Monthly Mantra // March 2024// Gate Gate

gate gate

pāragate

pārasaṃgate

bodhi svāha

Gone, gone,

real gone,

beyond even the most gone,

only in going that gone is there awakening

This Buddhist mantra is found at the end of the Heart Sutra, often cited as the best-known Buddhist scripture and is included in the Prajnaparamita (“Perfection of Wisdom”) section of the Mahayana Buddhist canon. It is also known as the Heart Calming Mantra.

It seems that ultimately is is about letting go - letting go of ideas about yourself, of identifications, of old stories and misconceptions.

As we are entering spring , we are also entering a time of awakening - of inviting what we want to bloom in our lives. To create space for it, there is always a process of surrendering to the unknown needed, as well as letting go of what isnt serving us anymore.

To put it in another way - think about what remains if everything is gone, really gone? Silence might be entering the spaces.

“Silence is more effective than speech. From silence came thought, from thought the ego and from the ego speech. So if speech is effective, how much more effective must its original source be” – Ramana Maharshi

I invite you to take a moment to immerse yourself in Maharshi’s words. Close your eyes and take your gaze inward, only for a few moments, be still, be in your silence.

Ramana Maharashi’s words are an invocation to look ‘heartward’ and to explore silence as a pathway to our natural state of being, which is bliss, joy, peace, and undisturbed presence. By eliminating speech, we can quiet the ego, simmer down thoughts and return to silence.

This particular mantra is powerful and poetic in its ushering in an experience of enlightenment and the encouragement to let it all go and sit with what is remaining .

Sources : Inspiration from Enjoy the Silence by Juan Sierra, Jivamukti Website