Mantras: Powerful Proto-Thought Forms in the Mind and Psyche

To understand mantras, it is essential to know that a mantra is a kind of thought. It is a very deep thought resonating in the unconscious. It is different from the more superficial thoughts that we are conscious of and that arise when we develop language for communication. 

A mantra is a proto-thought, a thought in the deep mind, in the psyche, that exists before the development of the ego, words, and language, before the construction of a thought-thinking mental structure that evolves during the few years of our life. In the yoga-tantra tradition, they are thought of as psycho-spiritual luminous forces.

When we chant a mantra, we attempt to quiet the endless chatter of the thinking mind and tune our awareness to the deep mind, to the powerful, luminous forces that vibrate and pulsate within the psyche. We create a bridge between between our everyday awareness and deeper spiritual truths. 

When we cross this bridge during meditation, we can experience these forces, gradually transforming our perception and experience of the world. They enable us to connect to something greater and access the vast untapped potential in us, expanding our sense of who we are.

The Four Organs of Mind

In Samkhya philosophy, the mind is described as having four organs: the lower thinking mind, called manas; the higher intuitive mind, called buddhi; memory, called chitta; and ego, called ahamkara.  

• Manas synthesizes information from the outer and inner worlds to create thoughts as we understand them.
• Chitta is the psyche and the repository of mantras as proto-thoughts, primal, archetypal sounds, and symbols that lie in our unconscious and can only be accessed through deep meditation practices such as Ajapa Japa.
• Buddhi is the intelligence that organizes and categorizes thoughts, giving them meaning and enabling access to our intuition, our ability to peer into future possibilities. 

Transcend the Little Thinking Mind

By understanding these two very different aspects of thoughts based on their depth, one superficial and the other deeper, we can use mantras to escape being trapped in the little mind, manas. We can use mantras to lift our awareness out of endless small mind mental chatter where we feel trapped in the outer world and all its problems and access the deeper intuitive mind. We can transcend our little self, our egoic identity and connect with the deeper authentic Self. 

Self-reflect on Thought?

Before we discuss mantras as a proto-thought, we need to reflect on and think about thought and how we understand what a thought is. The fact that we can do this results from the faculty of self-awareness and self-reflection. We can think about thinking and remain a detached observer watching this self-reflective process.

What is a Thought?

A thought is a mental process in which the mind generates ideas, concepts, beliefs, and other mental constructs based on various inputs. These inputs include sensory information from our environment, memories, emotional responses to stimuli, and imagination.

Thoughts are defined as ideas or opinions produced by thinking. Thoughts are the building blocks of our cognitive processes. Cognitive processes are the electrical and chemical reactions in the brain that enable us to learn, remember, comprehend our environment, and gain knowledge. They shape our perception of the world and our place within it.

We can think of thoughts as an inner language, an internal dialogue, or a visualization. The vocabulary of this language grows as we learn more about the world and ourselves. Essentially, thoughts are the internal dialogue or visualization that allows us to process information and navigate our lives.

There are many different types of thoughts. For example, thoughts can be active or passive. Active thoughts are conscious and deliberate, such as when we're actively problem-solving or making decisions. We engage our thinking function to understand something and express that understanding in words.

The mind can also passively or automatically generate thoughts. The mind is always thinking because it constantly processes information from the outside world and the inner world of the psyche. The mind is filled with millions and millions of thoughts. 

Unlike normal thoughts used to categorize the world for communication, a mantra is a thought form that often has no literal meaning in the outer world. Its power lies not in its semantic content but in its sound vibration, which conveys powerfully intuitive information to the conscious mind as a sense of knowing that reveals the meaning of things.

When Do We Start to Think?

We start to think from an early age, but our ability to think and our cognitive abilities develop gradually over time. We can say that thinking, as we think about it, starts between the ages of 1 and 2 years when we begin to use symbolic thinking. This is when we start to play and use objects to represent other things. We communicate using primal sounds that express emotions and feelings but are not yet organized into language. 

From about the age of 2 to 3 years, children begin to understand basic concepts like colors, numbers, and time and also start to ask why questions. More complex thinking develops between the ages of 3 to 5 years. This is when children can sort objects, understand basic sequences, and start to grasp cause-and-effect relationships more clearly.

What are the Functions of Thoughts?

As we move through life, thoughts enable us to understand and categorize the world so that we can make sense of the myriad stimuli we encounter daily.

Thoughts are crucial to the development of language and form the basis for language, speech, and writing. One of their main functions is to enable us to communicate with others to express our ideas and feelings.

We need clear thinking to analyze situations, consider options, and find solutions to the demands and challenges of life. This happens when the four organs of mind responsible for thinking, intuition, feeling, memory, and our sense of self, work well and in an integrated, harmonious fashion. Meditation techniques, such as Ajapa Japa, integrate the four organs of mind.

When integration occurs, we use our thoughts to weigh up the pros and cons of a situation and make better choices. This is especially true if we have access to reliable information from the outer world and a repository of accumulated life experiences to look back on.

From the point of view of meditation, thoughts are part of the process of self-reflection and self-discovery. They allow us to contemplate our existence and behaviors and understand our place in the world.

What happens when we link Thinking with Intelligence and Creativity?

When thoughts are married to intelligence and creativity, we can generate new ideas and innovations, make discoveries, and make the world a better place. This is especially true when thoughts are connected to our feelings and to meaning and purpose. These latter traits are found in the psyche, the deep unconscious. 

The mantras we repeat audibly or mentally connect our conscious mind and its more superficial sensory-based thinking processes to the deep unconscious, the storehouse of meaning, purpose, power, intelligence, and creativity. They open a door into the unconscious through which we move our awareness from the conscious, rational mind to the power of the deep unconscious, where mantras constantly vibrate nas proto-thoughts. 

When we connect the conscious, rational mind with the mantra, we connect with the power, knowledge, and meaning contained within that mantra. This requires some adjustment from the old ways of thinking.

What are proto-thoughts?

The term proto means first, primary, foremost, primitive, and earliest form. It is used as a prefix in biology in words such as protoplasm, which is the living water of life in the body’s cells. Mantras are proto-thoughts, the first vibrations in the unconscious from which our more superficial thoughts arise and which are the matrix on which language forms. 

Proto-thoughts are vibrations that create very subtle, primal sounds that can only be experienced in deep meditation. Ancient yogis, rishis, and seers cognized these incredibly powerful energy vibrations in deep states of meditation. Through their insights, these rishis communicated mantras to us as tools for spiritual practice, enabling us to access and connect with the deeper dimensions of our inner being. 

Mantras are proto-thoughts - psycho-spiritual luminous force

Whereas our normal thoughts are used to categorize and understand our outer world so that we can communicate with other people and beings, mantras are “words” or sound vibrations used to communicate with our psyche, our inner being, and the forces that lie within us. We can then experience the incredibly powerful energies within our unconscious. 

In yoga tantra, mantras and yantras are said to be the names and forms of a deity. Within the yoga tantra traditions, a deity refers to a powerful psycho-spiritual force in our psyche. It is an extremely powerful energy that underlies our ordinary waking consciousness. By practicing mantra meditation, we connect to the proto-thought, the inner mantra, which we experience as being a living, energetic entity within our psyche, catalyzing spiritual growth and self-realization.

When it is experienced, it feels like a profound shift in consciousness that transcends our ordinary perception and understanding. It shifts us from our normal day-to-day brain and mind functioning into a different experience of reality.

Mantras - powerful tools for self-transformation

Of all the techniques in yoga-tantra, mantras are the most powerful tools for self-transformation. When we repeat a mantra, whether vocally or silently, we're not just reciting words or sounds – we're creating and reinforcing specific vibrational patterns in our mind and subtle energy body.

These sacred sounds vibrate and positively influence the mind and psyche. We need to consistently practice mantra repetition to make these proto-thoughts more potent. Then, they can positively influence our unconscious mind and even our external reality by purifying and harmonizing our inner being, liberating energy trapped in destructive, maladaptive, neurotic patterns and loops. The energy liberated can then be directed to expand our consciousness and awaken us to our true spiritual nature. It can also be to fuel a more creative life. 

The mantra is like the telephone number for the power and knowledge within the psyche. Whenever we chant the mantra, it is like asking that power to come into our conscious life. It can take time for the power within the psyche to answer our call, and we are taught to trust that the deep unconscious is a powerful intuiting agent that knows when it is the right time to respond. When the mantra as a proto-thought finally answers, we are “given permission” by our psyche to connect our awareness to the deeper mind and experience, transcending the limitations of everyday thinking.

Transcendence is a life-enhancing and transforming experience. It can feel like a sudden dissolution of the boundaries of the self, as if we are merging with something vast and ineffable, imbued with a sense of ultimate meaning and purpose. Our ordinary sense of time and space disappears and is replaced by a feeling of timelessness and boundless expansion. We experience a sense of profound peace and unity. All separateness dissolves, and we feel intimately connected to all of existence. This can lead to feelings of unconditional love, awe, wonder, and bliss, and a deep sense of clarity and understanding beyond words. The experience can feel more real and vivid than everyday reality. After such an experience, we can feel permanently changed, with an altered perspective on life and a renewed sense of purpose or connection to something greater than oneself.

The Main Forms of Mantra Practice

One way to work with mantras is through the practice of japa, or mantra repetition. Japa involves the repeated recitation of a mantra, either aloud, whispered, or mentally.

The other form is Ajapa Japa, which we have dealt with in several articles.