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Sound/Maat.rkaa

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January 3, 2017

My teacher, Swami Nirmalananda translates Shiva Sutra 2.7 as “The power of words is called Maat.rkaa, which underlies the existence of the universe and forms the foundation of your enlightenment.

Sounds pretty heady, doesn’t it. Let’s see if I can simply the meaning of this sutra. The beginning sound reverberated as Om. From that everything came into existence. From that sound came letters and syllables – which eventually formed words. We could not exist in today’s society without words. When we go into a store, we use words to ask for the clerk’s assistance. The clerk then knows how to reply when we ask our questions. These words have the power of mundane mantra. 

Besides convenience, words also have power. Swami Muktanana in his book, “Where are you going?” tells the story of the power of words: Once a saint was giving a lecture on the power of mantra. He said “mantra has the power to take us to God.”  As soon as he heard this, a skeptic in the audience stood up and shouted, “That is nonsense!  How can repeating a word take us to God?  If we keep repeating, ‘bread, bread, bread,’ will it manifest a loaf of bread?”  

The saint said “Sit down you fool!”  

The man began to tremble and his face turned red. “How dare you speak to me like that?” he cried. “You call yourself a holy man and yet you go around insulting others. What kind of person are you?”

“Sir, I am very sorry if I offended you,” the saint said. “But tell me what are you feeling at this moment?  

“Can’t you tell what I am feeling?” the man shouted. “I’m outraged.”  

“Oh sir,” said the saint. “I used just one abusive word, and it had such a powerful affect on you!  When this is the case, why shouldn’t the name of God have the power to change you”.

So, words have power. We can use words to make someone feel special or not so special. And what about the words you use on yourself? Are they on the negative side or the positive side? It makes a big difference! If you think of yourself as a doofus, how do you think you will act? And on the other hand, if you think of yourself as competent, how do you think you will act? 

You get to choose. Do you want to use your words to have a negative effect on you and those around you?  OR  do you want to use your words to uplift others and keep you on the path of enlightenment?  Me, I know the path I want to take. What about you?

[Source:  Teachings by Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati, spiritual leader and master teacher at Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram in Pennsylvania. (C) 2014, S.T.C., Inc., All right reserved. Svaroopa® is a registered service mark of S.T.C., Inc.]

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