Christ is a cosmic force, an energy and intelligence that radiates in everything. In any religion, no matter what the name, no matter the country or the tradition, the primary concern of that religion is Christ, even if that religion doesn’t use that word.
The word Christ is derived from a Greek term, Khrestos. The word Christ is a title. It is not a person. It is a cosmic force. It is energy, a radiation, a vibration, a sound.
Ancient scriptures state that in the beginning God sounded. If you study the creation mythologies of any religion, you always find that in the first instances, in the first moments, what emerged was a vibration, energy, a force, a light, a sound; that is Christ. That force is beyond any name, beyond any concept, beyond any thought, beyond any title, beyond any belief. It is something incomprehensible, immeasurable, and eternal. Everything that we are, everything that we experience, everything that we can ever imagine or perceive, is merely a derivative of Christ. This is how all encompassing and overpowering this energy is.
Absolutely everything in existence is merely a derivative of Christ. So when we talk about Christ, we are not talking about a man; we are not even talking about a god. We are talking about a force, a cosmic ray, a living, vibrating, resounding energy.
There are many names for this energy that emerges out of the nothingness. In Kabbalah, it is called Ain Soph Aur. Some Western traditions have called it “the ray of creation.” The ancient Native Americans, the Aztec, and Maya, had many names for this ray of light, but the most famous is Quetzalcoatl. The Christians call it Yeshua, Jesus Christ, the Son. In the East, there are thousands of names for this energy: Avalokiteshvara, Chenresig, Krishna, Vishnu, Osiris, Ahura Mazda, and Fu Xi. These names all refer to the same primordial energy, which is the very heart and soul and purpose and meaning of religion.
This is very important to understand because we have inherited from our different cultures and tradition different mistaken concepts about religion, and especially about Christ. People nowadays have limited the term Christ to a person. This is wrong. They have limited the term Christ to a mere god, and this is also wrong. They have limited the term Christ to one religion and this is wrong.
The force of Christ is universal, but religion is not. Religions that are born, grow, sustain, and die. Religions belong to time. They belong to a particular place and a particular time. That is, religions have a narrow focus on a particular psychology. They all come from the one universal primordial religion, which is cosmic and eternal, and is the worship and science of Christ. I am not referring to a modern system or belief, but to the ultimate primordial science which is beyond anything that we can conceive of, write down, or put in a book. Christ is beyond all of that.
In every atom of your body is the fire of life, and that is Christ. The energy that gives you the capacity to think is Christ. The energy that flows in your emotions is Christ. The energy that gives you the power to see, to feel, to think, to receive, to experience, is Christ. The energy in the sun, the energy that spins the Earth, the energy that forms a butterfly, the energy that allows the clouds to float in the sky, is Christ.
When you think of Christ, do not limit your thought to one man who lived two thousand years ago. Do not limit your thought to a statue, a scripture, a quote, a concept, or an idea of what Christ is. Instead, open your eyes and look around you. Look within you. That is where you will find Christ. Christ is in your breath, in the pumping of your heart, in the sensations which reach all of your senses in every moment. There is a transformation of energy happening right now, and that is Christ.
The true yogi, the true aspirant, the true practitioner, does not think of Christ as an idea, a concept, something that is limited in the mind. The true devotee of Christ looks for Christ in every instant, in every face, in every eye, in every word, in every image, in every animal, in every plant.
The true devotee of Christ is always seeking to perceive and witness that energy in action in the universe right now. That is how you find Christ: right now. In your breath, through your eyes, through your ears, through touch, through taste and through smell, Christ is there in everything, without limitation. Everything that exists is a modification of Christ, and everything vibrates with that energy.
Some spiritual aspirants complain, “I can’t see God, I can’t hear God, God has never spoken to me, I don’t believe in God, I haven’t seen God.” That is because they are not looking, they are not listening, they do not have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. They only see blackness. They only see the projections of their mind.
They project that God, Christ, should be a person who speaks in their language and gives them what they desire. People think that they will only believe in God if He gives them a new car or money or security or comfort.
Christ is beyond all of that, and can be seen and can be experienced if we open our eyes to what Christ really is.
The Gnostic teachings delve into the heart of all religion in order to extract the essence, the hearts blood, the purest life force in every religion. That purest life force in every religion is Christ, and that is why we study every religion to see Christ in it, to be amazed and filled with awe at all the gifts that energy gives through all religions. That is why when you study Gnosis, you study all religions, because they are all an expression of Christ.
The Gnostic goal is not merely to impress people, or to get power, or to fulfil desires. We know that many people nowadays have these goals and they are free to have them, but that is not the Gnostic goal. The Gnostic goal is to incarnate Christ, to become a perfect reflection of that cosmic energy, to embody it.
Bodhichitta: Christ Mind
I have explained that Christ is in everything. Our body, our mind is a derivative of Christ, because Christ is the force that gives life. We are alive because Christ is burning in all of our atoms, in all of our cells, in all of our organs, but this is different from incarnating Christ. To incarnate Christ is to have that intelligence fully active, awake, aware, and alive in us. Such a person is not like any of us. Such a person radiates life, not lust or pride. A person who has Christ incarnated in them radiates a singular quality, which is a quality that is nearly impossible to describe because it is so far from what we normally experience.
There is a word for that quality in Sanskrit: Bodhichitta. Bodhichitta is the defining attribute of Christ. Someone who has been christified, someone who has been completely absorbed by Christ, radiates pure Bodhichitta in every instant, in every moment. In every action, in every thought, in every feeling, is a pure expression of Bodhichitta.
So what is Bodhichitta? We have given many lectures about this term and we can give many more because Bodhichitta implies something very profound. It implies the active intelligence of God, and of that which is beyond God. It is the very intelligence that creates universes, not merely creating a man or a woman, not merely creating a piece of art or a phrase or a word or a scripture, but creating an entire universe. This is the power of Bodhichitta.
Specifically, Bodhichitta has two fundamental aspects, which are inseparable and that is why it is one word, Bodhichitta, but it has two important characteristics that are completely united and can never be separated.
The first is cognizant love. Bodhichitta is the expression of Christ, the ray of creation, that first light that comes out of the nothingness. That limitless light is pure, unadulterated, divine, intelligent love, but it is love very far beyond anything that we have experienced. It is the love of the creator for everything that exists. It is love that is so pure, so powerful, that it can create anything, and destroy anything, and this is a key very important factor about this cognizant love. It is the expression of God: the creator, the sustainer, the destroyer.
The creative capacity of God is from cognizant love that creates out of love for all existing beings, to give them a chance to know Christ. That cognizant love sustains all existence in order for all beings to come to know that intelligence of Christ. That force and intelligence destroys all things in order to reinvigorate the process when karma has become too massive. This is a huge, profound concept, trying to explain something that underlies everything that exists.
The second aspect of Bodhichitta, which cannot be separate from cognizant love, is comprehension of the Absolute, comprehension of Sunyata, the Ain Soph. You see, that light, the Ain Sop Aur, comes out of the limitless (Ain Soph), is part of that limitless (Ain Soph). It is inseparable and creates everything. Christ gives rise to everything in order for everything to comprehend Christ. Christ is that limitless, the unknowable, the Absolute. The comprehension of that in Sanskrit is called Prajna, which means wisdom. In Hebrew it is called Chokmah (wisdom), and that is Christ. Christ is wisdom, comprehension of itself, of its root, of its source, of the limitless nothingness, of the uncreated light. One way to talk about the Ain Soph is as uncreated light. Christ is light created.
Bodhichitta is cognizant love that comprehends itself, that comprehends where it comes from, which is the Absolute, the uncreated light. If this seems vague, abstract, and obscure to you, that is normal, as it takes many years of study and meditation to penetrate what this means and why it is important, but let me emphasize for you that it is the very foundation of real religion; it is the very basis of it. Without comprehension of the Absolute, you fall into extreme views: nihilism or eternalism. People who do not comprehend the Absolute believe one of the two sides of this pendulum of extreme views and thereby lose the purpose of religion.
On one extreme, they may believe in nihilism. Such persons believe that ultimately, nothing really exists. For them, death is the end of existence. So, for them, nothing matters, we are all going to die, so they say let’s do what we want. Obviously they are running the world these days. They just want to feed all their pleasures and desires, at any expense. No matter who suffers, they simply try to get all the money they want, all the power they want, the respect, the sex, the material goods, intense sensations, or whatever it is. People like this easily fall into drug addiction, violence, and all kinds of crimes.
The other extreme are the eternalists who believe that when they die they will go to heaven to sing the praises of God forever, no matter what their sins have been, no matter what their mistakes have been. This is also wrong view, mistaken view because it completely ignores the law of karma, the law of cause and effect. It completely ignores how nature functions, which is in great cycles of birth, sustenance, and death. Such persons believe that a person who goes to hell stays there forever, and a person who goes to heaven stays there forever. Such beliefs are completely contrary to all the laws of nature, and are contrary even to the scriptures. Nonetheless, such beliefs are very popular.
Both of these extremes are wrong views, and in both cases they fail to see the ultimate reality, which is the Absolute, the uncreated light, which in its end, everything will be resolved back to that nothingness.
The nihilists say, “If everything goes back to the nothingness, then why does it matter what I do? I can do whatever I want. If all the souls get pulled back to god in the end anyway then why do I have to work for self realization? I should just do whatever I want and eventually I will go back to God.” This is what they think. This is wrong because they forget karma: cause and effect. Everything you do has a consequence. Every form of suffering that exists in the universe is caused by selfishness. “I want” causes suffering. “For me, for myself.” This is the cause of every form of suffering that exists. Every form of happiness that exists in the universe is caused by compassion, by gratitude, by generosity. “For you, I give this to you, not for me, for you.” This is the cause of happiness.
Have you ever given something fully from your heart without expecting anything in return? Did you know that in that instant you were the one who received the greatest gift of all? Have you experienced that? You should because this is the secret of how Christ functions. Christ gives and gives and gives and gives and gives for your sake, for my sake, for the sake of everything that exists.
This is the law of Christ: cognizant love that comprehends that in the end there is no self nature, there is no I. In Christ, there is no individuality, there is unity. The true masters are one, and this is why Christ taught, “Be not many masters,” because there is one master, and that is Christ. This is because any true master is Christified. That is, everything of the ego, every shadow of me, myself, of I, has been destroyed, and what radiates in that person is pure cognizant love, Christ. There is no I, there is no me. From such a person you never hear, “I’m a master, worship me. I’m such and such person, so you should follow me.” There is none of that. There is only you. The true master does not speak of themselves. They speak of you. The true master never points at themselves, they point at you. They say, “I am not important. What is important is the God, the Being, the Christ, in you.”
So these are the fundamental displays of Bodhichitta, cognizant love that comprehends the absolute. This is what we seek to embody.
The nihilists and eternalists who have fallen into extreme views have lost the middle way, madhyamika, which is the path to comprehend the emptiness, the Absolute. Madhyamika is a Sanskrit word that means “the middle way.” The middle way is between the extreme views of nihilism and eternalism, between pain and pleasure, between good and evil, between the devil and the saint. By means of the middle way, a soul can embody the point of balance upon which all existence depends.
The one who embodies Christ, who incarnates Christ, is not a saint and is also not a devil, but is something different. Something that is beyond good and evil. This one is called a Bodhisattva. Bodhisattva is a Sanskrit word and is made up of sattva, that means “essence of,” and bodhi that means “wisdom.” The true Bodhisattva is the very “essence of wisdom.” Wisdom is Chokmah. Wisdom is Christ. Wisdom is Prajna. Wisdom is Bodhichitta.
Bodhichitta can be translated directly to mean “wisdom mind,” and this is what this lecture is about: wisdom mind. If you disarrange that word, if you look at the components of that word, bodhi is wisdom in Sanskrit and bodhi is equivalent to Chokmah in Hebrew. Chokmah is wisdom. Chokmah is the Son. Chokmah is Christ. Chitta, the second part of Bodhichitta, means “mind.” Thus Bodhichitta means “Christ mind.” A Bodhisattva has Christ Mind (bodhichitta).
We do not have a Christic mind. We have a devil mind. We have a demonic mind. We have an animal mind. Look at our mind. What is in our mind? Me, myself, what I want, and what I don’t want. Craving and aversion.
One attains peace in whose mind all desires enter without creating any disturbance, as river waters enter the full ocean without creating a disturbance. One who desires material objects is never peaceful.
One who abandons all desires and becomes free from longing and the feeling of 'I' and 'my' attains peace. - Krishna in The Bhagavad Gita (2.70-71)
Desire and the Mind
These are the two extreme views. Craving and aversion. Our mind consists of: “I want all of this over here and I don’t want any of that over there.” Generally, on the side of what we want, we want money, sex, respect, security, and we want to live forever, and we want to go to heaven with everything that we are right now. We crave sensations. We are filled with desire.
On the other side is aversion. We want to avoid work, taxes, suffering, pain, death, people we don’t like, and situations we don’t like. We do not want the hair we have, the body we have, the language we have, etc. Everyone in the world wants what they do not have, and does not want what they do have. We want everything in life in every moment to feed our desires and to give us sensations that we enjoy.
Do you not see that this desire that rules over us is impossible to satisfy? It has never happened, ever. No one in the history of this entire universe has ever satisfied their desires. Do you see how stupid we are? All of us are still trying to be “the one.” In our minds, we all have a subtle assumption that, “I will be the first one to accomplish it. I will be the one who will get everything I want and avoid everything I don’t want.” None of us can deny it. It is the fallacy of the ego. It is a trick that our mind uses against us to sustain its desires, to sustain the ego. It is a lie, an illusion.
We need to be in the middle path between craving and aversion. What is that middle path? It is the path of Tao, the path of Christ. To be on that path, one neither craves nor avoids. One neither chases nor runs away. One neither tries to fix things to be the way we want them, nor avoids the things that we do not want. This is not to say that we allow ourselves to suffer stupidly. What it does mean is that such a person is not disturbed or swayed by the unavoidable, and instead is focused on beneficial action.
You see, the way of the Tao, the way of the Bodhisattva, the way of Bodhichitta, is to be in the middle.
As the Buddha said, we have to be like a great tree resting in the midst of pain and pleasure, of success and defeat, of praise and blame, and to be the same one in everything, neither chasing nor avoiding but just being in the middle.
What takes us out of that point of view is the mind, all of the reactions that are surging in our mind all of the time. “I don’t want that, I want that.” Observe yourself; your mind is in a continual swing of this pendulum between “I want” and “I don’t want.” This is true in your intellectual brain, in your emotional brain and your motor/instinctive/sexual brain. That pendulum is always swinging in our mind. “I want this. I don’t want that.”
There is a single word that can resolve that conflict for you and that is: acceptance. Let things be as they are. Rather than fighting with everything in life, comprehend them by becoming cognizant, conscious, of the factors involved.
What happens day to day with us? As we go through this pendulum battle in our minds between I want and I don’t want, do you know the consequence? As we are constantly trying to push the pendulum into the “I want” side and trying to keep it from going into the “I don’t want” side what we experience is resistance. What is the characteristic of resistance? Tension. When there is conflict, there is tension.
Is anyone here tense? Some people say “oh no” but look at yourself. Do you have the degree of relaxation that a small baby has? Are all of your muscles soft? You can test and see. Touch your shoulder: isn’t it like a rock, like a piece of steel? What about your cheeks? What about your eyes? What about your tongue? What about your stomach? If you really look at yourself, you will see that all of your muscles are in varying degrees of tension. Why? It is because your mind is tense. The body is just a vehicle; it just reflects what is going on inside us psychologically. When the body gets sick, it is because there is an illness in us psychologically. When the body is tense, it is because the mind is tense, and the mind is tense because it wants and it does not want. The mind does not have serenity; the mind does not have peace.
What is the hallmark of a peaceful mind? Emptiness. Look into your mind: is there a constant surge of thinking? That is not a sign of a peaceful mind. That is a sign of a stressed mind. A mind that is in peace is completely silent, and you look inside that mind and it is like a mirror, like a mountain lake that hasn’t moved for centuries, and reflected on the surface of that water is the entire universe. That is what Christ mind is like: a mind that has such serenity that it perfectly reflects Christ, all existence, everything.
This is why the Delphic oracle said:
Man know thyself and thou shalt know the universe and its gods.
When we look into the mirror of our mind, when we are very relaxed, when we are no longer chasing after desires and avoiding our fears, when our mind is in a state of serenity and acceptance, it reflects the universe: then we know God. For that person, God is no longer a theory or a belief, God is a reality. Christ becomes a fact, and not just a concept to debate or to argue about, but a living vibrating reality.
This is the purpose of this tradition. First to see that, to experience that reality, not merely to believe it, not merely to study it, not merely to teach it but to know it, to have gnosis of Christ, and then, having acquired personal knowledge, one seeks to embody that, to remove all the obstacles that prevent that Christic energy from being fully awake, aware and active in us for the benefit of others, because that is the purpose of Christ: to benefit all beings without exception. This is why we use this famous prayer:
May all beings be happy
May all beings be joyful
May all beings be in peace
This is translated from Sanskrit and is an ancient prayer. What is that prayer saying? May Christ save everyone, not merely people in my group, and not merely in the way that I want them saved, not merely to come and be a part of my group and do everything that I think is good, but all beings, even the demons. May they all be redeemed from suffering. That is the current of Christ Mind, and the point of view of Bodhichitta.
We are discussing this as the preamble to todays lecture, because without understanding Christ, you cannot understand mantras. It is quite simple. Everybody in every religion learns prayers or sacred words that they learn to repeat, to chant, to sing, to meditate upon, but without comprehension of Christ, that effort is very limited in its effectiveness.
Mantra
Christ is an energy, whether we call it Krishna, Osiris, Quetzalcoatl, Jesus, Zeus, Allah, Brahma, or Tao. All of those names refer to a vibration, the root vibration of everything that exists.
What is that vibration? It is the rawest, purest, most refined, most subtle energy that exists. It is the first energy that comes out of the nothingness. It is beyond sound, it is beyond light, but it is the root of them. We say sound and light so that we can understand what it is, but it really isn’t sound or light, but it is something beyond that. It is something that sound and light come from.
What is a mantra? What is a sacred word? It is a vibration, a sound, an energy, a force. The word mantra is Sanskrit and has two primary components. Man comes from the root word in Sanskrit which means “to think.” You may have heard the word Manas which means “mind.” Man is “to think” and yes, the word human comes from man. Hu is the spirit and when the spirit thinks, the Hu-man is born.
The second part of mantra is trai which means “to protect, to free.” Now do you understand why in order to understand a mantra you need to understand Christ? The force that seeks to free us from suffering is Christ. The way that Christ frees us from suffering is man-tra: protection, freedom, through the mind.
Thus, mantra means “mind protection.” This is the literal translation of the word mantra. People always say it is a sacred word but that is not what mantra actually means. The word mantra actually means “mind protection.” Never forget that.
The protection that the mantra provides depends on how you use it, and this is very important.
Many people nowadays desire more money or material items, but do not want to work for it, and would prefer to get what they want by using rituals or spiritual practices, so they go looking for help to various “spiritual” groups or the internet. Naturally, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are happy to sell you a mantra if you buy their book or video, or sign up for their class, and they will teach you a phrase to repeat over and over in order to get what you want. If you want to do that, you are free to do so, but all you are going to do is feed your desire, which is going to cause that pendulum of pain and pleasure to swing more vigorously in your life.
You see, every time you chase a pleasure, “I want this,” you are putting energy into that pendulum, and inevitably, by the law of cause and effect, it must swing the other way. This is why the people who most aggressively seek pleasure are also the ones who most suffer. Learn something about real spirituality: the ones who do not seek pleasure become free of suffering. All of the buddhas and angels reached that state by destroying their desires. All of the demons in hell reached that state by feeding their desires. This is simple cause and effect: karma.
This is why the Buddha taught the four noble truths, which in there synthesis state that all suffering is caused by desire, and the way to become free of suffering is to become free of desire. That is why in the ancient scriptures of India you find:
94. Desire is never extinguished by the enjoyment of desired objects; it only grows stronger like a fire (fed) with clarified butter.
95. If one man should obtain all those (sensual enjoyments) and another should renounce them all, the renunciation of all pleasure is far better than the attainment of them.
96. Those (organs) which are strongly attached to sensual pleasures, cannot so effectually be restrained by abstinence (from enjoyments) as by a constant (pursuit of true) knowledge.
97. Neither (the study of) the Vedas, nor liberality, nor sacrifices, nor any (self-imposed) restraint, nor austerities, ever procure the attainment (of rewards) to a man whose heart is contaminated (by sensuality).
98. That man may be considered to have (really) subdued his organs, who on hearing and touching and seeing, on tasting and smelling (anything) neither rejoices nor repines.
99. But when one among all the organs slips away (from control), thereby (man's) wisdom slips away from him, even as the water (flows) through the one (open) foot of a (water-carrier's) skin. - Manusmṛti
Mantra and prayer harness energy. If you use a mantra or prayer to feed your desire, you multiply the energy that you use to pursue that desire. This is logical. Thus, the result is that the desire gets stronger. And naturally, if the desire is fulfilled, that is, we get the money or the job we were praying for, the desire does not go away. Soon, it will just want something else. If we keep feeding it, it will get stronger and stronger. And, if the desire is not fulfilled, the result is frustration and anger. So, now we understand why our society is so confused. Desire leads to suffering.
So all those spiritual groups who are using mantras, chanting, praying, “Please God give me [fill in the blank],” visualizing having a new house or whatever they desire, are making their situations worse. Instead of asking to follow God's will, they are seeking to serve the will of desire.
When a person is using prayer, mantra, or magic to get something (even love), it is the ego (desire) who is craving it.
Using sacred words, mantras, prayers, and rituals to acquire desires is black magic. It can be dressed up in a beautiful religious garment and can be accompanied with incense, nice music, and sweet words, be handed to you on a plate by the most sublime looking guru with his long beard and his sweet loving smile, but it is black magic, because it is all just feeding desire, not eliminating it.
Understanding this is very important, because all of us are doing this every day. When we think of things that we want, when we are longing for things, when we are craving things, we are investing energy. Then, when we try to do our spiritual practice, meditating, doing runes, doing Tibetan exercises, doing mantras, that desire is still in the mind. When we sit to do our meditation practices and we start imagining scenes of lust, what is happening? We are worsening our situation, we are deepening our suffering.
We need to learn how to use a mantra in the way that Christ intends for it to be used, which is as mind protection, but not desire-mind, not the animal mind, but Christ mind. Mantra used properly protects your Bodhichitta, your consciousness, your soul, but you have to understand the mantra and use it properly in order for it to do that.
So we need to understand briefly six parts that every mantra has.
Six Aspects of Every Mantra
Rishi
Rishi is a Sanskrit word for a saint, a sage, a master. Every mantra that in every religion was brought and given to humanity through a master. The Innermost, a deity, or a Deva taught that master the mantra and the master then taught it to the disciples. Every real mantra came through a Rishi.
Meter
The meter is the rhythm of the mantra. It is the way the mantra is said, the way it is used, the way it is pronounced. Many mantras and sacred words are sung. There is great variety in the meter of mantras. One mantra can exist amongst many traditions, and they may each have their own melody or variations in pronunciation; this is fine, but in the internal words, in the heavens, the mantra has a specific meter, pronunciation, rhythm, tempo.
Devata
The Devata is the divinity, the god, the deity of that mantra. Every mantra is intimately connected to a deity. This means that you cannot make up your own mantras. I say that because there are a lot of people doing it. You cannot make up a mantra; it is impossible. A mantra is a sacred sound, a sacred name that comes from divinity. There are people now who are making up mantras and mixing them together in whatever way they want. This is insanity; they are working with forces that they do not comprehend. Who knows what result will come from that? They have no idea.
To mix mantras and play games with mantras is completely foolish. Avoid it. Avoid those who do this. Only trust mantras that come from the original source, that you can verify to the best of your ability. For example, seek to know if the teacher of the mantra is qualified, or the scriptural source is valid.
You cannot make up mantras; you cannot design or create mantras and craft them to your taste, at least if you expect to connect with divinity. It is like trying to communicate with others while pronouncing made-up words. No one will have idea what you are saying, and you will appear foolish and even crazy.
Every mantra is related to a specific deity, a specific force or intelligence of nature. Mantras are sacred and they are exact; they are not vague, they are not play things, they are not toys. They are extremely powerful tools. We have to use them with a lot of intelligence and a lot of care.
When you learn a given mantra, you are learning how to connect with the deity related to it. It is the direct pathway to that aspect of the divine.
Most people have heard of the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum. This is a very famous mantra of Tibetan Buddhism. This is a mantra of Padmasambhava, who is a great master, a supreme master, and that mantra connects directly to his intelligence. Thus when you work with that mantra, you are calling him.
Let me tell you something: a true master is a god. A true master like Padmasambhava is Christified, and is therefore a part of Christ. Even the thought of his name brings his attention. The same is true of Samael; the mere thought of his name brings his attention, because he is a Christified master. That is how powerful these sounds are. To us, "Samael" sounds like just a word, but no, it is not just a common word; it is a vibration, an energy, that channels forces from the divine.
Bija
Bija is a Sanskrit word that means "seed." This is a very mysterious aspect of mantra. As an example, we study the twenty-two primary letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Every one of them is a “seed,” because from every letter words form. A letter is a seed, and from a seed comes a flower; that is a word. So in that way, every mantra is a bija, a seed, because from every mantra comes life, creation. Yet, usually, the term bija mantra refers to special core mantras that are the seeds of other mantras; bija mantras are like “primordial seeds” from which worlds emerge. Probably everyone knows the mantra Om or Aum. Om is a seed mantra. It is the seed mantra of everything. The mantra OM relates to the first instant of creation, the vibration at the base of everything, it is Christ. Om is the same thing as Christ; they are inseparable, they are the same thing. Yet, the real Om is not the sound Om you hear with your physical ears. That physical sound is a mere imitation of the real sound Om which you can hear if you go into meditation or if you go out of your body chanting that mantra; then you can go and hear the real Om, and if you hear it, you will never be the same. It is the sound of creation itself. It is unimaginable. There are many bija mantras, and they have very deep profundity.
Shakti
Shakti means “energy.” Every mantra has a specific energy. In any language there are many words. Mantras come from a primordial, root language. They are truly “words” in the complete sense of the meaning of “word.” That is, they convey much more than the few letters. When we are conscious of a mantra, and connect with what is contained within it, we can also connect with its energy. The power of the mantra is in its energy. By cognizant use of a mantra, Jesus raised the dead.
And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi... And straightway the damsel arose, and walked... - Mark 5
Just as any language has specific words for specific purposes, there are mantras for every purpose. This is why we learn so many. Hinduism and Buddhism preserve literally thousands of mantras. In Gnosis, we primarily study a few hundred; some people think that is a lot, but really it is just kindergarten. The mantras we focus upon are very powerful, but are only a fraction of the mantric language. If you work seriously and begin to awaken your consciousness, you will learn even more, because you will need them. In the same way that you need words to navigate the physical world, you also need words to navigate the spiritual worlds.
Everything that exists has a mantra, even you. Don’t be surprised; we all have a key note or vibration related specifically to our Being. We have a sacred name related specifically to our Being. In the very root of our Being there is a mantra. It is the mantra of you, your Innermost, not your ego, but you as a ray that emerged from the Absolute. You have a mantra, and that is the most sublime secret. If you hear anyone going around talking about their sacred name or their mantra, they are an idiot. You should ignore them.
The true mantra, the guru mantra related with your Innermost must never ever, ever, ever be revealed, unless your Being commands you to do it. I have never heard of that happening, so do not be the one who thinks it is you. It is like your social security number in heaven.
Kilaka
Kilaka is the ultimate aspect of any mantra. Kilaka means what it sounds like: a key to a lock. The Kilaka is the inner secret of the mantra. If you work seriously with the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum (or its esoteric aspect Om Masi Padme Hum) - and when I mean seriously I mean twenty-four hours a day, not ten minutes a day. To really work with a mantra, you have to live and breathe it. The mantra has to be flowing in you like your breath: constant, continual, conscious, always moving, constant, continual, all the time, all the time, for a long time, with a lot of consciousness, and a lot of devotion. Eventually, according to your karma, there is only one result that will come; you will meet the deva, the Devata, the deity of that mantra. You will have what is called darshan. You will have an experience with the deity of that mantra and be instructed further on the mantra. That is Kilaka. Every mantra has a special experience that opens new doors related to the mantra. So until you have had that experience, you have not comprehended the mantra. I have heard students say “I’ve done this mantra for a while, and now I am switching to another. Then I will do this other one.” Mantra does not work like that. A mantra has to be worked with for a long time. Its fruit begins to emerge the same way a tree grows: it is slow, and it depends on how well the tree is nourished.
Read The Story of Master Meng Shan in The Gnostic Magic of the Runes by Samael Aun Weor.
To illustrate this a little further, we are going to talk about a very amazing mantra. This mantra comes from a variety of scriptures in India, and is taught by Samael Aun Weor especially in his book The Perfect Matrimony. This mantra has a lot of power. The mantra is:
Now, I see students here rolling their eyes as if to say, “This mantra is too complicated, it is too long, I like simple mantras, I’m going to stick with Om.” That is fine, but let me tell you a secret: OM is harder to use than this one. I know students like to use very simple mantras, thinking that it is easier to meditate on them, and repeat them, and work with them, but it is not. Our mind is so scattered and has so little concentration that these longer mantras are more effective for us. If you are chanting the mantra Om or the mantra Wu over and over, in a matter of seconds your mind will be daydreaming about work, your girlfriend, your mail, your bills, etc. Most students suffer from this problem, because they have not developed mindfulness. Mindfulness is a very specific term that means to retain awareness of what one is doing, to have continual remembrance of oneself. When you are aware of what you are doing, you do not lose awareness of what you are doing. If you are chanting the mantra, you are chanting the mantra, and that is all. In this tradition, when we are training our consciousness to awaken, we learn to do one thing at a time. Only one thing. When you are using the mantra in meditation, you only chant the mantra. Every time you forget, you start again and keep doing it.
Longer mantras like this one (or like Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha) sound complicated but really they are not. They are easy to memorize. The advantage of learning mantras like those is that they teach you mindfulness, because they are not the same syllable repeated, like OM over and over. You have to be aware of how the syllables fit together. You need to get it right every time, so you have to pay attention to what you are doing. It teaches you to pay attention, to be mindful, and that is the initial benefit of using mantras like this.
Klim Krishnaya Govindaya Gopijanavallabhaya Swaha
After you do it a few times, you will get it memorized, it is not that hard.
This mantra is extremely powerful in a way that is hard to put in words.
In his book The Perfect Matrimony, Samael Aun Weor explained that this mantra terrorizes demons. He teaches the mantra as a form of protection. That is what every mantra really is: a form of protection for the consciousness.
The tenebrous ones from the Eighteenth Arcanum scatter in terror, because the Flaming Star [pentagram] is instantaneously formed when vocalizing these mantras.
The master Samael explains that this mantra is made up of five parts that are arranged into three stages. When the mantra is pronounced consciously, it forms a pentagram, which has five parts, the penta [five] gram [letter]. The pentagram is a form of protection. This mantra is the energy of that.
The powerful mantra mentioned above has three perfectly defined stages. On chanting KLIM, which the occultists of India call the “seed of attraction,” we provoke a flow of Christic energy which instantaneously descends from the world of the Solar Logos in order to protect us; thus, a mysterious door is then downwardly opened. Afterwards, by chanting the three following parts of the mantra, the Christic energy is infused within the one who chants them. Finally, by means of the fifth part, the one who has received the Christic energy can radiate it with tremendous force in order to defend himself from the tenebrous ones. They then scatter away in terror.
Some people read this literally and mistakenly think that the mantra is only to be used in the astral plane. This is mistaken, because do you know where the demons are? In your mind. The demons that you should be most concerned with are not outside of you, but are in your mind: the demons of selfishness, lust, pride, anger, jealousy, envy, fear.
This mantra has the power to invoke Christ to envelope your free consciousness, to empower you as a soul to defend yourself against yourself. That is the great power of this mantra. So when you learn to chant it, you learn a way to defend yourself from yourself. You can also use it in the astral plane. If you have an experience in the astral plane and you are being attacked by demons, use this mantra, as it is very powerful. You can also use the mantra the way it has been traditionally used in Hinduism for thousands of years, and that is to live and breathe it.
Japa Yoga
In Hinduism, Buddhism, the Catholic religion or Christian religion, followers rely on a very specific technique to train beginners to pay attention, to be aware of themselves. That technique is mantra repetition. Every religion has some form of this. In Sanskrit it is called japa yoga. A rosary or mala is for the repetition of mantras. Catholics, Buddhists, and Hindus use them. A rosary or mala is a string of beads. Traditionally there are one hundred and eight beads.
The practitioner works the beads one by one through the middle finger and thumb while they repeat the mantra. In Hinduism, this is done in secret, hidden under a robe or in a bag or in their pocket. Every time they touch the bead they go to the next one and they say the mantra then they go to the next one and they say the mantra in the mind, in secret. Not out in front of everybody acting like a spiritual person strutting around with their mala beads hanging from their wrist, trying to show everybody how spiritual they are. This is not the way. The real way to use a mantra is secretly, in an intimate fashion, between you and God, not between you and your friends, or you and your roommates, or you and your school mates, or before anyone you are competing with to see who is the most spiritual. It is between you and God, and that is private. When you work with a mantra, keep it to yourself.
The mantra is repeated again, again, and again, all the time, in whichever way: fast or slow, with singing or not singing, in a whisper or loud. Generally, you want to vary how you use it, because the mind quickly becomes bored and distracted. Sometimes you will sing it very quietly in your mind. Sometimes you will shout it in your mind. Remember though, it isn’t your voice that matters, it is your attitude. When you use a mantra, we usually talk about using a mantra in meditation where you sit quietly alone or with a group. You close your eyes, shut out all distraction, and focus exclusively in the mantra. Whether you are vocalizing it aloud or singing it in your mind, you repeat the sounds, repeating and repeating.
Never forget the sounds are sacred; never forget the deity that you are invoking. It is disrespectful to be invoking a deity while mentally doing the dishes or thinking about how bad you have to go to the bathroom or thinking about lust or what you want or what you don’t want. It is dishonorable. It is also a waste of time, and can be dangerous if you keep using a mantra and meditating on desires, concentrating on desires; it can hurt you.
When you use a mantra, whether you are meditating or you are using it in the accompaniment of your daily activities, be very mindful, respectful, and devotional. When you use a mantra, even once, you open a channel to the deity of the mantra.
Meanings of Klim Krishnaya Govindaya Gopijanavallabhaya Swaha
Klim Krishnaya Govindaya Gopijanavallabhaya Swaha is a mantra of Christ. Every part of this mantra has meaning related with Christ; every single component is Christic. Every term in it is a Sanskrit word related to Christ. So when you chant this mantra, you are calling upon the most divine intelligence that exists. Are you going to that intelligence wrapped up in your lust, in your pride, or in your petty desires? We all do that but we shouldn’t. We should all go to that force, calling upon that entity, without desire, free of materialism, pure like a primordial soul, not desiring anything but God, not asking for anything but God, asking for wisdom like Solomon did; not asking for riches, respect, status, or power, but asking for wisdom. With that attitude, this mantra will hit you like a lightning bolt. It has a lot of power.
Klim is the bija, the seed mantra of this mantra. Klim has many meanings. Primarily, the K, the Ka, is related to Krishna, Kamadeva, which means “the lord of love,” Christ. It relates to Indra, the god of thunderbolts. It relates to contentment, serenity, peace. Klim relates to Bodhichitta. Klim is the seed mantra that invokes Christ. Master Samael calls Klim “the seed of attraction.” Why? Klim is the bija (seed) of Krishna, who is called “the attractive one,” because souls are drawn to Christ.
Because it is known as the “mantra of attraction” or “mantra of the lord of love,” this mantra has been appropriated by many black magicians who call it “the mantra of desire,” and they say that you can use this mantra to get anything you want, especially sex. This mantra is being used extensively in black tantra, in thousands of schools, to get sex and to get money. This is how black magicians deceive naive people. This is how the energy of Christ is misused by the mind.
The second term is Krishnaya. Krishna is the name of Christ in India. It could very well be that on the face of this planet there is no deity more worshipped than Krishna. I know the Americans think that Jesus is the most worshipped figure, but really there are far more people worshipping Krishna. Nonetheless, they represent the same force: Christ. Religious competition is a disease.
If you study the doctrine of Krishna, you will study the same doctrine that every Christified master ever taught: a doctrine of cognizant love and comprehension of the incomprehensible; that is, the two aspects of Bodhichitta. His most famous teaching is the Bhagavad-Gita, the song of the lord. It is beautiful and that book can give you a lifetime of spiritual knowledge. The Bhagavad-Gita does not use the word bodhichitta, but it is a beautiful teaching about bodhichitta.
The name Krishna means “black.” Why? In Sanskrit the name Krishna can refer to anyone with dark skin. Many Indians have the name Krishna, both as respect to the god and because they come from a place with dark skinned people, like the south. Krishna is dark-skinned, like Osiris. The light of Christ looks black to the blind.
Arjuna said: My illusion is dispelled by Your profound words, that You spoke out of compassion towards me, about the supreme secret of the Self. (11.01)
O Krishna, I have heard from You in detail about the origin and dissolution of beings, and Your imperishable glory. (11.02)
O Lord, You are as You have said, yet I wish to see Your divine cosmic form, O Supreme Being. (11.03)
O Lord, if You think it is possible for me to see this, then O Lord of the yogis, show me Your imperishable Self. (11.04)
The Supreme Lord said: O Arjuna, behold My hundreds and thousands of multifarious divine forms of different colors and shapes. (11.05)
See the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the Ashvins, and the Maruts. Behold, O Arjuna, many wonders never seen before. (11.06)
O Arjuna, now behold the entire creation; animate, inanimate, and whatever else you like to see; all at one place in My body. (11.07)
But, you are not able to see Me with your physical eye; therefore, I give you the divine eye to see My majestic power and glory. (11.08)
Sanjaya said: O King, having said this; Lord Krishna, the great Lord of (the mystic power of) yoga, revealed His supreme majestic form to Arjuna. (11.09)
(Arjuna saw the Universal Form of the Lord) with many mouths and eyes, and many visions of marvel, with numerous divine ornaments, and holding divine weapons. (11.10)
Wearing divine garlands and apparel, anointed with celestial perfumes and ointments, full of all wonders, the limitless God with faces on all sides. (11.11)
If the splendor of thousands of suns were to blaze forth all at once in the sky, even that would not resemble the splendor of that exalted being. (11.12)
Arjuna saw the entire universe, divided in many ways, but standing as (all in) One (and One in all) in the body of Krishna, the God of gods. (11.13)
Then Arjuna, filled with wonder and his hairs standing on end, bowed his head to the Lord and prayed with folded hands. (11.14)
Arjuna said: O Lord, I see in Your body all the gods and multitude of beings, all sages, celestial serpents, Lord Shiva as well as Lord Brahmaa seated on the lotus. (11.15)
O Lord of the universe, I see You everywhere with infinite form, with many arms, stomachs, faces, and eyes. Neither do I see the beginning nor the middle nor the end of Your Universal Form. (11.16)
I see You with Your crown, club, discus; and a mass of radiance, difficult to behold, shining all around with immeasurable brilliance of the sun and the blazing fire. (11.17)
I believe You are the imperishable, the Supreme to be realized. You are the ultimate resort of the universe. You are the protector of eternal Dharma, and the imperishable primal spirit. (11.18)
I see You with infinite power, without beginning, middle, or end; with many arms, with the sun and the moon as Your eyes, with Your mouth as a blazing fire whose radiance is scorching all the universe. (11.19)
The entire space between heaven and earth is pervaded by You alone in all directions. Seeing Your marvelous and terrible form, the three worlds are trembling with fear, O Lord. (11.20)
These hosts of demigods enter into You. Some with folded hands sing Your names and glories in fear. A multitude of Maharishis and Siddhas hail and adore You with abundant praises. (11.21)
Rudras, Adityas, Vasus, Saadhyas, Vishwedevas, Ashvins, Maruts, Ushmapas, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Asuras, and Siddhas; they all amazingly gaze at You. (11.22)
Seeing your infinite form with many mouths, eyes, arms, thighs, feet, stomachs, and many fearful teeth; the worlds are trembling with fear and so do I, O mighty Lord. (11.23)
Seeing Your great effulgent and various-colored form touching the sky; Your mouth wide open and large shining eyes; I am frightened and find neither peace nor courage, O Krishna. (11.24)
Seeing Your mouths, with fearful teeth, glowing like fires of cosmic dissolution, I lose my sense of direction and find no comfort. Have mercy on me! O Lord of gods, refuge of the universe. (11.25)
The sons of Dhritaraashtra along with the hosts of kings; Bheeshma, Drona, and Karna together with chief warriors on our side are also quickly entering into Your fearful mouths having terrible teeth. Some are seen caught in between the teeth with their heads crushed. (11.26-27)
As many torrents of the rivers rush toward the ocean, similarly, those warriors of the mortal world are entering Your blazing mouths. (11.28)
As moths rush with great speed into the blazing flame for destruction, similarly all these people are rapidly rushing into Your mouths for destruction. (11.29)
You are licking up all the worlds with Your flaming mouths, swallowing them from all sides. Your powerful radiance is burning the entire universe, and filling it with splendor, O Krishna. (11.30)
Tell me who are You in such a fierce form? My salutations to You, O best of gods, be merciful! I wish to understand You, the primal Being, because I do not know Your mission. (11.31)
The Supreme Lord said: I am death, the mighty destroyer of the world, out to destroy. Even without your participation all the warriors standing arrayed in the opposing armies shall cease to exist. (11.32)
Therefore, you get up and attain glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a prosperous kingdom. All these (warriors) have already been destroyed by Me. You are only an instrument, O Arjuna. (11.33)
Kill Drona, Bheeshma, Jayadratha, Karna, and other great warriors who are already killed by Me. Do not fear. You will certainly conquer the enemies in the battle, therefore, fight! (11.34)
Sanjaya said: Having heard these words of Krishna; the crowned Arjuna, trembling with folded hands, prostrated with fear and spoke to Krishna in a choked voice. (11.35)
Arjuna said: Rightly, O Krishna, the world delights and rejoices in glorifying You. Terrified demons flee in all directions. The hosts of Siddhas bow to You in adoration. (11.36)
Why should they not, O great soul, bow to You, the original creator who is even greater than Brahmaa? O infinite Lord, O God of gods, O abode of the universe, You are both Sat and Asat, and the imperishable Brahman that is beyond both (Sat and Asat). (11.37)
You are the primal God, the most ancient Person. You are the ultimate resort of all the universe. You are the knower, the object of knowledge, and the supreme abode. The entire universe is pervaded by You, O Lord of the infinite form. (11.38)
You are Vaayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, Shashaanka, and Brahmaa as well as the father of Brahmaa. Salutations to You a thousand times, and again and again salutations to You. (11.39)
My salutations to You from front and from behind. O Lord, my obeisances to You from all sides. You are infinite valor and the boundless might. You pervade everything, and therefore You are everywhere and in everything. (11.40)
Considering You merely as a friend, not knowing Your greatness, I have inadvertently addressed You as O Krishna, O Yadava, O friend; merely out of affection or carelessness. (11.41)
In whatever way I may have insulted You in jokes; while playing, reposing in bed, sitting, or at meals; when alone, or in front of others; O Krishna, I implore You for forgiveness. (11.42)
You are the father of this animate and inanimate world, and the greatest guru to be worshipped. No one is even equal to You in the three worlds; how can there be one greater than You? O Being of Incomparable Glory. (11.43)
Therefore, O adorable Lord, I seek Your grace by bowing down and prostrating my body before You. Bear with me as a father to his son, as a friend to a friend, and as a husband to his wife, O Lord. (11.44)
I am delighted by beholding that which has never been seen before, and yet my mind is tormented with fear. Show me that (four-armed) form. O God of gods, the refuge of the universe have mercy! (11.45)
I wish to see You with a crown, holding mace and discus in Your hand. O Lord with thousand arms and universal form, appear in the four-armed form. (11.46)
The Supreme Lord said: O Arjuna, being pleased with you I have shown you, through My own yogic powers, this supreme, shining, universal, infinite, and primal form of Mine that has never been seen before by anyone other than you. (11.47)
Neither by study of the Vedas, nor by Yajna, nor by charity, nor by rituals, nor by severe austerities, can I be seen in the cosmic form in this human world by anyone other than you, O Arjuna. (11.48)
Do not be perturbed and deluded by seeing such a terrible form of Mine as this. With fearless and cheerful mind, now behold My four-armed form. (11.49)
Sanjaya said: Lord Krishna, having thus spoken to Arjuna, revealed His four-armed form. Then assuming His gentle human form, Mahatma Krishna consoled Arjuna who was terrified. (11.50)
Arjuna said: O Krishna, seeing this gentle human form of Yours, I have now become composed and I am normal again. (11.51)
The Supreme Lord said: This (four-armed) form of Mine that you have seen is very difficult, indeed, to see. Even the gods are ever longing to see this form. (11.52)
Neither by study of the Vedas, nor by austerity, nor by charity, nor by ritual, can I be seen in this form as you have seen Me. (11.53)
However, through single-minded devotion alone, I can be seen in this form, can be known in essence, and also can be reached, O Arjuna. (11.54)
The one who does all works for Me, and to whom I am the supreme goal, who is my devotee, who has no attachment, and is free from enmity towards any being attains Me, O Arjuna. (11.55)
No matter in what age, country, race, body, group, or religion we are born into, Christ can come to us. There is no room for competition amongst religions and groups when Christ is in them all. There is no point in us fighting each other, because Christ is in all of us. Why do we want to kill the lord? Why do we want to punish the lord to make him suffer? Why do we lust after the lord? Why do we fear the lord? It is because we are confused. Krishna is that root energy in everything.
In Buddhism, we see the same symbol in Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of compassion, Bodhichitta, with so much love that he radiates himself out with a thousand arms to help all beings. He manifests himself with many forms, with many faces through all the worlds in order to help us. This is the chief characteristic of Christ: compassion and sacrifice for others; conscious love.
The next component of the mantra is the word Govindaya. One of the Upanishads that gives this mantra, explains that Govindaya means “he who is famous on the earth and in the Vedas and amongst the seraphic cows.” Krishna is often depicted with a cow; Krishna is a cowherd. Jesus who is a Christified master is represented as a carpenter, as a fisher man, as a labourer working in the fields of the earth. Krishna is depicted similarly. In fact the name Krishna can also mean “tiller of the earth,” one who reaps the souls. Govindaya is related to the cow herd, the one who protects the cows, the one who gathers the cows and the one who labors in the earth.
The cow is a very deep symbol; it is very deep and profound with many levels of meaning. If you study the book Tarot and Kabbalah by Samael Aun Weor you will learn about that.
The next word is Gopijanavallabhaya. To understand this, let us look at the myth of Krishna.
Here we see an image of Krishna with his beloved spouse in front of an image of Kali, the Divine Mother, and around them are a group of women. These women are the gopis. Gopi means a young girl, a virgin, who works with cows. If you have studied the life of Krishna, then you have heard that these young women, the gopis, are madly in love with him, cannot bear to be separate from him, and are always chasing after him. There are many mythological events in the gopis pursuit of Krishna. He teases and plays with them, and of course, many people wrongly think that it is all about lust. Many people think that the gopis are just lustful young girls who are chasing a handsome boy, and they are competing for his physical love, but that is wrong. That is our animal mind interfering with a deeply significant religious symbol.
The gopis represent many things, but first and foremost, they represent your Innermost, your Being, who so much longs to unite with Krishna. That is all your Being wants: to unite with Christ, to merge with Christ. The reason this tradition presents the symbol of the Gopi, a virginal maiden, is because the woman has such a capacity for love, a burning heart, an innocence, a purity, a virginity, and these all represent qualities of the Monad. The Monad is androgynous. The Monad, our Innermost, our Being, is beyond masculine and feminine. The Monad is the Spirit. Sometimes we use a masculine symbol, and sometimes we use a feminine symbol. Here the Gopi is feminine. The Gopi represents a feminine aspect of our Innermost who longs to unite with the ultimate, and that is Gopijanavallabhaya, which literally means “He who entrances the Gopis.” Christ enflames the monads with love.
Swaha seals the mantra, and projects the force of it.
This mantra can be used mentally twenty-four hours a day. If you use it, you will find that it has a tremendous power to protect your mind, to call upon the forces of Christ and wrap your soul with divine energy, and give you the capacity to project that energy out to defend yourself, and to help others, and that is the great power of mantras like this.
There are many other powerful mantras. In the books of the master Samael Aun Weor, you will find many mantras. All mantras have similar characteristics: they are vehicles for Christic energy, whether we call that energy Krishna, Osiris, or Quetzalcoatl.
The Elements of the Mantra
You see that the mantra has five components:
Klim Krishnaya Govindaya Gopijanavallabhaya Swaha
These components symbolize how the force of Christ descends; we invoke that force in order to protect ourselves, but how? This isn’t just through imagination. Imagination plays a role; when you use the mantra imagine the result you need, but also, understand what you are doing. These forces call the elements of nature.
Klim calls Christ from above, but Klim is also related to the element earth, which represents the physical body (Malkuth). When we call Klim, we are calling those forces of Christ here into the body, “help me in my body, help me here and now.” Just Klim can be used as a mantra, also.
Krishnaya relates to the water, and that is how we call the forces of Christ into our waters, which if we look at ourselves on the tree of life, is related with Yesod, the vital body.
Govindaya is related with fire, the astral body (Hod), the emotion that we have in our heart, the fire that we have in our heart.
Gopijanavallabhaya is in Netzach, the mental body, related with the air.
Finally we seal it with Swaha, which is related with Tiphereth, the ether.
So you see we have here five elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether. Five bodies, the pentagram, the man. Do you see this? Behold the man, ecce homo. The real man has the solar bodies: the five bodies Christified, the kundalini brought into those bodies and that is the first stage of reaching christification. When Christ comes into us, the first aspect is through kundalini, which rises in these bodies. When we reach Tiphereth, we have become a human being. Christ is there in that form as the Divine Mother Kundalini. Thus in that sense we have performed that mantra and have become a pentagram but we are not finished yet.
When we use a mantra along our path we are really calling upon the forces of Christ to protect us in our mind. Our mind on the tree of life is these five bodies. When we want protection, when we want the help of Christ, we don’t need it just in our physical body. We need it in our energy (Yesod), we need it in our emotions (Hod), we need it in our thoughts (Netzach), and we need it in our will, in our consciousness (Tiphereth). We need mantra, mind protection, in all of our parts, and that is why we need to use mantra consciously.
Relax! When we are tense, when we are in conflict in our mind and in our bodies, we are radiating resistance to all the things we don’t want. When the demons of our mind are attacking us, we become very tense. What are those demons but desires for this and that? And why do we get tensed and stressed? Because our desires are not being satisfied. Then we become tense, we become stressed, we become anxious.
Notice something. When you are becoming tense, when you are getting stressed, it is because you are identified with desire. God is not tense. Christ is never tense. A Christified master is never tensed. They are perfectly relaxed. That energy flows through them without obstacle. No tension, no stress, even in the midst of terrible suffering, they are perfectly relaxed. We are not that.
Whenever you notice you are tensed and stressed, that is your first step. Relax and look at yourself: “what am I identified with, what desire in me is in conflict, it isn’t my Being, it is a desire that I am identified with, that I am hypnotized by.” That is what has power over you. That is the demon that has power over you. That is the demon that you need protection from, but Christ cannot help you if you are embracing that demon. Christ is going to respect your will.
If you are so identified with your need for security, to have money and you are clutching onto that and you pray, “Please God, give me peace and security and make me not need money anymore: give me a lot of money.” What is God going to do? You are holding onto that desire. If you are saying, “Please help me let go.” Well, he can help you then, but how is he going to do it? If you are praying to God, “Please free me from this lust.” How is that going to happen? Obviously, God is going to show the lust to you. God is not going to come and take it away from you, because part of you is trapped in it. God will show you your lust, and then usually you see it and become even more identified.
Relax. Pay attention. Look at things. Don’t resist and don’t indulge. Don’t avoid and don’t indulge. Be, and observe. In this way, by being in the middle, you can comprehend. You can understand. Through understanding and seeing, we can free ourselves of the demons that afflict us.
Thus when you use any mantra relax, be cognizant, remember God, remember Christ, pray, and in that sincere devotion, when you let go of your attachments, when you stop worrying about your fears and desires, and you just say “Father, May thy will be done,” then you can be helped. Then you can have protection. Then your mind can be aided by the presence of Christ.
Questions and Answers
Audience: Does the same apply with the mantras that we use for the exercise Ham Sah with pranayama?
Instructor: Any mantra you use, these same principles apply. Relax and remember God. Pray, especially when you are working with pranayama, as you are working with the root forces in your whole system. If you are doing pranayamas and your mind is wandering around, you are just wandering around wasting your energy all over the place. It is a waste of time. All it does is purge all that energy out and you are left with nothing. For that energy to be used properly, be cognizant of what you are doing; imagine that energy rising into your brain and into your heart. This is how that energy will help you, Christ will help you, your Divine Mother will help you, but not if you are distracted, not if you are doing the mantra and thinking about your homework. That is a waste of time. We are all asleep, hypnotized; we have to awaken. The power of the mantra is harnessed when the consciousness is awake. That is when the power of the mantra becomes prevalent. So be aware of what you are doing. Be cognizant, be aware of it, relax, use it consciously and use it devotionally.
Audience: Could you say that Christ is the only force in the universe that can give without exhaustion?
Instructor: Yes.
Audience: Perpetual motion?
Instructor: Christ is perpetual motion, undoubtedly, Christ is inexhaustible. Christ is a form of love, a form of energy that emerges from the nothingness. Imagine a black hole but in reverse. We cannot imagine that. It is an energy that is continuously moving. That is Christ, but it moves in rhythms.
In the beginning of a universe, that energy is flowing and flowing and creates everything. Then the flow changes and it sustains existence at that point. The energy is still there, but it has moved from creating to sustaining. Then when the age is closing, that energy inverts and destroys everything. Those three aspects are Christ: creating, sustaining, and destroying. That is why we say the solar logos, the three in one is Christ, Osiris-Ra, three in one: creating, sustaining, and destroying.
Audience: That would be like the Father is the creator, the Son is the sustainer, and the Holy Spirit is the destroyer?
Instructor: Really, all three are in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one that engages in all of that. That is why Shiva (Binah) is called the creator/destroyer. He is Binah, the one who creates, sustains, and destroys. How does God create? Through Binah, as Shiva-Shakti. How does God destroy? Through Binah, as Kala-Kali.
We are a microcosmic universe. We are barely being sustained right now because our karma is so heavy and the Christic forces are waiting for us to decide. Are the forces of Christ going to destroy us by our will or against our will? That is the great question hanging over all of us right now.
The Christic forces creates and destroys through its vehicles, through the Divine Mother in her different aspects, which again is a pentagram. The Divine Mother with her five aspects is a radiation of Christ. Whether she creates our soul or destroys our ego through hell, it is determined by our will; it depends on what we want. That is, what we are doing now is determining what will happen to us later.
Audience: Getting back to the gopi’s, there are seven, correct?
Instructor: There are many; in that painting there may have been seven.
Audience: I was thinking that they relate to the seven virtues?
Instructor: You can relate them to the paramitas or the virtues, definitely, because they represent aspects of the Monad.
Audience: Why should the secret name or key note of the soul never be revealed?
Instructor: Well, let me clarify that there are different levels of knowledge related with our Innermost. A key note is like a sound, a vibration, a mantra; a name is something else.
Why should the keynote never be revealed? Well, it is like your social security number. It can be used. If someone doesn’t like you, if they want to hurt you, then they will use your name in black magic to hurt you. They can use a piece of your hair, a finger nail, or some clothing to hurt you. If they know your inner name, they can do even more. Do not reveal your personal private information unless you are at a point where you can handle the consequences. Unless there is a need to do it.
In the case of Samael Aun Weor, that is his true name. There are many that use that name to attack him or to attack his disciples, but the monad Samael is at a level to handle that. The inner master is at a point where he can handle that. In his case, the attacks of black magicians against him are comparable to throwing mud against a battle ship. It is completely futile. In our case, it would be different. Look how easy we are to upset and knock over. We get a little stomach-ache, or we get one extra charge for twenty five dollars, and we completely lose our minds. Thus, we can’t handle attacks from black magicians; we are not mature enough. We can’t handle our karma. When you can handle your karma, and manage your karma, I mean your real karma, the stuff you don’t even know about yet, then you can start talking about your seed mantras and your inner names. Until then, don’t worry about it.
Audience: The mantra gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha. What deity does this mantra belong to?
Instructor: It belongs to Christ. That mantra is from Prajnaparamita, or The Heart of Wisdom Sutra, the scripture in which the heart of the emptiness is discussed and revealed. So that mantra is also related with Christ, with Avalokiteshvara, Chenresig.
Audience: You say it is a good idea to avoid indulging in pleasure but what if we just find something funny like when you laugh when you see the ego at work?
Instructor: There is a difference between indulging and witnessing.
Audience: So is it ok to laugh at stuff?
Instructor: We all have emotion, we have humor, and we have all the different feelings of life. Every person in history whether asleep or awake experiences the pains and pleasures of living. Even the great masters experience pleasures and pains, but the difference for the great master is that they do not become identified, they do not lose themselves, they do not lose their conscious control and they do not lose remembrance of God. They don’t become hypnotized or identified by any experience. They are in the middle, balanced in the Tao between the extremes of life. When pleasurable sensations arise, they do not indulge in it, and just accept it. Then the pleasure ends, and they accept it. They experience it but do not attach to it. Then painful sensations arise, and they do not run away from it, and just accept it. So, to not identify is to be conscious of oneself and not become attached to anything. To attempt to avoid experiences or sensations is also attachment. Again, this does not mean that we just let bad things happen to us and we just go through life directionless. That interpretation is just a game in the mind. What this teaching refers to is a state of consciousness in which you neither indulge or avoid. Instead, you consciously experience. Naturally, we have to make good decisions, do our best to avoid suffering, and be firm in pursuit of our purpose. But along the way, we have to maintain a strong inner watchfulness.
One who does not hate any creature, who is friendly and compassionate, free from (the notion of) "I" and "my", even-minded in pain and pleasure, forgiving; and
The yogi who is ever content, who has subdued the mind, whose resolve is firm, whose mind and intellect are engaged in dwelling upon Me; such a devotee is dear to Me.
The one by whom others are not agitated, and who is not agitated by others; who is free from joy, envy, fear, and anxiety; is also dear to Me.
One who is free from desires; who is pure, wise, impartial, and free from anxiety; who has renounced (the doership in) all undertakings; and who is devoted to Me, is dear to Me.
One who neither rejoices nor grieves, neither likes nor dislikes, who has renounced both the good and the evil, and who is full of devotion, such a person is dear to Me.
The one who remains the same towards friend or foe, in honor or disgrace, in heat or cold, in pleasure or pain; who is free from attachment; and
The one who is indifferent or silent in censure or praise, content with anything, unattached to a place (country, or house), equanimous, and full of devotion; that person is dear to Me.
But those devotees who have faith and sincerely try to develop the above mentioned immortal virtues, and set Me as their supreme goal; are very dear to Me. - Krishna in The Bhagavad Gita (12.13-20)
That is why Krishna is called "the witness." It is that form of consciousness in us that observes that experiences but that does not become identified.
Audience: You said so many enlightening things today.
Instructor: That is due to the scriptures. You can study what I am studying and you will realize that I am not saying anything new. I am repeating what I am studying.
Audience: Can the pendulum of suffering be put into motion even if the desire is for the end of suffering for all beings?
Instructor: Yes, if that desire comes from pride, attachment, or any selfish ego. This is why in the Gnostic tradition, we follow the Bodhisattva path to go beyond good and evil. Any desire, whether what we would call a good desire or a bad desire, is a cause for effects. You see, the demons are following their path, chasing pleasure and avoiding pain. The saints are following their path, chasing pleasure, too, and avoiding pain. Both are seeking to fortify their sense of self. The saints seek more intense pleasure through greater states of sainthood. The demons seek more intense pleasure through sensations.
Yet, there is another path that denies the sense of self completely, that is devoted only to serving others, and merging with Christ. Those who walk that path work through Christ for others.
Audience: Always for the good of others?
Instructor: Right, and not for oneself. The self is sacrificed so that others can benefit.
So, even when you have a good intention, there is a consequence for every action. Action and consequence comes into play. Suffering can result but it depends on the action, it depends on the circumstance, it depends on the karma.
The saints, the angels, are not free of karma. The gods are still subject to the law of karma. They act and there are consequences, and sometimes the consequences are suffering. We know the case of the angel Sakaki. We know cases of masters who made mistakes, who, even by doing something purely good, had to bear the consequences of that goodness.
This gets into subtle regions of philosophy where you have to understand the three gunas, which in brief are three modifications of Christ at the root of nature. Those gunas are goodness, impurity, and ignorance, or in Sanskrit: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. They are three conditions of energy and matter. If those three are out of balance with one another, there is existence. That is, a saint who has done a lot of good (who is very Sattvic) cannot enter the Absolute because the universe owes them. Only when a being has reached the level of not owing and not being owed, and has perfect knowledge, meaning no ignorance, that entrance into the Absolute occurs. Below that are always consequences, and we enter into what is suffering and what is not suffering, and that is a complicated question. Mere existence is a form of suffering, so even the goodness of a great saint causes karma to exist, which is a condition of existence, which is a condition of suffering, thus even the saints are a cause of suffering. I don’t know if you can follow that; philosophically, it is pretty subtle.
Audience: I don’t think any of us even worry about giving to the homeless or helping out like in our communities because with our karma we probably owe a lot right now. Do you think it is a great deal if we give a little money away? Do you suggest we don’t do that?
Instructor: Each person has to find their own way to sacrifice and help others. We all have our own idiosyncrasy and we all have our own karma. Regardless, the performance of good deeds needs to be in the foremost of our minds at all times because our debt is so great, our ego is so strong, and the suffering of the world is so intense; we need to give and give and give and give to help others.
Audience: Even if you are consciously trying to help and you want to do good?
Instructor: We have to help; we have to consciously do good.
Audience: Is the middle point where you don’t want to do it anymore and you just want to be in the middle?
Instructor: No. This is where we get into subtleties of the path of the Bodhisattva. It is hard to grasp. The main thing is for the stage that we are at now, there are three factors.
We need to create the soul, to be born as a soul.
We need to eliminate the ego, to die psychologically.
We need to sacrifice, we need to help others, we need to do good.
These three factors are not to be done just once a week or once a month, but every day. There are many ways of sacrificing and helping others, even if it is merely in our attitude.
Audience: Earlier you spoke about mantras and being private with them. How important is sound, vibration, vocalization, especially if we are supposed to keep our practice secret?
Instructor: That’s a good question. Well let’s look at this chart that we have here of the five bodies that we have been discussing. When we vocalize a mantra physically, we vocalize it out in the physical realm and it vibrates in physical matter. In other words, that energy of the mind is projected outwards into physical matter. This is good and powerful, and it influences us physically, but what we need is mind protection, psychologically. The physical part is great, but the astral body is not physical. The astral body is where your emotions are. Your mental body is not physical, but this is where your thoughts are. The casual body is not physical, but this is where your will, your consciousness, is seated. This is where we need the most protection.
You see, when our mind, emotions, and will are in a state of conflict, when we are suffering, the consequence flows down to our energy (Yesod) and physical body (Malkuth). It isn’t the other way round. In other words, you can go to a spa and stay there for a week and get all the massages and hot tub time that you want. You can spend thousands of dollars to relax, but if your mind is not relaxed, you will never relax. It is your mind that causes the tension in the body.
We always hear people saying, “I need to go on a break, I need to go on vacation, I need to get out of here,” but why is it that we all crave that? To go to the Bahamas or to go to Tahiti or wherever it is in our mind that we want to go. It is not the place that we are craving, even though we imagine it but it is. The reality is that when we go to those places, we change our mind set. We willingly forget our problems. Every one of us has the ability to do that. Some of you may experience that when you go shopping. You get so into shopping that you forget your problems and relax. So people say, “I go shopping to relax,” or they say, “I watch TV to relax,” because they forget their problems.
This means that we have the ability to concentrate our mind, to focus our attention in such a way that we relax. The problem is that we mistakenly think that we need the external circumstances to do it: the vacation, the shopping mall, the television. The fact is that we do not need those things. We have the ability to relax if we learn how to shift our attitude. So you know what, stop going to the mall, stop dreaming about Tahiti and the Bahamas, and be on vacation on your mind, now. You can do that. That is how you relax. It is mental.
Thus in Hinduism and in Buddhism they state that the most powerful way to use a mantra is purely mental, not physical. It is good to do it physically, there is nothing wrong with that, but the most power is when you are doing it in your mind: awake, conscious inside.
This is why monks, nuns, lamas, and priests use a rosary, and eventually they drop the rosary because they train themselves to be so consistently aware that they no longer need the physical component. They do not need to say it out loud; it is already flowing in their mind, and this why many gurus teach that. They start you physically. You learn to repeat the mantra physically or sometimes in a group, and little by little, you become quiet until you are doing it silently. Eventually, there is no physical component, it is all mental. Moreover, you can come to the stage where you are doing that mantra when you are doing other things, without any loss of attention, awareness, or cognizance, but are perfectly focused on what you are doing, while at the same time psychologically chanting the mantra, keeping yourself protected. Any of the real mantras can do this if you train yourself to have that degree of mindfulness. So that while you are working, while you are driving, while you are engaged in any action, in your mind stream you are repeating the mantra, continual. Train for that.
Don’t make the mistake that I have heard some Gnostics say, which is to “only use the mantra when you sit to meditate.” I don’t know where they get that, as all the great religions in the world and all the masters teach the opposite. A mantra is a stream of energy, it brings the presence of Christ into you; we need that now, we need it at work, we need it at home, and we need it at night when we are sleeping. So use your mantra twenty-four hours a day.
The master Samael taught the practice SOL, subject, object and location, in which you train yourself during the day to keep checking your awareness, to keep checking where you are, and to either test physical objects or to jump in the air to see if you are in the physical world or the world of dreams. What happens with that exercise is that you train your consciousness to continually check where you are. It is very powerful. Continual use of mantras does the same thing: if you use mantras all day, during your daily activities, then you will keep doing them at night, as well.
Students say, “I was attacked when dreaming by all these demons, and I was running away scared.” This is because they were not training themselves during the day to use mantras and prayers. If you train yourself continually each day to use a mantra, then you will also use it in your dreams naturally. You are training yourself to be conscious continually chanting the mantra. Then, when your body falls asleep, you will do it in the astral plane, and you will receive protection in the astral plane, because you are doing the mantra. You will have many experiences from doing that.
Audience: I have never really been attacked by anything like that before but does that just mean my consciousness is still very asleep?
Instructor: It could be; it depends, as we all have our own karma. Inevitably, a student who takes these types of studies seriously will come to see different forms of attack, and they come in many forms. Some attacks are our own egos trying to defend themselves, to put us back to sleep, as the ego fights to keep its self alive. But also, there are people around us that want to keep us hypnotized, or keep us doing whatever they are benefitting from. So mantra protection is to both protect us from ourselves and forces outside that are identified with ego.
About these types of mantras, especially conjurations, exorcisms, the prayer of bellilin, or Klim Krishnaya: some people put into their imagination that they are going to be a great magician, and they are going to fight all the demons, and crush all the black magicians and be a great spiritual priest or warrior. That is a great idea, but it is out of touch with reality.
We need to reflect on the nature of Christ. This is related with what I was talking about with tension. You see, Padmasambhava, a great Christified master, converted the demons in the region of Tibet into Buddhists. Think about that. The region of Tibet was overwhelmed by harmful spirits, with elemental forces that where being manipulated by black magicians to establish power, to steal energy. This great master went there and he converted all the elementals, demons, and black magicians into Buddhists. He did not go there and do that by condemning them, by saying, “You guys are all on the bad path and you are going to hell.” He did not do that by being angry with them, or being cruel to them, or crushing them under his heel. He did that through the power of love, the power of Christ, which convinces, which teaches, through cognizant love and compassion. He did it through mantras, through magic.
Padmasambhava is an incredible magician, a priest, one of the best this planet has ever seen. He did not go there shouting, stomping his feet and waving his fist around, or swinging a sword and killing a lot of people, no, even though this is what some people think the masters do, and we want to imitate that. So some people use these mantras and we imagine killing “the infidels” or “the heretics,” punishing people who disagree with us. This is wrong. It is evil will.
These mantras should be used with cognizant love, which is the will of Christ, which is to will that the beings that you are protecting yourself from also be elevated to Christ, not condemned to hell, not punished, not blamed, not condemned, not judged by us, but loved by us.
The exception to this is our ego; the ego deserves to die. When we use this mantra Klim Krishnaya and we are fighting our ego, yeah, kill him, because they are false creations that trap energy and they need to be obliterated so that the energy can be freed and restored to Christ. But the forces outside of us, no. We need to use that energy with love for them, to help them, to aid them, to bring them out of ignorance, so they will stop doing things to hurt themselves and others.
This very important. It hurts to see students take these teachings and use them in the wrong way like attacking other groups. We hear stories all the time of people taking these techniques of uniting together or doing it individually and directing their energies to attack other spiritual groups. It is incomprehensible that they do not see that behavior is driven by ego; it evil will. Christ will is to unite us as one according to Christ, not according to our will; so we need to use the mantras in that way.
