BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Meditation Distractions while Meditating

Chanting a mantra can only dull your mind; all repetition dulls the mind, makes you silly and stupid. If you simply go on chanting a mantra, it kills your sensitivity, it creates boredom, it brings a sort of slumber to your consciousness. You become more unconscious than conscious, you start slipping into sleep. Mothers have known always that when a child is restless and cannot go to sleep they must sing a lullaby. A lullaby is a mantra. The mother repeats something again and again and the child feels bored. The constant repetition creates a monotonous atmosphere. The child cannot escape anywhere--the mother is sitting by the side of the bed repeating the lullaby. The child cannot escape; the child cannot say, "Shut up!" He has to listen. The only escape available is to go into sleep, so he tries that--to avoid this lullaby and to avoid this mother! A mantra works the same way: you starte repeating a certain word and then you create a monotonous state for yourself. All monotony is deadening; all monotony dulls you, destroys your sharpness...

Real silence is very alive, throbbing. Real silence is positive; it has energy in it, it is intelligent, aware, full of life and zest. It has enthusiasm in it.