Hamsa Mantra

Meditation Techniques to Face Your Fears

Physiologically and psychologically, this meditation will transform your life. This technique is not only for healing, but it can also directly open you to deeper and deeper levels of consciousness, to enlightenment.

This is a very powerful technique that can be used twenty-four hours a day. Whenever you are attacked by fear, just sit back and relax. Put your awareness only on your exhaling breath.

Repeat the word ‘sah’ silently as you exhale, that is, with the outgoing breath. Exhaling is like relaxing and letting go anything that can die. While inhaling you will be constantly trying to hold on to something. Exhaling is like letting go. Focus on exhaling without bothering about inhaling. When you inhale, repeat ‘ham’ silently.

Place more awareness and energy on the exhalation. Help yourself exhale deeper. Let the inhalation happen automatically through the body. Place your energy, attention and effort only on exhaling.

It is a silent intonation of ‘ham…sah…., ham…sah’. Silent intonation of this hamsa mantra* will suddenly take you into the awareness, the relaxation, that never dies. Whatever can die will leave your system, your inner space.

This technique can also be practiced at other times when you are not faced by fear, while you are sitting, talking, walking, eating, even while you are sleeping. It is a very powerful technique. Constantly, all twenty four hours, place your attention on exhaling and just intone the hamsa mantra* silently as ‘hamsah’, ‘hamsah’, ‘hamsah’. When you inhale, intone ‘ham’ and when you exhale, intone ‘sah’.

Understand, when constantly intoning this mantra, it will become ajapa japa * or chanting without effort. Chanting with effort is called Japa. Chanting without effort is Ajapa. It means that which goes on automatically in you. You just need to intone, that’s all. Fall in tune, that’s all. The whole day it will be resounding within you.

Whatever can die will leave your system, and you will realize that whatever can die can never be part of you. If you are identifying yourself with something that can die, that identification will be disconnected and you will be unclutched.

Whatever can never die, you will feel connected to that. Whatever cannot die is your very being. You will realize you are that which can never die, that which we call the Truth, enlightenment, Consciousness. If the intonation of the Hamsa Mantra becomes Ajapa in you, you become a Paramahamsa!

Try this technique for just three days. Whenever you remember, inhale with the silent intonation, ‘ham’. Exhale with the silent intonation, ‘sah’. Let your awareness be more on the exhalation. You will suddenly see that the fear of losing your wealth, parts of your body or your health, or your near and dear ones, or the fear of unknown and all the fears will disappear.

When your awareness is on exhaling, whatever is occupying your inner space as a part of you that can die, will simply leave your inner space. You will be liberated.

• Hamsa mantra – Also called soham mantra, it is practised by silently intoning ‘hmmm’ while inhaling and ‘sssaaa’ while exhaling.
• Ajapa japa – Chanting a sacred chant involuntarily.
• Paramahamsa – Supreme Swan, title bestowed on enlightened beings.
• Karana sharira – Causal layer, the fifth energy layer in us, corresponding to deep sleep. The source of conditioned memories or engrams
• Hoo kara – ‘Hoo’ sound produced from the mouth during exhalation in meditation.

Technique for Enlightenment

There is a very beautiful Upanishad called the “Paramahamsa Upanishad”. It says that anybody who repeats a mantra is a fool.

According to this Upanishad, a psychological revolution should happen in a person in such a way that their very breathing should start repeating the mantra. This can only happen when they are in a deep peace. This mantra which is repeated constantly by the breath, is called Hamsa mantra.

The person who is able to hear the ‘ham’ and the ‘sam’, which is the sound of inhaling and exhaling, is said to be established in the Hamsa mantra. Buddha has always spoken of taking the middle path, or Madhyapantha. A person who is on the middle path and is in complete acceptance of the present moment, as well as the infinite possibilities of the future, will be able to hear the ‘ham’ and ‘sam’ sounds of their breathing. The person who carries this understanding in their heart for all twenty four hours, including in the dream state, is a Paramahamsa.

Instructions

Sit straight, and very consciously, with a very strong decision. Intensely create an intention that you are accepting yourself as you are, in the outer world and in the inner world. Tell yourself that you have enough in the outer world, and enough in the inner world, and accept yourself completely. Decide that there is no need to develop yourself in the outer or inner worlds. Even if you feel you have ego, fear, guilt or greed, accept yourself as you are.

Do this in a very relaxed way, without moving your body. Body movements will create thoughts. If your body is stable it can take you into a deeper silence. Whatever objection your mind raises about not accepting yourself, accept that also. Accept the present moment and all the future moments. Accept everything your mind brings up, even the worst scenarios. Accept all your fears and worries about the future. If it happens, it is inevitable, so accept even that.

You do not have to chant any mantra, just sit with this acceptance. The moment you accept yourself, there will not be any thoughts. Automatically you will see that your breath is flowing with a deep ‘Ham-sam’ sound. Just become silent and you will be able hear this mantra repeating constantly. Do not try to consciously create this sound, it will happen by itself.

This meditation is not supposed to be done at any particular time, it is supposed to be practised constantly. Continuously, whenever you feel that rajas or restlessness is happening in you, you should come back to this state. Initially start doing it with some simple tasks, like talking to your close friend, discussing a simple business deal, playing with a child or moving your body in a simple way. Try all these small actions with the balance of Hamsa mantra and you will see that within a few days, you will be constantly centered on Hamsa mantra while performing all your activities.

Human beings are constantly talking, either to each other or themselves, and this is why the Hamsa mantra is never heard. As one practices this, they will see that their thoughts will slowly begin to reduce. From a hundred, they will come down to ten, and then gradually there will be none. Yet, they will be able to perform all their daily activities smoothly, whether professional or personal. They will be constantly centered on sattva, with the right understanding of the self as well as the world, and will fall into the divine. This is called living enlightenment – to be liberated while living.

References

http://nithyanandatimes.org/hamsa-mantra/ http://articles.nithyananda.org/2012/10/meditation-techniques-to-face-your-fears/