Do you need a mantra to meditate?
It depends. You can invent your own mantra, and you can use the mantra creatively. However, it is better to be an architect of your own consciousness, to be aware of the problems ahead of you and to design a mantra that will help you to solve the problem. I have an example. When I was doing my dissertation in the United States at Harvard, a friend of mine, who was a law student, called me one evening. He said, "Mettanando, a bad thing happened. I borrowed my mom's Mercedes and bumped into a tree. She loved the car very much. Now she is going to kill me. What should I do?" I said, "Okay, don't worry. Use this mantra, and recite it from now until whatever happens. Whenever your mom talks to you, just always repeat it in your mind, and the problem will be solved." He said, "Give me the mantra." I said, "Okay, this is the mantra. Remember, learn it well, and repeat it from now." He said, "What is it?" I said, "Okay. I'm happy. I'm joyful. Repeat it again and again." The day after he called me, he said, "It works like a charm, Mettanando. I called my mom when I parked the car, and I said, "Mom, I would like to show the car to you. I bumped into a tree." She got angry. She looked at me. She looked at the car, and she looked at me again. She was about to say something, and then she stopped and walked away. The mantra worked in a very subtle way. It changed the chemistry of a relationship, and it reshaped the body language and the facial expressions. It can heal problems in life. The best guru is yourself. Create your own mantra, and use it successfully in your life.
