This story is a metaphor for the mind and the mantra. The genie is the mind, an all-powerful force which, if given nothing to do, will consume its owner with doubts, worries, and anxiety. The curly hair is the mantra, chant, or affirmation which keeps the mind engaged and focused on positive intentions.
Mantras
Physically he was a tiny man, but by any other measure he was a giant. Mahatma Gandhi accomplished non-violently in less than 30 years what Ireland could not do in over 500 years of armed struggle: He led his country to independence from the British Empire. Gandhi repeated as his mantra “RAM,” one of the Hindu names for God. He was so devoted to this mantra that after an assassin shot him, people said, he died with it on his lips. Gandhi was one of the most incredible men who ever lived. Upon his death Albert Einstein said of him, “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.” Gandhi utilized the power of mantra repetition in his life. Was it the secret to his incredible self-discipline and personal power?
Mantras are mystical sounds usually given by the guru to the student upon initiation into mantra yoga, with the instruction to repeat the mantra continuously either silently or aloud. The mantra is said to have magical properties by which the sound vibrations can awaken latent powers within the student.
There are single-syllable or seed mantras called bija, such as OM, RAM, LAM, VAM, YAM, and HAM, and multi-syllable mantras such
fingers and tried to stand it on its end in his palm. The hair fell over and curled up again. The genie tried again and again to straighten the hair between his fingers and stand it on its end in his palm. And so he sat there, straightening the hair and trying to stand it up in his palm, attempting it ceaselessly, taking a break only when the man asked him to perform some other feat. He would accomplish it at once, only to be given the hair straightening task again to keep him busy.
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