Sylvia Brown and Lakshmi’s
Mantra
By Baba Sri Siva
Sylvia Browne is one of
America’s most celebrated psychic and spiritual teachers today. She channels a spiritual guide, Francine,
who aides her in psychically seeing the past, present and the future with such
accuracy that it “blows the minds” of people everywhere. Sylvia also uses her own altered levels of
consciousness to predict the past and the future. Sylvia helps police to investigate criminals with great
accuracy. She uses her psychic
abilities to help people heal from serious diseases. She puts people in touch with their deceased loved ones and helps
people to unravel their psychological problems through past-life regressions.
Sylvia is able to visit what
she calls as “the other side”. The
other side is the domain to which a spirit retires after death or temporarily
visits during sleep . . . [It is a realm] that appears to have no physicality
of its own although its form is perceptible to spiritual sight. As a spirit, Sylvia has unraveled a wealth
of material about the other side.
Sylvia’s experiences provide
validity to some of the teachings of Hinduism.
For instance, the practice of mantras is a very important tool to
connect with the divine within Hindu worship.
Each god and goddess has his/her own mantra. In fact, the mantra is the very essence, the body of the divine
so to speak. The mantra is often a two
to three syllable sound that carries the energy of a god or goddess. In Sanskrit, the mantra is known as a seed (bija).
Just as a seed carries the whole tree within itself, the mantra carries the
deity’s presence and qualities within its structure. The mantra practice is based on the theory that if one
continually chants the mantra, either quietly or out loud, the deity is
expected to appear before the practitioner.
The theories about mantras are indeed very complex. However, everyone familiar with mantras
knows this much – to get help from a particular deity, you have to chant the
deity’s mantra.
The important question to
ask is, “Do mantras belong to Hinduism or are they a universal, transcendental
phenomenon?” From reading Sylvia
Browne’s writings, it becomes evident that mantras belong to all souls in
general. In her book, Sylvia talks
about her visits to the Hall of Tones on the other side. The following is a description of the Hall
of Tones.
When each of our souls was
first created, we were given our own individual Mantra — a specific word or
series of syllables — to which our spirits will eternally resonate. Every mantra starts with Om, which is a word
of affirmation and ascent, followed by a tone that is typically made up of two
syllables. Mine is “Shreem”. (I didn’t
light up with instant recognition at the sound of my mantra, however.) Apparently and sadly, their divine resonance
gets drowned out too often by the noise of our conscious minds here on
earth. (Life on the Other Side by
Sylvia Browne, P.111.)
Sylvia Browne’s channeled
information is very useful. Shreem,
which is Sylvia Browne’s own mantra, is the mantra for Lakshmi, the goddess of
wealth. Similarly, the mantra Kiri is
the sound for Kali, the ferocious goddess who kills demons. I am sure that from what I know of the
writings of Sylvia Browne that she herself is not aware of the Hindu background
of the mantras. Some of the
explanations of the mantras that come from Sylvia are quite profound and
esoteric. For instance Sylvia says that
the mantra is the sound of “affirmation
and ascent”. Very few people will
understand the depth of the statement.
It is not the place to discuss it in this small article.
However, it is interesting
to follow Sylvia’s thoughts about the Hall of Tones. She says that the mantras will put you in touch with your genetic
lineage. As a matter of fact, you can
accomplish a lot of your material goals through the use of mantras. The success of Transcendental Meditation
worldwide is due to the use of mantras.
Sylvia herself has given a guided meditation to find out everyone’s
mantra. If you can’t find your own
mantra, you can use specific mantras for a specific result.