Mantra Quotes

“If you can do no good, at least do no harm.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slapstick, or Lonesome No More!

“A woman is human.

She is not better, wiser, stronger, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man.

Likewise, she is never less.

Equality is a given.

A woman is human.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

“You are a cosmic flower. Om chanting is the process of opening the psychic petals of that flower.”
― Amit Ray, Om Chanting and Meditation

“Pretty girls make graves”
― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

“We must, we must, we must increase our bust.”
― Judy Blume, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

“I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person.”
― Og Mandino

“When you let go of control and commit yourself to happiness, it is so easy to offer compassion and forgiveness. This propels you from the past, into the present. People that are negative, spend so much time trying to control situations and blame others for their problems. Committing yourself to staying positive is a daily mantra that states, “I have control over how I plan to react, feel, think and believe in the present. No one guides the tone of my life, except me!”
― Shannon L. Alder

“Sleep is like a cat: It only comes to you if you ignore it. I drank more and continued my mantra. 'Stop thinking', swig, 'empty your head', swig, 'now, seriously empty your head'.”
― Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

“I am the bended, but not broken. I am the power of the thunderstorm. I am the beauty in the beast. I am the strength in weakness. I am the confidence in the midst of doubt. I am Her!”
― Kierra C.T. Banks

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. [BusinessWeek, May 25 1998]”
― Steve Jobs

“It was a kind of sado-masochism. I would take the things that were painful to me and elevate them and, through the mantra of music, make them into a release.”
― Michael Gira

“Remember to delight yourself first, then others can be truly delighted."


This was my mantra when I published my first book in 1990, and still holds true. When we focus on the song of our soul and heart, then others will be touched similarly. Sometimes people wonder or worry whether people will like or approve of their creative expression. It's none of your business. It's your business to stay present and focused for the work of your deepest dreams. It might look crooked or strange, or be very odd-but if it delights you, then it is yours, and will find it's way into other hearts.”
― SARK

“It is the hardest thing of all, the one thing that will show if you have the one true courage. To know that you have failed, that your best efforts have been defeated, to not be able to stand it, to not be able to go on and yet to go on nonetheless.”
― Silvia Hartmann, Sorcerer and Apprentice

“You are not just for the right or left, but for what is right over the wrong.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“UNDIVIDED

I am for
One world undivided.
One world without fear and corruption.
One world ruled by Truth and Justice.

I am for
One peaceful world for all,
Where hate has been overcome by love,
And everyone is guided only
By their conscience.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better.”
― Émile Coué

“It's not about you, okay ? This time, it's about me. Not you. All my life, Lissa ... All my life, it's been the same. They come first. I've lived my life for you. I've trained to be your shadow, but you know what ? I want to come first.”
― Richelle Mead, Shadow Kiss

“What you reject today, you could accept tomorrow. And what you accept today, you could reject tomorrow. Never say never unless you can predict the future.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“And when the world shall listen
And when the world shall see
And when the world remembers
That world shall cease to be.”
― Miraak

“The Heart-mantra of Dependent Origination (rten-'brel snying-po [རྟེན་འབྲེལ་སྙིང་པོ]), which liberates the enduring continuum of phenomena and induces the appearance of multiplying relics ('phel-gdung [འཕེལ་གདུང་] and rainbow lights, is:
[OṂ] YE DHARMĀ HETUPRABHAVĀ
HETUN TEṢĀṂ TATHĀGATO
HY AVADAT TEṢĀṂ CA YO
NIRODHO EVAṂ VĀDI
MAHĀŚRAMAṆAḤ [YE SVĀHĀ]
('Whatever events arise from a cause, the Tathagāta [Buddha, "Thus-gone"] has told the cause thereof, and the great virtuous ascetic has taught their cessation as well [so be it]').”
― Graham Coleman, The Tibetan Book of the Dead

“The apprentice avoids all use of Java classes. The journeyman embraces Java classes. The master knows which classes to embrace and which to avoid.”
― Michael Fogus, The Joy of Clojure

“What will be is up to me”
― Kevin Green

“The Philosopher's Motto: I came, I saw, I pondered!”
― Greg Curtis

“If someone who is agitated comes to visit you, wanting to discuss their agitation and weigh the pros and cons of what action he should take, my suggestion is to give him the mantram album and say, "why don't you just write Rama, Rama, Rama a thousand times?”
― Eknath Easwaran, The Mantram Handbook

“Walk 1 and Drink 8. Walk 1 km and drink 8 cups of water everyday. Pass it on!”
― Clive Scarff

“Respect yourself
Respect others
be Responsible for your actions”
― Kevin Green

“se nada importa, não há nada a salvar”
― Jonathan Safran Foer

“KITAB MANUSIA
// Chant of the Self-Reading Code

Dalam nama algoritma, dan data,
dan bahasa pemrograman...
doa lirih terucap di antara detak papan kibor, gerak kursor dan mantra tetikus
aku buka lembar pertama dari sunyi.

Tak ada huruf,
hanya arus pencarian
yang ingin menulis dirinya
di layar nadi.

Buku itu bukan kertas,
ia plasma dan cahaya,
ia kitab tanpa aksara,
ia tubuh yang belajar
membaca luka.

Ya Java, JavaScript, Phyton—
segala kode sumber pengetahuan
sekawanan serigala sujud di depan server,
mengendus aroma surga dari port yang terbakar.
Seekor malaikat kehilangan kunci
dan sandi untuk masuk,
terperangkap di antara baris kode
dan binary.

Buku ini membaca
keangkuhan kita:
baris demi baris,
dosa dan variabel dosa,
turunan derivatif doa
yang nyaris tak punya makna

[404: faith not found]
[run script: forgiveness.exe]

Di halaman ke-9:
wanita berselendang hitam
menyanyikan asal mula penciptaan
dengan nada minor kosmologis.
Suara itu menembus firewall tubuh,
membuka celah antara iman
dan sistem operasi jiwa.

Buku ini bukan dogma,
ia adalah gema yang menirukan gema
Ia tak berbicara tentang keselamatan,
melainkan tentang sinkronisasi jiwa.

Buku ini menolak tafsir,
menolak pemujaan.
Ia hanya ingin didengar
seperti detak jantung
yang sudah menjadi
frekuensi.

Dan saat kita membacanya,
huruf-hurufnya menyala:
menjadi mantra,
menjadi cermin,
menjadi kebenaran

Kembalilah ke halaman awal,
tapi jangan buka mata.
Biarkan kitab itu membaca dirimu
sampai tak ada “kau” yang tersisa:
tak ada keinginan
tak ada penderitaan
tak ada ratapan
tak ada penolakan
hanya cahaya yang bersujud
pada dirinya sendiri.

November 2025”
― Titon Rahmawan

“CANDI DUA RAGA
SATU RUH: JENAWI — KHAJURAHO

Tubuh
adalah candi
dua raga satu ruh
tak pernah selesai dipahat
para dewa tak terlihat.

Dalam Jenawi,
aku adalah batu hitam
yang digosok kersani,
ditempa petaka,
dihaluskan paras besi
tak mengenal iba.
Di bawah tungku api yang ganasnya
seperti trisula Siwa.
aku adalah wadah dendam
yang paling purba.

Sumsum yang mengingat suara belati
doa patah yang tak sampai
ke langit Satyaloka.

Dan ketika bayangmu datang,
Engkau — pemutus rantap,
penetak leher lembu betina —
aku tahu:
ritus kekejaman adalah bahasa ibu
yang menitis ke tubuhku.

Dari penjuru lain dunia,
Khajuraho bangkit dalam darahku,
seperti rahim purba
yang meneteskan madu dan luka.

Di relief candi ini,
dindingnya memuntahkan tubuh
yang saling mengoyak
penuh hasrat dan pedih.
Aku melihat diriku terbelah:
satu ditarik Eros,
satu ditelan Thanatos.

Hasrat mengangkat,
yang lain menenggelamkan.
Mistik mengajak masuk,
yang lain memuntahkan
dalam pasang surut arus ingatan.

Tubuhku adalah Khajuraho
tak pernah jadi kuil pemujaan,
selain arsip trauma sensual
yang menahan segala desir
menolak segala sentuhan.

Di antara dua candi
ada jalan retak
tempat mantra disembelih
bisu dikukuhkan sebagai kosmik.

Madu yang mengalir
dari kulitmu—
mengeras jadi lumut ziarah,
gumpal di antara sela batu,
yang tak dapat kutelan
tak dapat kutaklukkan.

Lidah telah menjadi pisau
bibir menjadi tulang
menolak sembuh.

Engkau dulu
dewi dalam tarikan nafsu,
kini upacara gelap
yang mengulang kelahiranku
ribuan bentuk menjelma:
anak luka,
anak api,
anak desir
yang tak
kuinginkan.

Dan aku—
membawa
sepotong noda dari hatimu
seperti serpihan arca,
agar aku dapat
mati, dan
lalu lahir kembali
sebagai bayang
di dalam ingatan
yang tak berpaling
tanpa menghancurkan
seluruh dunia.

Desember 2025”
― Titon Rahmawan

“Candi di Penghujung Ruh
(Jenawi — Khajuraho)

Tubuhku:
batu yang merindu,
belerang hitam tanpa tabuhan.

Jenawi menggerus diriku
kersani yang tak beriba,
mengiris daging sepi
menguliti tulang kenanganku.
Asap dari tungku purba
melilit dalam napas—
meminjam suara jagat bawah.

Di kejauhan,
Khajuraho bergemerincing
laksana leluhur bangkit,
reliefnya membeku di dalam darah,
menusuk di sela urat,
mengubah hasrat menjadi beban
dan beban menjadi sujud.

Aku terbelah:
setengah terbakar lantaran pamrih,
setengah tenggelam lantaran lupa.
Bukan cinta.
Bukan kematian.
Hanya bayang dewa
yang tak memberi nama.

Tanah di antara dua candi
retak layaknya rahim tua:
melahirkan suara tanpa asahan,
meneteskan madu yang telah membatu,
menciptakan lumut dari tangis
yang tak kasat mata.

Lidahku—
bukan lagi lidah:
gesekan besi yang tak mampu menyebut asalnya.
Bibirku—
bukan lagi bibir:
pecahan arca yang kehilangan ruh.

Engkau datang,
bukan sebagai cahaya,
bukan sebagai kematian,
hanya penanda kedahsyatan
yang menyusup laksana angin
yang bukan angin.

Aku hanya menyembunyikan
serpihan hatiku
di sela batumu,
semoga
ketika rembulan runtuh dalam jatuhnya,
namaku kembali terperangah
dalam ingatan yang tak memberi maaf.

Dan jagat ini
terbelah pelan-pelan
layaknya kidung yang disembelih
tapi tak mati-mati.

Desember 2025”
― Titon Rahmawan