The mantra, SA TA NA MA accesses the level of the mind where habits are formed which is why the mantra is able to break addictions and thought patterns. If you try to break an addiction without going to the place where it was formed, your life becomes filled with the experience of deprivation of something you are craving and strained by living up against a chemical/person/thought form that you believe has power over you. Nothing has power over you except you! This meditation helps you to become witness to this.
Some fascinating information about this meditation: It is from the book, The Mind: Its Projections and Multiple Facets, by Yogi Bhajan with Gurucharan Khalsa, an amazing work of spiritual art that is rich with yoga technology and over forty meditations. Here’s what the book has to say about the Heart-Cross Kirtan Kriya meditation:
“Memories flow constantly into our awareness. The Negative Mind sorts these to use only the ones that support your action and identity.
(If this quality is) too strong: You can become fearful of past mistakes and traumas. you may be slow to change and need high levels of confidence before committing to a direction of action. You require evidence and repetition of things already certain.
(If) too weak: You are blind-sided by things you could have avoided through using past lessons. You let anger and frustration from the past submerge and develop subconsciously.
Balanced: You learn quickly from the past. You avoid your own traumas and those of others, and can rapidly come up with new plans to avoid old errors and clean up past messes. You will be highly ethical and feel best when you can forgive all the errors you find others have made, as you create new ways to move ahead.”