RE: Re:mantras

[Guest guest]

Hello Michele:

 

The variations on mantra and its proper usage are as vast as the paths to

God. Robert Svoboda's teacher Vimalananda taught that it was best to never

chant out loud, Yogiar who started the Kriya Babaji system believes that

Tamil is the best language for chanting, some teach never to sing a mantra,

others that mantras should be kept a secret. Yogi Bhajan who credits

himself with the introduction of Kundalini Yoga and much of the information

we have on chakras chants in Grumuki. I worked with a Naad Yogi who has

specific techniques for working a mala with the chant. Even the 'western'

Catholics are moving in the direction of sound and spirituality as there is

an ever-growing movement towards bringing back masses in Latin for the

spiritual and mystical effects of that language. Thankfully, all paths lead

to one.

 

Rather than using the 'ng' sound as out loud and the 'm' as internal I was

taught that chanting any mantra out loud will work on the physical body,

while softly chanting will work on the mental and silent chanting goes to

the soul. Taking yet another variation of the So Hum you can add the 'ng'

to it by chanting Ong Song Hung and with certain mudras it will work to

clean out the aura rather quickly. A technique that I have taught is the

"Hamsa" which is yet another variation of So Hum......the silent mantra

starts with the exhale and 'Hum' and the inhale with 'So' this variation is

said to match the natural sound of one's breath.

 

As with so much in the spiritual world eventually all of the tools lead us

to being in the position of having to know what's right from within

ourselves. Georg Fuerstein explains in THE TECHNOLOGY OF ECASTY how the

yogis were the outcasts of the traditional Brahman dictated society. He

believed that was the start of the Forest Rishis as these people would leave

the confines of proper society and live in caves to find their truth. The

picture in my mind of these yogis periodically coming out of their caves

with one of their discoveries went a long way in curing my mind of the need

for clear cut rules. I suppose in it's own way the absence of clearly

defined 'rights' and 'wrongs' wields yet another blow to the intellectual

mind....it pushes us even further into trusting the silence of grace.

 

All that being said I do appreciate this opportunity to discuss mantra which

is a subject that is always of great interest to me.

 

Namaste,

Linda

> Thanks for the titbit about the "ng" sound. I have also been taught

> that the "m" is used for internal chanting, the "ng" for when chanting

> out loud. Any work on any aspect of the lower chakras with have an

> influence on Sahasrara - they are interconnected and do not exist in

> isolation. The physical location of the chakras provides a point of

> focus, and a way of beginning to understand their function - but they

> are at once somewhere and nowhere. That is they have location but not

> dimension.

>

> "When we chant or silently vibrate these Bijas, each consonant now

> correctly ends with either a "NG" (nasal-palatal) sound, or an "M"

> (labial) sound. This is called the Anuswara (literally "little

> heaven"), and heaven, after all is a state of mind! Chanting aloud we

> attach the "NG" sound, and meditating mentally we attach the "M"

sound."

> from "A Chakra & Kundalini Workbook" by Dr Jonn Mumford (Swami

> Anandakapila).

>

> OM Shanti

> Michele

>

>