[136] The Power of Mantra Practice – with Andrew Holecek

1:03AM Nov 14, 2023

Speakers:

Andrew Holecek

Audience Member

Keywords:

mantra

mind

practice

recite

meditation

work

talk

day

yoga

thought

retreat

rebirth

hear

wonderful

reverse

liturgy

sound

recitation

dream

principle

Key Hello everybody checking to make sure we have our little otter thing going on here. Nice to see everybody always like checking in and seeing who who's here today. Wonderful. Excellent. Nice to see everybody. So um, this is our Monday meditation group, because of you know, what we do here I usually start with one or two things that's coming up. The only thing really to announce is the Costa Rican dream, Lucid Dream Dream Yoga event happening in March. So if you want to get away from the cold winter, and join us and the beaches of Costa Rica, please do so my dear friend, Michelle Lowe, somewhat synchronistically is actually going to be doing a thing yoga nidra at the same time, and so we were talking about doing some cross pollination where she can come in in the evenings and do some of your guided yoga nidra instruction with us and if you haven't experienced her, she's great. We have an interview with her on night club if you listen to it yet she's just wonderful person and we haven't officially posted it yet. But we got the date. For our second running of the preparing to die program. This stream is a three month intensive thing that we did this summer, where for all intents and purposes, a really pretty solid start on that made some refinements made some changes and we'll be listing that probably in a week or two, but it's going to start the first Wednesday and no. February 1 Wednesday in February. So that's all I have to announce. I do this pause so Alyssa can recording in progress. There we go recording in progress. So I would my time with you. I thought we would do something just a sliver difference in that since this is a principally a session where we can get together and do some practice together and I thought well we would do is actually start with a few minutes of some guided practice with some commentary from my end. Not much but just a little bit and then I want to continue to reinstate the centrality the importance of this kind of my track that I started last couple of sessions that I had with you where we have to use the Dream Yoga mantra or mana Tara. We do the money mantra last time Omani Padme home. So I want to say a little bit more about that. Just to put an exclamation point about why this is such a big deal in both Hindu and Buddhist approaches, especially Hindu and Buddhist Tantra. But I thought what we could do is just take a minute. Eyes open our eyes closed. I almost always practice with eyes open but when I'm doing something on a screen it's always helpful for me to do it with my eyes closed. I actually recommend that if you're looking at a screen, it's always helpful to just you know, turn away for just a second. But we could just take a few minutes to kind of settle and gather and we can start with two practices that I am personally engaging in more and more and therefore presenting more and more. One of them is this one breath meditation session that I learned from my teacher. Khenpo Rinpoche comes from the Maha Mudra tradition. The Great Seal tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

that's it. meditation session over I cannot tell you how often I use this practice. I use it really principally by kind of curriculum is a bit of an antidote to impulsiveness. That whenever I have impulsive urge to you want from me Of course for many people reach for my phone. Oh my god, how many times a day does that happen? It's pathetic. Beyond myself, literally I'll be reaching for the phone. Literally my head will be going for it. Pause it's actually a type of Bardo yoga gap yoga pause. One breath meditation session so let's do another one.

Fantastic or I reach for my tablet. I reach for my computer. I reach for the fridge or reach for my whatever. Whenever I noticed this in the car, I reach to turn on my classical music radio station. Whenever I feel this kind of impulse pause. Take one breath. For me. It's like ventilating. sigh taking a little sip of space right? Mind Our minds are so congested these days. There's no space in the untamed untrained mind. It's so contracted it's so speedy it's just a traffic jam in there right. And because of that congestion because of that speediness we end up leaving I should say leading speedy congested kind of rush hour lives. So I find myself more and more and more. Yes, retreat is incredibly important. In fact, this Friday I going off for a 10 day practice and in Crestone so I do my annual retreats. But in addition to the ease in adoption tradition, right, short sessions repeated often just these tiny little slips of space throughout the day over and over and over. I have a minute I'm waiting for somebody. I can either check my phone or if the page setting propensity to just pick up whatever reading materials are out. I pause one breath there we go.

And this time we can slide at the end of the outbreath into just four or five minutes. So wonderful, beautiful Shama tentation, right. The practice of tranquility quiescence virtually virtually synonymous with mindfulness. Whereas we've talked about remember previous sessions returned to body and breath whenever the mind is distracted. And let's just do that for a few minutes together in silence as a way to further arrive. To stabilize the center together

Never forget the thoughts are not the enemy. We're not trying to get rid of our thoughts, nor are we trying to stop that role play the natural movement of the mind the mind thinks that's just what it does.

So when we label the arising of a distraction, a thought or whatever and we recognize it moment of lucidity at moment of mindfulness classic instruction is to gently but precisely label it's like having a bubble with a feather and then simply returning the present moment to body and breath. But the label whether it's thinking back to breath or wake up back to birth it's not a reprimand me merely an act of recognition. Recognition and liberation or simultaneous it's an act of recognition that your mind has moved. On perhaps notice when you do recognize label that pay some attention to the energetic quality of that act of labeling and recognition do you do so with kindness? With metta with my treat towards yourself? A light hearted, almost playful approach or is there perhaps a reprimand quality Ah there you go thinking again. Simply notice that release the narrative to that and then gently. Jack Kornfield has this image of puppy training that when you're first training a puppy keeping an eye on the piece of paper it's gonna stray it's gonna stray off you know beat the puppy up you pick it up, bring it back. Up he strays again puppy mind. Pick it up, bring it back, pick it up, bring it back

we do sell again and again and again is what Trump RBJ referred to as kind of the manual labor of meditation repetition.

When I was in Katmandu a number of years ago, when I first met and developed a friendship with Matthieu Ricard, some of you may know him that wonderful scholar monastic. Also a biochemist with PhD when he was giving a talk on meditation to a number of foreigners that were given a tour of the monastery and in a very interesting, lovely image about the importance of repetition, it's like you know, when you have a rolled up Scroll of paper and you try to flatten it out. Why one pass across the surface is not going to do it right because the paper has been so wrapped around itself, it takes again and again and again until the mind relaxes opens unwinds.

So this is why a daily meditation practice formal start to the day if that works for you, wonderful thing to do to start the day. Wonderful thing to do to end the day. Every time you do so you're running your hands crossed, a scroll rolled up paper

you do so with a sense of playfulness determination, resolve and yet lightheartedness right.

Infrastructure practice of shamatha is so critical because without some level of acquiescence some level of centering, slowing the mind down many other meditations really don't have traction they don't have a platform

so all my meditation instructors for the decades would always say never forget. Never forget to samatha never forget the mindfulness provides the infrastructure upon all on which all the other practices are grounded. This is one reason I've experienced in my own life and also, being a meditation instructor for decades is the lack of fruition. So to speak, with practitioners in the impatient West. Especially with things like tantric practices, adrionna practices, so many wonderful rich things to do. But if the preliminaries the ground isn't established, in these practices are introduced without that stability, there is no traction there's no purchase, and then people wonder why things don't work.

So as you know, there's this classic Maxim. The preliminaries are more important than the main practice. So in particular, when we're doing things like Dream Yoga, one of the principal ingredients to the success of Dream Yoga or all the preliminaries. During the infrastructure practices, they create a platform that create the grounding so that when the Dream Yoga techniques are actually introduced, they work.

So in addition to this kind of antidote of one breath meditation session, which I do all the time whenever I feel a contraction whenever I feel impulsivity, I try to pause just for the duration of one breath take a sip of space has been delayed.

I mentioned last time I was with you. This is what protects the mind distraction. One of the main translations of what I want to transition now into is you know mantra remember, mind protection. We talked about it is mind being protected from distraction. mind being protected from ordinary appearance. And then as I mentioned last time, I want to reinstate this. Mind protection also means heart protection, right, both in Sanskrit and Pali. citta. Same word for mind and heart. And so I bring this up because for me these days, it's so incredibly easy with just the crap show that's happening in the world, right. We definitely are in the dark age, have you noticed there's a lot of pain and there's I noticed there's a lot of contraction, a lot of hurt and sometimes this tendency is like I just can't I can't take it. It's just too much. And I this is where I have to be careful because it's dangerous. You know, I have to titrate my capacity to be in touch with what's happening in Ukraine. I mean, a frickin I'd say except I can't even watch it. I mean, these people are living it right. Or Israel, Gaza if I can't either watch it. Imagine the people that are going through this right. So for me, I've been reciting in addition to my little sips of space with one breath meditation. I mentioned this last time, but I want to say it again. The beauty of the what's called the Mani mantra, or Mani Padme home monitoring introduced last time because for me, what I noticed is protects my heart. So remember mantra mind protection, heart protection. So this protects my heart from closing down. from not wanting to watch news doesn't mean I gorge and just watch CNN or MSNBC for hours on end. Of course not. But I do find myself sometimes just wanting to walk away from the whole thing. And that's not the idea of a bodhisattva. Right. I mean, Bodhisattva is really they make the aspiration to go where things are the worst. The highest level participants make the aspiration have to go to the hell realms, to go to the places that are really, really rough. And so as an aspiring Bodhisattva and perhaps we're all in any kind of league is aspiring bodhisattvas we need protection. So remember on ma ni pod may hum six syllables each syllable is associated with one of the six realms of samsara. God Realm jealous God Realm, human realm, animal realm, Hungry Ghost Realm, and then hell realm. All these are broken up into subcategories, right so these are the six ontological dimensions of existence and samsara but they're equally states of mind that we reincarnate and take rebirth in all the time. So in addition to protecting the mind, this mantra protects the mind from involuntary rebirth into the six states these six logical states passion aggression, ignorance, jealousy, pride, when you when you when you find yourself cycling through, you know this kind of primordial palette, samsara these kinds of this just reverse artists palette from which all samsaric emotions and all states of mind are, are sort of being painted and constructed. With Smoger also, this is one reason it's such a central key mantra it's designed to help the mind prevent the mind from taking involuntary rebirth into these realms. And this is the big deal. This is a big deal because one of the things that is taking place this is where Montra really kicks into to barter yoga to the death and dying teachings is that if you pay attention to your mind, the mind is always birthing. The mind is always giving birth. That's just again, that's what it does. Just look at your mind. Thoughts are coming to existence. That's why I often say you know, thoughts are the children of your mind. You're always giving birth to the contents of your mind. And if you want to gain an intimation, a hint of what according to the Buddhist teachings, is going to recall occur in the Bardot's when one transitions from this dimension when we die transition into the next dream take a look at your mind. You want to know what's going to happen when you die. Look at your mind. Look at your dreams. Well this file now was found then as Kabir said, so the real The amazing thing here is the mind is always reincarnating the mind is always birthing and if you pay attention to your mind, what is it that shapes it? What it what is it that forms it? What are the what is it that births it? Your habits? may repeat right over and over and over. I heard one psychologist say, see if this isn't true for you. 90% of the thoughts we had today are exactly the same thoughts we had yesterday, isn't it? True? Right? Spinning this weave this cocoon Shambala language. So if we don't have just control of this birthing process, this is this is non lucid dying and rebirthing born of habituation born of habit patterns. And so the genius of mantra when Bondra does hear it, remember bro, really mind protections, birth control, because what you're doing with mantra is you're voluntarily birthing your mind. Your vows shaping your mind in this case, what sonically acoustically in the form of the Deity, the the sonic form of the deity or whatever I mean, mantras have so many different applications, but a lot of mantras or mantras are associated, in fact, with deities, right deity principle archetypal expressions of the awakened mind. Automatically Yes, what monitor is monitoring is the sound of the awakened mind. So like I mentioned before I use this I'm trying to share with you some practices that I do every day day in and day out, especially now when things are really just so crazy, right? And I have the urge to throw my shoe at the TV when I see a politician I can't stand or all these impulses, right? Well, that's reaction, right. That's just reactivity. That's not helpful. It's like it's the impulse pause. Let us actually when I'm in situations that are going to steal my mind, it's like traveling for me. I just came back from a week away. This is just a go to thing for me. The minute I leave here to get to catch my boss to go to the airport, go through all the TSA stuff. Get on a plane. All the stuff is evolving with travel, which can be so irritating. For me, it's somewhat in the spirit of reverse meditation, which we haven't talked about yet. Maybe that's coming up. Maybe we can do that. One of the things I do the minute I leave I've done this so often just practice starts to do me. I just start reciting mantras non stop, non stop. Because I know I'm in a situation that will otherwise my mind will be stolen by external circumstance. I'm going to get irritated by people on the bus and there's no room for me to sit you know, like the horse like Apocalypse Now remember that scene? The horrors right? Oh, the horror. There's no place for me to sit on the bus. Give me a break. I get in line and I get a random search on my bag. The horrors right oh my god, you know, these are instantly born in a hell realm if I capitulate to that type of irritation. So to protect that rebirth, what do I do? Mantra, mind protection, heart protection. Your mind is going to take shape whether you like it or not. Just look at your mind. Look at your dreams. Your mind is always taking shape. It's always forming. It's always birthing. This is moment to moment rebirth, thought arises, abides, dies. So lifecycle Bardo yoga moment to moment day arises, dissolves, dies, you wake up the next day, same iteration takes place on a day to day basis. It's gonna take place yet again, when we die at the end of life. It's the same phenomena we generated at these three levels. So the mind is always spinning through this kind of cosmic recycling process. It's just what it does.

So why not take control? This is like lucid dying lucid birthing and lucid dying. So this is lucidity right? So what we do with least what I do with lucid dreaming and all the dream practices natural practices is I look for the principles behind them. Yes, lucid dreaming is great for sure. Dream Yoga. Great for sure. But what about deeper What about lucidity principle? What about DREAM principle? What about nightmare principle? Because everything is fundamentally reducible to these principles. Really. Chaos complex, more complexity theory actually. One of the principal proclamations of complexity theory is that reality is fundamentally reducible to really essentially fundamental iterative processes. This is what generates the fractals the Mandelbrot sets these recursive formula and very simple formulas and feedback into each other in a recursive way to create these magnificent displays that we know as fractals, or matter Bots as well reality itself follows the same principles. So by engaging in kind of a healthy reductionism, you can take the complex display of reality, reduce it to some fundamental principles and then go to the heart essence. So that's one of the things I'm trying to talk about here. Terms of extending and enhancing the applicability, perhaps inspiring you to learn more and engage or in things like mantra recitation why? Why do these wisdom traditions put so much emphasis on reciting mantras? Well, these are some of the reasons they protect the mind from distractions. They protect us from proceeding ordinary appearances. They keep the heart open, they protect the heart from closing the prevent involuntary rebirthing process that's happening, right? So the more we understand, it's the blah, blah, blah, behind all this stuff, so that maybe we get enough inspiration to say, Wow, now I can see I mean, I press this issue with every single teacher and I did my really long retreat. Right? I mentioned this before, right? I mean, okay, you want me to recite loot on my kid and you want me to recite 100,000 100 syllable. You know how long that takes, man. It takes a long time. You want me to recite a million mantras, you know like that? Takes? So I was sitting there, I'm going okay, I want to know why am I doing this man? Why why this personal technology? Why? And the more I understand how I get it, now I understand. Right? Then I go into my retreat, I'm left alone. For what six months. I'm gonna do this, because I know I have the right view. I know what I'm after. So let's recite together. The mommy mantra right on Ma Ma ni Todd may come on Monday Padma home designed to keep the mind from slipping into involuntary rebirth into the sixth principle psychological states of mind. If you take a closer look at your mind, you are always cycling through the six realms psychologically. You live in Angry life, full of bitterness, full of resentment full of aggression. You're living in hell Rome. You are preparing your birth after you die into a hell round because you're living in hell all the time. You live life of tremendous envy, right? Jealousy. You're paving your way for rebirth into a jealous God Realm. You spend your life full of desire and passion. Either a hungry ghost or a human realm. You're greasing the skids for that. You want to know where you're going to be reborn. Look at where you're taking rebirth now. We want to be blissed out. Living in a kind of a penthouse of samsara the god realms. You want to be reborn into a God Realm. Pay attention to your mind now what is found that was found them so for a few minutes together let's recite this and then we can have some discussion if you'd like. The way I do this, the way I was trained is recite it out loud. I do these I do mantras almost exclusively with my eyes closed of course unless I'm traveling and stuff right. Excuse me. And the reason I do that is I'm trying to feel into receptively where in my body are the sonic acupuncture points? Working? It's another way to talk about what mantra is. It's like Sonic acupuncture needles. Working on the subtle body we can maybe talk about this next time like what's the subtle body phenomenology what's going on subtle body. One of the things is these the sonic aspects the sounds are designed to penetrate it's called literally it's called penetrating the vital point. It's like you're throwing acupuncture needles at these points within your subtle body that are designed to what open them. Meditation is habituation to openness. So there's so much going on. Here we are with just I'm just reciting a sound right I'm just reciting this beautiful sacred Sanskrit sound. There is so much going on with the recitation of mantra has so many levels of applicability. And so that's one of the things I'm trying to do obviously, is share some of that applicability to inspire you to engage in it. So we'll do this on Monday. Padme home speed doesn't really matter. You can do it at any pace you want. I've been doing this for so long. I tend to go to a pretty good clip, but that doesn't make any difference. The invitation is to notice feel. What do you feel in your body? Where do you feel it? Do these sounds have any particular location? Do they target particular centers in your body? Can you feel that? So recited together for a few a few minutes. I'll recite it out loud then we'll transition into a semi audible kind of whispered recitation. And then I'll signal then we'll transition into what's called a vydra recitation or mental recitation. Are you just saying it with your mind? Only okay. Then we'll have a chance to talk a little bit more about this. So for the next few minutes, the sound of compassion. The sound of Avalokitesvara chan raises mind if compassion had a sound This is according to the Tibetans. This is what that sound might be on Monday by me home. Here we go. Close your eyes

on mani padme hum and the Padme Hum the pan may hum the pod may on me by May on mani padme hum and the pod may know money by May home money been on the money by Mae home loan money pardon me on the on your money partner home your money pardon me home loan money pardon me home loan money pardon me home loan money. May money may home loan money pardon a home loan money borrowed may money pardon me on money. Borrowed may on Monday. Pardon me? Mani Padme home on Monday. Pardon me Hong Kong. Keep going? I might say a few words. So money pardon me on Monday. Pardon me sir

archetypal sounds

on money pardon me on your own money on money back

home. That's why they have their impact without meaning. The sound itself carries the power.

Money pardon me on my new home loan money Bye. Bye. May or may not be on the button a home loan money Money. Money. Money. Money pardon? Me pardon me home No money. No money by me on money on money. Bernie. Bernie Bernie. No money pardon me home loan money. Pardon me on the Bernie on the

money home on the burn me home loan money. Home Loan Money. Money. By Name party may home loan money by many home loan money by mail. By Mail. By mail or money pardon me home loan money pod now

on exquisit attention what do you notice? Listen to your body. What do you notice? What do you feel in your body when you recite this mantra?

Money pardon me on the button on the pardon me on the pardon me on the pardon me on the pardon me on a button on the button on the HOME

pod and then a whisper it's semi audible recitation.

Then a purely mental recitation.

Voluntarily. Birthing your mind. Yes. In the acoustic form of the Deity, the bodhisattva of compassion This is the sound of Chen raise mind and heart. We can quite literally tune into it get in tune with it.

And then at the end you release drop the mantra and rest in the ultimate mantra right silence. Remember Rumi silence is the language of God. All else is poor translation. Mantra sacred sound is the best translation so rest. Now in ultimate mantra silence.

Wonderful

so I believe I share this with you but I'll share it again. I've done this particular mantras so often so long. I've conditioned myself that whenever I hear about a a death, shooting whatever. I recite a mantra, I recite this mantra. I see a dead animal on the side of the road. I recite this mantra. I read about some tragedy in the paper. I recite this mantra so it's like being conditioned right to say bless you or gives untied after someone sneezes. I've done this for so long that the practice starts to do me. Some uncomfortable situation. Manager comes immediately to my mind and heart. So work with it. It starts to work with you So next time when we meet again. I will say a little bit more about what I was just hinting at at the end. About the subtle body phenomenology, the kind of the mechanism of transformation of the sacred sounds on the subtle body because that's what they're targeting. That's what they're working on. Hence, they're archetypes. They're working with the archetypal dimension of our being the subtle body. That's why I invited you to feel what do you feel within. So next time I'll talk a little bit more specifically about what these monitors do sonically acoustically to your subtle body. So that again, you'll go whoa, idea. No, I can see why. The sequence sounds are so key, right? What is even Christianity? The beginning was the Word and the Word was made flesh. So a few moments for questions, comments and offerings doesn't always have to be a question if someone had an experience. They want to share offer if you're reciting the mantra and actually feeling something within antastic. And then just to reinstate the other matter that we introduced the our new Tara that's the Dream Yoga mantra. Wonderful thing to do. As a way of kind of lucid sleep onset good Eastern sleep hygiene. Wonderful thing to do is you're lying down. And then again I've done this so long I wake up in the middle of the night. This is the mantra that's running through my head. All monotaro Mine Okay, Kimberly. Fire away. Hello. Can you turn your volume up?

Can you hear me now? Yes. I just want to say everything he was saying was really resonating with what I've been going through and experiencing lately. So thank you so much. Also, two quick questions. So when we have to as Muslims we pray five times a day so and we have to recite it in Arabic. So as an English speaker, you know, I've learned a little bit of Arabic over time, but it still doesn't resonate 100% with me as English does so in the prayer like It's like reading liturgy. You know, I find myself just going off my mind just going because it's not engaged in like the meaning. So I'm just wondering, how do you stay on track with your, you know, risk citations and things like that? When it's in a different language?

When a liturgy is under a different language, or say a little bit more, what do you

say when you when you're reading a liturgy and it's in a different language, like, say you've ever memorized it off by heart, but it doesn't engage the mind somewhat and the mind just wanders? So it's just kind of lip service? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, well, you know, this is where several things come into play. is, is the level of your faith and devotion and the transformative power of the liturgy. itself. Right. So if, if that isn't there, which, you know, it's one reason by the way, when I did my three year retreat, Trungpa Rinpoche was absolutely adamant that the retreat be translated from Tibetan into English. And that's one of the reasons he was such an iconoclast, he said, you know, we, in order to transplant these teachings, we have to literally translate so we didn't have I didn't have the problem that a lot of my other colleagues, peers cohorts have when they've done through your retreat in virtually every other center and they have to either learn the Tibetan language or struggle with exactly what you're talking about. So you can approach this one of two ways. One is just increase your faith and devotion and the power of the liturgy itself, and surrender to that. That may work or may not work for you. The other of course, is somewhat obvious. is you take the time to unpack and learn what it is that you're actually reciting. And that would be I mean, I would make that if this is just the way I roll, I would make that a bit of a priority. Because for me the impact is definitely heightened when I understand in addition to the just the power of liturgy when I understand what's going on, so I'm not sure that's entirely satisfactory answer but that that's what comes to mind and that's the way I work with it. You know,

perfect. And second question quickly was, you know, I've heard a little bit in the Buddhist literature like about the DVDs, how sometimes they will, like deliberately feed you the poison like one of the three poisons. Have you heard anything in that kind of? Well?

Here's what I can tell you about that. Not entirely sure. Here's the way I roll with it. You know, whether whether they're, they're actually spoon feeding you these sorts of things. I'm not so sure but what I do notice with these, with establishing a relationship with the principal and protector principle in particular. And let me say a little bit about that when we're doing protector practices and you're reciting mantras associated with protector deities and the like. You know, very often they won't protect your comfort plan, right? You're gonna protect your dharma. And sometimes what that means is, is they'll they'll throw your life into chaos, they'll they will completely pull the rug out from underneath you and send you flying because they don't care about your ego. They don't care about your comfort plan. They care about waking you up. And so if that means in what you're sharing Kemberly that they're they're going to feed you some poison or something. I suppose that's possible, but maybe the way to look at that is that poison is you know, obstacle is opposite to opportunity in disguise. You know, maybe that's been delivered to you titrate it to you based on your capacity to work with that is as a way to jolt you out of your slumber or keep you out of your comfort plan and basically wake you up. Right? So something like that.

Yeah, perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Let me let me just one last thing here too. I think it's helpful to keep in mind as I was listening to a really wonderful interview with Bernardo, my good but I'm really into this guy these days. And one of these things, things he said there was just so spot on because he was talking to this guy, he was talking he was sharing some stories in Bernardo, kind of cut him off and he goes, he was saying to this person who I won't name he goes you're taking yourself much too seriously. You know don't don't think that that everything is about you don't think you know it basically. He was saying is in a severe and skillful way. Is that gonna get you know get out of the way and let life live through you don't don't don't take yourself so serious. I'm not saying you're doing this Kimberly. I'm not saying that. But it's an important this is simply what comes to mind. All the deities are spoon feeding spoon feeding me this sort of thing. I'm not saying that's not possible, totally. Around. Don't take don't take anything to yourself do seriously. So that just pops applicable that I thought Thank you. Unmute yourself, please. Yes, I can hear you. Yes. Hi.

I just wanted to mention that you talked about when you're democra. Distressed in silence. I I invariably keep hearing them onto my back the back of my head, even when I'm trying to simply rest in silence. I just keep hearing over and over. Like I want to go.

Yeah, yeah, well, that's not too bad. No, it's not bad. If you can have something running through your mind, why not? It's a good thing. Have a mantra running through your mind. Yeah. I actually noticed this, like when I'm doing really intensive puja practices and whatnot, where we're, I mean, we're reciting mantras with a group, like, all day long, right? It reverberates the whole whole night. I mean, this mantra is like running through my mind pretty much 24/7. That's actually a really good thing. So if you're resting, I'm inviting you to rest in silence. And the monitor is kind of echoing reverberating through your mind. That's fantastic. That is definitely not an issue. I mean, that's basically this kind of almost like this tuning fork within you is being awoken and stimulated and you better have that running through your mind than the inevitable discursive, self referential commentary that would otherwise fill that mind space, right. So, you know, keep your frequency tuned into this cosmic radio station. And if the mantra still running through you when the invitation for sales is their ad is not a problem. That is definitely something you don't have to label right. You don't have to label a mantra. If it's running through your mind. That's when the mantra actually starts to carry you. The sound actually starts to do you problem at all. Thank you for sharing that. Hey, Dr. J. And then oh, wait, let me get one. Hold on just one sec. Dr. J. Let me just go through this chat thing real quick. Tell me about Doctors Without Borders. I'm not sure what that's about this version of the mantra or money Birmingham on Spotify is very supportive. Okay, so there's a wonderful recording from Erin. Oh, thank you. All right. Wonderful. Wonderful. Thank you for that. Briefly on the reverse meditation homies my wonderful friend. Oh, I can't I can't do there was meditations briefly this is something that requires a little bit more. So with your kind indulgence and permission, hobbies, I may have to put a little pause on that for later right. It's just the topic is so big, but for you because I like you so much briefly. You know, reverse meditations. They're they're basically my last book was on this topic. Over here. This happens to be right here. What a surprise. I happen to have a copy right here. My most recent book parenthetically on this by the way, do I have to say this? I'm in conversation with several neuroscientists one out of Harvard and then my friend, Richie Davidson, about conducting a big study where my hypothesis is, I'm conjecturing to both these neuroscientists that I can get people to a relatively advanced what's called decoupling phase of meditation which the studies that I participated in 10,000 hours of practice minimum, I'm making the hypothesis that through these reverse meditations, we can get people there in a couple 100 hours. So we're gonna, we're gonna I'm talking to you guys about running some studies to actually see what goes you know, we put these people in an fMRI like, that's what I did. Or we do some blood draws citizen science type stuff. My conjecture is that through these practices, we can do a functional decoupling separating pain from the suffering much more rapidly. So the reverse meditations are a way to reverse your relationship to unwanted experience going into them instead of running away from them as a way to like I always say if you want to make your meditation go forward, put it in reverse. establish a new relationship to unwanted experience. So that's the best I can do otherwise we're going to be here till midnight. Okay, just hold on there Dr. Date Totally agree from Carol, from experience with what you say about working with a mantra and starts working with you wonderful. Most recently, it has been on top of the territory so yeah, that's that's Tara's mantra and Carol if you haven't listened to it yet, the interview I did with Mama polden right. She's like the Tara queen. These days. I mean, that these days, she's been a wonderful exponent proponent of Tara for many, many years. So check out the interview we just posted on her edge of mind. She's awesome. From from Dallas, my dear friend, how important is mantra practice and the karmic Bardo, becoming very important. It's the principal way the best thing we can do on the Bardo, becoming, if we don't attain awakening, if the end of the Bardo of dying, and that's a awakening at the level of Dharmakaya. Our next best shot is awakening and the luminous part of Dermatol. That's at the level of Soboba Kaya most people will miss both of those. Most of us will have best opportunity in the karmic Bardo, becoming where we can attain awakening at the level of near Mauna Kea. And that's where much of it really comes in. That's where either Omani buy me home or Amami de Waikerie the Pure Land mantra comes into play. In the battle becoming mantra recitation is a really big deal. Okay, fire away, Dr. J. And then I'll come back and pick up a couple more champion questions.

To two parts. One, the second mantra you mentioned on mommy dry heat cream. Oh, mommy, they were three. Yeah, yeah. D is that someone you say? Like at night, like when you wake up at night or as they're going to sleep? And in regards to the first one, which was Oh, Mommy.

Yeah, I don't want to confuse you all. So I'm sorry if I'm tossing these out without fully explaining them. So the Oh mommy de bois three mantra. This is the mantra of Amitabha and this is the principle puroland mantra from a Tibetan point of view. So this is a fantastic practice to do. I'll just say this briefly. Again, we can unfold this later. I learned this from Tokyo, Nyima Rinpoche 20 years ago and I've done it every single night. Recite this mantra three times before you go to sleep on on me day walk, three, visualize Amitabha on your head dissolving into your heart center. That's it. If you want to do a deeper puroland practice, then there's more to say about that. I don't want to go too far into that right now. The Oh Mani Padme home. Again, this is a mantra that can be said. I mean any of these mantras can be said at any time. But they do have specific specificities they do have targeted applications. So all mommy they will be fantastic for for greasing the skids for Pureline rebirth practice, or money by me home. Probably I think Barry who lives with a wonderful Tibetan wife. He would probably agree with me. If there's one kind of universal super mantra in Tibetan Buddhism is going to be all money by me home. I mean, you can make a pretty good case for it. There are others there and there's just hundreds of them. There's so many they're fantastic with arguably This is like the number one you know, it's just it's the sound of kindness, compassion, love. And this one you can recite anytime. The other one that I introduced, you know, whatever it was a month ago on on new Tada. I remember that. That's now that's very specific. It's a very specific Dream Yoga mantra. So if you want to bring about lucidity you want to work with Dream Yoga principles that are new Tala mantra is targeted very specifically for that. So Oh my Oh mommy de washery for the pure lands on under Tata for Dream Yoga. Or mani padme hum. Super universal. Dare I say Catholic mantra in terms of catalysts. That was universality. It's a mantra that you can use when in doubt. I mean, to me, like if I'm going down in a plane crash, that's the mantra I'm gonna recite all money buy me home. Okay. The health

could you have all this up? Put that third Bonterra you know, in the chat column.

Which one is the third one? Well, you

know, the first one it said was the universal one.

Oh, my meat Padme home right. All right. And then

the second one you said was the one you say at night on money? day why?

Okay, I have to be fair to Alyssa because she doesn't speak Sanskrit or Tibetan. So Alyssa, that's gonna be on Ami. AMA. Ami. Yeah, so Oh M ami DUAHRIH. On Ami. They were three. Basically the Tibetan version of the number two Aois om om Ami. Yeah, the AWA three h ri ah, um, I mean, they were three.

Right? Yeah, but you mentioned a third monitor though that you say like, like when you're awake at night and

that's a Dream Yoga mantra on our new TA.

Let's just write that in the chat column because it's difficult talking.

Sure, Alyssa if you can do it for me. On day one, you got that? Perfect. So the next one is on I got that one. Ah, ah. No new and new. Ta Ta ra on our new ta on

new WhatsApp. perlu with

afternoon morning AMI, U. M od new ta all two, yeah. She's got it. She's got it.

And the second thing is just a news item that went into medical blog yesterday. I think it was from Harvard. You know the neurology department. They have the Center for psychedelics and consciousness research. I think it was from there. They said that they have received full FDA approval to treat patients by implant that by implanted in their brain, though they'll draw, draw a hole through your skull, and then they'll implant a wire mesh that maybe makes 1000 or more connections to brain cells in your brain and you know, didn't go into very much detail, but already it's already been done and they're stunning. These people now, and anybody can apply anybody to have this done. Of course, the list is 1000s

I'm looking for you to tweet what what are they using? What are they tweeting?

Oh, like multiple sclerosis, for example, was well, one example they gave. Another one they gave was a guy who had total body paralysis from I guess a neck injury. And you know, I mean, this was so new I found it hard to take it all in. But they said because that they actually believe that once this device is implanted and working, mental telepathy can take place between two individuals with these

Wow, that's news to me. Yeah.

But this is fully FDA approved, but it's only been done I think, you know, like I said at the Harvard Medical School in New Baltimore,

or Boston.

Yeah, first I heard of that. Very interesting after often shake some trees and do some homework on that. Thank you. Jerry Hamish, hold on one second. I'm gonna get just a couple in the chat column and then I'll get to you. From Tim Hi, Andrew. There are quite a number of variations on these monitors. Yes, they are. I know olm ah, on Monday is a variation of this one. I again I you know, Tim, I don't know I'm a home Monday by my home. I don't know that sometimes home. Yes, is translated as Hu ng home. Sometimes Padma P ADM. A is P ad. Me Do I think there's any issues of mixing these mantras? Yeah, that's a really interesting one. But that will take a little bit more back and forth specifically like which mantras are you mixing? What are the variations? Because I think there is it's not a free for all in terms of like, oh, let's just recite whatever sacred sell mantra that we want. So this is a little tricky for me to answer carp launch I'd have to have a little back and forth with you because the mantra you list up there. I've never heard that version before. So I reserve any comments because that's unfamiliar to me. But I do think we have to be a little careful about the kind of salad bar approach to these things. This is the way I was trained anyway, that mixing all these things is may not be I mean, is it going to hurt you? Probably not. But is it going to help you probably not as much unless you do it kind of the way it's done. Traditionally. And so therefore there are different traditions. There's why that's why there's four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism and there are dozens of sub schools related to that. And one of the reasons for that is because there are in fact, these kinds of variations. I think the Universe is big enough to have room for all of us. But dealing specifically, this is something that would take a little bit more back and forth. Oh, I see doctors without borders or Bodhisattvas. Yes. Now I see. Yes, yes, absolutely, positively for sure. Very if we keep chanting a mantra silently can we get the same results as you described? As you described, you receive in transcendental meditation? Yes. Yes, for sure. Oh, Carol did listen to my llama Pauline interview. Very cool. There's a lovely recitation of Omani Padme home performed by small children. Oh my God, I didn't know that. That would be awesome. I love it. This is great. Okay, how many? Maybe last one and this is something coming in as a butter shot.

Okay. Thank you, sir. I just, I was bestowed a Yidden by my route teacher in the Kootenays. And it was read Chen razie, Yom Yom Yom. So I'm thinking that there's really no difference in the mantra, but there's definitely a difference in in the vision above my head and extending into me Yes,

yes, that's a tantric. So once you get I have one. I don't have any of my study here. But I have a young version of Gen Z as well. Now there's the 1000 armors head over here. Where is it? I thought I had it here. I have a forearm version. So yes, the module is the same of that. I should say that somewhat cautiously. There are variations of the Gen Z mantra like when I did my Yom Yom recitation, the mantra was a little bit different. But yeah, they come in all kinds of variations. The minute you get the yum yum thing, then you're doing a full blown tantric thing. The matters that are reciting here. These are these are over the counter mantras, that doesn't diminish them in any way. They're not prescription strength. Well, that's not the right. They're not prescription. They'll have tremendous strength or more over the counter that doesn't diminish them in any way. But when you start talking about you have that you're doing good on practice, it's the forearmed whatever you have in whatever, then you're going to have a difference. It's going to be just a little bit different, right? And some of that stuff. There have to be as you know, long as trees Abishek as long as and that kind of sort of thing. To actually properly transmit those sorts of lunches. So I'm not sure is that kind of what you're asking or where are you going with this?

No, that's that's good for now. That's, that's okay. I'll just continue and I'm just very impressed by the power of it because I received this yet. I'm a number of years ago and I haven't practiced it much. But now that I hear the power of just that, that mantra, I will definitely do it regularly now.

Alright, inspires you to go back to your practice. My day is a success. Yeah, just

a quick question. I also love doing virtual sattva and I have read English translation of it and I'm thinking that perhaps it's best for me to get a full full effect of it is to is to do it, and then to do it in the English as well.

Well, that's something you might want to talk to your teacher about. Are you talking about the the short mantra of 100 syllable logic? 100

syllable? Yeah.

Yeah, that's something you know. That's something I would just talk to your teacher about. That he hears the different schools on this homepage. You know, there are some teachers and I won't name them but I know many, many teachers who say that these these mantras actually should not be translated. You can translate them in terms of like, well, this means this and that you understand what your translate but in terms of a recitation, these mantras are not translated, at least the way I was trained. They're not translate they're not translated and recited in English as a translation. So this is actually a really interesting thing, and I'll only tell you what the tradition says around this, but there's something about having these the sacred sounds being recited for 1000s of years by hundreds of 1000s of amazing people. it's some kind of morphic resonance thing. Maybe it has to do with Rupert Sheldrake to work with morphic fields. I don't know. But I know I know a bunch of teachers like this is one reason they won't translate classic three year retreat stuff into English because they feel that even doing that waters down the power. Personally, that doesn't make much sense to me, translating a mantra into English that does make sense to me why that would be a little bit less efficacious. But this is something to talk to your teacher about this is there are variations and understanding and interpretation around these sorts of things. But one thing for sure, at least for me, is that the the kind of the history of the lineage, the tradition of these mantras in Sanskrit, that they're in violence, you can translate them in terms of understanding what you're reciting. But in terms of requirement to do it, yes, yeah, this was a reciting it in English as a substitute for the Sanskrit. I personally wouldn't do that. Again, that's something you just need to talk to your teacher about. Okay, super.

But the thing is, it's just basically for my comprehension of the Sanskrit I won't. That's a whole different story. In English. Just get a comprehension. Yeah,

if you're doing it that way, that's fine. But to sit there and all of a sudden then just recite the English translation of it.

Yeah. Okay, so thank you so much. I one last thing. It's it's Hamish.

Oh Hamish. I'm sorry Hamish. Sorry,

that's okay. That's okay. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you for correcting me. I appreciate okay. See how important it is to recite the sounds properly. Hamish? Okay Maria, last one and then I have to go eat. Otherwise you're going to hear my grumpy mantra. My hungry mantra.

I wanted to just share you It asked about reactions from Yeah, when I was doing it out loud. I felt heard of course course but in my throat and then it went down into my heart, which when you said really feel it? It was the first time because I do mantras and I often do them when I'm outside walking, and I feel it with the different chakras but I have never noticed it going from my throat down to my heart then continuing. And then when it's silent then it went into the crown. So what I also wanted to to, I thought, you know, when I'm angry, I will often go out and I will go up because I'm very fortunate to live around mountains. So I can go out and I can really chant loud loud it comes out of like the Lord chakras and really dissolves it and then I thought, when you were talking that, is that a form of reverse meditation because I'm not running from my anger. Now I'm looking at it, and I'm dealing with it is that reverse meditation

just because you're reversing your relationship to it? I mean, Tomlin is a form of reverse meditation. So yes, that is a it's a it is a form of reverse practice because you're you're reversing your relationship to it, you're not capitulating to it. You're not inappropriately expressing it, you're not repressing it. You're altering your relationship to it. And that is often done by what just being with it right there you reversing your normal strategies. Simply by being with it, you start to transform it, you're relating to it instead of from it. And so right there so that is an intimation of reverse strategy for sure.

Thank you. Okay. Yeah,

nice to see everybody. So let me just say I'm not missing anything. All we do if we can anyway, understanding was that the Varjo suffer translation was just for those who wanted to understand it. Yeah, that makes sense to me. Cool. So remember, if what we're doing here is not a benefit to others. It's a relevant, right. We're not here for some new age feel good strategy. We're here so that perhaps we can clean up some of our stuff, to be of greater benefit to the world which so desperately needs our help. And so for whatever, to whatever extent dedication of merit means something to you, I think we talked about this way back, we gather the merit and we send it out to all sentient beings as much more benefit and impact than you think. And until then, you know, for those of you who are part of our scene, I'll be back tomorrow with Dr. Ed. We do our sleep medicine monthly thing tomorrow. I spent the 60s I did with 10s on one Yellin Virginia, he was there with me. He was so fun. Thursday, we've got the q&a thing. Saturday we got books, not books that the dream sharing group with Marianne, and then I disappear into dark retreat for 10 days. I'll talk to you about that when I come out. If I ever come back, I might not come back. Bye, everybody. Always nice to see everybody. Thanks, Alyssa. Thanks everybody for showing up our channel Until next time.

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