Question: Amma, I like to chant my mantra aloud. I feel a lot of love and devotion and enthusiasm when I do that. But when I do it silently, just moving my lips, I don’t get the same concentration or feel the same love and enthusiasm. Please tell me the best way to chant my mantra.

Amma: Slokas (hymns or prayers) can surely be chanted aloud, but mantras that have bijaksharas, or seed sound syllables, are best chanted silently or by merely moving the lips and it is not advised to chant them loud.

You may chant your mantra aloud when you are alone at home. Or you can do it in your prayer room or living room ensuring no one is listening to you. For some people, that gives better concentration. Some students prefer to read their lessons aloud, while some read silently. Some get concentration while reading silently. It may be different for each person.

Chanting the mantra silently by just moving your lips is fine in the initial stages when people are around. Later, one will not find it necessary to move the lips, but will just chant the mantra inwardly.

Power of Bijakshara

When Amma gives a mantra that has a bijakshara, certain rules apply. The mantra with a bijakshara has to be heard directly from the Guru’s mouth. Such an initiation will bring about a definite change, a transformation in the disciple.

Here in India, a little yogurt will be added to some milk at night, and by morning the milk has fermented and turned into yogurt. Getting a mantra from the Guru is like that. Trying to do it on your own is like adding some other substance to the milk and expecting yogurt.

We all have the Truth inside us, but we are not able to see it because our minds are contaminated. Water is hot at various degrees. It can be 10, 20, 30 or 100-degrees boiling water. At 10 degrees, the micro-organisms in water will still be active, but as the temperature increases, the amount of micro-organisms decrease. A real Guru is completely pure, whatever comes from Him has the power to create a transformation in the disciple. When a Satguru gives us a mantra, he is infusing his energy into us. Sooner or later, it will infallibly take effect.

Enthusiasm & practice

In the initial stages of our sadhana, or spiritual practice, we feel a lot of enthusiasm. At the same time, there are certain guidelines we should follow for our own benefit. You may not be able to drive a new vehicle at high speed until having driven it for a certain distance because of the speed lock. Same is with a blender in the kitchen. If you don’t turn off the blender, you’ll burn it out. Those who have a better understanding of spirituality, who have read spiritual books and have proper guidance know that precautions are necessary. A health tonic has a prescribed dosage for children and for adults beyond which it can be harmful. If, in your initial enthusiasm, you do many more hours of meditation than you are ready for, your head may get overheated and cause insomnia, indigestion, etc. Such uncontrolled spiritual practices may also result in depression or other unhealthy conditions. So you must approach meditation in a very progressive way – slowly and steadily.

In the initial phases, it is good to meditate for 20 minutes or half an hour. It is important to have proper guidance. Those especially who don’t have the samskara, or innate tendency, should seek guidance from the Guru. A student in a laboratory needs a professor to show him how to conduct an experiment with the right use of the chemicals and the precautions that need to be taken. Likewise, the Satguru knows the best for each disciple and advises each person accordingly.

Gurumantra from a Satguru

When a Satguru gives us a mantra, it is absolutely safe. It is like a fragile item shipped with the proper packaging. Even if such a package falls, the item inside won’t break.

Taking mantra from the Guru-mukha (uttered from Guru’s mouth) with bijaakshara, is like getting a package that is properly wrapped. A mantra from other source is like having a very fragile object which may break when it falls. The disciple is always protected by the Satguru.