Mind Tool

Do you have one?

Today’s post is inspired by an exchange between Jon Batiste and Tim Ferris during an interview (Show #775, 10/30/24) on Ferris’s podcast that was recommended by another Substack writer I read, The Shift with Sam Baker. Batiste has been on my radar for quite a while, and I enjoy watching him and listening to his music. He said something in this interview that turned into a life-changing moment for me. The outline for the interview topics included The Quest for Originality, How to Get Unstuck, his Favorite Mantras, and Strategies for Living a Creative Life. I wanted to hear about everything except his favorite mantras. Not being one who is ever calm enough for meditation or skilled at emptying my churning mind, I have never been able to make meditation a habit.

It turned out that it was a mantra he shared that changed that for me.

Be still and know that I am God.
Psalm 46:10

If you want to hear it as I did, here’s a link to the part of the podcast the moment my mind was changed! It’s not just about saying the biblical quote but also about what he does with it. He breaks it down in a way that enhances its impact and meaning, increasing its value.

Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know that I
Be still and know that
Be still and know
Be still and
Be still
Be

I repeated it and instantly relaxed. I felt the usual chatter in my head go silent. I repeated it several times over a few days and had another insight. I began to substitute God with other words~

blessed
loved
capable
creative
strong

Still, I prefer to pause and use the original wording throughout the day. My multiple 2-minute meditations work wonders. It’s my way of centering myself throughout the day. Part of that peaceful feeling may be that each time I say it, I remember another quote that I’ve carried in my heart for years - Man is a fallen god who remembers the heavens, written in 1820 by Alphonse de Lamartine, a French author, poet, and statesman, said to be influenced by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. de Lamartine believes that humans were once in a state of divine perfection, connected to a higher realm ("the heavens"), but due to some transgression or act of rebellion, they lost that connection and fell from grace, becoming mortal and flawed beings, yet still retaining a subconscious memory or longing for their former heavenly state. That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

A mantra is simply a motivating chant. It comes from two Sanskrit words: manas (mind) and tra (tool). I first heard a mantra in 1955, when my mother read The Little Engine That Could to wee little me. “I think I can, I think I can,” she would remind me when I was attempting something difficult. That mantra served me well for several years. Now, I say, “I know I can.”

The next time I heard a mantra was in the 70s when Transcendental Meditation became popular. It had too many rules, and I wasn’t interested in sitting still for 20 minutes twice a day. I really wasn’t cut out to be a rule follower (ask the nuns), so I passed on that. It never dawned on me that I could break the rules and make meditation work for me. And that is precisely what happened when I heard Jon Batiste say his mantra in the way it works for him and now, for me.

It's your turn. Could you use a mantra, this one, or one of your own? If the idea of a mantra resonates with you, try making your own. Finding the meaning, message, and magic in your own mantra can have a positive effect on your life, too. And to borrow another biblical quote, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” John 14:27

Quotes of the Week

I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.
Sylvia Plath

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Buddha

Whatever I do with music, I try to make it align deeply with the values and principles of who I am and what I believe the purpose of my life is.
Jon Batiste