Mantra Sadhana Is Not All That Difficult

Some of our new branded acharyas, don’t take it otherwise, particularly groups who call themselves as Srividya upasakas, they are there everywhere.

They project an impression that mantra sadhana is something very exclusive. Very dangerous.
They keep on cautioning you.
'Don’t touch mantras. Very risky. It should come from Guru.'

I am not saying that it is wrong. But the whole idea they convey is negative.
They don’t look at mantra deeksha and mantra sadhana as a blessing.

One of them recently wrote to us in Vedadhara:
'How can you make mantras public like this? They are all secrets. Should never make them public.'

Who says so? Mantra shastra doesn’t say.
Your mantra, the particular mantra that you are chanting, that should be kept secret — for various reasons.
Not the entire mantra shastra.
It is with this approach that we have killed most of our knowledge treasures.

Caution should be exercised — I am not saying give mantras to an evil-minded person. He is likely to misuse it.

So, we replied to them:
'Our purpose here by providing audios of various mantras is to inspire people. To make them know that all these exist.'

Today, how will someone even know that crores and crores of mantras are there, for various purposes?

Mantra shastra is not a secret.
Otherwise, all these books would not have been written — Prapancha Sara, Mantra Maharnava, Mantra Mahodadhi, Sharara Tilaka, so many of them — revealing even the rishi, chhandas, devata, nyasas.

But the point is that unless you get it in a guru parampara, it doesn’t work.

But mantra sadhana, as many would think, is not so much of mystery and secret.
In fact, mantra sadhana is one of the easiest forms of sadhana.
You get a proper deeksha from a siddha guru and learn a few techniques, then it is just you.
You can do it yourself.

Compare this with other forms of sadhana:

Yoga — the ashtanga yoga is tough, starting with the five yamas and five niyamas.
I am not talking about the commercial branded yoga and pranayama.
The real yoga — it is tough.
Unless you perfect your day-to-day conduct through yama and niyama, asana will not work, pranayama will not work.
Yoga is not easy — pratyahara, dharana, dhyana. Not an easy task.

Yajnas — the real yajnas, the path of the rituals.
Unless you have grip over Veda mantras, you can’t do rituals.
For this, you must have undergone Vedic training in a traditional gurukul.
In yajnas, timing is important, materials are important, you need help and support of others.
Not saying it can’t be done.

Jnana marga — so confusing.
The six philosophies themselves arguing among themselves.
Hundreds of thousands of books. Many of them contradict each other.
The same book — the Dwaiti will interpret in one way, Adwaiti will interpret in another way.
When you read one, you will think that is correct.
When you read the other one, you will think that is more correct.

Bhakti — simple. But it should come in the heart.
Bhakti is an emotion. It won’t come to everyone. Bhakti is a blessing.

Mantra sadhana, compared to all these, is very simple and easy.

The only difficult part is getting a proper guru and deeksha — which is again a blessing.
After that, you are on your own.
Follow the instructions with dedication and you will be successful.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi