Mormon Mantras In this presentation that last year electrified symposium audiences in Salt Lake City and Seattle, Phil McLemore shares the story of his journey to the practice of meditation as a way to alleviate severe, chronic pain but which soon became for him a liberating spiritual practice. In Eastern spiritual traditions, mantras are practiced to assist persons to overcome mindless, conditioned behavior and to align themselves with the divine. In the course of his presentation, Phil and attendees examine Mormon cultural “mantras,” the repetitive phrases and ideas that help organize the internal lives of many Latter-day Saints. Do these serve the same liberating function, or do they, at times, inhibit individual spiritual growth? Are there gospel mantras that could better serve us?

Phil McLemore