Last week in our new Mantram Handbook book study, Easwaran put before us the lofty goal of establishing the mantram in our consciousness with the result that “you are delivered from the turmoil of the mind.”
This week let’s continue by reading pages 22–27* where he sets to work detailing the path to that goal, beginning with choosing a mantram. The approach to which he responds, Easwaran explains, “is one which the Buddha would call ‘the way of the open hand.’ The spiritual teacher says, ‘I don’t have a closed fist; my hand is open. Everything I know that can help you cross the sea of life is yours for the asking.’”
We are working together as a satsang community to make the most of this great gift.
Which lines particularly strike you, and how can you apply them to your life this week?
We are working to deepen our practice of the mantram. Here is an experiment to try this week:
Sit comfortably in a chair. Resolve to repeat the mantram for three minutes without having any other thought at all. Then try it. After you succeed at doing this a few days in a row, try extending that practice to five minutes.
* For those using electronic versions of The Mantram Handbook with different page numbering: this week’s reading comes from Chapter One, starting at the subheading “Keep It Simple” and ending before the subheading “A Few Cautions.”