Affirmative difference

Even those who go through ritualistic chanting of certain prescribed sound forms get a doubt quite often about the utility, efficacy of this futile looking exercise.

While most of such people keep the doubt to themselves, and continue the ritual to avoid conflicting with religious compulsions etc, a few of them do get a serious doubt, and for want of ‘credible’ evidence, tend to dilute the chanting, salvage as much time and effort as possible.

It is quite rare to find a person who seeks to find out the difference between such chanting, and affirmative suggestions.. .. especially when there is a heavily mounting evidence, vouched by experiments under controlled conditions, in favor of dependable effect, and efficacy of strong affirmative suggestions to the sub conscious!

The question is not new. The asker’s mind is ready to look at it, “now”. That is where a fresh approach finds justification. Otherwise, this question is a mere by product of basic positions taken up by genuine, open-minded, receptive (etc)….. Atheism subscribers.

When the modern scientific methodology affords perceivable results, demonstrable evidences, the ancient systems leaves a person in the lurch, to believe blindly or simply get lost!

So, no point in further elaborating the aspects of the ‘fuzzy’ thing called chanting, except, to humbly reproduce the question and answer.

However, I feel that those who are more eager would find a few references quite interesting. Not that I could pick up the ‘exact’ or apt reference. Like any novice, I too typed ‘chanting’ in the search box of the blog page (thanks to Google Team for that new ‘search box’), and glanced at the previous blogs listed.
http://selfseekers.blogspot.com/2010/11/mantras.html
http://selfseekers.blogspot.com/2010/10/unlearning.html
http://selfseekers.blogspot.com/2010/09/thought-momentum.html
http://selfseekers.blogspot.com/2009/10/de-bugging-qa.html
http://selfseekers.blogspot.com/2010/05/thinking-herd.html
http://selfseekers.blogspot.com/2010/06/somebody-raised-question-about.html

psn(19th January, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110112201057AAX5pm4
What is the difference between chanting mantras and giving affirmations to the subconscious mind and which is?
more effective?
If mantras are meant to program the subconscious mind, and also to get rid of unwanted thoughts, what about affirmations?
Instead of saying Gayathri mantra , if I say "I'm getting stronger and with the strength I have I will help everyone around"

All this is said in Alpha state of mind where you're totally in touch with your subconscious mind, so these things gets registered at a deeper level even though its not at a conscious level

So is there any difference between mantra and affirmations
and
which one is more effective

My suggestion:
A motor car has to be 'steered', and there must be control on the brake, gears, clutch, etc especially on a curved gradient. A train, is almost held firmly between the rails, the rails held firmly by fish plates. The fish plates are frequently pushed back into its place by track laborers. So, the train needs very little 'steering' compared to that of the vehicle, and this comparison gets magnified when we take into account the size, weight and the power of the train (for instance, if we try to visualise that same train with all its bogies, etc, runnning on a road highway, with the wheels left at the entire mercy of the steering!
.
.A mantra has embedded sounds which are technically called 'seed' aphabets. It does wonders, without the need of mind focusing. That is the effect of chanting. (The mind does affect, but only adversely, ... that is why a person chanting with a cluttered mind fails to notice the benefit of that chanting soon/easily.)
..
There was a video where a 6 month baby laughs incessently, when the dad makes some sounds like 'clung' 'bing' 'dueng' etc. Probably the mother did the videographing. Most people love to watch that full throated laughter again and again on that utterly innocent baby face! (But, very few would have stopped to see deep enough, that the child is not focused looking at anywhere in particular, and does not laugh at all the varieties of sounds! The child's logcial aspect of the mind is hardly functional at that tender age. The sound travels unhindered, and activates the energy centers within that child. Quite unawares, the child manifests the appropriate emotion attached to that particular intuitive response generated by the brain with each surge of energy, triggered or initiated by that sound which travels through ears to that part of the body, plus the direct subtle vibration that directly reaches that tender, fresh, heavily receptive, clean body! (It is very difficult to even look at such a possibility, leave alone "trying" to accept it. Only an experience through some deeper level spiritual processes/programs at sustained practices can afford a glimpse at such a possibility :) ... Yet the temptation is there to make this possibility 'seemingly' available, at least! Please see, we get a jolt at some unexpected sounds from the rear, our back side, when we are set into silence, doing some work with an absorbed mind! Different sounds give different levels of that 'jerk'. Our mind is in a hurry to call it as 'shock' .. very close to fear!)