So, the question is, what makes a mantra work then?
Mantra is essentially a phrase or a combination of sounds, often without any decipherable meaning - that represents a deity, or a concept (like the Vedic Mahavakyas that affirm the oneness of the individual self and the Divine Consciousness, etc.). Most mantras are sonic forms of deities, who in turn are divine archetypes. Deities are very real in a sense and equally unreal as they are also projections of the Higher Mind. They have existence in the macrocosm, and in the microcosm, as the two mirror each other anyway, right? Deities are ancient beings, expressions of the one Divine Consciousness, egregores, and aliens (in some cases) - all this is true. For example, Shiva is certainly a very ancient deity that has existed for a long, long time. At the same time, he is also the archetype of unbridled, liberated, non-dual consciousness. Some deities can be egregores (here is a funny example), created by mass adoration via the collective consciousness of millions of people (I try to not use the term deity for an egregore).
Between 2010 and 2012, Dalai Lama visited Seattle frequetly to hold some rituals. In one such ritual, he could sense my unease with some of the Tibetan mantras being recited and kept pointing to me and smiling. After the ritual, there was a discussion about the importance of pronunciation when it comes to mantras. One of his Western disciples asked a question: “I agree with this guy (me) to an extent but then how have these mantras worked for Tibetans for hundreds of years when they have been pronounced differently from their Sanskrit originals?”
DL looked at me questioningly, and below was my humble response:
- The mantras were transferred via transmission originally by the Indian teachers who then carried them to Tibet. While the pronunciation changed due to the inability of Tibetans to pronounce Sanskrit, the seed of the transmission persisted, so the energetic connection remained that could be awakened through sheer effort, even if the mantra was not perfectly recited. So, the results here were less from the sonic vehicle of the mantra itself, but from the original energetic transmission that contained the mantra.
- The Tibetans do not depend on a mantra alone (unlike most of their Indian counterparts today, who recite it incorrectly, but do not supplement it in other ways) - they follow intense visualizations of the deity, its concept, its form - gross, subtle and energetic, the energetic expression of the deity in the form of the mandala, etc. This conceptual communication with the deity is always used to supplement the mantra.
- In spite of all this, there really is no proof that they have replicated the exact original alchemy/energetic effect accomplished by the practitioners of the original Sanskrit mantras like Indrabhuti, Lakshminkara, etc. in the ancient Oddiayana region (Swat valley) of India.
DL seemed satisfied with this response. He frequently encourages his students to learn and master the original mantras, when possible, rather than the Tibetan ones, now that they have access to them.