Letting Go Of Outcomes, Might be a Theme.

I hate to mention it, but summer is almost over. The equinox is only a few weeks away. The days are noticeably getting shorter. So I decided this months mantra will add a little fire to us. It feels like if breath of fire was mantra is Sanskrit, when I was taking my mediation teacher training this was one of the mantras they taught.

It is called the maha mantra or the great mantra and repeats the names of two avatars of Vishnu the preserver, Krishna from the Gita, and Rama from the Ramayana. Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita offers counsel to Arjuna heading into battle where many will die, Arjuna is torn between what his role calls for and the reamifications of the impending war. Krishna advises him to preform his role as service to god with non attachment to the outcome. Advice most of us as householders and not monks or priests can apply to our own lives. Whatever you are doing, do it the best you can as a a service to something bigger with no attachment to what will happen after. It is the clinging to an expected outcome that makes us fearful and unhappy. Joy can be found in doing simple tasks with single pointed focus, and release any longing for praise, wealth, adoration, and celebrity . This simple but hard practice brings us closer to the divine, and to an ease in life.

In the Ramayana lord Rama is born as the seventh incarnation of Vishnu. He is the ideal man who acts according to the moral standards expected of him. He accepts the hardships that he is faced with as he embodiment of grace and diligence. He follows the yamas especially satya, or truthfulness and is rewarded in the end for his devotion.

So when we chant the maha mantra we remind ourselves to be present to what we are doing and offer each simple act as a service to god and others. And to release the expectation of what will follow. This is also the mantr that the Hare Krishna movement uses. You can find videos of their practice.

Spiritually that is what this mantra represents. But to me it feels like fire. It gets faster and faster, and I forget to stay with my breath, and it takes focus for me to stay in the practice. It energizes me when I am sluggish. In the speed and the swaying that almost involuntarily seems to accompany the chanting it feels like a can get swept away and lost. I imagine chanting this in a large group feeling exhilarating. I am currently at the lake and didn’t have my mala with me (oops) and recording in took a few tries using the digital mala app I have on my phone. I still messed up about two thirds of the way through but left it in. I now I’m not perfect and your practice doesn’t have to be either.

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Krishna Krishna! Hare hare!

Hare Rama! Hare Rama! Rama Rama! Hare hare!

You can hear me chant it 54 times here:

.https://soundcloud.com/erin-mcwhirter/maha-mantra-m4a/s-ayxvrMTosbz?si=150897b2701e4509a9f0d7ac645421f3&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Also for the record my husband took the laptop home with him, so this was done written on my iPad, a new experience for me…. Harder to highlight and copy and paste. But no attachment to the outcome am I right?

Brace yourselves, this one is a bit of a ride. Or maybe you’ll settle right in and feel something completely different. No attachment to the outcome right?