synchronization

Through constant repetition (japa) of the pranava (om) the meaning behind the sound is absorbed (bhavanam) and realized, manifests, and emanates here and now. (yoga sutras Ch1, sutra 28)

The power of a mantra is initially just a potency and still inactive. It is like the power of a seed tat needs constant tending and watering so it may bear fruits for the practitioner. It is true that one session of reciting mantras can lead to some positive results, but attaining the eventual goal takes years of intently and focused discipline and practice. The higher the goal of a mantra, the harder and longer it takes to deploy its latent powers. In order to expose the powers that lay hidden in mantras one needs to master two essential techniques: japa en Bhâvanâ.

“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul” (Plato )

Japa: This is a well-known technique in which a mantra is repeated constantly. First audibly, then more and more softly and eventually just mentally. Next to the condition to repeat the mantra a great many times, the practitioner also needs to charge the mantra mentally and emotionally. Japa begins as an automatic repetition, but needs to pass gradually into a form of meditation and employment of the deeper layers of consciousness. For a mantra is a specific sound combination that represents a universal vibration which is inaudible to the physical ear. So the
audible vibration of the mantra is ‘merely’ the most outward expression form to which much more tenuous vibrations are connected. The big dilemma therefore is to translate the inexpressible into the expressible. By subsequent synchronization the mantra thus provides entrance to the higher, tenuous bodies so these can be developed and the hidden powers put to avail. This unleashing of powers follows a certain course, depending on the specific nature of the mantra.
	Bhâvanâ The second technique to unlock the power of the mantra is Bhâvanâ, i.e. “remaining focused on thinking.” Japa is aimed at tuning the various bodies to one another. But next it is also imperative to contact and bring down the Divine influences. In order to synchronize the individual consciousness with the
Divine consciousness not only the bodies need to be tuned to another, but there also needs to be an attracting force that gets the current going. That’s why in mantra yoga there is the need for deep meditation on the specific meaning of the mantra and the goal that one attempts to reach. This meditation is like an intense desire of the devout practitioner to be unified with his beloved, in this case a divinity. This kind of Bhâvanâ thus mobilises all powers and capacities and produces the necessary purposeful concentration. Or, to speak with Gilbert Crescon: “The magic of music is that it manages to makes us homesick to something that we have never known.”

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
(Luke 11:28)

Another result of reciting mantras is that it takes away the obstructions. The energies that are exploited ooze down, and flush out all impurities. The disharmonies are removed and the bodies are more and more tuned to each other. Thus a total rebirth finally takes place. An well-known example of this can be found in the birth of Christ from the holy virgin Mary. Thanks to her purity she was connected to heaven and therefore an appropriate medium for bringing the messenger of light on earth.