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The Gayatri Mantra: Practise, Benefit, Transform

 Have you just set foot onto the spiritual path? Maybe you are questioning the purpose of your life. Perhaps you are in search of a mentor who can guide you.

Or perhaps you are a veteran, an adept who has not just tread this path for many years but has also created his own off-beat track on the journey of life.

Me? I fall somewhere in between. No longer a novice, not yet an adept.

But.

It doesn’t matter where you are on the path.

I’m here today to talk about the one Vedic mantra whose requirements to chant it are as general as the mantra is powerful – the Gayatri Mantra.

If you are unfamiliar with the origins of the mantra and its incredible capacity to elevate us to super consciousness, I urge you to read this story that speaks to the true power of this mantra. Such is the Gayatri Mantra benefits that without this story, our knowledge of what we are capable of achieving is incomplete. You will also find in it the Gayatri Mantra meaning.

The Gayatri Mantra does not require you to be of a certain age, gender, nationality or religion. You can be anybody, anywhere and begin chanting this mantra at any time. Unlike certain mantras that require initiation by a guru, the Gayatri Mantra does not require personalized guidance and instructions.

All it needs is will.

With will, persistent focus, and correct pronunciation (also here), if you continue chanting this mantra, it is not a matter of if but when you will begin to see marvelous changes manifest in your life. You will automatically be elevated.

Eager though I was to walk the path, my mind was also reluctant to commit. In the classic state of the ignorant, forming structure and discipline felt like the loss of a ‘free’ life until one day, I came across a story that changed my perspective.

Here was a man, more than 60 years old, who had lived as a householder and worked full-time until retirement. And yet, somehow, in what must surely have been a busy life, he had managed to stick to his routine of chanting the Gayatri Mantra, reading a chapter of the Bhagavad Gita and chanting the Mahamantra every single day for over 40 years! In fact, his chanting had become a Gayatri sadhana by sheer virtue of practice.

The full story is here, including how he refused to work overtime for a few weeks despite a personal request from the CEO of the company, at the risk of losing his job. Why? Because it would mean he’d miss his daily chanting and nothing was more important than his meeting with God.

The dedication, discipline and tenacity left me overawed. Here I was, cribbing at the prospect of sitting down even for a few minutes every day even when I knew the mantra’s ability to transform. And there he was, faithfully following his routine, come what may.

Who was more likely to reach God? The errant young filly or the grand old stallion? No prizes for guessing.

But such is the power of the Gayatri Mantra. Even a filly can benefit. In fact, it is the mantra that transitions the filly into the stately horse - calm, blinkers on, and nothing in sight except the goal it has set out to achieve.

I have seen its powers for myself. And it’s just the beginning.

If you are looking for just one mantra to define your spiritual path and there is no mentor or guru in sight, pick this unhesitatingly. And watch Vedmata Gayatri become your guru.

Go on. Happy walking :)


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