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August 13, 2017 - December 14, 2019
If one goes to any Hindu Temple and approaches one of the priests and says questioningly, “Nama Eva, Nama Eva . . . “ there will invariably come the response, “Kevalam, Kevalam.” This exchange roughly translates as, “The Name alone, the Name alone . . . sets one free, sets one free.” The understanding between the questioner and responder is that the practice of Sanskrit mantra is the single most efficacious spiritual practice for the current period of Spiritual Winter, called Kali Yuga.
The Ancient Power of Sanskrit Mantra and Ceremony, Volume I.
Mantras are tools of power and tools for power. They are formidable. They are ancient. They work.
The word mantra is derived from two Sanskrit words. The first is “manas” or “mind,” which provides the “man” syllable. The second syllable is drawn from the Sanskrit word “trai” meaning to “protect” or to “free from.” Therefore, the word mantra in its most literal sense means “to free from the mind” (the cognitive, creative mind). Mantra is, at its core, a tool used by the mind that eventually frees one from the vagaries of the mind. But the journey from mantra to freedom is a wondrous one. The mind expands, deepens and widens and eventually dips into the essence of cosmic existence. On its
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Sanskrit has been called a variety of names: Deva Lingua (language of the gods), the “mother of tongues”, or simply a divine language.
The Sanskrit alphabet has the same number of petals or spokes as there are on the flowers or wheels of the total of the first six chakras or esoteric energy centers, located along the spine. This is no accident.
A saying from the Vedas claims that, “Speech is the essence of humanity.”
New Testament, Book of John, starts: “In the beginning was The Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God .
In The Kalachakra Tantra, by the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins, the Dalai Lama states, ‘Therefore, without depending upon mantra . . . Buddhahood cannot be attained.’ Clearly, there is a reason why such widely divergent sources of religious wisdom as the New Testament and the Dalai Lama speak in common ideas.
Every Mantra contains in its vibrations a certain power. The very etymology of the word Mantra reveals that it serves as an instrument to elevate the Mind, an instrument which helps the mind to contemplate and plunge into the oceanic depth of silence. The word Mantra is derived from the root sound ‘man’ which means to think, to contemplate or meditate on, to perceive, to understand or comprehend. The sound tra at the end of the word Mantra is a suffix added in the sense of instrumentality. So, Mantra, as per its etymology, is an instrument of or a means for contemplation, meditation,
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is believed that all the answers we search for, all the vital responses we seek after, and all the information we need are stored on an energy matrix called the non-local intelligence and that is available to all of us at any time. It is the function of the higher selves and can be accessed through the mantras.
Mantra plays a great role in creating a blessed quietude and silence in mind, felt by an elevating vibration, to rise to the highest level of yogic consciousness.
Mantra is the key to Yoga in the deeper sense and to awakening a higher intelligence within us.
Mantra perhaps uniquely represents both the teaching and its practice at the same time. It holds the key to the greater Yoga tradition and its continual adaptation. It links the human mind with the cosmic mind. Yet mantra is also something very accessible that we can begin with at any stage of our inner quest.
The Judeo-Christian tradition starts with God creating the universe through the Word: “Let there be light,” and there was light. The New Testament ponders, “In the beginning was the Word.” The monastic history of Christianity includes prayer, chant and formalized words of meditation. Church services frequently include responsive chants of ‘Amen’. The Jewish Kabala has mystic syllables and explains the Hebrew alphabet in a similar way relative to cosmology as the Yoga tradition does the Sanskrit alphabet. Sufism relies on the power of oft repeated prayers and Divine names to bring life into
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Many traditions teach that if you know the Name of something you can gain mastery over it. This is an expression of the occult, mystical sense of being able to create the vibration or resonance of the object to fully identify with it. It is not the outer name, such as we find in a dictionary, which grants this power but the inner Name that is a mantric vibration. There is a sound code or vibratory pattern behind the universe itself, embedded in the fabric of existence that holds the intelligence, information and energy forms through which all processes of life operate. Connecting to this
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Mantra Yoga includes a study of the qualities inherent in sound itself, through which words and meanings are either properly shaped or deformed. It shows how sounds impact the nervous system, mind and heart, and how we can modify them to improve our lives.
The ‘energetics of sound’ discussed from the standpoint of Mantra Yoga can help you understand the sounds that you are setting in motion in your own life, and what their likely impact is going to be. The methods of Mantra Yoga can help you apply mantra and sacred sound in a practical manner, just as you can use Yoga asanas or pranayama to improve your health and awareness.
Mantra is a tool for connecting us with the spiritual wisdom and the energy of consciousness hidden in the universe as a whole. Mantra is a doorway to an awareness that exists beyond all limited bits of information or technical knowledge.
The universe itself is ultimately an expression of a single mantra or vibratory sound energy.
Mantra in the yogic sense relates to the prime energies, ideas, principles or archetypes of the cosmic intelligence that directs the forces of nature and the movements of our own minds and hearts. Mantra is part of a universal language rooted in sound, image, number and symbol, reflecting a ‘cosmic thinking’ beyond the preconceptions and biases of human thought. Mantra functions according to the inner mathematics of cosmic law. It serves to link our individual intelligence with the greater intelligence that pervades all space, extending our awareness into the Infinite and Eternal. To chant a
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There are mantric sounds that can awaken the higher potentials of the brain and change the flow of ...
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Mantra is the most important tool for attuning our bodies and minds to their proper resonance, which is not with the outer world, but with the Divine presence that constitutes our own deepest Self.
Mantras provide focus, strength, plasticity and adaptability to the mind, just as asanas do for the body. Mantras exercise our mental energy and give it poise and stability, just as asanas improve our physical condition. Most importantly, mantras harmonize the mental field, drawing our consciousness into a state of stillness that is inspirational.
intention, form, and means of adaptation. Much like each asana, each mantra has its signature energy that brings about a specific effect upon the mind and can be understood according to its sound, meaning and application.
As asana is the key to the flexibility of the body, the right use of mantra is the key to the flexibility of the mind!
Even the Yogic greeting, Namaste, ‘I bow to the Divine within you’, is a kind of mantra.
Mantra in Sanskrit means the tool ‘tra’ of the mind ‘manas’.
does regard mantra as a key practice relative to all aspects of Yoga.
Mantra creates the orientation of mind necessary for the yamas and niyamas, the prime yogic observances, attitudes and life-style measures, to work. Such yogic observances as non-violence (ahimsa) and truthfulness (satya) are mantras themselves as it were, prime principles to repeat in our minds and hearts in order to guide our lives. Asanas performed while repeating the appropriate mantras bring a greater energy and awareness into the bones, muscles, joints and nerves, and help us transcend body consciousness. Pranayama practiced along with special ‘prana mantras’ can connect us to the cosmic
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As asana controls the body and pranayama controls the breath, so mantra controls the mind, not artificially but through a natural development of energy and attention.
Mantra sustains the proper circulation of energies in the sphere of the mind,
Mantra is not only an important preparation for meditation, ‘Mantra Meditation’ is one of the main types of meditation, with many variations.
After all, our main mental fixation is with words. Mantra allows us to turn this negative attachment into a positive inspiration, as we replace our ordinary words and phrases with mantras.
Mantra practice gradually calms and integrates the mind. The mind becomes silent, concentrated and reflective, allowing our a...
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Formless meditation is hard to achieve directly but becomes easily accessible once one builds the...
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It should be beneath our dignity as a Divine soul to allow our minds to dwell on negative thoughts and emotions, fears, desires, jealousy and hatred, or to be controlled and distracted by external influences.
Mantra can help us break up deep-seated mental and emotional patterns, conditioning and traumas even from childhood.
Traditional Yoga practice consists of two primary stages: To develop sattva guna or ‘purity of body and mind’. To still the mind and go beyond it to the higher Self or Purusha.
The first stage of Yoga requires promoting sattva guna to create the proper balance in the mind, removing toxins and doshas from the body, and neutralizing the residual energies of rajas and tamas or agitation and inertia from the subconscious. The second stage consists of going beyond the mind-body c...
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Generally, we cannot succeed at the second step, if we have not first accomplished the first,...
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If our minds are noisy, disturbed, hypersensitive, reactive, opinionated, critical, or just constantly busy, we cannot silence them.
Mantra Yoga reflects an entire ‘Yoga of Sound’ (Shabda Yoga).
The Sanskrit word for scripture or Veda is Shruti, which means what has been heard at the level of the spiritual heart.
Mantras require the proper energization for them to work in the best possible manner. How to awaken and empower the mantra is one of the most important considerations in the usage of any mantra.
One must bring life to the mantra, which is to make the mantra not only part of your personal life but of the universal life around you. Energization of mantra in turn requires some guidance and connection with the greater tradition of Mantra Yoga.
The term mantra traditionally suggests a mantra guru. A guru or spiritual guide is often defined as one who gives us a mantra and makes it work. The special word or instruction of the guru can itself be called mantra and can function as a mantra for us. The guru is usually part of a yogic tradition that has its own mantras, through which the trad...
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from. Who is giving you the mantra and according to what authority or sanction?
sound. Unless we have some means to bring it to life, the mantra may not become effective, even if we have a good mantra to begin with.
Clearly one doesn’t have to go to an enlightened guru for any mantra, but for the higher mantras we need if not an outer connection with a great guru, at least a profound inner connection with a guru, deity or tradition.
