The Mantra, Meditation, and the Altered State

Since mantras are central to New Age meditation, it is important to understand a proper definition of the word. The translation from Sanskrit is man, meaning “to think,” and tra, meaning “to be liberated from.” Thus, the word literally means to escape from thought. By repeating the mantra, either out loud or silently, the word or phrase begins to lose any meaning it once had. The conscious thinking process is gradually tuned out until an altered state of consciousness is achieved.

Yungen, Ray, A Time of Departing, Second Edition, Eureka, MT: Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2006, pp. 15-16.