The usefulness, method and action of Nama-Japa. The Role of Nama-Japa in the Yoga of Transformation. Translated from the original Oriya book.
In the yoga of transformation, the best and unfailing method to reach the goal and to overcome without much effort all insurmountable difficulties, obstacles, and deceiving attacks of the hostile forces, is to surrender oneself at the feet of The Mother like a small child and repeat Her name. At no time is it safe to tread the path of this yoga without this impenetrable armature.
The aim of this yoga is the realization of the Divine in the transformed mind, vital and body, and to be completely free from death, disease, old age, sorrow, suffering and ignorance. This is, without exception, the aim of life for everyone in this world. There is not a single person who wants sorrow, suffering, ignorance, disease, old-age and death. But since the beginning of
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creation, men have been in the grip of disease, old-age, sorrow, suffering, ignorance and death. When the Divine Himself comes to the earth as an Avatar2 in a human body, He willingly accepts all these insurmountable rules of this death-bound earth. Starting from the rishis, munis, sages, acharyas of the Vedic ages down to the sadhus and saints, nobody could think of or even imagine the transformation of mind, vital and body.3 To realize God in mind, vital and body was not possible by any powerful sadhana (practise of yoga) of the old yogas, or by any yoga-shakti (power of some realization), therefore the sadhaks4 separated mind, vital and body and with the help of their antaratma (inmost soul) which is an eternal, pure and true part of the Divine, they obtained Nirvana, Liberation or Divine Realization. All these are personal realizations. By these realizations sorrow, suffering, ignorance, darkness, jealousy, envy, ego, selfishness and falsehood have not disappeared from the world; on the contrary, they have gradually increased. All this however, will eventually disappear and this death-bound world will be turned into a Divine Heaven. Since the right time for this change had not yet come, the great men, rishis, munis and sages of old had not even conceived of it.
According to the evolutionary process, the development of mind has reached its summit, therefore the time has come for the transformation of mind, vital and
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body or, for the establishment of the Supramental Consciousness5 in the transformed mind, vital and body. According to the Decree and Will of the Divine – Satchidananda6 – He Himself came upon earth in a human body as The Mother and Sri Aurobindo and as the representatives of the human race, they did sadhana (practise of yoga) and brought down and established in this world the transforming Supramental Force of Pararddha (the world of Truth and Light). This Supramental Force is doing the work of transformation. This transformation is the aim of life of each and every human being. Those who have faith in the Divine and those who do not, all human beings are unknowingly marching towards this goal, though on a wrong path. Since they have no knowledge of the aim, the sadhana for realizing the goal becomes obviously wrong. For this reason the individual is undergoing more and more sorrow and suffering.
Since The Mother and Sri Aurobindo have established the transforming Supramental Force upon earth, the proper time has now come and man has got the opportunity to reach his goal. Mother will completely protect the sadhak from all obstacles and dangers if he depends completely on Her like a small child and surrenders himself at Her feet, and continuously repeats The Mother’s name, Ma, with faith and dependence on Her. Like a Mother who crosses a difficult path keeping
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her child in her lap, The Mother’s Power will fully help the sadhak to reach the goal and overcome all sorts of obstacles and hindrances. But until the end of this transformation the sadhak has to make a conscious surrender. In this yoga of transformation, the sadhak, along with doing Nama-Japa, should surrender his whole being at the feet of The Mother. This is the only way to reach the goal and to face and overcome the obstacles, hindrances and attacks of the adverse forces.
Just as The Mother and Sri Aurobindo are one and the same Truth, The Mother, Mother’s Power (Matrushakti) and the transforming Supramental Power are also one and the same Truth. Just as water and its waves, or words and their meaning are inseparable, the Divine, Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Supramental Shakti or the name Ma, are different only in words and expression, but in essence they are one and the same. Since the Divine, Sri Aurobindo, The Mother and the Supramental Shakti are one and the same, then in the integral yoga if one surrenders to The Mother, the Supramental Force starts the work of transformation in the adhara (mind, vital, body) of the sadhak. Since The Mother and Her name are one Truth and Principle, Her physical presence remains always with the sadhak when he repeats The Mother’s name. The difficult sadhana of transformation becomes very easy by doing Nama-Japa.
It has been stated earlier that the practice of the integral yoga is not safe without surrender. Surrender and aspiration can only come if the sadhak is conscious. By keeping an attitude of surrender and aspiration and a determined will power, the sadhak can become conscious.
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But the determination must be very firm, the attitude of surrender must be intense, and there must be a burning aspiration, then only consciousness is possible. The sadhak has to do many years of sadhana to reach such a stage. But in the initial stages of sadhana the sadhak has no support whatsoever for concentrating the mind and remaining constantly conscious. During meditation he can concentrate in the depth of the heart or above the head for a short while. When the sadhak surrenders, Mother’s Power starts the work of transformation in the sadhak and at this time he can concentrate well. Or when the Divine Qualities such as peace, concentration, ananda (bliss) and equanimity descend, then the sadhak remains in ananda for a while. Neither is this always possible nor does it happen every day in the initial stages of sadhana. After a long time it happens occasionally. The rest of the time, various kinds of mechanical thoughts perturb the sadhak. Through the adverse forces, all sorts of obstacles come. Such disturbances continue until the sadhak has progressed much in his sadhana.
On the other hand, if there is no intensity in the sadhana of the sadhak, he cannot, at the beginning, always surrender consciously nor can he aspire consciously. At that time, his only support is to do the work as a service to the Divine. Without the descent of peace and ananda, life as well as sadhana appear dry and uninteresting. Depression, despair and doubt try to drag the sadhak away from the path of yoga. But by the repetition of The Mother’s name, Ma, the sadhak can
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remain conscious from the very beginning of sadhana with relative ease. Though Ma-Nama-Japa is quite easy, it is greatly effective and very powerful. Whether sadhaks take their sadhana seriously or not, if one is firmly determined from the beginning of sadhana to repeat The Mother’s name, Ma, one can always do so.
Whether there is faith and interest in Nama-Japa or not, if the sadhak practices Nama-Japa, faith and reliance on Nama-Japa will automatically come to him. Since there is no difference between The Mother and Her name, Mother’s presence always remains with the sadhak. He can remain always conscious if he constantly does Nama-Japa. Because of Nama-Japa, the difficult task of remaining always conscious becomes easy and simple. If one remains conscious, then surrender and aspiration become gradually easy. The sadhak develops a spontaneous faith in the presence of The Mother. Along with Nama-Japa, it is not difficult to uphold the idea: “I have taken refuge in You”, or “I am Your child.” Depending upon the sadhak’s nature and liking, he can, along with Nama-Japa, hold on to the above ideas or he can aspire for the awakening of his Psychic Being.7 If one can always do Nama-Japa in this way, then surrender becomes easy and spontaneous.
If the sadhak does not repeat The Mother’s name as mentioned above, but does work for The Mother in the beginning stages of his sadhana, his work becomes Divine work, because he has already accepted the aim to realize the Divine in a transformed mind, life and body. But this is not very fruitful since the sadhak does not remain conscious and does not surrender consciously. It may take
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him many years to remain conscious while working and to surrender consciously. Ma—this Nama-Japa, brings forth consciousness quickly and makes surrender easy. When in this way the consciousness and the attitude of surrender become firm and strong, then the sadhak can become aware of the transforming work of the Divine Forces during meditation, as well as at other times.
Some people say that mechanical Nama-Japa has no effect. If this is true, why do the spiritual seekers fear mechanical thoughts so much? They apply innumerable methods of sadhana for stopping mechanical thoughts; when mechanical thoughts are stopped, the sadhana comes to a point where no more personal effort of the sadhak is required. All paths of sadhana for the realization of the Divine make an effort to stop mechanical thoughts and to concentrate. Even in ordinary life, man fears mechanical thoughts, and for this reason he suffers from unhappiness and restlessness. If these useless mechanical thoughts have so much influence, will not the Divine’s name – which is the same as the presence of that particular form of the Divine which is being evoked – produce any influence whatsoever? The scriptures, Puranas, Upanishads and Vedas8 as well as sages, saints, acharyas, great souls, rishis and munis all have highly praised the effect of Nama-Japa. Thus Tulsidasji (famous saint and poet of northern India) says: “Who am I to describe the effect of Nama-Japa when Rama9 himself is
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not able to explain the power of this name.” And what a big sinner Ajambil10 was! But he attained liberation by uttering the name of his son – Narayan - at the time of death.
Mechanical thoughts come spontaneously, they do not require any effort. On the contrary, life after life, sadhana is required to stop them. Try to do Nama-Japa. Let’s see how easily you can do it! Firm determination and a strong will are required for Ma-Nama-Japa. How can this Japa be mechanical when it requires a very strong will and determination? It has been previously said that Nama-Japa is easy. The reason for this statement is that in comparison to other methods of yoga, Nama-Japa is much easier, though at the same time it is very powerful.
The aim of Sri Aurobindo’s yoga is the transformation of the sadhak’s mind, life and body into Divine Truth and Principles and to realize the Divine in the transformed mind, vital and body.
Work is always done with the body. The energy behind the work is that of the vital. The method and skill of doing the work are those of the mind. Work is accomplished by the combination of these three beings, mind, vital and body. Since in Sri Aurobindo’s yoga, mind, vital and body will be transformed, the work done by them
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cannot be excluded from this yoga. All necessary work should be done well and should be offered to The Mother with an attitude of service to Her, as a sadhana to reach the goal. Work performed with this attitude becomes Divine work. When the sadhak always remains in a higher consciousness, then he will have such an attitude. But in the early stages of sadhana it is not possible for all sadhaks to remain in a higher consciousness while working. It may be possible during meditation. The sadhak remains in the mental consciousness during the initial stages of sadhana. By surrender, aspiration and the transforming work of the Divine Power, the sadhak may remain in the higher consciousness and surrender his work, but this may take a long time. For many sadhaks, it may even take years. While working, the sadhak wanders in various worlds of thought. He cannot even think that the work he is doing is Divine work. With a little effort though, if the sadhak repeats The Mother’s name, Ma, he can do the Divine work and offer it at Her feet right from the beginning of sadhana. If the sadhak remains vigilant, conscious, and firmly determined, then he can always do Nama-Japa and does not forget it even while working. While doing any work, the sadhak may repeat The Mother’s name with the help of his tongue or silently in his mind and along with it maintain the attitude: “I am Yours, I have taken refuge in You”; or he can hold on to the idea of surrendering his whole being to The Mother; or he can aspire for awakening the Psychic Being (the immanent Divine in the individual). If the sadhak repeats Mother’s name, and works with this attitude, then he will find interest, enthusiasm, happiness, inspiration and
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joy in his work and even after doing a lot of work, he will not feel any tiredness. Work done with this attitude becomes Divine work and is an offering at the feet of The Mother. By doing Divine work with this attitude, the change of consciousness takes place easily and in a comparatively shorter time. Also, work done with this attitude brings reliance on The Mother’s Grace. The Mother has said in Questions and Answers: “ In all pursuits, intellectual or active, your one motto should be, `Remember and Offer’ “.11
The Mother has said that in all actions, one has to “Remember and Offer”. Unless you remember, you cannot offer. By doing Nama-Japa of Ma, one can remember Her.
“I have also come to realize that for this sadhana of the body, the mantra is essential. Sri Aurobindo gave none; he said that one should be able to do all the work without having to resort to external means. Had he reached the point where we are now, he would have seen that the purely psychological method is inadequate and that a japa is necessary, because only japa has a direct action on the body. So I had to find the method all alone, to find my mantra by myself. But now that things are ready, I have done ten years of work in a few months. That is the difficulty, it requires time… ”
“And I repeat my mantra constantly – when I am
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awake and even when I sleep. I say it even when I am getting dressed, when I eat, when I work, when I speak with others; it is there, just behind in the background, all the time, all the time.”
“In fact, you can immediately see the difference between those who have a mantra and those who don’t. With those who have no mantra, even if they have a strong habit of meditation or concentration, something around them remains hazy and vague. Whereas the japa imparts to those who practice it a kind of precision, a kind of solidity: an armature. They become galvanized, as it were.”12
Mother has clearly stated how necessary it is to do Nama-Japa for the transformation of the body: “I have also come to realize that for this sadhana of the body, the mantra is essential…because only japa has a direct action on the body.”
And Mother has also said that She completed ten years of sadhana in just a few months: “I have done ten years of work in a few months.”
It is essential to do Nama-Japa all the time. The Mother Herself has told how She was always repeating the mantra: “And I repeat my mantra constantly, when I am awake and even when I sleep, I say it even when I am getting dressed, when I eat, when I work, when I speak with others; it is there just behind in the
background, all the time, all the time.”
The Mother has differentiated between those who do Nama-Japa and those who go deep in meditation and concentrate but do not practice Nama-Japa. She has said:
“In fact, you can immediately see the difference between those who have a mantra and those who don’t. With those who have no mantra, even if they have a strong habit of meditation or concentration, something around them remains hazy and vague. Whereas the Japa imparts to those who practice it a kind of precision, a kind of solidity: an armature. They become galvanized, as it were.”
From the above statements of The Mother, it can be seen that three quarters of the difficulties of this arduous and great task of transformation of the body will be solved by doing Nama-Japa. Thus the great and difficult transformation has now become easy, and the practice of this yoga of transformation has become possible even for ordinary people.
The transformation of the body is the aim of everyone’s life, and all are advancing towards its realization unknowingly through their work. Even though this is so clear and so real, still those who are not conscious of this aim of life, whose Psychic Being is not awakened and for whom worldly life is everything, if they do Nama-Japa, they can immediately get happiness, peace, ananda and live happily in their family-life; the Psychic Being can thus be awakened and in the course of time they will advance on the path of Divine Realization which is the inevitable goal of life.
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From the rich to the poor, the learned to the ignorant, the saint to the sinner, all types of people are suffering from social, worldly, and family-troubles. Some are worried about wealth, some are worried about illnesses of their children, about misunderstandings, quarrels and differences of opinion between brothers, mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, fathers and sons, disputes at work, political disputes, quarrels in the family, fear of enemies, fear of serious illnesses, fear of one’s death and in the case of women, fear of their husbands’ and childrens’ death. All these make life restless and burdensome. Those who have such anxiety and fear in great measure lose their balance of mind and some, unable to withstand it, commit suicide. They live a life full of sorrows and difficulties. If such people take the help of Nama-Japa, Ma, and aspire with a firm determination to do Nama-Japa always, then with Nama-Japa, they will immediately get peace and happiness and will be freed from difficulties and obstacles.
When fear and worries come regarding any event, when there are problems which we are not able to solve, or any incident which causes mental worry, then immediately start Ma-Nama-Japa and along with it surrender the fear, anxiety, restlessness or any other obstacle and hindrance at the feet of The Mother. In other words, along with Nama-Japa one should think: “I offer this at Thy feet, You transform it and solve this problem.” If Nama-Japa is done with this attitude, then worries,
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fear, anxiety and sorrow will go away, peace will be established, one will get from within the sure indication for the solution of complicated problems, and difficulties will be overcome easily. There will be no quarrels and opposition in the house of a person who does Nama-Japa in this manner. Brothers in a joint family will not separate from one another. Goodwill will prevail between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. They will be honored in the society as an ideal family.
Quarrels, arguments and oppositions take place due to ego and selfishness. Ego and selfishness give rise to jealousy and hostility. But due to the influence of Nama-Japa our ego and selfishness and the adverse forces are gradually purified; they are enlightened by Nama-Japa. Ignorance and darkness are gradually transmuted by the light of Nama-Japa; and by the light and power of devotion and knowledge, our petty ego and selfishness cannot act.
The Sanskrit letter o-T (Ma) is chandra-bija (like ananda – see also page 63) and the letter 3-T (a) is agni-bija (like fire). With the Nama-Japa of o-TT (Ma), ignorance as well as all the results of wrong doings will be burnt into ashes, and Ananda, Peace, Equanimity - all these Divine Qualities - will shine forth, then one remains in peace and happiness and wishes for the good and welfare of others. Because of this, the home turns into a spiritual ashram.
Only by Nama-Japa can one live peacefully and happily at home, advancing on the path towards the goal of Divine Realization. In the past, it was not possible to have this kind of ideal familie in large numbers. Now the
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Supramental Power is doing the work of transformation. Sadhaks, who have accepted transformation as the aim of their life, are now progressing on the path of yoga. The influence of the Supramental Power of transformation is working in the earth atmosphere. Because of the influence of the Supramental Force, those who will not take up sadhana now for the transformation of mind, life and body, but who do Nama-Japa only for living a peaceful and happy family-life, can achieve this. They will form ideal families in large numbers, and then the suffocating indiscipline, injustice, untruth and falsehood prevailing in the family, society, country and the world will gradually diminish. Consequently, this will help the progress of sadhaks who are doing sadhana, having accepted transformation as the aim of their life. The more the sadhaks progress, the more will peace and order in ideal households, in the society and in the country increase. Therefore all should do Nama-Japa.
It has been said that the transformation of mind, life and body is a very difficult task because their nature and movements like lust, anger, etc. do not want to be transformed. As soon as the Supramental Force touches the sadhak or he advances a little on the path of yoga, peace, light, ananda, knowledge descend from above in a little measure into the sadhak’s mind, life and body;
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then his lower movements of lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego, selfishness, jealousy, enviousness, depression, mechanical thoughts, unwillingness to change, inertia, laziness, illness, etc. come forward one after another or in twos or threes to resist the work of transformation. The Divine Power does not allow all the adverse forces to attack the sadhak at the same time. As much as the sadhak can tolerate and surrender to the Divine, in that proportion the Divine Force touches him. Besides this, because of our outward behavior, misunderstandings or differences arise sometimes with others. Fear of disease and death and other types of fears attack some sadhaks and make them disturbed or restless. If the sadhak remains conscious of these attacks and always repeats Mother’s name, Ma, and along with it keeps the attitude: “I am Yours, I surrender all these enemies at Thy feet” and wills and endeavors to do Nama-Japa quickly, then he can do so and the difficulties will go away. While doing Japa, the tongue and lips may move but there should be no sound. In spite of doing Japa quickly, the breathing process will not be disturbed. If Japa is done with the attitude of surrender, then mechanical thoughts cannot intervene. If such an attitude of surrender remains, Mother’s Power will protect the sadhak like a little child. Hostile attacks will cause no harm to the sadhak. Faith and dependence on Nama-Japa and The Mother’s Power will increase.
Those sadhaks whose faith and confidence in The Mother are not perfect, whose sincerity for surrender is weak, who do not continuously repeat Ma-Nama-Japa, and who do not remain alert towards the attacks of lust, anger, ego and selfishness and allow them scope, their minds are
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affected by the attacks of these hostile forces; and if the pressure becomes intolerable, instability perplexes these sadhaks, and they are upset by it. It becomes very difficult to be free from such types of obstacles. For some, this type of condition becomes very dangerous.
But if the sadhak remains conscious and alert, not allowing the attacks by relying on The Mother and doing Ma-Nama-Japa, then he can easily become free from the attacks of the hostile forces. By Nama-Japa, The Mother’s Force helps in a very concrete manner and indicates the way to free oneself from the clutches of the hostile forces.
Ma-Nama-Japa has to be done continuously. Along with Japa one has to think: “I am Yours, I am surrendering these adverse circumstances at Thy feet.” The impact of and the obstacles posed by the attack are reduced by this kind of Japa. After some time the obstacle is completely transformed.
By overcoming an obstacle in this way, the sadhak’s interest, love and faith in Nama-Japa increase, and his reliance on The Mother’s Force gets stronger. Also the sadhak’s inner strength, fearlessness, courage and patience increase. By faith and reliance on The Mother, and by maintaining an attitude of surrender along with doing Nama-Japa, the obstacles and hindrances in the sadhana of transformation are reduced to a great extent, and the sadhak will not be afraid of obstacles which may come in the future. The sadhana which would otherwise take many years can thus be done in comparatively less time.
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By keeping an attitude of surrender along with doing
Nama-Japa, the influence of the agni-bija (like fire) of The Mother’s name, Ma, will slowly burn the power of the adverse forces into ashes and will gradually transform them. Gradually adverse thoughts become less. By remaining conscious and doing Nama-Japa with an attitude of surrender, the passage of adverse thoughts gets blocked. When wrong thoughts, fear and anxiety are absent, then there will be no harmful pressure on the brain of the sadhak. If this much is done, then the sadhak obtains a strong foot-hold on the path of sadhana. Disease and other obstacles do come during the process of physical transformation, but because of The Mother’s all-powerful blessings which are always protecting the sadhak, he does not become disturbed or depressed by these attacks. On the contrary, remaining more and more engrossed in Nama-Japa, he surrenders himself at the feet of The Mother.
Question: The Mother said that Sri Aurobindo did not give any mantra (“Sri Aurobindo gave none”), but Sri Aurobindo has written about Japa at several places in the epic poem Savitri, The Synthesis of Yoga and in Letters on Yoga, and has also said that the mantra of this yoga is the name of The Mother or His name along with The Mother’s name. I am reproducing here some extracts from words of Sri Aurobindo about Nama-Japa:
“As a rule the only mantra used in this Sadhana is that of the Mother or of my name and the Mother’s.”13
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“OM Sri Aurobindo Mira. Open my mind, my heart, my life to your Light, your Love, your Power. In all things may I see the Divine.”14
Sri Aurobindo gave to some sadhaks the mantra:
“OM Anandamayi Chaitanyamayi Satyamayi Parame.”
Here only a few extracts from Sri Aurobindo on Nama-Japa have been reproduced but in His works He has written about Nama-Japa and mantra-Japa in many places and also to several sadhaks.
“Any name, any form, any symbol, any offering has been held to be sufficient if there is the consecration along with it,…”15
“There is, of course, a third way, the reliance on the power of the mantra or name in itself;”16
“The name of the Divine is usually called in for protection, for adoration, for increase of bhakti, for the opening up of the inner consciousness, for the realization of the Divine in that aspect. As far as it is necessary to work in the subconscious for that, the Name must be effective there.”17
“Namajapa has a great power in it.”18
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“A psychic fire within must be lit into which all is thrown with the Divine Name upon it.”19
“Here must the traveller of the upward way – For daring Hell’s kingdoms winds the heavenly route – Pause or pass slowly through that perilous space, A prayer upon his lips and the great Name.”20
“Arousing consciousness in things inert, He imposed upon dark atom and dumb mass The diamond script of the Imperishable, Inscribed on the dim heart of fallen things A paean-song of the free Infinite And the Name, foundation of eternity,”21
“A key to a Light still kept in being’s core, The sun-word of an ancient mystery’s sense, Her name ran murmuring on the lips of men Exalted and sweet like an inspired verse”22
“They sang Infinity’s names and deathless powers In metres that reflect the moving worlds,”23
“Usually the Mother’s name has the full power in it; but in certain states of consciousness the double Name may have a special effect.”24
(The double name – Sri AurobindoMira)
(Above question contd.): Despite the fact that Sri Aurobindo spoke so much about Japa, The Mother said, “Sri Aurobindo gave no mantra.” What is the significance of this statement of The Mother? Kindly explain it clearly.
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Answer: Sri Aurobindo said, “the only mantra used in this Sadhana is that of the Mother or of my name and the Mother’s”. 25
This is the mantra of this yoga. Apart from this, Sri Aurobindo has written about Japa at various places. At that time, sadhana was in such a stage that there was no special need to do mantra-Japa. That is why Sri Aurobindo did not put so much stress on it. Rather according to The Mother, Sri Aurobindo said that one should be able to do all the work without having to resort to external means. Thereafter The Mother again said: “Had He reached the point where we are now, He would have seen that the purely psychological method is inadequate and that a japa is necessary, because only japa has a direct action on the body.”26
Within each of the old yoga sadhanas, there are many ways of practice. Accordingly, the sadhaks of different sects of one school give priority to one method while other methods, though practiced, are given a secondary importance.
Although Sri Aurobindo had spoken about Japa and written mantras, the power in Japa to influence the body had not been awakened or activated because the Supramental Force had not yet descended at that time. For this reason, Sri Aurobindo did not give the most important place to Nama-Japa, but to surrender and aspiration. This has been made clear in the book The Mother.
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In 1950, Sri Aurobindo brought down the Supramental Force into His body and then left His body. After that, The Mother reached such a level of transformation that She gave foremost importance to Japa in sadhana. She said that Japa was inevitable for the transformation of the body. Besides this, it has been written that The Mother used to do Nama-Japa in Her childhood. The Mother Herself has said that when Sri Aurobindo was present in His body, She used to do Japa of Oh Lord, referring to Sri Aurobindo, whenever She was facing any difficulties or obstacles, and by this Japa all obstacles and difficulties disappeared in a short time. But after Sri Aurobindo left His physical body, whenever She would repeat this Japa of Oh Lord, She was, in effect, addressing Herself; for this reason She gave up this Japa.
The Mother has said that Sri Aurobindo gave no mantra, though He has written so many things about Nama-Japa. Although The Mother Herself had been doing Nama-Japa earlier, while the physical transformation was in process, She stated in 1959 that She had discovered an easy method for transformation: “I had to find the method all alone, to find my mantra by myself.”27
What The Mother may have wanted to point out is that all the sayings of Sri Aurobindo regarding Nama-Japa, and The Mother’s doing of Nama-Japa, were meant as a help in sadhana in order to overcome all sorts of hindrances and obstacles. But these secrets – that the Japa is inevitable
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for the physical transformation and that it acts directly on the body and that the sadhana of many years can be accomplished in a few months – had not been revealed at that time. Those secrets were discovered by The Mother Herself. Before that, transformation of the body had not begun. How then could others have known these secrets, and why should they have felt any necessity for knowing them? The purpose of The Mother’s statement was to give most importance to Nama-Japa rather than to surrender and aspiration for the transformation of the body.
Question: If Japa was not necessary at that time, and Sri Aurobindo gave first place in sadhana to aspiration, rejection, and surrender, why then did He write about Japa in so many places in His books?
Answer: In the future, at the time of physical transformation, Japa would play the most important part. This is the reason why Sri Aurobindo wrote about Japa.
All incarnations of the Divine come with a dual consciousness. When they remain in the Divine Consciousness, the entire course of action of the future is decreed by them. But all day to day work is done by them with the human consciousness. Occasionally, when it is necessary, even the day to day work is done while remaining in the Divine Consciousness. This happens rarely. For this reason Sri Aurobindo did not include Japa in practice during the period of His sadhana, but wrote about Japa, because He knew that it would be needed in the future. This was an act of His Divine Consciousness.
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This can be clearly understood from the characters of Sri Rama and Sri Krishna: 28
It was clear to Sri Rama in His Divine Consciousness that He would be sent to the jungle for 14 years in order to kill Ravana (the king of demons) and that His wife Sita would be abducted. So, before killing Kharadusan, a demon, He told Sita: “As long as I have not killed the demons, you have to hide inside the fire.”
Sita-Devi entered the fire, leaving behind a Maya (illusion) Sita. That is why the illusory Sita entered the fire after Ravana (the king of demons) was killed, in order to remove Sri Rama’s doubt, and the real Sita emerged from the fire.
In Valmiki’s Ramayana, when Maricha (a demon) came in the form of a golden deer, at that time Lakshmana (Rama’s brother) said clearly: “This illusory deer is the demon Maricha.”
But in spite of hearing this, Sri Rama did not pay any attention to Lakshmana’s words and ran after the deer to kill it. Rama had previously cut asunder the canopy and the crown of Ravana who was in far-off Lanka, by shooting an arrow from the top of Suvalaya-mountain. In the same way, if He had wanted to kill the deer, He could have done so with one shot, regardless of how far away the deer would have been from Him.
But instead, He went a long way, following the deer. [And
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when He found upon His return that Sita had been abducted], He inquired about Her from the trees, animals and birds. The Avatars come as the representatives of the human race for establishing a new Truth and Ideal; therefore they do not always remain in the Divine Consciousness but remaining in the human consciousness, they behave like human beings. This is the reason why Sri Aurobindo did not give supreme place to Japa in sadhana at that time. Also at that time, the Supramental Power had not yet descended upon earth. Hence, the latent power in Nama-Japa which awakens the body consciousness, illumines the body, prepares the body-cells to aspire, had not manifested. Because of the descent of the Supramental Force, the power which was latent in Nama-Japa has been revealed. In 1950, Sri Aurobindo brought the Supramental Force down to earth and left His body.
The Mother held the Supramental Force in Her body and carried out the work of physical transformation. She reached a stage in the process of transformation of the body where She realized that Japa was absolutely indispensable, and She accomplished 10 years of sadhana in a few months.
Question: This is difficult to understand – did Sri Aurobindo not reach this stage in sadhana which Mother had arrived at?
Answer: Sri Aurobindo had not reached that stage of transformation which the Mother had reached. The Supramental Power had not descended upon earth at that time and was not doing the work of physical
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transformation. Without the Supramental Force the transformation of the body was not possible. Sri Aurobindo brought down the Supramental Force on earth and sacrificed His body. After that, the Supramental Force started the work of transformation through The Mother. Sri Aurobindo found that the adhara (mind, vital, body) of the sadhaks was not prepared to hold the Supramental Force, in the same way as the earth was not able to hold the force of the descent of the river Ganga.29 Like Lord Shiva who received the first impact of the descent of Ganga, Sri Aurobindo brought down the Supramental Force into His body and sacrificed it. Holding this Supramental Force in Her body, The Mother started the work of transformation. After leaving His physical body, Sri Aurobindo remained in the subtle body and was helping The Mother with Her work of transformation. This is why Sri Aurobindo did not reach that stage of physical transformation which The Mother had reached by working with the Supramental Force.
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother are Avatars of the Divine-Satchitananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss). When the Avatar comes as the representative of the human race in a human body, He works to show the correct path to humanity. The Avatar does not do all works applying His Divine Power (Aishwarya). Below are given some examples from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, to exemplify this point:
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In the battle which was fought in Sri Lanka, Garuda came and freed Sri Rama when He was tied up with special knots made by the cobras.
When Lakshman’s heart was pierced by a lethal arrow (Shaktibheda, an arrow which is shot with a special power), Hanuman went to the Himalayas and brought mrityu-sanjivani and bisalya-karani (two life-saving herbs), and due to these medicines Lakshmana survived.
Sri Krishna was defeated by Jarasandha (a demon) 20 times and had to flee from the battle field; in the end He got Jarasandha killed by Bheema.
The Divine comes always as the representative of the human race, therefore He does not apply His Divine Force in His main work of establishing the particular ideal for which He has incarnated. But all Divine Qualities and Force remain always present in the Avatar.
Since Sri Aurobindo became the Avatar in order to be the representative of the human race, He did not stress the importance of Nama-Japa for the physical transformation which would only take place in the future. But at the stage of body-transformation at which The Mother had arrived, only surrender and aspiration were not sufficient; The Mother found that Nama-Japa is inevitable for the transformation of the body. The Mother said: “I have done 10 years of work in a few months.”
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Question: Mother has done Japa of various mantras
and has told us about them; then which mantra should we repeat?
Answer: We will repeat only The Mother’s name, Ma. This one syllable Ma is the mantra. Sri Aurobindo has said that in this integral yoga the mantra is: “…that of the Mother or of my name and the Mother’s.”
The Mother Herself did Japa of various mantras at different times. When The Mother was doing Nama-Japa the sadhaks and sadhikas of the Ashram or anybody else who would come to the samadhi at that time, could hear the Japa of The Mother. The Mother used to repeat the mantra – Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Aravindaya – very loudly. In the schools of old yogas there are various types of mantras, but only the name is repeated always. Like the Sri Rama mantras and the Sri Krishna mantras, there are all sorts of mantras; but while the mantras are repeated for some time only, the name is repeated constantly. The Mother has told some sadhaks to repeat the mantra – Om Namo Bhagavate – and She Herself has repeated the above mantra for a long period.
The transformation is being done by the Supramental Force. The Supramental Shakti (Force) and The Mother are one and the same Principle because when we surrender to The Mother, the Supramental Power starts working. In Letters on Yoga and in many other books Sri Aurobindo has told us to surrender to The Mother. At several places in the book, The Mother, Sri Aurobindo has very clearly stated that one has to surrender only to The Mother. The Mother is the active (dynamic) Force of the Divine. The Mother’s Shakti
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and the Divine are a single inseparable Principle. When something is surrendered to The Mother, it means that it is automatically surrendered to the Divine. Sri Aurobindo has repeatedly said to surrender to The Mother alone, since She is the dynamic Force of the Divine. Since Her name is the mantra of this yoga, we have to repeat Her name.
The Mother has written many mantras and has also repeated various mantras. A sadhak can repeat any mantra which is written by The Mother. All these mantras have an influence on the body, but since the name, Ma, is only one syllable, it is very easy to repeat. Even when The Mother’s Force starts the work of transformation in the sadhak’s body, it is very easy to repeat the name, Ma, in that particular place of the body where The Mother’s Force is working without moving the lips or the tongue.
Since The Mother did not want to repeat Her own name, She repeated the name of the Divine. For us this is not applicable. For us it is right to repeat The Mother’s name. Since The Mother is the dynamic Force of the Divine, Sri Aurobindo, we surrender to Her for the transformation of our mind, vital and body; and to repeat Her name is logical, immediately effective and in accordance with the Shastras (scriptures).
Question: in the book, The Mother, we have been told to surrender to the Divine Shakti. Is The Mother of our Ashram this incarnation of the Divine Shakti? In answer to this question of one of the sadhaks of the Ashram, Sri Aurobindo said: Yes. Besides that,
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Sri Aurobindo has said that The Mother of the Ashram is the Adya Shakti (Supreme Mother). What Sri Aurobindo has said is perfectly true, but then, if The Mother is the incarnation of the Divine Shakti, how could She not have known beforehand that Nama-Japa is inevitable for the transformation of the body? It is difficult to understand this.
Answer: Since we are human beings, it is natural to have difficulties to understand. But even the Goddess Parvati (consort of Lord Shiva) had difficulties to understand the ways of the Divine. Lord Shiva and Parvati saw Sri Rama at the time when he was wandering in the jungle, sorrow-stricken because of the separation from Sita, running hither and thither, inquiring about Sita from trees, creepers, birds and animals. Lord Shiva got down from his bull (the bull is the ‘vehicle’ of Lord Shiva) and offered Pranam (obeisance) to Sri Rama saying: “Jai Satchitananda Jagadisha.” (Victory to the Lord Satchitananda). Hearing this, the Goddess Parvati doubted. She thought: “The words of Shiva are always just and true. However, if Rama is the Avatar of Satchitananda (Existence, Consciousness, Bliss)), He will not, like an ordinary person completely bereft of reason due to grief, inquire the whereabouts of Sita from trees, creepers, birds and animals.” Being veiled by illusion and doubt, Parvati questioned Shiva. Lord Shiva replied: “You go and test.”
Parvati assumed the form of Sita and appeared in the front of Sri Rama. Seeing Parvati in the form of Sita, Sri Rama bowed down to Her and said: “Shiva is not with you – how did you come here alone?”
The incarnations of the Divine always possess both,
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the Divine Consciousness and Power, as well as the human consciousness. Since He (the Avatar) is the representative of the human race, He works from the human consciousness; but the moment He wants to act from His Divine Consciousness, He can do so. This also applies to Sri Aurobindo. Unless it is quite unavoidable, the Avatars do not use Aishwarya (Divine Power); they behave just like human beings so that man cannot understand their Divinity. The reason for this is that only if the Avatar works from the human consciousness, will man be able to accept His Idealism. That is why Sri Aurobindo and The Mother did sadhana like human beings and faced all sorts of obstacles and hindrances. In the initial stages of sadhana, Japa was not so necessary. At the time of the transformation of the body, Japa became necessary. The Mother realized this and wrote about it.
During the Mahabharata battle, Sri Krishna (the all omniscient) used to ask Sahadeva whenever it was necessary to know something about the future or any secret matters. It is very difficult for the mind to understand the conduct of the Avatar.
Question: In the old yogas, Nama-Japa was there, but nobody achieved the transformation of the body. Then what secret lies behind The Mother’s word that in this yoga of transformation Japa is inevitable? Kindly explain this.
Answer: In the old yogas, the aim was not transformation and also the proper time for transformation had not yet come. The transforming
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Supramental Power had not been established upon earth and the power for transformation latent in Nama-Japa had not manifested. Moreover, Nama-Japa was not done for the realization of this aim – the transformation of mind, vital and body into Divine Light and Truth – which will free the sadhak from all sorts of sorrow and suffering, disease, old age, and death. Since the hour to realize this aim had not yet arrived, the Divine Incarnations (Avatars) and Maha-Purushas (the great sages) did not come for the realization of this aim. They came only to speed up the evolution-process in order to make the goal of transformation possible. This they accomplished. When the hour had come for the transformation of the body, The Mother and Sri Aurobindo came upon earth to bring down and establish the Supramental Force on earth. Since the Supramental Force has been established on earth, the power and influence of Nama-Japa have now a direct action on the body, and The Mother Herself realized this. By this Japa, the arduous task of transformation of the body has become easy. Therefore, if we accept this aim and constantly repeat The Mother’s name Ma with an attitude of surrender, the realization of this aim – transformation – will be comparatively easy and we will also be protected from obstacles and hindrances.
Question: The Mother has said that each sadhak will get his own mantra through an inner aspiration of his heart, or that a sadhak may spontaneously hear a mantra from within which is appropriate for him. This is not possible for the beginners. Hence, which name should be repeated as our Japa?
Answer: The mantra or name which is given by
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Sri Aurobindo or The Mother, that mantra or name should be repeated. Sri Aurobindo has said: “The only Mantra used in this Sadhana is that of the Mother or of my name and the Mother’s.”30
And He has also mentioned in some other places:
Om Anandamayi Chaitanyamayi Satyamayi Parame.
The Mother has said:
“Sri Aurobindo Saranam mama”,
(Sri Aurobindo is my refuge);
“Om Namo Bhagavate”;
“Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Aravindaya”; “Namami Matrimirarovindou”;
“Sri Matrimirarovindou Saranam Mama”; “Vijayatam Sri Matri Mirarovindou”.
Out of these a sadhak can do Japa of any name or mantra to which he feels spontaneously inclined. All these mantras and names have extraordinary power and influence, and whichever name or mantra is repeated will influence the body. But in this integral yoga, since we are surrendering to The Mother, the name, Ma, consisting of only one syllable is easy to repeat. Or we can regularly repeat for some time during the day: OM Namo Bhagavate, and Sri Aurobindo Saranam Mama (Sri Aurobindo is my refuge), and the rest of the time one can repeat The Mother’s name, Ma; or one can repeat the name which will come from within.
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