Hari
Om
Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation
For the next stage of our investigation on
meditation, we are going to study - and practice! - japa as a means to tame the
mind and we shall investigate the Gayatri Mantra.
In
India, the Gayatri is initiated at a very early age; it is done during a ritual
called 'upanayana'. In the Vedas we read of 'gayatri-diikshaa' - the discipline
of gayatri. Diikshaa indicates the level of practice one must undergo in order
that one may become fit for taking part in any ritual service. In strict terms,
there are regulations about who can obtain this upanayana (drawing near) and
when; a brahmana at five years, a kshatriya at six years and a vaishya at eight
years, but no older than 16, 22 and 24 respectively. So important is this
ceremony, it is considered almost as a second birth and thus those who have
undergone upanayana are said to be 'dvija' - twice born.
At
this time, each will also be initiated into the fourth line of the mantra - it
is never a public thing. The line is for upanayana only and asserts an intimate
subjective experience for the devotee, emboldening identity with the source in
the 'that is this' level. This line has
been always preserved as sacred and secret and is only available to full-time
seekers and self-dedicated sannyaasins (renunciates).
You
may have gathered there is a hint here that the mantra has become reserved for
men and that too, within certain social groupings. However, it used to be that
the mantra was freely chanted among all - including women. Women also had the
upanayana and learned the Vedas, taught the scriptures and the mantras. It is
society (as in male-driven culture) which withdrew that privilege. Nowadays, in
advaita vedanta, no distinction is made between gender or societal
standing. Indeed, there are writings
within Sanskrit literature which indicate that there can be greater benefits
from women chanting the mantra; men doing this japa benefit themselves,
however, women performing this japa benefit all they Love, so their families
and the wider community also. All who take up saadhana in jaana marg may take up this mantra japa also.
Worth
noting, too, that the more people chanting this japa, the wider the net of Love
which spreads. Get into it!
