Essay written by Hazel looking at Mantras and their use
a). What is Mantra? Include a variety of examples
Mantra can be a syllable, word or phrase that has special meaning to the person repeating it with mindfulness. Mantras are usually a spiritual formula usually applied to God such as the Vedas or in Christianity a hymn or prayer. They are a way to transformation, the words imbued with the intent of the achieving a state or quality of mind &/or action.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad has the famous refrain
lead me from the unreal to the Real
Lead me from the darkness to light
lead me from death to immortality
Editors notes, The Upanishads p. 33
The similarity to the Lord’s Prayer is apparent. The intent of direction or purpose empowering the believer to achieve their aim, such as “ lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil”. Although for myself not with a religious framework, I still appreciate the power of mantra, connected with Divine energy and vibration.
When spoken, the act of forming the words out loud gives it strength as declaring the mantras intent, and adds to the ritualistic ceremony. Japa (spoken) mantra is a good lead into meditation. The silent ajapa, mantra on the breath meditation is more profound as concentration is held purely by the mind. Sirra Datta describes Mantra as a tool ‘to vibrate the mind’. The rhythm of mantra holds the mind, allowing all other thoughts to be emptied and thus focus on the intent of the word or phrase.
Think of yourself as a Divine instrument with strings. When you pluck those strings all 30 trillion cells of the body vibrate. The vibration gives you shape, physically, emotionally and mentally.
...when you chant you pick up infinite sound, a pattern that is timeless and vast, captured in a seed, in words. If the rhythm is right, your concentration focused and you allow yourself to surrender to its pulse, then the central nervous system vibrates it and you simply listen.
when we chant, it is a vibration direct to the infinite mind – God.
Kundalini Yoga p.54
Datta discusses the mechanics of how the mantras work. Our lips symbolise the Moon, or the feminine principle, and our tongue represents the Sun, or masculine principle, thus connecting the two. The tongue flicking against the upper palate causing the 84 meridian points located there to be stimulated. The meridian points stimulate the hypothalamus and so the causing the pituitary and pineal glands to secrete hormones thus triggering a balancing of the mind and body.
Iyengar describes as within many religious systems how the Guru (or spiritual teacher) will give a Sisya (or pupil) of mrdu (feeble) qualities a mantra to develop; with much effort the student or sadhaka can reach enlightenment in twelve years. The Guru, which means leading from darkness into light, will give their disciple a mantra relevant to them at that time. The mantra has more depth as given by the trusted guru and the sacred words usually whispered at a ceremony.
The mantra is further empowered by the actual sound, rhythm and tone. Unfortunately I have difficulty remembering the rhythm of the sung mantras which have always attracted me when taught to me in class. I particularly liked the simple adoration to the elephant headed God, Ganesha:
Ganesha sharanam
sharanam Ganesha
Ganesha is the deity who overcomes all obstacles and is worshipped for the cure of diseases. As a healer I can connect with this image and with my yoga studies I can understand the obstacles needing to be overcome.
I use a silent mantra when meditating with the chakras. I silently speak through each of the chakras, their associated colour and qualities. The initial focus and opening the chakras, connecting with the divine light at the crown, carrying the cleansing white light back through the charkas and up again and finally closing the chakras back down at the close. I use the Reiki healing colour system:
Vibrant Red at the base charka. Grounded and connected with the earth’s energy
Bright orange at the Belly, the centre of sexuality and self-image
Golden yellow at the solar plexus, the energy centre for ones power & vitality
Pink & Green at the heart, centre of unconditional love, both giving & receiving
Blue at the throat, cool deep blue for communication on all levels
Amethyst mauve at the third eye, centre for connection with the ethereal
1001 white petals lotus at the crown, connection with the divine
Similarly I have found the bija or seed mantras very strong to work with, single syllables that contain the full meaning connected with the element and chakra. These I chant aloud and find the sound itself reverberates with each charka,
- beyond sound Sahasara crown chakra
Om – consciousness & Ajna third eye chakra
Ham – ether element & vishuddha throat chakra
Yam – air element & Anahata Heart chakra
Ram – fire element & Manipura Solar plexus chakra
Vam – water element & Swadhishthana Belly chakra
Lam – earth element & Muladhara Root chakra
Mantras can act on changing perception and undo habitual thought process and reset the karmic records. A simple analogy is positive thinking of my glass is half full rather than negative perception of the glass is half empty. This can help focus a person to a more content and fulfilled life by viewing their life thus.
b). What is the significance of OM?
Om, or described as Aum in the classical texts, is a cosmic vibration leading one beyond mortality and connecting with the divine.
Aum stands for the supreme Reality
It is a symbol for what is was, what is,
and what shall be. Aum represents
what lies beyond past, present and future.
Mandukya stanza 1, The Upanishads p.60
Om is a very powerful sound and symbol; it is the bija mantra of the Ajna (third eye) charka, connected with communication & connection with the ethereal. Om is connected with the fourth and highest conscious state Turriya, which is the super conscious state, beyond the senses and the intellect.
The Prashna Upanishad describes each of the three sounds with attaining different states:
A – come back to earth to lead a pure life full of faith and love.
A and u – go to the lunar world, full of pleasure, from which they come back cloyed to earth again.
A, u and m – leads one to the solar world, freed from sin and see the divine.
All three chanted together
...the whole mantram, A, u, and m, indivisible, interdependent
goes on reverberating in the mind,
one is free from fear, awake or asleep
Question V, Prasna, The Upanishads p.165 & 6
The Om Sanskrit letter or symbol itself carries depth of meaning and can be used as a tratak or gazing meditation. It also shows the path of realisation. The long lower curve stands for the waking state, the upper curve for the waking state and the curve issuing from the centre symbolises deep, dreamless sleep. The crescent shape stands for maya, the veil of illusion, and the dot for transcendental state. When the individual’s spirit passes through the veil of maya and rests in the transcendental, they are liberated from the three states and their qualities.
c). Detail your own experience of practising/ teaching Mantra
I use Om to always close my own practise and classes I teach as I feel completely at one with the meaning and use of Om. I see the Om chant is a way of bringing together the energy of the individual, the energies of the class and day. I indicate the completeness of the sound and that it symbolises the ‘whole’ and connection with their divine/ God/ Goddess or higher Self.
I talk through the complete breath, taking a full in breath, deep into the diaphragm, then out breath, releasing the O or A from the base, rising to the u as travels through the chest and heart area and finally the up and over the head as the vibration of m connects with the meridian lines, releasing through the lips held gently together. Although many students react with embarrassment at first so many have then found the experience up lifting and enjoyed the group experience of chanting together, even if they don’t connect with a higher or meditative state. The undertone that can be achieved is a further way of tapping into my own & student’s hidden emotional side.
Otherwise within teaching my use of mantra is limited to Om as I still feel uncomfortable with them so could not impart them to a group. A lot of the prayer type mantras seem too rigid in language and unmeaning as I do not have the God connection with a formal religious doctrine.
I do use silent mantras in meditation and have brought them into class connecting breath and mantra. The simplest has been ‘love & peace’, topically relevant over the past months of war and unrest and added depth of meaning when war with Iraq was declared. Silently speaking Love with the in breath and Peace on the out. As a tool for my own meditation I have used the Angel oracle cards, either meditating on the card chosen, tonight the card is Surrender, either using surrender simply to mediate on the word as single word mantra and/or its meaning. The cards also give an affirmation:
Surrender affirmation:
I surrender to the flow of life
Cooper, Diana, Angel oracle cards
I have found affirmations within yoga classes not to my liking, such as J Isaac Smith’s Yoga boxing class where we chanted with different movements: “I am strong”, “I am healthy”.
Affirmations seem too private to spoken aloud and shared. I have though asked the class to choose a quality they would like to acquire or develop in themselves, as an ajapa mantra, such as joy, self-worth or serenity to focus their meditation/ relaxation.
As mentioned earlier I have found the bija mantras very powerful in my own practise and the meditations with mantra of Deity or Gods/Goddess’ with whom I am have devotion with. I enjoy the mantras. I can feel the profound vibration and pranic quality intensifying as I use them more so.
Hazel Faithfull
23.11.03 W3.5 Words: 1697
Bibliography:
Cooper, Diana, Angel oracle cards, Findhorn publishing
Datta, Siri, (Open your heart with) Kundalini Yoga; Thorsons 2003 ISBN 0 00 714680 9
Easwaren, Eknath, editor, The Upanishads Nilgiri press ISBN 9 78 915 132393
Iyenga, B K S, The Illustrated Light on Yoga, Harper Collins, ISBN 1-85538-279-2
Lidell, Lucy, The Book of Yoga, Sivananda Yoga Centre, Ebury Press ISBN 085223-297-7