CHANTS AND MANTRAS

There are words that are sometimes chanted that are not mantras at all - sivo'ham.. sivo'ham or so'ham.. so'ham, for example. So'ham means "He I am," "He" referring to the Lord. Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that so'ham is a mantra. So'ham is a fact. It is a sentence to be understand. It means tat tvam asi, "You are that." If you are the Lord or if the Lord is you, there must be some non-differnece.

Because the differences are obvious to you, you need not inquire into them further. The non-difference is what you need to know and is the subject matter of the entire teaching of Vedanta. Therefore, sentences that are statements of facts are not mantras.

JAPA IS A MENTAL PRAYER

A japa is a word, sentence, or group of sentences, whose meaning is the Lord, wherein the individual invokes or salutes a particular deity as the Lord. It is neither a meaningless sound nor does it denote a particular object, like zucchini. Its meaning is the Lord, through which the devotee is invoked.

Therefore, japa not only serves as a technique but as a mental prayer. Only when the repition is a mental prayer it is called japa. Japa is recognized as an indirect means for gaining liberation because it destroys all obstructions and impurities, thereby preparing the mind for the knowledge that is liberation.

In the tenth chapter of the Bhagwadgita, Lord Krsna says, "There are many forms of rituals and many means through which I am invoked, bit among them I am japa. Japa, therefore, is something to be done and, as the Lord Himself, in the form of Krsna, has said, there is no activity more efficacious than japa.