep it in mind. Florence Scovel Shinn had an affirmation: “Evil is unreal, and leaves no stain”.) So

“I’m scared to marry someone less than I”

This is what I call the “vacation poster” manifester. People more and more are raise to believe that no one is good enough for them, they have been showered in self esteem, which is great, but nobody can ever be good enough. There might be physical perfectionism, “they are not beautiful enough” or emotional perfectionism, or even spiritual perfectionism, they believe that they are “the elite”, and it is if they are already married to this ideal. the vacation poster.

The truth is that love requires vulnerability, and manifesting only happens in the now. Now is the appointed hour. Becoming present is very hard for a perfect specimen, for Gods gift to mankind.

They are married to a fantasy, and they want nothing else. If you are perfect, and nobody is good enough for you, choose only three things that you can’t live without. A sense of humor, kindness, or whatever it may be, and loosen up on everything else.

Vow to be vulnerable in all your interactions, and to seek in your own heart for how you feel. Do an exercise that is just for you, write down one thousand things that you demand from your potential partner, that they must have and be for you to consider them, and then throw that list out.

Realize how absurd it is. Keep your list of three must haves, and rather than creating a “vacation poster” ideal of love, feel into how you would feel if you were in the arms of your soulmate. How does your heart beat, how does it feel to inhale the scent of him or her, what does it feel like when they look into your eyes with love. This is your ideal.

(There are so many more ways our beliefs can be opposite of what we want, these were just a few.)

Loving the whole

There are so many ways that we build walls against love, and instead of examining these walls and tearing them down, we look for substitutes to love, and this is where our fear of circumstances are created.

Don’t fear tearing down these walls.

When you are addicted to circumstance it is just like a substance addiction, but it is a behavior and an outcome that activates you, learning how to turn your focus around to your divinity instead, is “seeking the kingdom” and you will have all those things added unto you. What this means at its core, is that if you seek only your own divinity, everything that you ever wanted will be yours anyway, but NOT the things that are “evil”, “harmful”, or “bad”, because those things belong to a mirage. The mirage is held in place by our beliefs alone, without our attention they vanish.

When your attention is focused on the NEED for a circumstance, you are simultaneously incapable of even wanting to manifest the thing that you truly want the most, because you cannot even see it. You can only see that if you turn your attention around and notice only your divinity.

You can’t focus on both circumstances and your own divinity at the same time, it is one or the other, this is what “You cant serve two masters” mean. Remember the analogy of the old school movie reel in the theater? You can not look at the screen and the light bulb at the same time. It is one or the other, and as soon as you get absorbed in the movie, it becomes real. It is not real, but you immediately get absorbed in the story. If you turn around and look at the lightbulb in the projector, the movie doesn’t seem real anymore.

If you keep your eyes on circumstance, you can’t see your divinity, and if you keep your attention on your divinity, you never fall for your circumstance.

When you’re keep your attention on your own inner divinity, located within your heart, you might experience bliss, or “God-state”. When you experience bliss, you are incapable of wanting to manifest something that is to your detriment, or something that you do not truly want, or something that is not the most ultimate of your desire, you are only capable of wanting to manifest what is in alignment with your truest deepest divine self. People call this “alignment”. It is an autopilot to manifest all your desires.

When you are in a state of addiction to circumstance, also notice the incredible urgency with which you will want to manifest your next fix, even if it isn’t good for you! 

If this addiction is to a certain behavior from a specific person and a relationship, notice when you’re feeling bad how desperate you are to manifest anything, even a text message, your desperation is enormous and you will be compelled to try to manifest a text message.

 Listen you do not want a text message. 

You want love, depth, and the beauty of commitment, a life long happiness. Go straight for manifesting the happiness.

Come off your addiction by following the steps outlined in this program.

1) love and empathy for self 

2) loving others 

3) loving the whole.

4) Understand that you are being loved by the divine, and the divine sees no division.

 Manifest bliss, “God state ” And then and only then manifest love, and when you’re in God state you will know what to do, automatically, and you will automatically know how to assume the state of being that ideal state of love already, it will come to you as a flash of inspiration. There are no manifesting steps in the world that can replace this.

Alignment first.

Inspiration follows.

If you are addicted to your circumstances, then step one is always.

Love and empathy for yourself. Follow that by:

2) loving others as thyself.

3) loving the whole, because there is no separation, we are as one consciousness, and division is unreal.

4) Understand that you are being loved by the divine, and the divine sees no division, and ultimately, it is as if you are being loved through. You realize that you are merely a receiver of divine love, there is no limit to divine love and you can never run out. Who you are, manifests and “out-pictures itself”. This aligned state of consciousness feels very active and vibrationally “high” and this is what Abraham Hicks calls “the high flying disc”. Many people who have not gone through the first three steps CAN find the high flying disc, but they very easily get bumped off, and fall of of it. You will feel much safer and much more stable on the high flying disc as you learn how to hold space for healing self and others.

manifest mAGAZINE

Tantra’s relationship to the Law Of Assumption

Chapter Twenty-four | Shakti and Shakta

Shakti as Mantra (Mantramayi Shakti)

This is in every way both a most important, as well as a most difficult, subject in the Tantra Shastra; so difficult that it is not understood, and on this account has been ridiculed. 

Mantra, in the words of a distinguished Indian, has been called “meaningless jabber”. When we find Indians thus talking of their Shastra, it is not surprising that Europeans should take it to be of no account. They naturally, though erroneously, suppose that the Indian always understands his own beliefs, and if he says they are absurd it is taken that they are so. Even, however, amongst Indians, who have lost themselves through an English Education, the Science of Mantra is largely unknown. 

There are not many students of the Mimamsa now-a-days. The English-educated have in this, as in other matters, generally taken the cue from their Western Gurus, and passed upon Mantravidya a borrowed condemnation. There are those among them (particularly in this part of India), those who have in the past thought little of their old culture, and have been only too willing to sell their old lamps for new ones. Because they are new they will not always be found to give better light. Let us hope this will change, as indeed it will. Before the Indian condemns his cultural inheritance let him at least first study and understand it. It is true that Mantra is meaningless — to those who do not know its meaning; but to those who do, it is not “Jabber”; though of course like everything else it may become, and indeed has become, the subject of ignorance and superstitious use.

 A telegram written in code in a merchant’s office will seem the merest gibberish to those who do not know that code. Those who do may spell thereout a transaction bringing lakhs of “real” Rupees for those who have sent it. Mantravidya, whether it be true or not, is a profoundly conceived science, and, as interpreted by the Shakta Agama, is a practical application of Vedantic doctrine.

The textual source of Mantras is to be found in the Vedas (see in particular the Mantra portion of the Atharvaveda so associated with the Tantra Shastra), the Puranas and Tantras. The latter Scripture is essentially the Mantra-Shastra. In fact it is so called generally by Sadhakas and not Tantra Shastra. And so it is said of all the Shastras, symbolized as a body, that Tantra Shastra which consists of Mantra is the Paramatma, the Vedas are the Jivatma, Darshanas or systems of philosophy are the senses, Puranas are the body and the Smritis are the limbs. Tantra Shastra is thus the Shakti of Consciousness consisting of Mantra. For, as the Vishvasara Tantra (Ch. 2) says, the Parabrahman in Its form as the Sound Brahman (Shabda-Brahman or Saguna-Brahman), whose substance is all Mantra, exists in the body of the Jivatma.. Kundalini Shakti is a form of the Shabda-Brahman in individual bodies (Sharada-Tilaka, Ch. 1). It is from this Shabda-Brahman that the whole universe proceeds in the form of sound (Shabda) and the objects (Artha) which sounds or words denote. And this is the meaning of the statement that the Devi and the Universe are composed of letters, that is, the signs for the sounds which denote all that is.

At any point in the flow of phenomena, we can enter the stream, and realize therein the changeless Real. The latter is everywhere and is in all things, and hidden in, and manifested by, sound as by all else. Any form (and all which is not the Formless is that) can be pierced by the mind, and union may be had therein with the Devata who is at its core. It matters not what that form may be. 

And why? What I have said concerning Shakti gives the answer.

 All is Shakti. 

All is Consciousness. 

We desire to think and speak. This is Iccha Shakti. We make an effort towards realization. This is Kriya Shakti. We think and know. This is Jñana Shakti. Through Pranavayu, another form of Shakti, we speak; and the word we utter is Shakti Mantramayi. For what is a letter (Varna) which is made into syllables (Pada) and sentences (Vakya) ‘? It may be heard in speech, thus affecting the sense of hearing. It may be seen as a form in writing. It may be tactually sensed by the blind through the perforated dots of Braille type. The same thing thus affecting the various senses. 

But what is the thing which does so? The senses are Shakti, and so is the objective form which evokes the sensation. Both are in themselves Shakti as chit Shakti and Maya Shakti, and the Svarupa of these is chit or Feeling-Consciousness. 

When, therefore, a Mantra is realized, when there is what is called in the Shastra Mantra-Caitanya, what happens is the union of the consciousness of the Sadhaka with that Consciousness which manifests in the form of the Mantra. It is this union which makes the Mantra “work”.

The subject is of such importance in the Tantras that their other name is Mantra Shastra.

 But what is a Mantra? Commonly Orientalists and others describe Mantra as “Prayer,” “Formulae of worship,” “Mystic syllables” and so forth. These are but the superficialities of those who do not know their subject. 

Wherever we find the word “Mystic,” we may be on our guard; for it is a word which covers much ignorance. Thus Mantra is said to be a “mystic” word, Yantra a “mystic” diagram, and Mudra a “mystic” gesture. But have these definitions taught us anything? No, nothing. Those who framed these definitions knew nothing of their subject. And yet, whilst I am aware of no work in any European language which shows a knowledge of what Mantra is or of its science (Mantra-vidya), there is nevertheless perhaps no subject which has been so ridiculed: a not unusual attitude of ignorance. 

There is a widely diffused lower mind which says, “what I do not understand is absurd”. But this science, whether well-founded or not, is not that. Those who so think might expect Mantras which are prayers and the meaning of which they understand; for with prayer the whole world is familiar. But such appreciation itself displays a lack of understanding. For there is nothing necessarily holy or prayerful alone in Mantras as some think. Some combinations of letters constitute prayers and are called Mantras, as for instance the most celebrated Gayatri Mantra.

A Mantra is not the same thing as prayer or self-dedication (Atma-nivedana). Prayer is conveyed in the words the Sadhaka chooses. Any set of words or letters is not a Mantra. Only that Mantra in which the Devata has revealed His or Her particular aspects can reveal that aspect, and is therefore the Mantra of that one of His or Her particular aspects. 

The relations of the letters (Varna), whether vowel or consonant, Nada and Bindu, in a Mantra indicate the appearance of Devata in different forms. Certain Vibhuti or aspects of the Devata are inherent in certain Varna, but perfect Shakti does not appear in any but a whole Mantra. 

All letters are forms of the Shabda-Brahman, but only particular combinations of letters are a particular form, just as the name of a particular being is made up of certain letters and not of any indiscriminately. 

The whole universe is Shakti and is pervaded by Shakti. Nada, Bindu, Varna are all forms of Shakti and combinations of these, and these combinations only are the Shabda corresponding to the Artha or forms of any particular Devata. The gross lettered sound is, as explained later, the manifestation of sound in a more subtle form, and this again is the production of causal “sound” in its supreme (Para) form. 

Mantras are manifestations of Kulakundalini (see Chapter on the same) which is a name for the Shabda-Brahman or Saguna-Brahman in individual bodies. Produced Shabda is an aspect of the Jiva’s vital Shakti. 

Kundalini is the Shakti who gives life to the Jiva. It is she who in the Muladhara Chakra (or basal bodily center) is the cause of the sweet, indistinct and murmuring Dhvani which is compared to the humming of a black bee. 

Thence Shabda originates and, being first Para, gradually manifests upwards as Pashyanti, Madhyama, Vaikhari (see post). Just as in outer space, waves of sound are produced by movements of air (Vayu), so in the space within the Jiva’s body, waves of sound are said to be produced according to the movements of the vital air (Pranavayu) and the process of in and out breathing. 

As the Svarupa of Kundali, in whom are all sounds, is Paramatma, so the substance of all Mantra, Her manifestation, is Consciousness (chit) manifesting as letters and words. 

In fact, the letters of the Alphabet which are called Akshara are nothing but the Yantra of the Akshara or Imperishable Brahman. 

This is however only realized by the Sadhaka, when his Shakti generated by Sadhana is united with Mantra-Shakti. kundalini, who is extremely subtle, manifests in gross (Sthula) form in differing aspects as different Devatas. It is this gross form which is the Presiding Deity (Adishthatri Devata) of a Mantra, though it is the subtle (Sukshma) form at which all Sadhakas aim. Mantra and Devata are thus one and particular forms of Brahman as Shiva-Shakti. Therefore the Shastra says that they go to Hell who think that the Image (or “Idol” as it is commonly called) is but a stone and the Mantra merely letters of the alphabet. It is therefore also ignorance of Shastric principle which supposes that Mantra is merely the name for the words in which one expresses what one has to say to the Divinity. If it were, the Sadhaka might choose his own language without recourse to the eternal and determined sounds of Shastra. (See generally as to the above the Chapter on Mantra-tattva in Principles of Tantra, Ed. A. Avalon.) 

The particular Mantra of a Devata is that Devata. A Mantra, on the contrary, consists of certain letters arranged in definite sequence of sounds of which the letters are the representative signs. To produce the designed effect, the Mantra must be intoned in the proper way, according to both sound (Varna) and rhythm (Svara). For these reasons, a Mantra when translated ceases to be such, and becomes a mere word or sentence.

By Mantra, the sought-for (Sadhya) Devata appears, and by Siddhi therein is had vision of the three worlds. As the Mantra is in fact Devata, by practice thereof this is known. Not merely do the rhythmical vibrations of its sounds regulate the unsteady vibrations of the sheaths of the worshiper, but therefrom the image of the Devata appears. 

As the Brihad-Gandharva Tantra says (Ch. V):

Shrinu devi pravakshyami bijanam deva-rupatam

Mantrochcharanamatrena deva-rupam prajayate.

Mantrasiddhi is the ability to make a Mantra efficacious and to gather its fruit in which case the Sadhaka is Mantra-siddha. As the Pranatoshini (619) says, “Whatever the Sadhaka desires that he surely obtains.” Whilst therefore prayer may end in merely physical sound, Mantra is ever, when rightly said, a potent compelling force, a word of power effective both to produce material gain and accomplish worldly desires, as also to promote the fourth aim of sentient being (Chaturvarga), Advaitic knowledge, and liberation. And thus it is said that Siddhi (success) is the certain result of Japa or recitation of Mantra.

Some Mantras constitute also what the European would call “prayers,” as for instance the celebrated Gayatri. But neither this nor any other Mantra is simply a prayer. 

The Gayatri runs Om (The thought is directed to the three-fold Energy of the One as represented by the three letters of which Om is composed, namely, A or Brahma, the Shakti which creates; U or Vishnu, the Shakti which maintains; and M or Rudra, the Shakti which “destroys,” that is, withdraws the world): Nada and Bindu, Earth, Middle region, Heaven (of which as the transmigrating worlds of Samsara, God, as Om, as also in the form of the Sun, is the Creator). 

Let us contemplate upon the Adorable Spirit of the Divine Creator who is in the form of the Sun (Aditya-Devata). He directs our minds, towards attainment of the four-fold aims (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha) of all sentient beings. Om. 

This great Mantra bears a meaning on its face, though the Commentaries explain and amplify it. 

The Self of all which exists in the three regions appears in the form of the Sun-god with His body of fire. The Brahman is the cause of all, and as the visible Devata is the Eye of the World and the Maker of the day who vivifies, ripens and reveals all beings and things. The Sun-god is to the sun what the Spirit (Atma) is to the body. He is the Supreme in the form of the great Luminary. His body is the Light of the world, and He Himself is the Light of the lives of all beings. He is everywhere. He is in the outer ether as the sun, and in the inner ethereal region of the heart. He is the Wondrous Light which is the smokeless Fire. He it is, who is in constant play with creation (Srishti), maintenance (Sthiti) and “destruction” (Pralaya); and by His radiance pleases both eye and mind. Let us adore Him that we may escape the misery of birth and death. May He ever direct our minds (Buddhivritti) upon the path of the world (Trivarga) and liberation (Moksha). Only the twice-born castes and men may utter this Gayatri. 

To the Shudra, whether man or woman, and to women of all castes, it is forbidden. 

But the Tantra Shastra has not the exclusiveness of the Vaidik system. Thus the Mahanirvana provides (IV. 109-111) a Brahma-gayatri for all: 

“May we know the Supreme Lord. Let us contemplate the Supreme Essence. And may the Brahman direct us.” 

All will readily understand such Mantras as the Gayatri, though some comment, which is thought amusing, has been made on the “meaningless” Om. 

I have already stated what it means, namely, (shortly speaking) the Energy (Nada) in Sadakhya Tattva which, springing from Shiva-Shakti Tattva, “solidifies” itself (Ghani-bhuta) as the creative Power of the Lord (Bindu or Ishvara Tattva) manifesting in the Trinity or Creative Energies. For further details see my Garland of Letters. “Om” then stands for the most general aspect of That as the Source of all. As it is recited, the idea arises in the mind corresponding with the sound which has been said to be the expression on the gross plane of that subtle “sound” which accompanied the first creative vibration. When rightly uttered this great syllable has an awe-inspiring effect. 

As I heard this Mantra chanted by some hundred Buddhist monks (one after the other) in a northern monastery it seemed to be the distant murmuring roll of some vast cosmic ocean. 

“Om” is the most prominent example of a “meaningless” Mantra, that is, one which does not bear its meaning on its face, and of what is called a seed or Bija Mantra, because they are the very quintessence of Mantra, and the seed (Bija) of the fruit which is Siddhi (spiritual achievement). These are properly monosyllabic. Om is a Vedic Bija, but it is the source of all the other tantric Bijas which represent particular Devata aspects of that which is presented as a whole in 0m. 

As a Mantra-Shastra, the Tantras have greatly elaborated the Bijas, and thus incurred the charge of “gibberish,” for such the Bijas sound to those who do not know what they mean. Though a Mantra such as a Bija-mantra may not convey its meaning on its face, the initiate knows that its meaning is the own form (Svarupa) of the particular Devata whose Mantra it is, and that the essence of the Bija is that which makes letters sound, and exists in all which we say or hear. 

Every Mantra is thus a particular sound form (Rupa) of the Brahman. There are a very large number of these short unetymological vocables or Bijas such as Hrim, Shrim, Krim, Hum, Hum, Phat called by various names. Thus the first is called the Maya Bija, the second Lakshmi Bija, the third Kali Bija, the fourth Kurca Bija, the fifth Varma Bija, the sixth Astra Bija. Ram is Agni Bija, Em is Yoni Bija, Klim is Kama Bija, Shrim is Badhu Bija, Aim Sarasvati Bija and so forth. 

Each Devata has His or Her Bija. Thus Hrim is the Maya Bija, Krim the Kali Bija. The Bija is used in the worship of the Devata whose Mantra it is. 

All these Bijas mentioned are in common use. There are a large number of others, some of which are formed with the first letters of the name of the Devata for whom they stand, such as Gam for Ganesha, Dum for Durga.

Let us then shortly see by examples what the meaning of such a Bija is. (For a fuller account see my Garland of Letters.) In the first place, the reader will observe the common ending “m” which represents the Sanskrit breathings known as Nada and Bindu or Candrabindu. These have the same meaning in all. They are the Shaktis of that name appearing in the table of the 36 Tattvas given ante. They are states of Divine Power immediately preceding the manifestation of the objective universe. The other letters denote subsequent developments of Shakti, and various aspects of the manifested Devata mentioned below. 

There are sometimes variant interpretations given. Take the great Bhuvaneshvari or Maya Bija, Hrim. I have given one interpretation in my Studies above cited. From the tantric compendium, the Pranatoshini, quoting the Barada Tantra we get the following: 

Hrim = H + R + I + M. 

H = Shiva. 

R = Shakti Prakriti. 

I = Mahamaya. 

“M” is as above explained, but is here stated in the form that Nada is the Progenitrix of the Universe, and Bindu which is Brahman as Ishvara and Ishvari (Ishvaratattva) is described for the Sadhaka as the “Dispeller of Sorrow”. 

The meaning therefore of this Bija Mantra which is used in the worship of Mahamaya or Bhuvaneshvari is, that that Devi in Her Turiya or transcendent state is Nada and Bindu, and is the causal body manifesting as Shiva-Shakti in the form of the manifested universe. 

The same idea is expressed in varying form but with the same substance by the Devigita (Ch. IV) which says that 

H = gross body,

R = subtle body, 

I = causal body 

and M = the Turiya or transcendent fourth state. 

In other words, the Sadhaka worshiping the Devi with Hrim, by that Bija calls to mind the transcendent Shakti who is the causal body of the subtle and gross bodies of all existing things

Shrim, (see Barada Tantra) is used in the worship of Lakshmi Devi. 

Sh = Alahalaksmi, 

R = Wealth (Dhanartham) which as well as 

I = (satisfaction or Tushtyartham) 

She gives. 

Krim is used in the worship of Kali. 

K = Kali (Shakti worshiped for relief from the world and its sorrows). 

R = Brahma (Shiva with whom She is ever associated). 

I = Mahamaya (Her aspect in which She overcomes for the Sadhaka the Maya in which as Creatrix She has involved him). 

“Aim” is used in the worship of Sarasvati and is Vagbhava Bija. 

Dum is used in the worship of Durga. 

D = Durga. 

U = protection. 

Nada = Her aspect as Mother of the Universe, and Bindu is its Lord. The Sadhaka asks Durga as Mother-Lord to protect him, and looks on Her in her protecting aspect as upholder of the universe (Jagaddhatri). 

In “Strim.” 

S = saving from difficulty.

 T = deliverer. 

R = (here) liberation (Muktyartho repha ukto’tra). 

I = Mahamaya. 

Bindu = Dispeller of grief. 

Nada = Mother of the Universe. She as the Lord is the dispeller of Maya and the sorrows it produces, the Savior and deliverer from all difficulties by grant of liberation.

 I have dealt elsewhere (Serpent Power) with Hum and Hum the former of which is called Varma (armor) Bija and the latter Kurca, H denoting Shiva and “u”, His Bhairava or formidable aspect (see generally Vol. I, tantric Texts. Tantrabhidhana). He is an armor to the Sadhaka by His destruction of evil. 

Phat is the weapon or guarding Mantra used with Hum, just as Svaha (the Shakti of Fire), is used with Vashat, in making offerings. The primary Mantra of a Devata is called Mula-Mantra. 

Mantras are solar (Saura) and masculine, and lunar (Saumya) and feminine, as also neuter.

 If it be asked why things of mind are given sex, the answer is for the sake of the requirements of the worshiper. The masculine and neuter forms are called specifically Mantra and the feminine Vidya, though the first term may be used for both. Neuter Mantras end with Namah. Hum, Phat are masculine terminations, and “Tham” or Svaha, feminine (see Sharadatilaka II. Narada-pañcaratra VII, Prayogasara, Pranatoshini 70).

The Nitya Tantra gives various names to Mantra according to the number of the syllables such as Pinda, Kartari, Bija, Mantra, Mala. Commonly however the term Bija is applied to monosyllabic Mantras.

The word “Mantra” comes from the root “man” to think. 

“Man” is the first syllable of manana or thinking. It is also the root of the word “Man” who alone of all creation is properly a Thinker. 

“Tra” comes from the root “tra,” for the effect of a Mantra when used with that end, is to save him who utters and realizes it. Tra is the first syllable of Trana or liberation from the Samsara. 

By combination of man and tra, that is called Mantra which, from the religious stand-point, calls forth (Amantrana) the four aims (Chaturvarga) of sentient being as happiness in the world and eternal bliss in Liberation. Mantra is thus Thought-movement vehicled by, and expressed in, speech. Its Svarupa is, like all else, consciousness (chit) which is the Shabda-Brahman. A Mantra is not merely sound or letters. This is a form in which Shakti manifests Herself. The mere utterance of a Mantra without knowing its meaning, without realization of the consciousness which Mantra manifests is a mere movement of the lips and nothing else. We are then in the outer husk of consciousness; just as we are when we identify ourselves with any other form of gross matter which is, as it were, the “crust” (as a friend of mine has aptly called it) of those subtler forces which emerge from the Yoni or Cause of all, who is, in Herself Consciousness (Chidrupini). When the Sadhaka knows the meaning of the Mantra he makes an advance. But this is not enough. He must, through his consciousness, realize that Consciousness which appears in the form of the Mantra, and thus attain Mantra-Caitanya. At this point, thought is vitalized by contact with the center of all thinking. At this point again thought becomes truly vital and creative. Then an effect is created by the realization thus induced.

The creative power of thought is now receiving increasing acceptance in the West, which is in some cases taking over, and in others, discovering anew, for itself, what was thought by the ancients in India. Because they have discovered it anew, they call it “New Thought”; but its fundamental principle is as old as the Upanishads which said, “what you think that you become”. All recognize this principle in the limited form that a man who thinks good becomes good, and he who is ever harboring bad thought becomes bad. But the Indian and “New Thought” doctrine is more profound than this. In Vedantic India, thought has been ever held creative. 

The world is a creation of the thought (chit Shakti associated with Maya Shakti) of the Lord (Ishvara and Ishvari). Her and His thought is the aggregate, with almighty powers of all thought. But each man is Shiva and can attain His powers to the degree of his ability to consciously realize himself as such. Thought now works in man’s small magic just as it first worked in the grand magical display of the World-Creator.

 Each man is in various degrees a creator. 

Thought is as real as any form of gross matter. Indeed it is more real in the sense that the world is itself a projection of the World-thought, which again is nothing but the aggregate in the form of the Samskaras or impressions of past experience, which give rise to the world. 

The universe exists for each Jiva because he consciously or unconsciously wills it. It exists for the totality of beings because of the totality of Samskaras which are held in the Great Womb of the manifesting chit Itself. There is theoretically nothing that man cannot accomplish, for he is at base the Accomplisher of all. But, in practice, he can only accomplish to the degree that he identifies himself with the Supreme Consciousness and Its forces, which underlie, are at work in, and manifest as, the universe. 

This is the basal doctrine of all magic, of all powers (Siddhi) including the greatest Siddhi which is Liberation itself. 

He who knows Brahman, becomes Brahman to the extent of his “knowing”. Thought-reading, thought-transference, hypnotic suggestion, magical projections (Mokshana) and shields (Grahana) are becoming known and practiced in the West, not always with good results. 

For this reason some doctrines and practices are kept concealed. Projection (Mokshana) the occultist will understand. But Grahana, I may here explain, is not so much a “fence” in the Western sense, to which use a Kavaca is put, but the knowledge of how to “catch” a Mantra thus projected. A stone thrown at one may be warded off or caught and, if the person so wishes, thrown back at him who threw it. 

So may a Mantra. It is not necessary, however, to do so. Those who are sheltered by their own pure strength, automatically throw back all evil influences, which, coming back to the ill-wisher, harm or destroy him. Those familiar with the Western presentment of similar matters will more readily understand than others who, like the Orientalist and Missionary, as a rule know nothing of occultism and regard it as superstition. 

For this reason their presentment of Indian teaching is so often ignorant and absurd. The occultist, however, will understand the Indian doctrine which regards thought like mind, of which it is the operation, as a Power or Shakti; something therefore, very real and creative by which man can accomplish things for himself and others. Kind thoughts, without a word, will do good to all who surround us, and may travel round the world to distant friends. 

So we may suffer from the ill-wishes of those who surround us, even if such wishes do not materialize into deeds. 

Telepathy is the transference of thought from a distance without the use of the ordinary sense organs. So, in initiation, the thought of a true Guru may pass to his disciple all his powers. Mantra is thus a Shakti (Mantra Shakti) which lends itself impartially to any use. Man can identify himself with any of nature’s forces and for any end. Thus, to deal with the physical effects of Mantra, it may be used to injure, kill or do good; by Mantra again a kind of union with the physical Shakti is, by some, said to be effected. 

So the Vishnu-Purana speaks of generation by will power, as some Westerners believe will be the case when man passes beyond the domination of his gross sheath and its physical instruments. Children will then again be “mind-born”. By Mantra, the Homa fire may, it is said, be lit. By Mantra, again, in the tantric initiation called Vedha-diksha there is, it is said, such a transference of power from the Guru to his disciple that the latter swoons under the impulse of the thought-power which pierces him. But Mantra is also that by which man identifies himself with That which is the Ground of all. In short, Mantra is a power (Shakti) in the form of idea clothed with sound. What, however, is not yet understood in the West is the particular Thought-science which is Mantravidya, or its basis. Much of the “New Thought” lacks this philosophical basis which is supplied by Mantravidya, resting itself on the Vedantik doctrine. Mantravidya is thus that form of Sadhana by which union is had with the Mother Shakti in the Mantra form (Mantramayi), in Her Sthula and Sukshma aspects respectively. The Sadhaka passes from the first to the second. This Sadhana works through the letters, as other forms of Sadhana work through form in the shape of the Yantra, Ghata or Pratima. All such Sadhana belongs to Shaktopaya Yoga as distinguished from the introspective meditative processes of Shambhavopaya which seeks more directly the realization of Shakti, which is the end common to both. The tantric doctrine as regards Shabda is that of the Mimamsa with this exception that it is modified to meet its main doctrine of Shakti,

In order to understand what a Mantra is, we must know its cosmic history. The mouth speaks a word. What is it and whence has it come’. As regards the evolution of consciousness as the world, I refer my reader to the Chapters on “chit-Shakti and Maya-Shakti” dealing with the 36 Tattvas. Ultimately, there is Consciousness which in its aspect as the great “I” sees the object as part of itself, and then as other than itself, and thus has experience of the universe. This is achieved through Shakti who, in the words of the Kamakalavilasa, is the pure mirror in which Shiva experiences Himself (Shivarupa-vimarshanirmala-darshah). Neither Shiva nor Shakti alone suffices for creation. Shivarupa here = Svarupa. Aham ityevamakaram, that is, the form (or experience) which consists in the notion of “I”. Shakti is the pure mirror for the manifestation of Shiva’s experience as “I” (Aham). Aham ityevam rupam jñanam tasya praka-shane nirmaladarshah; as the commentator Natanananda (V-2) says. The notion is, of course, similar to that of the reflection of Purusha on Prakriti as Sattvamayi Buddhi and of Brahman on Maya. From the Mantra aspect starting from Shakti (Shakti-Tattva) associated with Shiva (Shiva-Tattva), there was produced Nada, and from Nada, came Bindu which, to distinguish it from other Bindus, is known as the causal, supreme or Great Bindu (Karana, Para, Mahabindu). This is very clearly set forth in the Sharada Tilaka, a tantric work by an author of the Kashmirian School which was formerly of great authority among the Bengal Shaktas. I have dealt with this subject in detail in my Garland of Letters. Here I only summarize conclusions.

Shabda literally means and is usually translated “sound,” the word coming from the root Shabd “to sound”. It must not, however, be wholly identified with sound in the sense of that which is heard by the ear, or sound as effect of cosmic stress. Sound in this sense is the effect produced through excitation of the ear and brain, by vibrations of the atmosphere between certain limits. Sound so understood exists only with the sense organs of hearing. And even then it may be perceived by some and not by others, due to keenness or otherwise of natural hearing. 

Further the best ears will miss what the microphone gives. Considering Shabda from its primary or causal aspect, independent of the effect which it may or may not produce on the sense organs, it is vibration (Spandana) of any kind or motion, which is not merely physical motion, which may become sound for human ears, given the existence of ear and brain and the fulfillment of other physical conditions. Thus, Shabda is the possibility of sound, and may not be actual sound for this individual or that. There is thus Shabda wherever there is motion or vibration of any kind. It is now said, that the electrons revolve in a sphere of positive electrification at an enormous rate of motion. If the arrangement be stable, we have an atom of matter. If some of the electrons are pitched off from the atomic system, what is called radio-activity is observed. Both these rotating and shooting electrons are forms of vibration as Shabda, though it is no sound for mortal ears. 

To a Divine Ear all such movements would constitute the “music of the spheres”. Were the human ear subtle enough, a living tree would present itself to it in the form of a particular sound which is the natural word for that tree. It is said of ether (Akasha) that its Guna or quality is sound (Shabda); that is, ether is the possibility of Spandana or vibration of any kind. It is that state of the primordial “material” substance (Prakriti) which makes motion or vibration of any kind possible (Shabdaguna akashah). The Brahman Svarupa or chit is motionless. It is also known as Cidakasha. But this Akasha is not created. Chidakasha is the Brahman in which stress of any kind manifests itself, a condition from which the whole creation proceeds. This Chidakasha is known as the Shabda-Brahman through its Maya-shakti, which is the cause of all vibrations manifesting themselves as sound to the ear, as touch to the tactile sense, as color and form to the eye, as taste to the tongue and as odor to the nose. All mental functioning again is a form of vibration (Spandana). Thought is a vibration of mental substance just as the expression of thought in the form of the spoken word is a vibration affecting the ear. All Spandana presupposes heterogeneity (Vaishamya). Movement of any kind implies inequality of tensions. Electric current flows between two points because there is a difference of potential between them. Fluid flows from one point to another because there is difference of pressure. Heat travels because there is difference of temperature. In creation (Srishti) this condition of heterogeneity appears and renders motion possible. Akasha is the possibility of Spandana of any kind. Hence its precedence in the order of creation. Akasha means Brahman with Maya, which Mayashakti or (to use the words of Professor P. N. Mukhyopadhyaya) Stress is rendered actual, from a previous state of possibility of stress which is the Sakti’s natural condition of equilibrium (Prakriti = Samyavastha). In dissolution, the Maya-Shakti of Brahman (according to the periodic law which is a fundamental postulate of Indian cosmogony) returns to homogeneity when in consequence Akasha disappears. This disappearance means that Shakti is equilibrated, and that therefore there is no further possibility of motion of any kind. As the Tantras say, the Divine Mother becomes one with Paramashiva.

The Sharada says — From the Sakala Parameshvara who is Sacchidananda issued Shakti; from Shakti came Nada; and from Nada issued Bindu.

Sacchidanandavibhavat sakalat parameshvarat

Asicchhaktistato nado nadad bindusamudbhavah.

Here the Sakala Parameshvara is Shiva Tattva. Shakti is Shakti Tattva wherein are Samani, Vyapini, and Anjani Shaktis. Nada is the first produced source of Mantra, and the subtlest form of Shabda of which Mantra is a manifestation. Nada is threefold, as Mahanada or Nadanta and Nirodhini representing the first moving forth of the Shabda-Brahman as Nada, the filling up of the whole universe with Nadanta and the specific tendency towards the next state of unmanifested Shabda respectively. Nada in its three forms is in the Sadakhya Tattva. Nada becoming slightly operative towards the “speakable” (Vacya), (the former operation being in regard to the thinkable (Mantavya) ) is called Arddhacandra which develops into Bindu. Both of these are in Ishvara Tattva. 

This Mahabindu is threefold as the Kamakala. The undifferentiated Shabda-Brahman or Brahman as the immediate cause of the manifested Shabda and Artha is a unity of consciousness (Caitanya) which then expresses itself in three-fold function as the three Shaktis, Iccha, Jñana, Kriya; the three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas, Tamas; the three Bindus (Karyya) which are Sun, Moon and Fire; the three Devatas, Rudra, Vishnu, Brahma and so forth. These are the product of the union of Prakasha and Vimarsha Shakti. 

This Triangle of Divine Desire is the Kamakala, or Creative Will and its first subtle manifestation, the Cause of the Universe which is personified as the Great Devi Tripurasundari, the Kameshvara and Kameshvari, the object of worship in the Agamas. Kamakalavilasa, as explained in the work of that name, is the manifestation of the union of Shiva and Shakti, the great “I” (Aham) which develops through the inherent power of its thought-activity (Vimarsha-Shakti) into the universe, unknowing as Jiva its true nature and the secret of its growth through Avidya Shakti. 

Here then there appears the duality of subject and object; of mind and matter, of the word (Shabda) and its meaning (Artha). The one is not the cause of the other, but each is inseparable from, and concomitant with, the other as a bifurcation of the undifferentiated unity of Shabda-Brahman whence they proceed. 

The one cosmic movement produces at the same time the mind and the object which it cognizes; names (Nama) and language (Shabda) on the one hand; and forms (Rupa) or object (Artha) on the other. These are all parts of one coordinated contemporaneous movement, and, therefore, each aspect of the process is related the one to the other. The genesis of Shabda is only one aspect of the creative process, namely, that in which the Brahman is regarded as the Author of Shabda and Artha into which the undifferentiated Shabda-Brahman divides Itself. Shakti is Shabda-Brahman ready to create both Shabda and Artha on the differentiation of the Parabindu into the Kamakala, which is the root (Mula) of all Mantras. Shabda-Brahman is Supreme “Speech” (Para-Vak) or Supreme Shabda (Para-Shabda). From this fourth state of Shabda, there are three others — Pashyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhari, which are the Shabda aspect of the stages whereby the seed of formless consciousness explicates into the multitudinous concrete ideas (expressed in language of the mental world) the counterpart of the objective universe. But for the last three states of sound the body is required and, therefore, they only exist in the Jiva. In the latter, the Shabda-Brahman is in the form of Kundalini Shakti in the Muladhara Chakra. 

In Kundalini is Parashabda. This develops into the “Matrikas” or “Little Mothers” which are the subtle forms of the gross manifested letters (Varna). The letters make up syllables (Pada) and syllables make sentences (Vakya), of which elements the Mantra is composed. Para Shabda in the body develops in Pashyanti Shabda or Shakti of general movements (Samanya Spanda) located in the tract from the Muladhara to the Manipura associated with Manas. It then in the tract upwards to the Anahata becomes Madhyama or Hiranyagarbha sound with particularized movement (Vishesha Spanda) associated with Buddhi-Tattva. Vayu proceeding upwards to the throat expresses itself in spoken speech which is Vaikhari or Virat Shabda. Now it is that the Mantra issues from the mouth and is heard by the ear. Because the one cosmic movement produces the ideating mind and its accompanying Shabda and the objects cognized or Artha, the creative force of the universe is identified with the Matrikas and Varnas, and Devi is said to be in the forms of the letters from A to Ha, which are the gross expressions of the forces called Matrika; which again are not different from, but are the same forces that evolve into the universe of mind and matter. These Varnas are, for the same reason, associated with certain vital and physiological centers which are produced by the same power that gives birth to the letters. It is by virtue of these centers and their controlled area in the body that all the phenomena of human psychosis run on, and keep man in bondage. The creative force is the union of Shiva and Shakti, and each of the letters (Varna) produced therefrom and thereby are part and parcel of that Force, and are, therefore, Shiva and Shakti in those particular forms. For this reason, the Tantra Shastra says that Devata and Mantra composed of letters, are one. In short, Mantras are made of letters (Varna). Letters are Matrika. Matrika is Shakti and Shakti is Shiva. Through Shakti (one with Shiva) Nada-Shakti, Bindu-Shakti, the Shabda-Brahman or Para Shabda, arise the Matrika, Varna, Pada, Vakya of the lettered Mantra or manifested Shabda.

But what is Shabda or “Sound”? Here the Shakta Tantra Shastra follows the Mimamsa doctrine of Shabda, with such modifications as are necessary to adapt it to its doctrine of Shakti. Sound (Shabda) which is quality (Guna) of ether (Akasha) and is sensed by hearing is twofold, namely, lettered (Varnatmaka Shabda) and unlettered or Dhvani (Dhvanyatmaka Shabda). The latter is caused by the striking of two things together, and is apparently meaningless. Shabda, on the contrary, which is Anahata (a term applied to the Heart-Lotus) is that Brahman sound which is not caused by the striking of two things together. 

Lettered sound is composed of sentences (Vakya), words (Pada) and letters (Varna). Such sound has a meaning. Shabda manifesting as speech is said to be eternal. This the Naiyayikas deny saying that it is transitory. A word is uttered and it is gone. This opinion the Mlmamsa denies saying that the perception of lettered sound must be distinguished from lettered sound itself. Perception is due to Dhvani caused by the striking of the air in contact with the vocal organs, namely, the throat, palate and tongue and so forth. Before there is Dhvani there must be the striking of one thing against another. It is not the mere striking which is the lettered Shabda. This manifests it. The lettered sound is produced by the formation of the vocal organs in contact with air; which formation is in response to the mental movement or idea which by the will thus seeks outward expression in audible sound. It is this perception which is transitory, for the Dhvani which manifests ideas in language is such. But lettered sound as it is in itself, that is, as the Consciousness manifesting Idea expressed in speech is eternal. It was not produced at the moment it was perceived. It was only manifested by the Dhvani. It existed before, as it exists after, such manifestation, just as a jar in a dark room which is revealed by a flash of lightning is not then produced, nor does it cease to exist on its ceasing to be perceived through the disappearance of its manifester, the lightning. The air in contact with the voice organs reveals sound in the form of the letters of the alphabet, and their combinations in words and sentences. The letters are produced for hearing by the person desiring to speak, and become audible to the ear of others through the operation of unlettered sound or Dhvani. The latter being a manifester only, lettered Shabda is something other than its manifester.

Before describing the nature of Shabda in its different form of development, it is necessary to understand the Indian psychology of perception. At each moment, the Jiva is subject to innumerable influences which from all quarters of the Universe pour upon him. Only those reach his Consciousness which attract his attention and are thus selected by his Manas. The latter attends to one or other of these sense-impressions and conveys it to the Buddhi. When an object (Artha) is presented to the mind, and perceived, the latter is formed into the shape of the object perceived. This is called a mental Vritti (modification) which it is the object of Yoga to suppress. The mind as a Vritti is thus a representation of the outer subject. But, in so far as it is such representation, the mind is as much an object as the outer one. The latter, that is, the physical object, is called the gross object (Sthula artha), and the former or mental impression is called the subtle object (Sukshma artha). But, besides the object, there is the mind which perceives it. It follows that the mind has two aspects, in one of which it is the perceiver, and in the other the perceived in the form of the mental formation (Vritti), which in creation precedes its outer projection, and after the creation follows as the impression produced in the mind by the sensing of a gross physical object. 

The mental impression and the physical object exactly correspond, for the physical object is in fact but a projection of the cosmic imagination, though it has the same reality as the mind has; no more and no less. The mind is thus both cognizer (Grahaka) and cognized Grahya), revealer (Prakashaka) and revealed (Prakashaya), denoter (Vacaka) and denoted (Vacya). When the mind perceives an object, it is transformed into the shape of that object. So the mind which thinks of the Divinity which it worships (Ishtadevata) is, at length, through continued devotion, transformed into the likeness of that Devata. By allowing the Devata thus to occupy the mind for long, it becomes as pure as the Devata. This is a fundamental principle of tantric Sadhana or religious practice. The object perceived is called Artha, a term which comes from the root “Ri,” which means to get, to know, to enjoy. Artha is that which is known and which, therefore, is an object of enjoyment. The mind as Artha, that is in the form of the mental impression, is an exact reflection of the outer object or gross Artha. As the outer object is Artha, so is the interior subtle mental form which corresponds to it. That aspect of the mind which cognizes is called Shabda or Nama (name), and that aspect in which it is its own object or cognized is called Artha or Rupa (form). The outer physical object, of which the latter is in the individual an impression, is also Artha or Rupa, and spoken speech is the outer Shabda. 

The mind is thus, from the Mantra aspect, Shabda and Artha, terms corresponding to the Vedantic Nama and Rupa or concepts and concepts objectified. The Mayavada Vedanta says that the whole creation is Nama and Rupa. Mind as Shabda is the Power (Shakti) the function of which is to distinguish and identify (Bhedasamsargavritti-Shakti).

Just as the body is causal, subtle and gross, so is Shabda, of which there are four states (Bhava) called Para, Pashyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhari. Para sound is that which exists on the differentiation of the Mahabindu before actual manifestation. This is a motionless, causal Shabda in Kundalini, in the Muladhara center of the body. That aspect of it in which it commences to move with a general, that is, non-particularized, motion (Samanya Spanda) is Pashyanti whose place is from the Muladhara to the Manipura Chakra, the next center. It is here associated with Manas. These represent the motionless and first moving Ishvara aspect of Shabda. Madhyama Shabda is associated with Buddhi. It is Hiranyagarbha sound (Hiranyagarbharupa) extending from Pashyanti to the heart. 

Both Madhyama sound which is the inner “naming” by the cognitive aspect of mental movement, as also its Artha or subtle (Sukshma) object (Artha) belong to the mental or subtle body (Sukshma or Linga Sharira). 

Perception is dependent on distinguishing and identification. In the perception of an object that part of the mind which identifies and distinguishes and thus “names” or the cognizing part is, from the Shabda aspect, subtle Shabda: and that part of it which takes the shape of, and thus constitutes, the object (a shape which corresponds with the outer thing) is subtle Artha. The perception of an object is thus consequent on the simultaneous functioning of the mind in its two-fold aspect as Shabda and Artha, which are in indissoluble relation with one another as cognizer (Grahaka) and cognized Grahya). 

Both belong to the subtle body. In creation Madhyama sound first appeared. At that movement there was no outer Artha. Then the Cosmic Mind projected this inner Madhyama Artha into the world of sensual experience and named it in spoken speech (Vaikhari Shabda). 

The last or Vaikhari Shabda is uttered speech, developed in the throat, issuing from the mouth. This is Virat Shabda. Vaikhari Shabda is therefore language or gross lettered sound. Its corresponding Artha is the physical or gross object which language denotes. This belongs to the gross body (Sthula Sharira). Madhyama Shabda is mental movement or ideation in its cognitive aspect and Madhyama Artha is the mental impression of the gross object. The inner thought-movement in its aspect as (Vacaka) and denoted (Vacya). 

When the mind perceives an object, it is transformed into the shape of that object. So the mind which thinks of the Divinity which it worships (Ishtadevata) is, at length, through continued devotion, transformed into the likeness of that Devata. By allowing the Devata thus to occupy the mind for long, it becomes as pure as the Devata. 

This is a fundamental principle of tantric Sadhana or religious practice. The object perceived is called Artha, a term which comes from the root “Ri,” which means to get, to know, to enjoy. Artha is that which is known and which, therefore, is an object of enjoyment. The mind as Artha, that is in the form of the mental impression, is an exact reflection of the outer object or gross Artha. As the outer object is Artha, so is the interior’s subtle mental form which corresponds to it. That aspect of the mind which cognizes is called Shabda or Nama (name), and that aspect in which it is its own object or cognized is called Artha or Rupa (form). 

The outer physical object, of which the latter is in the individual, an impression, is also Artha or Rupa, and spoken speech is the outer Shabda. The mind is thus, from the Mantra aspect, Shabda and Artha, terms corresponding to the Vedantic Nama and Rupa or concepts and concepts objectified. The Mayavada Vedanta says that the whole creation is Nama and Rupa. Mind as Shabda is the Power (Shakti) the function of which is to distinguish and identify (Bhedasamsargavritti-Shakti).

Just as the body is causal, subtle and gross, so is Shabda, of which there are four states (Bhava) called Para, Pashyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhari. Para sound is that which exists on the differentiation of the Mahabindu before actual manifestation. This is motionless, causal Shabda in Kundalini, in the Muladhara center of the body. That aspect of it in which it commences to move with a general, that is, non-particularized, motion (Samanya Spanda) is Pashyanti whose place is from the Muladhara to the Manipura Chakra, the next center. It is here associated with Manas. These represent the motionless and first moving Ishvara aspect of Shabda. Madhyama Shabda is associated with Buddhi. It is Hiranyagarbha sound (Hiranyagarbharupa) extending from Pashyanti to the heart. Both Madhyama sound which is the inner “naming” by the cognitive aspect of mental movement, as also its Artha or subtle (Sukshma) object (Artha) belong to the mental or subtle body (Sukshma or Linga Sharira). Perception is dependent on distinguishing and identification. In the perception of an object that part of the mind which identifies and distinguishes and thus “names” or the cognizing part is, from the Shabda aspect, subtle Shabda: and that part of it which takes the shape of, and thus constitutes, the object (a shape which corresponds with the outer thing) is subtle Artha. 

The perception of an object is thus consequent on the simultaneous functioning of the mind in its two-fold aspect as Shabda and Artha, which are in indissoluble relation with one another as cognizer (Grahaka) and cognized Grahya). Both belong to the subtle body. In creation Madhyama sound first appeared. At that movement there was no outer Artha. Then the Cosmic Mind projected this inner Madhyama Artha into the world of sensual experience and named it in spoken speech (Vaikhari Shabda). The last or Vaikhari Shabda is uttered speech, developed in the throat, issuing from the mouth. This is Virat Shabda. Vaikhari Shabda is therefore language or gross lettered sound. Its corresponding Artha is the physical or gross object which language denotes. This belongs to the gross body (Sthula Sharira). Madhyama Shabda is mental movement or ideation in its cognitive aspect and Madhyama Artha is the mental impression of the gross object. The inner thought-movement in its aspect as Shabdartha, and considered both in its knowing aspect (Shabda) and as the subtle known object (Artha) belongs to the subtle body (Sukshma Sharira). The cause of these two is the first general movement towards particular ideation (Pashyanti) from the motionless cause Para Shabda or Supreme Speech. Two forms of inner or hidden speech, causal, subtle, accompanying mind movement thus precede and lead up to spoken language. The inner forms of ideating movement constitute the subtle, and the uttered sound the gross aspect of Mantra which is the manifested Shabda-Brahman.

The gross Shabda called Vaikhari or uttered speech, and the gross Artha or the physical object denoted by that speech are the projection of the subtle Shabda and Artha, through the initial activity of the Shabda-Brahman into the world of gross sensual perception. Therefore, in the gross physical world, Shabda means language, that is, sentences, words and letters which are the expression of ideas and are Mantra. In the subtle or mental world, Madhyama sound is the Shabda aspect of the mind which “names” in its aspect as cognizer, and Artha, is the same mind in its aspect as the mental object of its cognition. It is defined to be the outer in the form of the mind. It is thus similar to the state of dreams (Svapna), as Parashabda is the causal dreamless (Sushupti), and Vaikhari the waking (Jagrat) state. Mental Artha is a Samsara, an impression left on the subtle body by previous experience, which is recalled when the Jiva reawakes to world experience, and recollects the experience temporarily lost in the cosmic dreamless state (Sushupti) which is destruction (Pralaya). What is it which arouses this Samskara? As an effect (Kriya) it must have a cause (Karana). This Karana is the Shabda or Name (Nama) subtle or gross corresponding to that particular Artha. When the word “Ghata” is uttered, this evokes in the mind the image of an object, namely, a jar; just as the presentation of that object does. In the Hiranyagarbha state, Shabda as Samskara worked to evoke mental images. The whole world is thus Shabda and Artha, that is Name and Form (Nama, Rupa). These two are inseparably associated. There is no Shabda without Artha or Artha without Shabda. The Greek word “Logos” also means thought and word combined. 

There is thus a double line of creation, Shabda and Artha; ideas and language together with objects. Speech as that which is heard, or the outer manifestation of Shabda, stands for the Shabda creation. The Artha creation are the inner and outer objects seen by the mental or physical vision. From the cosmic creative standpoint, the mind comes first, and from it, is evolved the physical world according to the ripened Samskaras which led to the existence of the particular existing universe. Therefore, the mental Artha precedes the physical Artha which is an evolution in gross matter of the former. This mental state corresponds to that of dreams (Svapna), when man lives in the mental world only. After creation which is the waking ( Jagrat) state, there is for the individual an already existing parallelism of names and objects.

Uttered speech is a manifestation of the inner naming or thought. This thought-movement is similar in men of all races. When an Englishman or an Indian thinks of an object, the image is to both the same, whether evoked by the object itself or by the utterance of its name. For this reason possibly if thought-reading be accepted, a thought-reader whose cerebral center is en rapport with that of another, may read the hidden “speech,” that is thought, of one whose spoken speech he cannot understand. Thus, whilst the thought-movement is similar in all men, the expression of it as Vaikhari Shabda differs. According to tradition there was once a universal language. According to the Biblical account, this was so, before the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. 

Similarly there is, (a friend tells me though he has forgotten to send me the reference), in the Rigveda, a mysterious passage which speaks of the “Three Fathers and three Mothers,” by whose action like that of the Elohim “all-comprehending speech” was made into that which was not so. Nor is this unlikely, when we consider that difference in gross speech is due to difference of races evolved in the course of time. If the instruments by which, and conditions under which thought is revealed in speech, were the same for all men then there would be but one language. But now this is not so. Racial characteristics and physical conditions, such as the nature of the vocal organs, climate, inherited impressions and so forth differ. So also does language. But for each particular man speaking any particular language, the uttered name of any object is the gross expression of his inner thought-movement. It evokes the idea and the idea is consciousness as mental operation. That operation can be so intensified as to be itself creative. This is Mantra-Caitanya.

It is said in the Tantra Shastras that the fifty letters of the alphabet are in the six bodily Chakras called Muladhara, Svadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha and Ajña. These 50 letters multiplied by 20 are in the thousand-pealed Lotus or Sahasrara.

From the above account, it will be understood that, when it is said that the “Letters” are in the six bodily Chakras, it is not to be supposed that it is intended to absurdly affirm that the letters as written shapes, or as the uttered sounds which are heard by the ear are there. The letters in this sense, that is, as gross things, are manifested only in speech and writing. This much is clear. But the precise significance of this statement is a matter of some difficulty. There is in fact no subject which presents more difficulties than Mantravidya, whether considered generally or in relation to the particular matters in hand. I do not pretend to have elucidated all its difficulties.

What proceeds from the body is in it in subtle or causal form. Why, however, it may be asked are particular letters assigned to particular Chakras. I have heard several explanations given which do not, in my opinion, bear the test of examination.

If the arrangement be not artificial for the purpose of Sadhana, the simplest explanation is that which follows: From the Brahman are produced the five Bhutas, Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth, in the order stated; and from them issued the six Chakras from Ajña to Muladhara. The letters are (with the exception next stated) placed in the Chakras in their alphabetical order; that is, vowels as being the first letters or Shaktis of the consonants (which cannot be pronounced without them) are placed in Vishuddha Chakra: the first consonants Ka to Tha in Anahata and so forth until the Muladhara wherein are set the last four letters from Va to Sa. Thus in Ajña there are Ha and Ksha as being Brahmabijas. In the next or Vishuddha Chakra are the 16 vowels which originated first. Therefore, they are placed in Vishuddha the ethereal Cakra; ether also having originated first. 

The same principle applies to the other letters in the Chakras. Namely;

 Ka, to Tha (12 letters and petals) in Anahata; 

Da to Pha (10) in Manipura; 

Ba to La (6) in Svadhisthana; 

and Va to Sa (4) in Muladhara. 

The connection between particular letters and the Chakras in which they are placed is further said to be due to the fact that in uttering any particular letter, the Cakra in which it is placed and its surroundings are brought into play. 

The sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet are classified according to the organs used in their articulation, and are guttural (Kantha), palatals (Talu), cerebrals (Murddha), dentals (Danta) and labials (Oshtha). When so articulated, each letter, it is said, “touches” the Chakra in which it is, and in which on this account it has been placed. In uttering them certain Chakras are affected; that is, brought into play. This, it is alleged, will be found to be so, if the letter is carefully pronounced and attention is paid to the accompanying bodily movement. Thus, in uttering Ha, the head (Ajña) is touched, and in uttering the deep-seated Va, the basal Cakra or Muladhara. In making the first sound the forehead is felt to be affected, and in making the last the lower part of the body around the root-lotus. This is the theory put forth as accounting for the position of the letters in the Chakras.

A Mantra is, like everything else, Shakti. But the mere utterance of a Mantra without more is a mere movement of the lips. The Mantra must be awakened (Prabuddha) just like any other Shakti if effect is to be had therefrom. 

This is the union of sound and idea through a knowledge of the Mantra and its meaning. 

The recitation of a Mantra without knowing its meaning is practically fruitless. I say “practically” because devotion, even though it be ignorant, is never wholly void of fruit. 

But a knowledge of the meaning is not enough; for it is possible by reading a book or receiving oral instructions to get to know the meaning of a Mantra, without anything further following. 

Each Mantra is the embodiment of a particular form of Consciousness or Shakti. This is the Mantra-Shakti. Consciousness or Shakti also exists in the form of the Sadhaka. The object then is to unite these two, when thought is not only in the outer husk, but is vitalized by will, knowledge, and action through its conscious center in union with that of the Mantra. The latter is Devata or a particular manifestation of Shakti: and the Sadhaka who identifies himself therewith, identifies himself with that Shakti. According to Yoga when the mind is concentrated on any object it is unified with it. When man is so identified with a Varna or Tattva, then the power of objects to bind ceases, and he becomes the controller. Thus, in Kundalini-Yoga, the static bodily Shakti pierces the Chakras, to meet Shiva-Shakti in the Sahasrara. As the Sadhaka is, through the power of the rising Shakti, identified with each of the Centers, Tattvas and Matrika Shaktis they cease to bind, until passing through all he attains Samadhi. As the Varnas are Shiva-Shakti, concentration on them draws the mind towards, and then unifies it with, the Devata which is one with the Mantra. The Devata of the Mantra is only the creative Shakti assuming that particular form. As already stated, Devata may be realized in any object, not merely in Mantras, Yantras, Ghatas, Pratimas or other ritual objects of worship. 

The same power which manifests to the ear in the Mantra is represented in the lines and curves of the Yantra which, the Kaulavali Tantra says, is the body of the Devata:

Yantram mantramayam proktam mantratma devataiva hi

Dehatmanor yatha bhedo yantra-devata yoshtatha.

The Yantra is thus the graphic symbol of the Shakti, indicated by the Mantra with which identification takes place. The Pratima or image is a grosser visual form of the Devata. But the Mantras are particular forms of Divine Shakti, the realization of which is efficacious to produce particular results. As in Kundalini- Yoga, so also here the identification of the Sadhaka with different Mantras gives rise to various Vibhutis or powers: for each grouping of the letters represents a new combination of the Matrika Shaktis. It is the eternal Shakti who is the life of the Mantra. Therefore, Siddhi in Mantra Sadhana is the union of the Sadhaka’s

Shakti with the Mantra Shakti; the identification of the Sadhaka with the Mantra is the identification of the knower (Vedaka), knowing (Vidya) and known (Vedya) or the Sadhaka, Mantra and Devata. Then the Mantra works. The mind must feed, and is always feeding, something. It seizes the Mantra and works its way to its heart. When there, it is the chitta or mind of the Sadhaka unified with the Shakti of the Mantra which works. 

Then subject and object, in its Mantra form, meet as one. By meditation the Sadhaka gains unity with the Devata behind, as it were, the Mantra and Whose form the Mantra is. The union of the Sadhaka of the Mantra and the Devata of the Mantra is the result of the effort to realize permanently the incipient desire for such union. The will towards Divinity is a dynamic force which pierces everything and finds there Divinity itself. 

It is because Westerners and some Westernized Hindus do not understand the principles of Mantra; principles which lie at the center of Indian religious theory and practice, that they see nothing in it where they do not regard it as gross superstition. It must be admitted that Mantra Sadhana is often done ignorantly. 

Faith is placed in externals and the inner meaning is often lost. But even such ignorant worship is better than none at all. “It is better to bow to Narayana with one’s shoes on than never to bow at all.” Much also is said of “vain repetitions”. What Christ condemned was not repetition but “vain” repetition

That man is a poor psychologist who does not know the effect of repetition, when done with faith and devotion. It is a fact that the inner kingdom yields to violence and can be taken by assault. 

Indeed, it yields to nothing but the strong will of the Sadhaka, for it is that will in its purest and fullest strength. By practice with the Mantra, the Devata is invoked. This means that the mind itself is Devata when unified with Devata. This is attained through repetition of the Mantra (Japa).

Japa is compared to the action of a man shaking a sleeper to wake him up. The Sadhaka’s own consciousness is awakened. The two lips are Shiva and Shakti. The movement in utterance is the “coition” (Maithuna) of the two. Shabda which issues therefrom is in the nature of Bindu. The Devata then appearing is, as it were, the son of the Sadhaka. It is not the supreme Devata who appears (for It is actionless), but in all cases an emanation produced by the Sadhaka’s worship for his benefit only. In the case of worshipers of the Shiva-Mantra, a Boy-Shiva (Bala-Shiva) appears who is then made strong by the nurture which the Sadhaka gives him. The occultist will understand all such symbolism to mean that the Devata is a form of the Consciousness which becomes the Boy-Shiva, and which, when strengthened is the full-grown Divine Power Itself. All Mantras are forms of consciousness (Vijñanarupa), and when the Mantra is fully practiced it enlivens the Samskara, and the Artha appears to the mind. Mantras used in worship are thus a form of the Samskaras of Jivas; the Artha of which manifests to the consciousness which is pure. The essence of all this is — concentrate and vitalize thought and will power, that is Shakti.

The Mantra method is Shaktopaya Yoga working with concepts and form, whilst Shambhavopaya Yoga has been well said to be a more direct attempt at intuition of Shakti, apart from all passing concepts, which, as they cannot show the Reality, only serve to hide it the more from one’s view and thus maintain bondage. These Yoga methods are but examples of the universal principle of Sadhana, that the Sadhaka should first work with and through form, and then, so far as may be, by a meditation which dispenses with it.

It has been pointed out to me by Professor Surendra Nath Das Gupta that this Varna-Sadhana, so important a content of the Tantra Shastra, is not altogether its creation, but, as I have often in other matters observed, a development of ancient Vaidik teaching. For it was, he says, first attempted in the Aranyaka Epoch upon the Pradkopasana on which the tantric Sadhana is, he suggests, based; though, of course, that Shastra has elaborated the notion into a highly complicated system which is so peculiar a feature of its religious discipline. There is thus a synthesis of this Pratikopasana with Yoga method, resting as all else upon a Vedantic basis.

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Seed Syllables | Bīja बीज |  种子 | The Origin Of Sound | Total healing and transformation

Seed Syllables | Bīja बीज |  种子 | The Origin Of Sound | Total healing and transformation

“Sanskrit has come out of Kundalini’s movement, when She ( Kundalini) makes a sound, all was recorded by the great saints and like that every chakra has got vowels and consonants according to the number of sub-plexuses they have, or, you can say petals they have, and all of them make the alphabets of Sanskrit language.”

“Kundalini is the Shakti who gives life to the Jiva (Embosied human) . It is she who in the Muladhara Chakra, is the cause of the sweet, indistinct and murmuring Dhvani which is compared to the humming of a black bee.”

(And...just because inevitably. the newbie MANIFESTRS will ask.... "Do I need this to manifest x, y or z???"   The answer is NO!   You don't need anything to manifest another thing.  No manifestation is dependent on another for its manifestation. This information is for higher levels of awareness)

Bīja mantras are used in resonance with the chakras, that align with the spine. Each chakra is associated with its own Bīja mantra:

  • Lam – muladhara (root) chakra
  • Vam – svadisthana (spleen or sacral) chakra
  • Ram – manipura (solar plexus) chakra
  • Yam – anahata (heart) chakra
  • Ham – visuddha (throat) chakra
  • Sham – ajna (third eye) chakra
  • Om – sahasrara (crown) chakra

Og Image

The best known Bīja mantra is Om (or Aum), which is the sound of Brahman, the vibration or primordial sound. The unstruck sound, which is really the sound reverberations heard long after the sound was struck… like ripples on a clam lake after a pebble was tossed in. It is often chanted during yoga practice and meditation. Other common Bīja mantras include:

  • Krim – believed to awaken the lower chakras.
  • Shrim – correlates to the goddess Lakshmi and is thought to promote health, joy and beauty.
  • Hrim – associated with creativity, purification of the heart and healing.
  • Hum – energizes the body and eliminates negativity.
  • Lung – associated with the earth element and is used as a grounding chakra
  • Vang – associated with the water element and is used to ground and increase sensuality
  • Rang – associated with the fire element and is an energizing mantra
  • Phat – The word phaṭ means something like “crack!” is imported from the Vedic tradition. In the Vajrasattva mantra it is added when the mantra is used to subdue demons.
  • Svaha – This is particularly important in Mantra yoga. There are various translations of svaha, but the simplest is that it means “so be it.” 

As a Mantra-Shastra, the Tantras have greatly elaborated the Bijas.

Though a Mantra such as a Bija-mantra may not convey its meaning on its surface, the initiate knows that its meaning is the own form (Svarupa, its TRUE form) of the particular Devata whose Mantra it is, and that the essence of the Bija is that which makes letters sound, and exists in all which we say or hear. 

Every Mantra is thus a particular sound form of the Brahman.

There are a very large number of these short unetymological vocables or Bijas such as above mentioned Hrim, Shrim, Krim, Hum, Hum, Phat called by various names.

Thus the first is called the Maya Bija, the second Lakshmi Bija, the third Kali Bija, the fourth Kurca Bija, the fifth Varma Bija, the sixth Astra Bija. Ram is Agni Bija, Em is Yoni Bija, Klim is Kama Bija, Shrim is Badhu Bija, Aim Sarasvati Bija and so forth. 

Each Devata has His or Her Bija. Thus Hrim is the Maya Bija, Krim the Kali Bija. The Bija is used in the worship of the Devata whose Mantra it is. 

All these Bijas mentioned are in common use. There are a large number of others, some of which are formed with the first letters of the name of the Devata for whom they stand, such as Gam for Ganesha, Dum for Durga.

There are composite consonants such as Śhra, Kla, Tva, etc., which have correspondences with particular chakras or Deities.

The vowels are all associated with the Viśḥuddhī Chakra and give the power, quality or direction (ā is Left Side, ī – Central Channel, etc.) (Ida, Pingala, Shusumna Nadi)

Ida, Pingala, Shusumna Nadi

Mantras are solar (Saura) and masculine, and lunar (Saumya) and feminine, as also neuter.

The two main Nadis, Ida and Pingala, reaching their pinnacle of evolution and contributing to the vital energy.

But what exactly are Ida and Pingala?

Ida – The Left Energy Channel – LUNAR

Ida is located on the left side of the spine (your left). It is associated with the vibration of the moon, which represents the emotional part of a person – the Yin energy.

In the Sanskrit language, Ida means “comfort”.

Regardless of our gender, we all have a female and masculine side.

Each one of those manifests in different situations according to our inner state of mind at a given time.

Ida is the one connected to our female part. It corresponds to the left nostril to the right side of our brain.

This is the more introvert part of our bodies. Ida transports the energy to the nervous system. This process calms the body, mind, and soul.

Pingala – The Right Energy Channel – SOLAR

Pingala is located on the right side of the spine. It represents the masculine, pragmatic part – Yang energy.

In Sanskrit, Pingala means “channel” or “flow”.

It connects to the right nostril and to the left hemisphere of our brain. 

Pingala brings the element of the sun which represents the intellect. It connects to the more extroverted and masculine side.

Pingala controls essential life elements such as vitality and strength.

What Do Ida And Pingala Represent

Even if they are presented as a duality in Hindu tradition, let’s not forget that they are within the same body. Everything is a whole and works together.

For example, a coin has the “heads” printed on one side and “tail” on the other, but it’s one coin. Thus, this creates balance and in the end a whole object. Neither of the pieces can be absent. It is what it is because of the two sides.

The same goes for Ida and Pingala, Yin and Yang, masculine and feminine.

Therefore Ida and Pingala, together with Sushumna, are the most important energy channels that we have.

These three Nadis keep the energy flowing, intersecting themselves at the most important junctions – the chakras. 

The prana (or light) energy flows from the base of the spine all the way up to the crown chakra, exiting as a fountain of light.

They Are Gateways

Ida and Pingala are in strong connection with the chakras. These are gateways that connect the subtle realms with the physical ones. 

Through them, we are able to express inner emotions, thoughts, words, and actions. 

This helps us understand that we are spiritual beings living a physical experience. In the end, this has to lead to spiritual growth and awareness.

Many people live within the vibration of Ida and Pingala and less in Sushumna.

This is reasonably balanced, meaning if the exterior is calm we will also feel calm. But if the exterior changes, we will react to this change. It’s the basic pattern on which they function.

Yet, we can surpass this condition and raise our awareness and consciousness. Through wisdom and understanding, we can expand beyond that and become virtually immune to the outside world.

They simply won’t affect us anymore.

But the energy cannot flow without these two channels being properly cleansed and energized. That’s why there are quite a few Yoga breathing exercises out there.

Call on Hanuman to change your destiny:

ओं ह्रीं श्रीं ह्रीं ह्रौं ह्रैं ह्रः हन-हन, दह- दह, पच-पच, गृहाण-गृहाण,मारय-मारय,मर्दय-मर्दय, महा महा भैरव भैरव रूपेण, धूनय-धूनय, कम्पय कम्पय,विघ्नय-विघ्नय, विश्वेश्वर, शोभय-शोभय,कटु-कटु,मोहय हुं फट् स्वाहा।

There is a widely diffused lower mind which says, “what I do not understand is absurd”. But this science, whether well-founded or not, is not that.

Those who think so might expect Mantras which are prayers and the meaning of which they understand; for with prayer the whole world is familiar.

But such appreciation itself displays a lack of understanding.

There is nothing necessarily holy or prayerful alone in Mantras as some think.

Some combinations of letters constitute prayers and are called Mantras, as for instance the most celebrated Gayatri Mantra. A Mantra is not the same thing as prayer or self-dedication. Seed syllables are Consciousness (chit) manifesting as letters and words. 

 “Om” is the most prominent example of a “meaningless” Mantra, that is, one which does not bear its meaning on its face, and of what is called a seed or Bija Mantra, because they are the very quintessence of Mantra, and the seed (Bija) of the fruit which is Siddhi (spiritual achievement). These are properly monosyllabic.

Om is a Vedic Bija, but it is the source of all the other tantric Bijas which represent particular Devata aspects of that which is presented as a whole in 0m.

FREE DOWNLOAD, learn everything about the mystical Sanskrit SEED mantras:

Manifest magazine

Trauma and the nervous system


Trauma and the nervous system

Trauma can change the nervous system so that your ability to create and sustain relationships is altered.

This change can lead to a belief that love and connections aren’t safe, and you may find it hard to trust others, and you may withdraw or avoid people.

However, when love and connection is missing from our life you may carry distress in your nervous system, where survival responses are chronically activated. You can get stuck in anxiety, agitation, or freeze and shut down mode for long periods of time.

We continuously receive messages from our culture, and from social media posts that encourage autonomy and independence, and this can cause shame for a traumatized person, for having a healthy need to connect with others, especially when facing adversities, making them believe that they have to go through hard times alone.

We get hurt alone, but we heal together. It is biologically essential to connect with others and to co-regulate with others through nurturing relationships.

Comments like “you need to be happy on your own first,” are particularly harmful. Loneliness brings pain. Loneliness increases pain and loneliness increases physical illness and psychological pain.. Loneliness increases heart disease, weakens the immune system, and increases the prevalence of depression.

Similarly, messages to “not be needy” causes social disconnection, we are all needy sometimes, and we are all in a position to hold space and to be present for someone who is needy at other times, even if those times last for years, and there is no shame in that, it is human nature. Social disconnection and social exclusion, and cancel culture activates the same pathways as experiencing physical injury. The need for connection does NOT make you needy, it is part of being human, and this connection is even more important in times of stress.

A nurturing relationship is probably the most powerful form of nervous system regulation that there is. Co-regulation is a powerful antidote to distress, and it can shift your nervous system from activation back to “rest and digest”. which is a state of ease and calm.

Being a co-regulator for another person is one of the greatest gifts you can give, having people in your life who help shift your nervous system out of survival mode will improve you mental emotional and physical wellbeing.

What about when you are already in survival mode? You can do things like visit a park, or another place where people are such as a museum or a classical concert, or a yoga or meditation class ( in person) Take a walk where other people are. Take a real time class with other people, even if it is online, but even better, in person. You can reach out to others, call a friend, visit your community center or the library. You can visit someone you trust, or you can work with a therapist.

You have the power to heal your life, and you need to know that. 

Louise Hay

LOA ‘s talking point of “self-concept” is meaningless, until you understand that to hold space for another, a loved one or a partner, until you hold space for yourself. Until you meet your own trauma with gentleness and empathy you will meet the manifestation of another’s trauma with a trigger.

This post is a cross-post from my acupuncture blog:

Physiology, the brain and nervous system after acupuncture:

It has been found in studies that acupuncture may:

  • regulate the expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase.
  • heal impaired gastric motility and dysrhythmic slow waves by regulation of vagal nerve activity
  •  regulate the autonomic nervous system by affecting specific activities in the hypothalamus, medulla oblongata, ventrolateral periaqueductal gray and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex of the brain
  •  activate vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGLUT3), a protein that mediates the uptake of glutamate into synaptic vesicles

manifest magazine

Manifesting and Judgement!