Day 35
While a young boy, the Gandhi’s house maid Rambha, assured Mohandas that Rama Nama (name of God Rama) would be his shield, whatever may be the dangers he would face in life.
Mantra helped Gandhi conquer not only illusionary fears arising out of dark, stormy nights, but also real struggles, life and death situations facing humanity and Indian Independence. Mohandas K. Gandhi made Mantra his strength and weapon.
Mohandas Gandhi was a fear-obsessed little boy with big eyes and mammoth ears that stood out almost at right angles from his body. He was terrified of the dark, and, as he said, “haunted by the fear of thieves, ghosts, and serpents.” He could not bear to be in a room alone and could not sleep at night without a light on nearby. Gandhi himself, later in life, acknowledged that as a boy he had been, in his own words, a “coward.”
And yet, the later Gandhi was fearless. He was renowned, not only for his great moral courage, but for physical courage as well. A central pillar of his later teaching was that fearlessness is a prerequisite for non-violence. “Non-violence and cowardice go ill together,” he said. It is fascinating, then, to dig down into the story of Gandhi’s mastery of his fear. How did he accomplish it?
Gandhi himself often told the story. It turns out that as a boy he was under the care of an old family servant named Rambha. Rambha was touched—and somewhat irritated—by this scrawny kid who came running to her in tears every day after school—pummeled once again by the bullies. She was going to put an end to this.
“It’s perfectly all right to admit that you’re afraid,” she said. “There’s no shame in fear. But try this: whenever you’re threatened, instead of running away, stand firm, and repeat the mantra, Rama, Rama, Rama. This will turn your fear into courage.” Rama, of course, is one of the many names of God in the Hindu tradition—and so both the word itself, as well as the process of its repetition, had magic in it.
Gandhi-the-boy tried the technique halfheartedly. He found it useful. But he did not discover its true genius until a decade later when Gandhi-the-man was beginning his work with non-violent non-cooperation in South Africa.
In the stress of those years he remembered Rambha’s advice and put it to work in earnest. He began to practice the mantra, chanting Rama, Rama, Rama over and over again to himself—both aloud and silently. The mantra eased his fear—calmed his mind and body. He began to rely on it, and eventually began to systematically practice chanting mantra not just in extremis but as a part of his regular daily schedule.
For a period of time after this discovery, Gandhi walked many miles each day, repeating the mantra to himself until it began to coordinate itself with the movement of his body and breath. The practice not only calmed him but brought him into periods of bliss and rapture—and, as he said, “opened the doorway to God.” Rama, Rama, Rama. Eventually, the mantra developed a life of its own within him. The mantra began to chant itself, arising spontaneously whenever he needed it. “The mantra becomes one’s staff of life,” he wrote, “and carries one through every ordeal...Each repetition…has a new meaning, each repetition carries you nearer and nearer to God.”
~ The Great Work of Your Life, by Stephen Cope
THE POWER OF MANTRA
How important was mantra to Gandhi’s transformation? Extremely. When done systematically, mantra has a powerful effect on the brain. It gathers and focuses the energy of the mind. It teaches the mind to focus on one point—and it cultivates a steadiness, which over time becomes an unshakable evenness of temper. The cultivation of this quality of “evenness” is a central principle of the Bhagavad Gita. It is called samatva in Sanskrit, and it is a central pillar of Krishna’s practice. When the mind develops steadiness, teaches Krishna, it is not shaken by fear or greed.
This is exactly how Gandhi did die, of course. Gandhi, then 78 years old, was in Delhi, working—as ever—for unity. He had had a particularly busy day and as he was hurrying to evening prayers, arm in arm with two young disciples, a young man approached him, offered him a gesture of respect, and then fired a gun point-blank into his heart.
As the Great Soul crumpled to the ground, his mantra emerged spontaneously from his lips: Rama, Rama, Rama.
THE DIGITAL STUDIO CLASS SCHEDULE
Today, Thursday February 4th
7-8am PST Karma Vinyasa with Natalie St. Hilaire
9-10am PST Vinyasa en Español with Sandra Jara
12-1pm PST Vinyasa with Mari Dickey
4-5pm PST Vinyasa with Christie Baumgartner
6-7pm PST Spa Flow with Carolyn Budgell
Tomorrow, Friday February 5th
7-8am PST Vinyasa with Guest Teacher Sarah Harvison
10-11am PST Vinyasa with Peter Elmas
4-6pm PST Vinyasa + Talk with Ryan Leier