Dr. David Frawley, Pandit Vamadeva Shastri, is a modern Renaissance man for Eastern mystical studies.
If one is interested in Vedic Astrology, he has insightful books filled with information and wisdom about this ancient science.
If one is drawn to the ancient science of healing called Ayurveda, again David Frawley has books that will illumine the subject for you and guide you to further reading and studies.
If your interests lie in the area of classical tantric practices – and I don’t mean of the sexual variety, but of the true mystical approaches – then you again will do well to consult the books expertly rendered by David Frawley.
But his reach is yet greater. In India he is recognized as an historian of modern importance. He coauthored Hidden Horizons – Unearthing 10,000 Years of Indian Culture, which has been publicly lauded by many Jagadgurus and spiritual leaders in India.1
So it is with appreciation for his stellar contributions to Hindu mystical practice, history and thought that I approach this Foreword to yet another great contribution from him: The topic of Sanskrit Mantra.
Classical descriptions of mantra are grounded in the idea that this entire creation at both the manifest and subtle levels is nearly endless combinations of the finite vibrations that scholars and mystics alike call the Matrika – The Mother: The Sanskrit alphabet. Whether it is Satya Loka, the realm of pure Truth at the top of the realms of light, or Patala Loka, the lowest of the seven nether realms, the composition of these lokas and the beings of form that inhabit them are composed of various permutations and combinations of the Matrika: The Sanskrit Alphabet. In various mystical texts the Matrika is commonly referred to as “She who binds and She who sets free.”
If we are unaware of the existence, power and operation of the Matrika, we are inexorably bound to the wheel of death and rebirth – Samsara. We are in the thrall of She who binds. But if we understand, even if only a little, and practice ancient spiritual formulas called mantras, we enter the realm of “She who sets us free.” Mantra is often referred to as “The Divine Name,” called “Nama” in Sanskrit. If one goes to any Hindu Temple and approaches one of the priests and says questioningly, “Nama Eva, Nama Eva . . . “ there will invariably come the response, “Kevalam, Kevalam.” This exchange roughly translates as, “The Name alone, the Name alone . . . sets one free, sets one free.” The understanding between the questioner and responder is that the practice of Sanskrit mantra is the single most efficacious spiritual practice for the current period of Spiritual Winter, called Kali Yuga.
In the last fifty years, Masters such as my own gurus, Sadguru Sant Keshavadas and his wife Sadguru Rama Mata, have both taught extensively and encouraged others like me to spread this knowledge of mantra and make it available to everyone. With his works such as Inner Tantric Yoga and this book, David Frawley lends his** **authoritative voice to the authentic and reliable resources available to help all of us escape our karmic predicaments.
Dr. Frawley goes into considerable helpful exposition on the subject of mantra. As a preamble to his discussion, here is some beginning explanation of the subject of mantra from my book, The Ancient Power of Sanskrit Mantra and Ceremony, Volume I. The word mantra has entered colloquial speech much the same way ‘guru’ has. Advertising slogans become mantras for products or services. Political campaigns develop popular ‘mantras’ for convincing voters about platform policies or candidates for office. Yet the true genesis and meaning of the term has become swallowed by popular usage along with a commonly agreed upon definition which does not come close to the original meaning for the word.
For some words, a distinction between what a word truly means and what is generally accepted as the meaning has little importance. But for a word like mantra, the true meaning is important. This is because a mantra is a word or term of power. And the power of every mantra is specific and exact. Therefore, popularly accepted definitions of what mantra is may have no relevance whatsoever to the actual use and effect of the power of a specific Sanskrit mantra.
With this understanding of mantra as an expression of tangible and usable power, we have the first useful item in the application of the science of mantra. Mantras are tools of power and tools for power. They are formidable. They are ancient. They work.
The word mantra is derived from two Sanskrit words. The first is “manas” or “mind,” which provides the “man” syllable. The second syllable is drawn from the Sanskrit word “trai” meaning to “protect” or to “free from.” Therefore, the word mantra in its most literal sense means “to free from the mind” (the cognitive, creative mind). Mantra is, at its core, a tool used by the mind that eventually frees one from the vagaries of the mind. But the journey from mantra to freedom is a wondrous one. The mind expands, deepens and widens and eventually dips into the essence of cosmic existence. On its journey, the mind comes to understand much about the essence of the vibration of things. And knowledge, as we all know, is power. In the case of mantra, this power is tangible and wieldable.
Historical Background
The historical derivation of the science and study of mantras corresponds with the intricacies of the Sanskrit language. Sanskrit has been called a variety of names: Deva Lingua (language of the gods), the “mother of tongues”, or simply a divine language. Why should this be?
Linguists commonly ascribe these descriptions to Sanskrit, because it provides a root tongue for so many languages, but the real reason is more esoteric. The Sanskrit alphabet has the same number of petals or spokes as there are on the flowers or wheels of the total of the first six chakras or esoteric energy centers, located along the spine. This is no accident.
The Sanskrit language is a tool for working with the subtle energy potential represented by each of the many chakras in the etheric body. However, the six major chakras contain the map of sounds written on each of the combined petals on those six chakras.
A saying from the Vedas claims that, “Speech is the essence of humanity.” All of what humanity thinks and ultimately becomes is determined by the expression of ideas and actions through speech and its derivative, writing.
Everything comes into being through speech. Ideas remain unactualized until they are created through the power of speech. The New Testament, Book of John, starts: “In the beginning was The Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God . . .”
The parallel for us is that if we wish to attain higher states of being, there are only two ways: Our own effort or Divine Grace. Some spiritual leaders have suggested that the first leads to the second.
In mainstream Vedic practices, most Buddhist techniques and classical Hinduism, mantra is viewed as a necessity for spiritual advancement and high attainment. In The Kalachakra Tantra, by the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins, the Dalai Lama states, ‘Therefore, without depending upon mantra . . . Buddhahood cannot be attained.’ Clearly, there is a reason why such widely divergent sources of religious wisdom as the New Testament and the Dalai Lama speak in common ideas.
Your Mantra Practice
As the topic of mantra is developed here by David Frawley in specific and expert fashion, you will hopefully be inspired to begin a mantra discipline. But before you do, please begin the important decision-making process of plumbing into the heart of your own spiritual nature. There you will find your spiritual ideal. Having found it, dedicate all of your spiritual practices and disciplines toward the achievement of your ideal nature and its fulfillment. This does not mean that you must give up intermediate goals such as wealth, happy marriage, good job, good health or other things. It merely means that you have framed an ultimate destination that is based in your own nature. From there you proceed with the understanding that the road and the destination are really one.
David Frawley, Vamadeva Shastri, has presented here for our use invaluable information and tools for spiritual advancement that are very hard to find. I urge you to take advantage of this rare opportunity through this masterful work and engage in a mantra discipline with dedication, discipline and intensity. The returns will be more than you ever thought possible. We are all benefited by the learned efforts of Vamadeva contained in this treasured volume, but it is up to us to put it into practice.
Thomas Ashley-Farrand (Namadeva Acharya)
September, 2009
www.sanskritmantra.com
1 Published by the Swaminarayan order (BAPS), famous for its beautifully designed modern Hindu temples in both India and the West.