Kunci (mantra)

[radeev]

I thought about posting this first in the "spiritual and self-help practices that seem to work" section, but decided to post it here instead due to how little is out there regarding this practice.

I grew up as an agnostic. In my early 20s I discovered Buddhism. I was so impressed with it that I thought I would ordain as a monk some years ahead. Analytically inclined (INTP personality) and cautious in nature I slowly walked that path. Then I encountered a mantra called Kunci.

Kunci is a mantra divined by a Javenese (Indonesian) man called Romo Semono

https://translate.google.com/transla...o%20Semono.php

He died in 1981. He was a meditation master. Allegedly the mantra was divined by Romo (Romo = father/God) or what we simply could call "the Source", from where we all originate, to Romo Semono. The mantra was divined one letter at a time over a long time period of several decades, during Romo Semono´s meditation sessions. The mantra is several sentences long and more than 80 syllables. It has to be pronounced in its native language to work (I dont know why).

Upon first learning about this mantra (I learned it from someone whose parents are/were disciples of Romo Semono) I was still happy with my Buddhist meditation practice. in 2009 I decided I would try the mantra. I lied on the bed on my back in the star-formation (legs spread out about a feet apart at the end, arms along my body - palms facing up). Within minutes of saying the mantra I felt a physical sensation on my left wrist. If you tap gently 2-3 times with your right thumb at the place where you would check your pulse on the left wrist, that´s somewhat akin to the feeling I had. Except that the feeling was inside my wrist. Another way of explaining the sensation was that it was a pump inside the wrist which pumped the blood 2-3 times. I was excited, but remained skeptical about this first "sign". Maybe it was just blood moving around I thought to myself. I didn´t take the sign as confirmation the mantra worked, but my motivation to continue was certainly not lessened.

I was never diligent with my meditation practice and practiced invariably. The next sign was more affirmative and some months later. I was arguing with the person who had taught me the mantra - I was gonna say something bad. I then got a "sign" on either the outside of my left shoulder, or on the left side of my left elbow (I no longer remember exactly where). This sign was similar to the one previously mentioned, but less of the "pump" feeling and more of a "muscle twitching" feeling. these signs can be seen as they occur. The best way I can describe what it looks like is if you use your index finger to repeatedly and gently push down a part of your body where the skin is "soft", e.g. your big fat belly (no offense meant, I just want to make sure I explain myself thorough enough), for 2-3 times with a little less than a second between each push, and then imagine your finger is not there, then that is close to what it looks like. The intensity may vary though, sometimes the signs can be very rapid and continuous in nature. Anyway, as I got the sign I realised it meant I should not say what I thought about saying. And so I refrained from saying it. Instead I told the person about the sign, and we were both happy now that I had gotten a more affirmative confirmation of the signs being real (English is not my first language, so please bear with me if I use the words a bit wrong here)

Some time later, in meditation, I got tens of signs all over my body. This, to me, was a big confirmation that the mantra was indeed special. "Kunci" means key by the way. From this point on I knew, due to my own direct experience, that the mantra was working. Both on and off meditation I would feel energy above my crown chakra. I was told this was cleansing energy.

All the experiences above happened in 2009. As time passed on, I would get signs. I kept a log over some of my signs. 27th November 2010 I was about to watch pornography. Then I got a sign on the under side of my left over arm. I thought the sign meant I should refrain from watching pornograhpy (I still did it though). Around 2 weeks later I was again tempted by my strong sexual desires to watch pornograhpy. While watching it I got 7-8 signs on the left side of my throat. In the evening of 11th January 2011 I was looking at a site which offered a course in drumming. As I was considering signing up I started to get a great number of signs below my left shoulder. According to my notes the signs lasted for 2-3 minutes, I continued to get them while writing the note, and it was probably more than 100 signs all together. I remember these signs were very rapid in succession. I decided not to join the drumming course, but to this day I still don´t know what those signs meant. It´s a long time since I wrote something in my journal. As I mentioned earlier, I am not a diligent meditator, and for that reason I have feared the signs might stop, but fortunately they have not. I hope to ramp up my practice now, writing this post helps motivate me as well.

I believe these signs are a form of communication and guidance from the divinity within me or my higher self. I believe we all come from the same source (I will throw in the Law of One reference here), so by saying this I do not mean to say I am special as I believe we all have that divine spark within us. However, I have been told that I got the signs very quickly, without much effort. This confuses me. The signs come by themselves. The signs never come when I ask for them. They might come as I think about something special. I might get a sign on my butt while lying in bed. This, I have learned, means I should get up and meditate (depending on where on the butt you get the sign it could also mean you should get up and away, e.g. a danger might be imminent). As already mentioned, I have not been diligent in my practice and I have still much to learn and I don´t remember everything I have been told).

For the more advanced practitioner, the communication evolves and becomes more "advanced" as well (including communication/teachings from "inner voice", e.g. answer to questions etc.) I would say that I am on the advanced novice level, so far I have only received the type of signs mentioned above.

It´s getting late and I have to go to bed now. Maybe I will write more later. It feels good to finally share my experience with someone, even if it is just on a internet forum. I have told my parents about these signs, but with less detail than in this post, and, but while I am very open-minded, my parents are less so. And I get the impression we are not really on the same page. So mostly I have kept my experience to myself. I am not trying to convince anyone of anything, as everyone has to walk their own path. Hence there is no need to "convert" anyone to anything. People will change themselves when they are ready. I just decided to share this as I have been thinking about it for some years now. This is one area where I feel knowledgeable to actually have something worthwhile to share. Ok. I will write about the mantra itself in another post.

By the way, I didn´t have any signs while writing this. Before I started writing this post I asked my Rasa (higher self / divinity within, etc.) if it was ok to share my experience. As I didn´t get any signs, I think it is ok.

I am curious to know if anyone else have had physical experiences / signs etc while meditating with mantras.

PS: I just got a single sign on the right side of my elbow while writing the above sentence. I do not know what it means.

Edited for correcting a small misrememberance

[Navigator]

 
My take is that when it comes to meditation, the act of meditation itself is most of the therapy; the act of clearing the chatter from the mind by either practicing to silence it, or by focusing on a specific thing (what a mantra does), is the meditation and what provides the benefit (stay with me on this).

The intent that is behind having a dedicated commitment to do regular meditation is powerful in itself and signals to the "Universe" of the veracity of of that intent. Thinking about doing something isn't really intent, beginning a practice of something signals a strong intent.

While silent meditation is meant to clear the subconscious mind (to allow proper listening), mantra's add a ritual aspect to the meditation that provides a focal point for the mind, and the repetition of the mantra is a reprogramming of the subconscious - this is where the "magic" happens.

Normal humans, in the current state we are in with diseased minds (it is of my opinion that humans have a debilitating mind disease, which results in way overemphasis on the ego's desires), the subconscious is filled with static - a million rules and a million contradictions constantly battling to be "right". All this happens just below our awareness, but this mind chatter is always there. You can see at exposed as a form of incoherent logorrhea in severe alcoholics - especially when they don't get their alcohol, which is converted into GABA (a neuro-depressant). Alcoholics bodies stop producing GABA because the alcohol is converted into it so it ends up with excess.

To compensate, the body produces more stimulating neurotransmitters to create a balance - incoherent logorrhea is caused when the stimulatory neurotransmitters exceed their balance of gaba, and what is normally below the subconscious barrier, is stimulated above it, resulting in incoherent and random speech. In humans not battling severe alcoholism, what is below this barrier usually remains hidden to the self - we "control" our words ... there's a whole "world" in there you don't know exists, meditation is meant to address the "crap" that this subconscious "world" ends up getting filled with.

Anyways, that was tangent. This subconscious "chatter" is also exposed in silent meditations, and can take months or years of consistent meditation to clear completely (or at least to the point its not showing up in your meditations - depth of meditations is a consideration as well)


I don't really humour the concept that there is actually some deity that we call upon in meditation that actually comes to those who call, I rather support the idea that qualities meditation brings have been personified as an easier way to explain what is happening that the majority might relate to.

What I do humour is the concept that while declaring the intent of your meditation and mantras, channels of sensitivity within yourself open up and you higher self is able to begin to provide you some guidance, where previously it was drowned out by the chatter in the subconscious - the ego is loud and always talking, the higher self only ever whispers to you.

On the physical sensations - yes I also use those as signalling messages sometimes, when I am sensitive, I certainly notice I get them, often as tingling or high frequency vibration feeling that is sort of in my body but moreso just occurring within my body's space. I see these often as my higher self communicating to me, but previously I personified the source of these "messages" as well.

On the topic of "horniness" -- strong physical sexual feelings (generally called "being horny") may (but not always) be a clear sign of a blockage of creative energy -- sexual energy is a creative energy and when you don't have a clear conduit to be a creative tool in this plane, excessive horniness can occur. The cure is to ensure you have regular creative activities in your life - then libido should stay more in the "healthy" zone, rather than at the extreme end.


I'll end that post there -- ended up more as a rambling thought than anything ...

[radeev]

Damn it. Test test. I just wrote a long post and hit reply but it did not materialize. I am writing this only to test

[radeev]

I originally wrote a long reply but it got lost in the ether. I will write a new, shorter reply now.

I don´t know if anyone is interested in learning more about or perhaps even try out this mantra for themselves. But just as this mantra was an eye-opener for me, it might also be of value to others. Over the years I have periodically searched for Romo Semono and Kunci on Google. The only website I found referencing this is the one I posted in my first post:http://www.kapribaden.org/ (except for a few more recent youtube videos). As the site is in Indonesian (or perhaps Javanese) and Google Translate doesn´t work very well on the site, I assume it will be hard for English-speaking people to find/learn about this mantra by chance. Hence my sharing.

In the folder below there are 5 chapters of an unofficial book about Romo Semono, Kunci, and the practice in relation to this. These translations are from around 2009. I do not know who wrote this book originally. I did not translate these chapters. I do not know if the book ever got finished and/or if more chapters exist. This is what I have. It seems to me that some of the chapters are unfinished. Whether it is the original chapter which is/was unfinished at the time or simply the translation, I do not know. I have also included to mp3 files of the mantra. This is roughly how I say the mantra. I am not a native Indonesian, but a native Indonesian has "approved" my pronunciation. Either way, this is roughly how I say he mantra, and it worked for me so I figure it is "good enough".

If you decide to try out this mantra for yourself I encourage you to read all the enclosed chapters first, and follow the advice regarding one´s motivation for trying to learn the mantra. Before I started trying out this mantra I was told that some people actually got crazy after practicing this mantra, because they practied with wrong intention. The intention should be to improve yourself as a person, become a more spiritual person, a better person, etc, not to achieve or gain anything (as for me I have for a long time yearned to experience paranormal phenomena and acquire psychic powers. So before I decided to practice the mantra, I had to work on putting that desire to the side). I am not saying this to cause/spread fear, I simply feel it is my responsibility to give the same advice of caution as I got before I started. That being said, I was also told that I got signs very quickly. But I was also told that some people had to practice for a long time before they got any signs, and some people probably practied without getting any signs at all, and perhaps gave up the practice because of that. I am not in a position to say what will happen if you practice, I am just sharing my experience and knowledge.

https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?c...zXvW88DRlCMihy

In future post I´ll share a bit more personal experiences and some teachings

[radeev]

Posted by Navigator (here)
 
My take is that when it comes to meditation, the act of meditation itself is most of the therapy; the act of clearing the chatter from the mind by either practicing to silence it, or by focusing on a specific thing (what a mantra does), is the meditation and what provides the benefit (stay with me on this).

The intent that is behind having a dedicated commitment to do regular meditation is powerful in itself and signals to the "Universe" of the veracity of of that intent. Thinking about doing something isn't really intent, beginning a practice of something signals a strong intent.

While silent meditation is meant to clear the subconscious mind (to allow proper listening), mantra's add a ritual aspect to the meditation that provides a focal point for the mind, and the repetition of the mantra is a reprogramming of the subconscious - this is where the "magic" happens.

Normal humans, in the current state we are in with diseased minds (it is of my opinion that humans have a debilitating mind disease, which results in way overemphasis on the ego's desires), the subconscious is filled with static - a million rules and a million contradictions constantly battling to be "right". All this happens just below our awareness, but this mind chatter is always there. You can see at exposed as a form of incoherent logorrhea in severe alcoholics - especially when they don't get their alcohol, which is converted into GABA (a neuro-depressant). Alcoholics bodies stop producing GABA because the alcohol is converted into it so it ends up with excess.

To compensate, the body produces more stimulating neurotransmitters to create a balance - incoherent logorrhea is caused when the stimulatory neurotransmitters exceed their balance of gaba, and what is normally below the subconscious barrier, is stimulated above it, resulting in incoherent and random speech. In humans not battling severe alcoholism, what is below this barrier usually remains hidden to the self - we "control" our words ... there's a whole "world" in there you don't know exists, meditation is meant to address the "crap" that this subconscious "world" ends up getting filled with.

Anyways, that was tangent. This subconscious "chatter" is also exposed in silent meditations, and can take months or years of consistent meditation to clear completely (or at least to the point its not showing up in your meditations - depth of meditations is a consideration as well)


I don't really humour the concept that there is actually some deity that we call upon in meditation that actually comes to those who call, I rather support the idea that qualities meditation brings have been personified as an easier way to explain what is happening that the majority might relate to.

What I do humour is the concept that while declaring the intent of your meditation and mantras, channels of sensitivity within yourself open up and you higher self is able to begin to provide you some guidance, where previously it was drowned out by the chatter in the subconscious - the ego is loud and always talking, the higher self only ever whispers to you.

On the physical sensations - yes I also use those as signalling messages sometimes, when I am sensitive, I certainly notice I get them, often as tingling or high frequency vibration feeling that is sort of in my body but moreso just occurring within my body's space. I see these often as my higher self communicating to me, but previously I personified the source of these "messages" as well.

On the topic of "horniness" -- strong physical sexual feelings (generally called "being horny") may (but not always) be a clear sign of a blockage of creative energy -- sexual energy is a creative energy and when you don't have a clear conduit to be a creative tool in this plane, excessive horniness can occur. The cure is to ensure you have regular creative activities in your life - then libido should stay more in the "healthy" zone, rather than at the extreme end.


I'll end that post there -- ended up more as a rambling thought than anything ...

I did not understand the two paragraphs about and reference to alcoholism so I will ignore that part. On the rest of your post: Before I started to practice Kunci I used another mantra, Buddho, pretty much the same way as your opening paragraphs suggest, i.e. as a tool to assist my meditation and stay focused. When practicing Kunci my mind might also calm down the same way.

Practicing Kunci is not about invoking some deity, but Life inside you, to guide you. There are mantras that call upon deities, but Kunci is different in my understanding because even those deities have the original "God spark" within them. In my understanding, that "God spark" is what you are "invoking".

As for increased sensitivity due to meditation. This does not seem to be the same thing in my eyes. After I practiced Kunci I got physical signs on my body, both on and off meditation. I am not talking about sensations or feelings of ants crawling over you, itching, heat, cold, feelings of expansion, etc (sure, I often feel heat as well during meditation, and when I practied Vipassana meditation at an earlier stage I would focus on feeling my skin and I would be sensitive to minute itching on/of the skin), but the experience I got after practicing Kunci was a different kind of sensitivity. It´s hard to describe the signs, but as mentioned they are clearly visible on the body. There is movement of the body. This can happen even when I am not meditating, i.e. when my sensitivity is low. I would like to hear more about your physical sensations, if you are willing to share.

As for your thoughts on strong physical sexual feelings: Thank you for the advice. This is my struggle in this life.

Edited to be more precise

[Navigator]

Posted by radeev (here)
I did not understand the two paragraphs about and reference to alcoholism so I will ignore that part.

Yeah I probably wasn't very clear on that - I was trying to provide evidence for this constant subconscious "chatter" and how it lurks just below the conscious mind, as it relates to the beneficial effect of meditation. I did a poor job, don't worry about it.

Posted by radeev (here)
On the rest of your post: Before I started to practice Kunci I used another mantra, Buddho, pretty much the same way as your opening paragraphs suggest, i.e. as a tool to assist my meditation and stay focused. When practicing Kunci my mind might also calm down the same way.

Yes, most mediation is actually for this purpose, unless the mind is very very quiet, mantras and other forms of invocation are rarely very effective.

Posted by radeev (here)
Practicing Kunci is not about invoking some deity, but Life inside you, to guide you. There are mantras that call upon deities, but Kunci is different in my understanding because even those deities have the original "God spark" within them. In my understanding, that "God spark" is what you are "invoking".

Yes - as this agrees with my comment on that. I think this is always important to point out, some people may get the wrong idea otherwise.

Posted by radeev (here)
As for increased sensitivity due to meditation. This does not seem to be the same thing in my eyes. After I practiced Kunci I got physical signs on my body, both on and off meditation. I am not talking about sensations or feelings of ants crawling over you, itching, heat, cold, feelings of expansion, etc (sure, I often feel heat as well during meditation, and when I practied Vipassana meditation at an earlier stage I would focus on feeling my skin and I would be sensitive to minute itching on/of the skin), but the experience I got after practicing Kunci was a different kind of sensitivity. It´s hard to describe the signs, but as mentioned they are clearly visible on the body. There is movement of the body. This can happen even when I am not meditating, i.e. when my sensitivity is low. I would like to hear more about your physical sensations, if you are willing to share.

Just to be clear, I was referring to a spiritual sensitivity, not a physical one.

Posted by radeev (here)
As for your thoughts on strong physical sexual feelings: Thank you for the advice. This is my struggle in this life.
...

It just means you have a lot of creative energy trying to flow through you - just do your best to allow it, but in the expression of non-sexual creativity, to keep it from becoming overwhelming sexually.

[radeev]

For this post I will assume you the reader have already read the five chapters in the book I linked to, in particular chapter 5 which deals with the mantra.

If you read the mantra backwards, from the last sentence to the first sentence, we can see the steps:

1. We need to focus first on eradicating wrong actions/deeds.
2. If we are doing this, this means that we are acting as a true man/woman.
3. When we already become a true man/woman, we have wisdom and loving-kindness.
4. In this level, we are in unity with our true essence.
5. If we are already in unity with our true essence, every movement in ourselves will take place in accordance to nature.
6. This means that we are in unity with the Supreme being.

***

One of the teachings of Romo Semono ("the founder", Romo was a title given to him) is what could be roughly translated (from Javanese) as the

Lullaby of Romo

1) hello all my children
2) sons and daughters
3) come here I want to talk to you
4) you need to understand that you
5) have been created with the Word (notice the big W in Word)
6) to become the true “holy book”
7) so you have to live your life accordingly
8) that’s your form / nature
9) whatever you say you have to say it truthfully
(if someone asks a question and you don’t know the answer don’t pretend you know, but ask your Rasa and answer correspondingly / in line with your Rasa)
10) see 9)
11) you must have wisdom and loving-kindness (full of forgiveness) (and there must be a balance between the two. Blindly giving loving-kindness to someone who is evil towards you is not wise)
12) see 11)
13) this is what signifies that you are My son or daughter (putro)

I do not know the original teachings, just this translation. The numbers correspond to the lines of text in the original teaching. The text in paranthesis (...) are my notes from the way I understood this teaching.

What I find particularly interesting about this teaching is the statement how we were created with the Word. This seems to resonate with other views outlining the importance of frequencies, etc.


***

In chapter 4 of the book there is a mentioning of the five spiritualities. They are not explained in the book. They are (as previously, the text in parenthesis (...) are my notes from the time I was explained these 5 deeds)

1) Patience
2) Forbearance
3) Sincerity / genuinely (to give something without expecting anything in return)
4) To give in (don’t be too proud)
5) Real loving-kindness

You have to practice the first four deeds until you can practice real loving-kindness (which means to everyone and non-discriminatory)

[radeev]

I have now shared the basics of what I know about this particular spiritual tradition / religion / belief. I personally refer to it as Key Belief (remember Kunci means key). There are other mantras and other teachings, but Kunci is the most important one. I could also share personal experiences I have either had myself or which I have heard from more senior disciples. However, I dont´want to "spam" the forum nor do I wan´t to simply having a discussion with myself.

But at least now I have shared some basics, and if someone by chance stumble upon this mantra elsewhere, with this thread they will have access to some English information, and I think that can be of value. If someone decides to practice this mantra for themselves and get their own physical signs, feel free to message me or ask questions here. But remember, I am a novice.

To conclude, this thread should perhaps have been posted in the "Spiritual and self-help practices that seem to work" thread instead. I will not mind if this thread is moved there. Given the mixture of teachings and personal experiences shared I decided to originally post it in the "Remarkable personal experiences" section though.