Mantra, Surrender and Creativity
Mantra and surrender. Mantra was easy enough for me to understand: man (soul) and tra (tool or through). Mantra is a tool for the soul or it goes through the soul. But surrender? The act of surrender (not as an act of giving up) had always eluded me until I had no choice. This is when I learnt what surrender really means and how I had to give in to, to become a part of the huge flow of the life force. Life had a completely different plan for me. I drew constantly during the bewildering process. Creativity was a vital act.
Alexis Halkovic’s podcast, Catching North Stars has just landed. It was a joy to be a part of. One of those moments, when there is space for the conversation to flow. Alexis followed my story with laser vision, curiosity and an open heart.
Om Namo Narayani - mantra for Mother Earth, Mother Nature.
From chapter 2 of my visual memoir, I AM ALIVE: Creating Resilience and Healing Trauma with Art published by Schilt Publishing, Amsterdam.
The word mantra comes from the Sanskrit man (soul) and tra (tool or through). Mantra is a tool for the soul; mantra goes through the soul. Vedic chanting is the repetition of mantra – sacred syllables and words that carry profound spiritual significance. What makes mantra extraordinary is that it is not merely sound but vibration – a potent energy that transforms both the one chanting and the space around them. Vedic thought suggests that mantras were not created; they have always existed. Thousands of years ago, in deep states of meditation and oneness with nature, ancient rishis (sages) received these sacred sounds. The rishis attuned themselves to the vibrations emanating from nature, the cosmos, and all of creation.
Unlike ordinary words, which serve to communicate or express emotions, mantra goes deeper. When we speak, sound is just sound. But when we chant a mantra, sound becomes a vessel for sakthi1, Divine power. Each mantra carries this sakthi, awakening our inner strength and drawing us closer to the sacred. By tapping into this ancient energy with growing devotion and faith, I began to experience its transformative power. I began to feel a connection to the countless seekers who, for millennia, have used mantra as a tool for inner peace and spiritual awakening. In its timeless resonance, I found both strength and stillness, as though I were walking alongside those who came before me, on the same path to the Divine.
It was during my first visit to South India in 2005 that I received the mantra from my spiritual teacher, OM NAMO NARAYANI, which means ‘I surrender to the Divine Mother’ (or Mother Earth, or Mother Nature). However, the meaning of this mantra baffles me: I surrender to the Divine, to Mother Nature. Surrender is such a foreign concept. How does surrender happen? What does surrender look like? Little do I know that these three words are going to be the core support during the most challenging period of my life, which is just around the corner.
1 Sakthi is the Tamil spelling for the word Shakti and is either pronounced Sakthi or Shakti.
