For nearly two years, I have wanted to practice the mantra. Somehow, I knew there was value in it even if I didn’t understand what that value was. Last March, I attended a Buddhist retreat and for the first time I began practicing the mantra. I wrote the mantra over and over. I spoke the mantra over and over. During the retreat, I noticed many of the participants held these tiny digital devices. During our meals, they were very social, but periodically they clicked these devices. I soon learned they were digital counters so they could keep track of how many times they repeated the mantra. For the seasoned participants, the goal was to repeat the mantra 10,000 times per day! On my good days, I maybe made it to 500.
Today while running, I wrote a new mantra for myself:
Please, God, help me to take away my anger
Help me to purify my soul
Teach me to be loving to my fellow man
The theory behind the mantra is that its power can be unlocked through repetition. The more you write and repeat it, the more it gains in strength. After I finished reciting the above mantra a few hundred times, it occurred to me, worry is our mantra. Each time we worry, we are silently repeating a mantra of negativity and most of us don’t even know it. For example, if my car makes a noise it’s never made before, I begin to worry. “What if it’s about to break down? What if I get stranded somewhere I don’t want to be? What if it costs too much money to fix?” From then on, I become hyper alert. Every time I hear a strange noise, negative feelings are reinforced. It is the power of a silent mantra being recited in my head. A worry mantra is very powerful and can successfully create illness in the worrier. Even if illness doesn’t occur, a worry mantra can spread misery from the worrier to anyone nearby.
Whenever we begin to worry, we should practice a positive mantra even if it is just to counteract the negativity that is naturally occurring in our brains. And please don’t mistake my message for something it is not. A mantra cannot prevent bad things from happening, but it can totally flavor and change our reactions to the things we cannot control.
Please, God, help me to take away my anger
Help me to purify my soul
Teach me to be loving to my fellow man
2 comments:
Aaah finally a new post to sink my teeth in:)
Love the mantra plan. reinforcing positive messages to gain power in the universe...i'm in.
it is too true what you said about the worry being silent and spreading to those around you.
leaving for a solo retreat myself this weekend, maybe i will come up with a mantra for myself. something that has to do with having patience with others.
I love this. I'm up looking for a mantra to get my life together and to stop worry. I never thought of it like that. A worry being a mantra. I have constant negative self-talk from seeds planted by my parents and have repeat them in my subconscious daily. This has helped me. Blessings
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