Mantra Practice After Initiation: Purash-charana
Mantra is very central to meditation practice. In the Himalayan Tradition of Yoga Meditation, the mantra stands as a representative of the eternal silence, the abode of the Lord of Life within.
In the Mundaka Upanishad, it is mentioned that “In the tree of life, there sits two eternal birds and they can never be separate. One is individual self—Jiva, and another is universal self—Ishwara, the Lord. It is the individual soul who experiences the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree of life. The cosmic self just witnesses and remains radiant for ever.”
Elsewhere in the Upanishads, it is said that, in the chariot called human body, the universal self and the individual self, travel together from time immemorial, so the sole purpose of meditation is to realise and experience within the omniscient and omnipotent universal self with its omnipresent.
That superconscious self projects itself through innumerable cosmic entities (Vedic deities). The mantras are the sonar (sound) forms of those cosmic entities and mantra initiation means handing over to a divine being who is the representation or himself a universal conscious being with infinite divine virtues.
The Upanishads declare that the sages by meditating on the cosmic sounds or mantras went into deep states of meditation and discovered/realised that the great power of universal conscious principle (Devatma Shakti) within.
We have in our tradition the systematic and precise approach to meditation mentioned in the ancient scriptures which are further commented and explained by Shri Swami Rama and Shri Swami Veda Bharati, which helps the serious students of meditation to enhance their understanding and practicing skills to reach the ultimate goal of meditation.
This unique retreat with Shri Raghavendra Adiga is offered only to those who have received Mantra Initiation within the Himalayan Tradition. They will have an opportunity to go deeper in their personal mantra through the practice of Purash-charana.
Editor’s Note:
Raghavendra Adiga ji is a mantra initiator within the Himalayan Tradition. He is also a member of the AHYMSIN Adhyatma Samiti, or Spiritual Committee. He is the center leader of the Himalayan Centre for Yoga Meditation, Tumkur, Karnataka, India, which is an AHYMSIN Affiliated center.
