The word simran comes from the Sanskrit word Smaran meaning Remembrance. The verb Simar, which is derived from Simran means meditating. Mool Mantar is the first composition in the Sikh holy text the Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji , Guru Nanak Dev Ji the first Sikh guru received this mantar from the source and gave it to the world as the essence of Sikh teachings. The word Mool means “root”, the word Mantar means “chant”.
The simran of Mool Mantar is the most transformative method of inner awareness that I have practiced, I started doing it about 35 years ago during a period in life which was challenging to say the least, in terms of bereavement, isolation and overall daily survival. When I was a teenager my mother always used to say to me when you are going through a rough situation in life, recite the Mool mantar 108 times for forty days and you’ll get through it. I only understood what she meant when I actually adopted this practice during my teens in my daily routine after the loss of a close family member.
I do not know how it works, all I can say is that from my experience it has got me through challenging situations which I have faced so far. After a couple of experiences of this, I realised that the words in the Mool Mantar that give the formula for the ultimate reality, have also the power to change it by reciting it. Wow!…my was mind blown! This challenged my scientific mind at the time, however I kept an open mind as I began reciting Mool Mantar at any and every opportunity I got.
Whenever I wasn’t doing anything in particular I would consciously start to recite Mool Mantar, after many months of doing this, it became second nature and almost an automatic process where I was reciting it in my mind without having to physically say it out with my mouth for longer and longer periods of time. I found that synchronising this mind recitation of Mool Mantar with the breath as it goes in and out of the body, required more concentration and focus initially but after a while was very effective in connecting with something that I still can’t explain, it is like a the feeling of being in a flowing river. Could this also be what is known as the Way or the Tao?
Over the years this practice has slowly refined itself to the point that I feel it is comfortably embedded in the psyche. When I recite in my mind I hear it in my head, this again is mind blowing!…because the next realisation is who is actually doing the hearing without it being verbal?…could it be the spirit, soul or atma?….or is it that part of you that is changeless whilst all that around you is constantly changing, the one thing that has remained static from lifetime to lifetime and from existence to existence and is in you, now! Could it be the creator itself…after all “Ek Ong Kaar” “Ek” meaning one,” Ong” meaning creator and” Kaar” meaning Creation, gives One Creator Creation, is it saying? that the creator and the creation are the same or is it saying that the creator is in the creation and the creation is in the creator? In my mind it doesn’t matter both come down to the same thing when you think about it.
I have reflected on this process for most of my life and is apparent in the art that I like to create and express as aspects of this divine process.
The Mool Mantar is the root mantar the essence of reality, that begins with the bija (seed) mantar
Ek Ongkaar One Creator, Sustainer, Destroyer Infinitum
Satnam Changeless Truth is its Nature
Karta Purakh Creative Consciousness
Nirbhao Fearless
Nir vair Without Hate
Akal Murat Beyond Time
Ajuni Saibhan Unborn and Deathless
Gur Parsad Self creating Realised by the Guru
Jap Recite
Aadh sach jugaadh sach True when time began, he has been true for ages
Hai bhee sach naanak hosee bhee sach He is still true, Guru Nanak says – he will forever be true