[Advaita-l] idaM na mama - The scientific evidence?

[Satish Arigela]

>We know how a medicine works but nobody can say how a manthra works.It is like a 
>prayer and it is >purely subjective.

In two parts: 
First,

Only those who studied medicine in a scientific or other systematic manner may 
know how a medicine works. Not the common man.

Likewise the term "we" in the case of how mantra works applies only to those who 
did not study mantra-shAstra properly. Well educated mantrin-s perfectly 
understand how these things work.

It is not that the mantrin cannot explain how a mantra works. It is just that 
those who lack the proper aptitude and training cannot grasp it...just like 
teaching "mechatronics"  or molecualr biology to a tribal person does not yield 
any result

Especeially in the deep south, when they hear the term "learning 
mantra-shAstra"  people think it is going to a maThAdhipati and getting some 
mantra. This is a good thing to do, but that is not anywhere close studying 
mantra-shAstra as a subject.

Second:

It has been stressed not once but many times by schloars and mantrin-s alike 
that there is a sea of difference between a prayer and a mantra. Consider the 
following.

Mantra-s are different from prayers. Some mantra-s do display a prayerful intent 
but still they are not the same as a prayer. A prayer works in any language.. 
and is translatable but the moment you translate a mantra, the translation might 
be either meaningful or meaningless  but it no longer functions as a mantra 
whether having a meaning or not.

One of the other important difference is that, for a mantra to work, you do not 
need belief while a prayer without belief is like talking to a wall.

The words of a mantra may be reveresed depending on the need..,. but if we 
reverse the words/letters of a prayer we will end up with some useless 
gibberish.


Yaduji: I am in total agreement with what you wrote in the last mail