When you start a meditation you need something to focus or chant. Some people prefer to focus on breath and other people focus on some object or mantra. Mantras are one of the most common objects used for meditation—and one of the most powerful ones too.
Mantra traditionally has two purposes, which can be called worldly and spiritual. We usually think of mantra solely as an instrument of self-transformation.

Mantra is a Sanskrit word derived from two roots: man (meaning “mind” or “to think”) and tra meaning to “protect”, to “free from”, or “instrument/tool”. Therefore, mantras are tools of the mind, or tools to free the mind.

I personally prefer mantra meditation. Now question comes to mind How to Choose Your Mantras for Meditation ? It depends on your personal approach – secular or spiritual.
Secular approach – In this approach, meditation is seen as a tool, an exercise designed to bring you better health, performance, relaxation or personal growth.
Spiritual approach – In this approach , meditation is used to achieve a spiritual goal or purpose in mind.

The mantra is like a password, a key, to a certain state of consciousness or universal principle you want to experience.  Find a perfect teacher/master of your tradition – someone you respect – and ask him or her to suggest a mantra for you. In the spiritual practice it is called Initiation.

The word “initiate” is derived from the Latin word initiare, which means to commence or start something new. The word “initiation” therefore implies that one is being introduced to a new practice or technique. On this spiritual path, when the Master or one of his representatives instructs a seeker on the discipline of meditation, it is referred to as “initiation” or receiving Naam. In meditation, the disciple learns to still the restless mind and reconnect his awareness to the Shabd, which is the essence of the soul.

Through initiation the Master awakens us to the illusions of this materialistic world. He awakens us from our deep slumber by showing us the way to the Divine. At initiation the Master introduces to the seeker the method of meditation by which he or she can connect to the Word, Logos or Shabd. The Master transmits the essence of his own direct experience of this inner reality.

To sum up – The best way to begin the practice of mantra is by working with the breath, because the most easily recognizable inner sound is the sound of the breath.
Once you are master of breath meditation then look for the true master for the mantra meditation. Mantra meditation is a process through which you work systematically to bring successively deeper levels of your inner experience into conscious awareness.

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