Happy indeed is the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked--nor lingers in the way of sinners nor sits in the company of scorners--but whose delight is the law of the lord and who ponders his law day and night.
--Psalm 1

I guarantee that, if you spend three hours repeating the word "happy" with focused intention and attention, you will begin to feel it. It will take persistence--and you'll have to withdraw your attention from thoughts and feelings that aren't here and now--but the mantra will eventually identify with repetitive action, perhaps even breath and repetitive muscle movements. In hinduism, this is ajappa jappa--where the mantra prays itself and you sit back and watch. This is the space where "the Lord himself will fight for you, you have only to keep still." ...

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• Especially when you’re coming from a dysfunctional upbringing: any situation of unmerited suffering, unequal giving, giving beyond capacity will tease out the emotions of the lower self.  You’ll feel the hypervigilance, the blame, resentment, remorse of a trauma response all over again.  Mantra is important, to incorporate all of that.  But words are designed to return to silence, and there’s a point past which mantra is no help....

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