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I have recently gone through a couple of books on mantra, yantra, tantra, and I got to know that all these things are pure science, and not mere superstitions.
My question is, how does a mantra work?
What is the mechanism behind it?
Note: I don't propose to seek a scientific explanation, as science can never explain the divine phenomena.
A mantra when obtained from a competent Guru purifies one's mind eventually leading to moksha. How does that work? Prolonged meditation leads to accumulation of spiritual energy. A Guru with such a storehouse of energy transfers a portion of his energy when initiating a disciple with a mantra. When a disciple repeats such a mantra his mind is purified by that energy transferred by the Guru.
Among the Vedic sacred formulas, the Gayatri has been prescribed for repetition from ancient times. The Vedic people had great faith in the efficacy of mantras. The Mimamsakas considered mantras to be the embodiments of deities. In fact, they accepted no deities other than the mantras at all. To them Brahman is nothing but sound (shabda), and sound produces form. Thus, the name embodied in the mantra is more real than the form of the deity. ....
Forms are made up of nothing but fine vibrations, and vibrations are produced by sound only, so these ancient conceptions are tenable. From another point of view, a mantra gains spiritual potency through many years of being associated with holy men who have repeated it and attained realization through it. The concept of the mantra is based on the psychological fact that much of our thinking depends on auditory symbols. Repetition of the mantra creates a chain of thought which induces the mind with the thought of God, and this is the aim of all spiritual practices.
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Every Vedic mantra has a rishi who first intuited it, a particular metre in which it is composed, and a deity to whom it is addressed. In Tantric mantras the most important element is the vija, a sacred syllable considered to be charged with spiritual potency, as also Shakti or power and a kilaka, a pillar (inner syllables on which the mantra rests.) All the letters of the Sanskrit alphabets are considered as different matrikas, minor deities around the main deity. The mantra is charged with a special potency, so much so that the Tantrikas believe that when offerings are made to the deity with the appropriate mantras, the deity accepts them immediately.
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The Chandogya Upanishad I.1.10 says about the efficacy of the repetition of Om: Both perform spiritual practices - he who knows and he who does not know. But knowledge and ignorance are different in their effects. Whatever is performed with knowledge, faith and meditation, becomes spiritually effective.
Meditation and other spiritual disciplines by Swami Swahananda
