What is a mantra?

What is a mantra?

Mettanando Bhikkhu (Thai Buddhist Monk) gives expert video advice on: How can meditation help with stress?; Can meditation help to relieve pain?; Do you need a mantra to meditate? and more...

Mantra is a word derived from Sanskrit that also exists now in the English dictionary. In Sanskrit, the term mantra means 'Tool for Thought' where a 'man' represents a good mind to think and 'tra' refers to a tool. Traditionally mantra means a sound, word, faith or sentence passed on by a guru to his disciples to say it again and again to navigate the flow of consciousness. Alternatively mantra can also mean an image or a bodily movement. Mantra is represented in different forms; for example the practice of taichi, doing yoga or visualizing an image in the mind can also be called as a mantra .Mantra is a tool that works till the end but it doesn't mean that it is the end and is used for certain specific purposes.