Being initiated into a mantra requires a teacher or guru to initiate you. You could just pick a mantra on your own, but apparently it has greater meaning and power when you are formally initiated. My textbook says "mantra initation is the spark that ignites the dormant spiritual energy that resides in every human heart. Once lit, the fire is kept going by daily japa meditation." Japa is the science of meditation using the repetition of a mantra. Repetition ignites the power of the mantra.
We spent a few days comtemplating which deity we felt mostly strongly about as our ista-devata (chosen form of god). I was thinking about Rama because I was really interested in the Ramayana when I studied it in high school, but I decided against that one. Partially because I named my dad's dog Rama, but also because Rama is considered the ideal man, and I definitely don't consider myself 'ideal' in any way! I was going to choose a different one for myself. I decided on Durga, the divine mother. Durga is fierce. She rides a tiger and has 8 arms bearing a different weapon in each. She uses her weapons to slay the demons that we all have inside of us. I have also been reflecting on my accident and how its clear to me now that there was some strength coming from outside of myself that helped me to recover. I like thinking that it was a divine power, like Durga. I talked to swami Ridiananda about it, and she thought Durga was a good choice for my ista-devata. This morning we congregated on the bay platform, outside the temple, and we were called in to the temple in groups by the mantra that we chose. There were only two of us who chose the Durga mantra. We learned how to properly pronounce the mantra, we learned a little about Durga, and we were blessed with various powders smeared on our foreheads.
All it all it was a very powerful experience. I think it was the most inner reflection we have been instructed to undertake for this course, so a lot of people were strongly affected by it.
