Because these syllabic combinations of sounds to meditate on come from the highest, deepest meditations as a great consciousness sending forth a wave, they are also the best vehicles for meditation because they lead you slowly, gradually, imperceptibly back inward to that level of consciousness. They are the homing pigeons of consciousness. So what is a mantra? … sounds received by the great yogis, great masters in their highest states of medition — their consciousness coming outward and becoming articulate. ~Swami Veda Bharati