Theos-Talk Archives (November 2001 Message tt00134)

--- In theos-talk@y..., Steve Stubbs <stevestubbs@y...> wrote:
> Since the mantras are a practice and not a theory, the
> only way to get at their meaning would be to do the
> traditional 108 repetitions a day. I use a rosary I
> bought in a Catholic gift store to keep up with the
> repetitions. It has 54 beads on it, which means two
> rounds come to 108. Interesting coincidence, is it
> not, that Catholics and Hindus and Buddhists all use
> the same number of reps?
> 
> In the case of Hindu mantras, they are sung, whereas
> Buddhist mantras are murmured. To do the Gayatri you
> would therefore have to listen to someone else a few
> times to get the correct music and rhythm.
> 
> Once you start, the mantra may open up to you, but
> traditionally you must stay with it for a minimum of
> forty days (realistically as long as it takes) and the
> slightest tendency to try to penetrate its secret
> intellectually will prevent you from finding it. This
> is not an intellectual exercise. You must yearn to
> penetrate the mystery but non-analytically. The true
> secret transcends discursive reasoning, and can
> neither be spoken nor written.

Excellent advice. Have you read Healing Mantras by Thomas Ashley-
Farrand? You and he have a lot in common. I have a CD by him. He 
is said to be the foremost expert in knowing how to say the Sanskrit 
mantras correctly, so I understand your reasoning. I believe that 
chanting and meditating on the Gayatri will help expand one's 
consciousness to higher levels.

I was looking for some theosophical writings that might have shed 
some light linking the Gayatri with the seven planes.

Back to the drawing board, oops, I mean, back to my mala beads. ;-)

Monica