The three mantras
April 2016
By Nithya Shanti
Nithya Shanti outlines three mantras that can pull us out of the slough of despondence and launch us into gratitude and joy
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Here are three of my favourite mantras. They have been a source of countless blessings in my life and I have enjoyed sharing them with many friends over the years.
Cancel: Cancel is a powerful antidote to all virus thoughts and beliefs. Every time I notice a low quality thought or perception, such as “That is too difficult” or “I can’t do it”, I inwardly say the mantra “Cancel!” Most people, when they first learn this mantra, are astonished by how many times they end up saying it in a day. Saying it a few hundred times is not uncommon! The good news is that in a few weeks they find that virus thoughts decrease and they have to say it less and less, eventually cancelling the cancel, and only using it occasionally when a stray limiting thought arises. The reason “Cancel!” works is because it makes us vigilant towards our own thoughts and teaches us not to believe everything we think or what we hear from others. Cancel also reveals to us how “Mind” is short for “Mostly Inaccurate Neuro-Drama” and makes us more conscious of our thought patterns.
How Wonderful: No matter what happens I like to say “How wonderful!”. It is an affirmation that there is always something to be thankful for in any situation and the understanding that there are no mistakes in the universe. The more we use this mantra, the more we find that everything happens at the right time and even seemingly unpleasant situations resolve themselves into great blessings. When people first use this mantra it is common for them to wonder if they are simply fooling themselves. However those who persist understand the twin principles that “What we think about, and thank about, is brought about” and “What the thinker thinks, the prover proves”.
Rule # 6: This is a delightful rule I learned from Benjamin Zander. It means “Don’t take life so-ooo seriously!”. Rule # 6 is a great reminder that there is no evidence that life is serious. For all we know we are the unwitting actors in a great cosmic comedy. Everyone else is laughing while we are lamenting and crying. This unique rule reminds us not to take things so-ooo seriously, and also not to take ourselves so-ooo seriously and learn to laugh more. Not taking seriously means we approach things with a more lighthearted and playful attitude. It is about welcoming all of life with a cheerful trusting disposition. Just like we laugh about the difficult times in school when we meet our classmates at a reunion, we will probably laugh at our current challenges from a wiser and broader perspective a few decades from now. Rule # 6 invites us not to wait for a few decades and to laugh now! People sometimes ask what are the other rules and why it is called Rule # 6? The answer is “Sorry, there are no other rules! Please don’t take life so-ooo seriously!”
These three mantras are the practical distillation of deep wisdom and timeless principles of conscious living. If you say them long enough you will find they start to be a part of you. They are a powerful solvent that help to dissolve negative, anxious and stale attitudes and beliefs.
There are three amazing outcomes that are immediately accessible to those who use these mantras. I call them CFD, GFD and JFD. CFD means to have a “Complaint-Free Day”. GFD means to have a “Gratitude-Filled Day”. Finally JFD means to have a “Joy-Filled Day”.
Eventually these mantras and the principles they represent enable us to lead a CFL, GFL and JFL. Which, as you can guess, means a “Complaint-free Life”, “Gratitude-filled Life”, and a “Joy-filled Life”.
May you benefit from these mantras as I have and share them with your loved ones.
How wonderful!
About the author : Nithya Shanti is an internationally respected spiritual teacher, seminar leader, writer and educator, committed to sharing practical wisdom teachings for happiness and enlightenment with people in a joyful way.