image credit: Himalayan Art Resources
In the twenty-sixth verse of his Cidvilāsastava (‘Hymn to the Play of Consciousness’), Amṛtānanda teaches about the ultimate form of mantrajapa, the recitation of the sacred mantra, according to his tradition as follows:
वाक् सहैव मनसा निवर्तते प्राप्यनिष्कलनिरञ्जनाद्यतः।
तत्र निर्मनसि शब्दवर्जिते धाम्नि विश्रमणामुत्तमो जपः ॥ २६ ॥
vāk sahaiva manasā nivartate prāpyaniṣkalanirañjanād yataḥ |
tatra nirmanasi śabdavarjite dhāmni viśramaṇam uttamo japaḥ || 26 ||
“There is an undivided and pristine reality that should be realized, from which speech, together with the mind, turn away. The repetition of the mantra, in its ultimate form, is bringing [speech and the mind] to rest in that luminous reality that transcends the mind and conventional language.” (translation by Ben Williams)
