One fine, beautiful Thursday morning, I was sitting with my Master and learning from the Bhagvad Gita. After he finished teaching me, he wanted to take some rest so he lay down while I was sitting at his feet and asking him some questions. During this conversation he suddenly asked me to rest my head on his chest and asked me to listen to his heart beat. To my amazement and shock, I heard his heart beat chanting the ‘Nam Japa’ (Name of the Lord). It reduced me to tears and was the most unbelievable and amazing experience! He then asked me what I had heard and when I told him the name he said that it was my ‘Guru Mantra’.
Initially I was only asked to chant this ‘Nam Japa’ which is a part of the mantra but as I matured and progressed on the path of the Spiritual, my Master then imparted the complete Mantra to me. This happened only a year later when I started to grow deeper in Love and Devotion for my Master/Krsna.
From then on, every time I wanted to test whether the heart beat is still chanting the Mantra, I would rest my head on my Master’s chest and the only thing I hear, even to date, is the chanting of the Mantra in the form of his heart beat. This Guru Mantra is the ‘Key’. The ‘Nam Japa’ has to be practiced and perfected until you understand or attain ‘Your Self’. To understand God’s Love, you have to understand ‘Your Self’. This understanding of what it is to ‘Love the Lord’ can only be experienced when you open the granthi (knot) of your heart with the key of the ‘Nam Japa’ and become one with your own Self.
Nam (Name) – The form is in the word itself. Every ‘Nam’ or Name is a manifest. The word creates the object and the object is the World. The intensity of your ‘Nam Japa’ will give you the experience of experiencing the ‘Nam’. To experience this Divine, which the Japa or chanting creates, the mind has to be in a state of thoughtlessness and in silence. Always remember that without unflinching ‘faith’ you cannot experience the Truth or Supreme Divine Consciousness.
Now let me tell you the significance of the Guru Mantra as explained to me by my Master. The Guru Mantra is the Name of the Lord or word given by your Guru or Spiritual Master. Remember how it is the Guru who finds you and not the other way around, for you to make your Spiritual Progress towards the attainment of Self Realization. The Guru comes from the domain of that Divine – that is why we say “Guru Sakshat Prabrahma” (Guru is God ). He then passes on the Mantra or Name of the Divine from the lineage you come from.
This Mantra given to you is one of the ways of attaining the Divine of the particular domain or lineage you belong to. Please note that the efficacy of the Mantra lies only with the person imparting this Mantra. Not anyone or everyone who call themselves to be ‘Guru’ can give this. Only a SadGuru can give you this GuruMantra as he comes from the domain of Supreme Lord. Anyone else besides him who gives this Mantra will only be lower in the potency or connected to that particular domain or deity. For example, receiving the Mantra from Chaitanya Maha Prabhu, who was the incarnation of Lord Krsna himself, will be a fully charged one and has the highest potency or power in invoking that divinity within one’s own self.
The disciple or the student receives the Guru Mantra or gets initiated with the Guru Mantra when he or she has a burning desire from within for Self-Realization or attaining Moksha/Salvation. When the disciple qualifies through the grace of the Guru for the journey on the path of Spirituality only then does the Guru gives the Guru Mantra or initiate the disciple through the Guru Mantra. In simple words, this happens when the disciple’s passion or interest for Knowing God or Spirituality grows beyond a certain level of material existence.
One can remain in the company of the Guru for many years but he/she will not be initiated into Spiritual or receive the Guru Mantra until and unless he/she has attained or reached the required Spiritual maturity. When practiced with a sincere desire for Spiritual progress, the chanting of the Mantra enables one to stop doing things as per one’s mind and start listening and doing things as ordained by your Guru. This helps in overcoming one’s mind and ego and develop absolute Faith and Surrender unto your Guru. Through the purification of your mind and heart, you attain Pure Love and Exclusive Devotion for Thy Master/God. Again, it is important to remember that this process is not as simple as described in here.
This is a journey of a lifetime and the diamond cutter (Guru) is going to keep giving the finest, sharpest cuts until you shine the brightest and become the most priceless one in this Universe. Know that every time he chips off a part of you, you are going to jump in pain but it is this process that makes the most beautiful diamond – what will make you the most beautiful One. Without a diamond cutter, you are a mere stone. It is the Guru alone who can turn this stone into the world’s most precious Gem. But you must take note; once this process is complete, the World fails to remember the diamond cutter and only acknowledges the diamond. The Guru’s job is a thankless one. Hence, it is extremely important to revere this real Diamond, the Guru in your life, and worship him with absolute reverence and heartfelt thankfulness. It is impossible to ever repay what the Guru bestows upon you and does for you. I am eternally indebted to my Master who is my everything of everything. Without him my existence has no meaning. The reason for my existence is my Guru alone who is my lifeline.
The Guru Mantra is given so that you can continue to practice it and reach higher Spiritual goals, so you can complete the journey towards emancipation. This completion of the journey is called ‘Purascharana’ and it takes you to the feet of the Lord. Sometimes the Master will give you a rosary to count the number of times that you chant the Mantra. If there is no rosary available, you can begin counting on the sections of your fingers. Start with the ring finger and end when you complete going over the sections of each finger. The Guru Mantra is a doorway or key to the door for reaching the Lord.
I did not realize the profoundness of this Divine experience until very recently – in one of my Master’s expositions of Srimad Bhavagadam it was mentioned that this chant in the form of the heartbeat of your Master’s heart can only be heard by the Lord’s highest devotees with an absolute pure heart.
With the grace of my Master I have been able to pen this beautiful experience in a string of words. Thank you for reading and do watch out for my next write-up about my experience and vision of the second Divine Unmanifest – Golak Vrindavan.
