I was wondering if you have any thoughts on the benefits of using an image for meditation versus using the sound of a mantra.
Answer:
Both forms of meditation can be equally efficacious in bringing the mind to that state of stillness and wakefulness. It’s a personal matter of which method appeals to you more. As a matter of fact there are even some meditation practices that combine gazing at a yantra along with saying the complimentary mantra, so you don’t even need to think of the two sensory paths of meditation as mutually exclusive. Some teachers will say that according to Indian philosophy, sound is the most basic frequency of consciousness and therefore is fundamentally inclusive of all other meditation modalities making it the most universally accessible technique. That may be true, but for those who are naturally more visually oriented, a meditation that incorporates visual images will get them to the goal just as quickly.
Love,
Deepak
