“You know what the word, that Sanskrit word ‘mantra’ means something entirely different from what you have been told – the root meaning of that word. It means, ‘man’ means reflect – please listen, for god’s sake, listen – reflect on not becoming or being. Reflect on it. Look at it, observe it, see what is implied in it. Therefore, reflect on not becoming or not being. ‘Tra’ means put away or destroy all self-centred activity. You understand? So, mantra means reflect on not becoming, and dispel all movement born from the centre as the ‘me’. That is the meaning of that word. And you have made it into something extraordinarily… meaningless thing.”
“When one understands the meaning of the word ‘guru’, and ‘mantra’, they become very, very serious. Mantra means to dissolve the whole structure of becoming. So it means there is no evolution for the self, for the psyche… And there is nobody that can free oneself, nobody outside, except one’s own inward integrity, great humility to learn.”
J. Krishnamurti
Traditionally a mantra is considered as an utterance, a sound or a syllable, word or phrase repeated aloud or silently to focus the mind. The term is derived from two Sanskrit roots: manas (meaning ‘mind’) and tra (meaning ‘tool’ or ‘instrument’). So, traditionally a mantra means an ‘instrument of the mind’. However, the word is also interpreted as ‘mana’ meaning to ponder over and ‘tra’ meaning to put away. Krishnamurti considers mantra as pondering over not becoming. Most of the religions in the world have their own sacred words to be repeated. The repetition of mantra is called Japa. Japa can quieten an agitated mind by lessening its sensitivity. Krishnamurti says that any repetitive activity makes the mind mechanical and dull. So, does Japa make our mind dull? Is there a way of doing Japa in a non-repetitive way? What is a mantra? Are there different kinds of mantra and what are their effects? How does a Mantra-Japa affect a person? What is the relationship of mantra with thinking, with awareness and attention? What is Mantra-Yoga? All such and many more related questions will be explored in this workshop. Participants can also ask their questions. Various selections from Krishnamurti’s works relevant to the theme of this workshop will be provided as a reading material to each participant. Also links to the relevant videos of Krishnamurti will be provided. Each participant is expected to devote these two days fully to the study in order to benefit maximum from this workshop.