Original post: Harmonic_Order
Sandra and Chic Cicero's remastered version of Israel Regardie's "The Middle Pillar" give me most of my techniques from the Golden Dawn tradition. After resigning myself to the lack of privacy that prevented me from performing ceremonial, I experimented with trance. I practiced holding the image of Kether, radiant with blazing light, in mind. I achieved some proficiency with that, and can call the image into mind with very little effort today. However, only a few months ago I suffered burnout from too much monotony and too much work. My ceremonial practice fell away.
Around that time, about August or September, I bought a Krishna Das CD. The Vedic chants fell right into place and spelled relief for my tired mind. I could chant anywhere I walked, in my room, mentally at work, or generally anywhere. My bhakti yoga took on new flavor. Soon after, I obtained a Russill Paul box set of CDs, which I consider far superior. The Shiva and Shakti mantrams seized my attention. I read Crowley's "Eight Lectures on Yoga" with an eager intellect. In that work I found a recommendation that, lacking space and leisure to perform the full compliment of yama, niyama, Asana, etc., one ought to attain higher realms with mantra yoga. Very simply, I only had to chant continuously, day and night.
For the past two and one half weeks or so, I have done that. I wrote this while chanting mentally. I have woken up with the mantra in my mind, without consciously chanting. I do find that it takes my consscious Will noticably above the aspects of life that i hate: pettiness, workplace politicking, delusional cycles, etc., but that a certain amount of my attention remains in those circuits. A certain amount of my potential still remains tied up in automatic, unmindful grinding. I want to call it false ego, becuase it look slike I will that behavior; but I do not. The processing takes place in a Pavlov's dog kind of way, like a conditioned response. In the past couple of days, i have also gotten a few interior effects. For example, if I let the chant lapse, usually some repugnant thought enters immediately. For example, instead of centering on Shiva, my thoughts will suddenly jump to Catholicism, or Mahayana authoritarianism. I will post the results in future as I continue to chant.
Vedic chant for trance
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Original post: Harmonic_Order
After approximately three weeks of chanting vociferously, both mentally and verbally, I do begin to notice some marked differences in both behavior and thought. My verbal skills have weakened in some areas and strengthened in others. I consider this an experiment of epic proportions--I have never had this amount of dedication or endurance in any of my ventures (well beside smoking pot, but that happened a long time ago
). I manage to keep up the chant pretty much continuously, and when my mind strays elsewhere, I either hear the chant in the background of my thoughts or my thought/speech rythm keeps up with the rythm of the chant. And who knew that thoughts even had a background? That has to have come from chanting. My thoughts never had a background before. Also, I find that in encounters with adversaries and opponents at work, my intellect moves in palindromes, like a flail: both halves, completely symmetrical, work synergistically to accomplish a purpose. Today, when my mind (which now seems to live as a separate entity) tires of one shiva mantram, it moves not to another subject but another mantram! I also hear the voice of the zen monk at sangha in my head, counseling me when to switch mantras. Over the past week or so, I have a very clear superimposed or infraimposed vision of childhood memories. Every memory seems digital somehow, or cybernetic, just as have my best experiences with vedic chant and reading the Bhagavad. A.C. Prabhupada always talked about the vedic knowledge as a science, not an art, and this synchs up with is words entirely. Very clear, like a robotic servitor entering my memory and pulling up all the most nurturing childhood memories. I notice that when I lapse in attention and think of a live person instead of Shiva, their face appears as if infraimposed on my own. Yet, when I turn back to the chant, especially when I do so mentally, a different face appears, like a re-working of my own; a face and person more subtle and complete than any regular human being I interact with. I notice this very easily. The image called up by chanting of Shiva has much more depth and substance than that of my co-workers or even of my close friends. Yet His image seems like my own. I feel that I install myself above petty concerns, and that which i thought of as my false ego takes over as clerk; matters of pride and ego concern me less. The clerk takes care of them in an orderly fashion, and the loss or gain of face concerns me little. The trance makes me feel caught in the grip of a deity, like a man on a roller coaster, unable to exit but still protected. I feel a fear-proof sense of purpose, although the end goal remains hidden.
H_O
After approximately three weeks of chanting vociferously, both mentally and verbally, I do begin to notice some marked differences in both behavior and thought. My verbal skills have weakened in some areas and strengthened in others. I consider this an experiment of epic proportions--I have never had this amount of dedication or endurance in any of my ventures (well beside smoking pot, but that happened a long time ago
). I manage to keep up the chant pretty much continuously, and when my mind strays elsewhere, I either hear the chant in the background of my thoughts or my thought/speech rythm keeps up with the rythm of the chant. And who knew that thoughts even had a background? That has to have come from chanting. My thoughts never had a background before. Also, I find that in encounters with adversaries and opponents at work, my intellect moves in palindromes, like a flail: both halves, completely symmetrical, work synergistically to accomplish a purpose. Today, when my mind (which now seems to live as a separate entity) tires of one shiva mantram, it moves not to another subject but another mantram! I also hear the voice of the zen monk at sangha in my head, counseling me when to switch mantras. Over the past week or so, I have a very clear superimposed or infraimposed vision of childhood memories. Every memory seems digital somehow, or cybernetic, just as have my best experiences with vedic chant and reading the Bhagavad. A.C. Prabhupada always talked about the vedic knowledge as a science, not an art, and this synchs up with is words entirely. Very clear, like a robotic servitor entering my memory and pulling up all the most nurturing childhood memories. I notice that when I lapse in attention and think of a live person instead of Shiva, their face appears as if infraimposed on my own. Yet, when I turn back to the chant, especially when I do so mentally, a different face appears, like a re-working of my own; a face and person more subtle and complete than any regular human being I interact with. I notice this very easily. The image called up by chanting of Shiva has much more depth and substance than that of my co-workers or even of my close friends. Yet His image seems like my own. I feel that I install myself above petty concerns, and that which i thought of as my false ego takes over as clerk; matters of pride and ego concern me less. The clerk takes care of them in an orderly fashion, and the loss or gain of face concerns me little. The trance makes me feel caught in the grip of a deity, like a man on a roller coaster, unable to exit but still protected. I feel a fear-proof sense of purpose, although the end goal remains hidden.H_O
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Original post: Crucible of Light
I've never done any mantra work, but there's an essence to the way you describe things that feels intimately familiar to the way things have progressed within my ceremonial work.
I do believe everyone finds the right way for them - and it sounds like you've hit yours on the head. Congratulations on the dedication you've shown!
I've never done any mantra work, but there's an essence to the way you describe things that feels intimately familiar to the way things have progressed within my ceremonial work.
I do believe everyone finds the right way for them - and it sounds like you've hit yours on the head. Congratulations on the dedication you've shown!
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Original post: Harmonic_Order
Yeah, thanks... I read AC's Eight Lectures on Yoga and found it enlightening. I like the idea that all religions progress toward a common goal, and that he pointed out that all we ever experience consists of mind. I have a lot of respect for the man, since I have not yet read anything by him that turned out false. But AC also said that unless one has one's own flat and lots of solitude and spare time, other yoga cannot provide liberation. Mantra yoga, however, so simple and complete-in-itself, one may perform anywhere.
H_O
Yeah, thanks... I read AC's Eight Lectures on Yoga and found it enlightening. I like the idea that all religions progress toward a common goal, and that he pointed out that all we ever experience consists of mind. I have a lot of respect for the man, since I have not yet read anything by him that turned out false. But AC also said that unless one has one's own flat and lots of solitude and spare time, other yoga cannot provide liberation. Mantra yoga, however, so simple and complete-in-itself, one may perform anywhere.
H_O
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Original post: Harmonic_Order
Hey by the way, Crucible_of_Light, what type of ceremonial do you practice?
Today and on one day previous I have carried a wrist mala with 27 beads (one large bead to mark the circle) to focus my chanting. I don't mind that people notice me fingering the beads. It gives me peace of mind. I feel protected from everyday people's thoughts, which normally seem to scream at me from their motions and postures, and from their facial expressions. This chanting lets me exorcise a lot of my neuroses, which lingered just below the surface. I feel tied as if by beads to my shadow, the facet of me that holds spite close but also possesses artistic talents.
I can carry on a conversation or drink a beer or read without many mistakes in the mantra, chanting steadily. My voice-within-my-thoughts becomes clearer very quickly. I think that I will have power to resist others' ego trips, their force of conscious mind. Maybe my own voice will not get lost so much among the voices of others if i keep this practice going. People around me seem to speak in the rhythm of the mantra, and increasingly it becomes a palindrome in my head. "Om nama Shivayah Shivayah nama Om" wants to become "Om nama Shivayah nama Om." It sounds like the "melody of Everything" I heard under the effects of nitrous oxide. I seem to speak in that melody, too. I think the melody has nothing to do with the anesthesia, and everything to do with a pre-existing universal beat or song underlying human sense perceptions.
I notice how my attention fragments, and how many misperceptions and avoidances I have. Do other adults have this many neuroses? I really think I hear the mantra in-between what others say in casual conversation, and it seems so authentic that I wonder why this happens. Can what I run through my mind affect what I perceive? How far does that effect go? Chanting 108 times aloud with the mala in the morning gives me clarity, grounds me. All day at work I chant mentally.
In sangha, we would at the end of the dharma talk recite the Mahaprajnapramita, and the head student would say, "We take refuge..." to which we answered "In the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha." At home, for months I would end a meditation with the same words, only I would say the former in my mental space, and the latter with my physical voice. Well, now my thoughts have a connection to my spoken words that reminds me of ...well, of a cord of beads! I cannot explain what signifigance this has to me except to say that I had almost despaired that a part of me had separated entirely from the bulk of my mind. I almost believed I went psychotic and would need to check into an institution. But now, the fact that my thoughts pass so easily into spoken words tells me that I did not go mad, and that I do have unity of consciousness. The separation apparently only exists in my fears.
This experiment has turned up some dramatic results. I really feel happy with my success. The mantra sounds so similar to my mind that soon it may take hold as the underlying pattern--I hope so. As if I chewed the flavor out of a tough mouthful of food, the mantra bores me; but for some reason, i feel very satisfied and happy about this. During the time I spent typing this post, I had an image fixed in my mind of a street corner where I grew up, thousands of miles away. The image gives me great peace and comfort. I can smell the air, and feel the stillness. I think about this scene as if i would see it at the moment of death. I never think like this, so I ascribe the clarity and brightness to the chanting. Just like a very good dream, silent and pure, this meaningful image.
H_O
Hey by the way, Crucible_of_Light, what type of ceremonial do you practice?
Today and on one day previous I have carried a wrist mala with 27 beads (one large bead to mark the circle) to focus my chanting. I don't mind that people notice me fingering the beads. It gives me peace of mind. I feel protected from everyday people's thoughts, which normally seem to scream at me from their motions and postures, and from their facial expressions. This chanting lets me exorcise a lot of my neuroses, which lingered just below the surface. I feel tied as if by beads to my shadow, the facet of me that holds spite close but also possesses artistic talents.
I can carry on a conversation or drink a beer or read without many mistakes in the mantra, chanting steadily. My voice-within-my-thoughts becomes clearer very quickly. I think that I will have power to resist others' ego trips, their force of conscious mind. Maybe my own voice will not get lost so much among the voices of others if i keep this practice going. People around me seem to speak in the rhythm of the mantra, and increasingly it becomes a palindrome in my head. "Om nama Shivayah Shivayah nama Om" wants to become "Om nama Shivayah nama Om." It sounds like the "melody of Everything" I heard under the effects of nitrous oxide. I seem to speak in that melody, too. I think the melody has nothing to do with the anesthesia, and everything to do with a pre-existing universal beat or song underlying human sense perceptions.
I notice how my attention fragments, and how many misperceptions and avoidances I have. Do other adults have this many neuroses? I really think I hear the mantra in-between what others say in casual conversation, and it seems so authentic that I wonder why this happens. Can what I run through my mind affect what I perceive? How far does that effect go? Chanting 108 times aloud with the mala in the morning gives me clarity, grounds me. All day at work I chant mentally.
In sangha, we would at the end of the dharma talk recite the Mahaprajnapramita, and the head student would say, "We take refuge..." to which we answered "In the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha." At home, for months I would end a meditation with the same words, only I would say the former in my mental space, and the latter with my physical voice. Well, now my thoughts have a connection to my spoken words that reminds me of ...well, of a cord of beads! I cannot explain what signifigance this has to me except to say that I had almost despaired that a part of me had separated entirely from the bulk of my mind. I almost believed I went psychotic and would need to check into an institution. But now, the fact that my thoughts pass so easily into spoken words tells me that I did not go mad, and that I do have unity of consciousness. The separation apparently only exists in my fears.
This experiment has turned up some dramatic results. I really feel happy with my success. The mantra sounds so similar to my mind that soon it may take hold as the underlying pattern--I hope so. As if I chewed the flavor out of a tough mouthful of food, the mantra bores me; but for some reason, i feel very satisfied and happy about this. During the time I spent typing this post, I had an image fixed in my mind of a street corner where I grew up, thousands of miles away. The image gives me great peace and comfort. I can smell the air, and feel the stillness. I think about this scene as if i would see it at the moment of death. I never think like this, so I ascribe the clarity and brightness to the chanting. Just like a very good dream, silent and pure, this meaningful image.
H_O
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Original post: KageKi
"Mantra is God, God is Sound, Sound is Feeling, Feeling is Life, Life is God."
;-)
"Mantra is God, God is Sound, Sound is Feeling, Feeling is Life, Life is God."
;-)
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Original post: Crucible of Light
Harmonic : I'm a GD initiate, with a fairly freewheeling approach to extra-curricular activities. Which is to say, I devote myself to my grade work, but I don't limit myself to that alone - I like to work in a bit of yoga, a bit of chaos stuff, some freeform work - the gradework keeps me on track, but I let myself roam around as I go.
I got given a mantra by my HGA a week or so ago, and then this post cropped up. I only put two and two together yesterday - thanks so much for posting this. It's really useful for me, right now - and it's weird, I've never done any mantra work in the past. I'd previously been trying to vibrate the mantra like an invocation, when it's now clear to me that I should be using it as ... a mantra! Sounds obvious, but it took your post for it to click into place.
Harmonic : I'm a GD initiate, with a fairly freewheeling approach to extra-curricular activities. Which is to say, I devote myself to my grade work, but I don't limit myself to that alone - I like to work in a bit of yoga, a bit of chaos stuff, some freeform work - the gradework keeps me on track, but I let myself roam around as I go.
I got given a mantra by my HGA a week or so ago, and then this post cropped up. I only put two and two together yesterday - thanks so much for posting this. It's really useful for me, right now - and it's weird, I've never done any mantra work in the past. I'd previously been trying to vibrate the mantra like an invocation, when it's now clear to me that I should be using it as ... a mantra! Sounds obvious, but it took your post for it to click into place.
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Original post: Harmonic_Order
Well, Crucible_of_Light, pleased to have given assistance to a member of the venerable organization.
My progress since the last post follows:
I begin to feel a little guilty about this practice. Maybe it feels too good, works too well. I feel like a man alternately frightening a toad and licking it, sometimes. Do I commit a wicked or unacceptable act by reciting this mantra? I sit apart from all other activities, communions, concern for others, and mental activities unless under direct harangue. I do feel that I have, after many years, picked up where I left off. In the late 1990s, I had a dream in which I rose in a chair from an operating theater into the sky; I came down at the edge of a great and cold ocean, into which I feared to venture. Considering that as a metaphor for my spiritual progress, I see that I stalled out at a transition of great moment. This mantraprogresses from there almost perfectly. The ...I do not have words to describe this, but I will try... the new mental behavior (also very, very old, since I left of at age three or so) fits into the empty space in my daily life like a puzzle piece. More open space remains, but I get the sense that I now perform almost the perfect non-actions.
And the mental space cleared or indicated has the very old feel of a tomb recently opened. I speculate that the fresh, clear memories from my childhood only symbolize the uncovering of knowledge of an ancient time of antiquity congruent, in terms of the age of humanity, to the years of my early childhood. "Ontogeny recapitualtes phylogeny." Sometimes the voice inside my mind that chants does not sound like mine; sometimes Krishna Das's voice chants for me, and sometimes that of Russill Paul. Many years ago, my family had a Thai or Philippina cleaning lady named Adalina. Inexplicably, sometimes her voice chants in harmony. I get visions of sanskrit texts held in brown-skinned hands, and places in Thailand and Japan which I have never visited; but I also got these when I first started chanting many different mantras along with Krishna Das. It reminds me of an occasion in 1994, when I had a spontaneous burst of inward sight. I saw pages and pages of Chinese or Japanese writing, of paper people living paper lives; they had died, their paper burnt, and now lived in floating dreams in the infinite void. It left me aghast, as if I had seen that which mortal man should never see. With this chanting, I get memories which could only belong to a few people: my father, dead these thirteen months; Adalina, and an Indian teacher at a British school in 1981. But the peaceful, clear visions without people belong to me alone.
A while back, I discovered that I could throw my voice. Now, the chant throws itself. And more interesting still, the spatial-rhythmic-melodic pattern I heard under nitrous oxide, and which the mantra so closely mirrors, now seems to me like the sound of thought centers processing. Of course I do not have hard science here. I have gone wandering, and I can't do the analyzing or appraising. I do not know the objective truth. But this sound agglomeration seems to me to indicate the underlying nerve-flashings within my brain... or the "laid-bare" process of my mind, to skeletonize AC's admonition to study mathematics.
No more for now.
H_O
Well, Crucible_of_Light, pleased to have given assistance to a member of the venerable organization.
My progress since the last post follows:
I begin to feel a little guilty about this practice. Maybe it feels too good, works too well. I feel like a man alternately frightening a toad and licking it, sometimes. Do I commit a wicked or unacceptable act by reciting this mantra? I sit apart from all other activities, communions, concern for others, and mental activities unless under direct harangue. I do feel that I have, after many years, picked up where I left off. In the late 1990s, I had a dream in which I rose in a chair from an operating theater into the sky; I came down at the edge of a great and cold ocean, into which I feared to venture. Considering that as a metaphor for my spiritual progress, I see that I stalled out at a transition of great moment. This mantraprogresses from there almost perfectly. The ...I do not have words to describe this, but I will try... the new mental behavior (also very, very old, since I left of at age three or so) fits into the empty space in my daily life like a puzzle piece. More open space remains, but I get the sense that I now perform almost the perfect non-actions.
And the mental space cleared or indicated has the very old feel of a tomb recently opened. I speculate that the fresh, clear memories from my childhood only symbolize the uncovering of knowledge of an ancient time of antiquity congruent, in terms of the age of humanity, to the years of my early childhood. "Ontogeny recapitualtes phylogeny." Sometimes the voice inside my mind that chants does not sound like mine; sometimes Krishna Das's voice chants for me, and sometimes that of Russill Paul. Many years ago, my family had a Thai or Philippina cleaning lady named Adalina. Inexplicably, sometimes her voice chants in harmony. I get visions of sanskrit texts held in brown-skinned hands, and places in Thailand and Japan which I have never visited; but I also got these when I first started chanting many different mantras along with Krishna Das. It reminds me of an occasion in 1994, when I had a spontaneous burst of inward sight. I saw pages and pages of Chinese or Japanese writing, of paper people living paper lives; they had died, their paper burnt, and now lived in floating dreams in the infinite void. It left me aghast, as if I had seen that which mortal man should never see. With this chanting, I get memories which could only belong to a few people: my father, dead these thirteen months; Adalina, and an Indian teacher at a British school in 1981. But the peaceful, clear visions without people belong to me alone.
A while back, I discovered that I could throw my voice. Now, the chant throws itself. And more interesting still, the spatial-rhythmic-melodic pattern I heard under nitrous oxide, and which the mantra so closely mirrors, now seems to me like the sound of thought centers processing. Of course I do not have hard science here. I have gone wandering, and I can't do the analyzing or appraising. I do not know the objective truth. But this sound agglomeration seems to me to indicate the underlying nerve-flashings within my brain... or the "laid-bare" process of my mind, to skeletonize AC's admonition to study mathematics.
No more for now.
H_O
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Original post: Harmonic_Order
Today and yesterday I felt tempted to change over to the maha-mantra (hare krishna) instead of Lord Shiva's. I had to resist, though. I keep the maha-mantra sacred for occasions when I can cook for others. I know I cannot possibly observe Sri Krishna's austerities at this time. At times it seems that the mood calls for a different mantra. But I think about AC's words in "Eight Lectures on Yoga" about switching mantras, to the effect that a man may switch over to chanting to X and X devours him. I chant not so much to enter trance with Sri Shiva, but to ascend and reach higher grades of consciousness.
Tonight, I think I see what the trance means. I believe it means fixing one's attention on a certain level of human brainwaves, those that match this crazy little pattern that I keep mentioning. It must underlie my conscious thought. It stands out in stark relief under the anesthesia of N20. When I first noticed it, I observed an interconnectedness with others that bordered on telepathy. Other folks have mentioned this about nitrous oxide, and that they had confirmed their observations with their peers. I think that this brainwave or level of social awareness preexists the monad, and that chanting the Shiva mantram connects me with this. It places me in the abstract or impersonal aspect within the muddled cosmos of my mind, thus giving me a solid foundation from which to proceed.
And basically, doesn't that define the aim of the idea "salvation?" That is, freedom from delirium or insanity, infirmness of mind, I mean; a way to put one's thoughts in working order. If I reunite with a fundamental aspect of all humanity (which I take this wave or function to embody), how could I fail to understand my compatriot? By fixing my mind in this pattern through worship of Shiva through chant, I hope to achieve not only mental solvency, but as AC detailed in 8LOY, ascendency into higher grades. And it does seem to work.
H_O
Today and yesterday I felt tempted to change over to the maha-mantra (hare krishna) instead of Lord Shiva's. I had to resist, though. I keep the maha-mantra sacred for occasions when I can cook for others. I know I cannot possibly observe Sri Krishna's austerities at this time. At times it seems that the mood calls for a different mantra. But I think about AC's words in "Eight Lectures on Yoga" about switching mantras, to the effect that a man may switch over to chanting to X and X devours him. I chant not so much to enter trance with Sri Shiva, but to ascend and reach higher grades of consciousness.
Tonight, I think I see what the trance means. I believe it means fixing one's attention on a certain level of human brainwaves, those that match this crazy little pattern that I keep mentioning. It must underlie my conscious thought. It stands out in stark relief under the anesthesia of N20. When I first noticed it, I observed an interconnectedness with others that bordered on telepathy. Other folks have mentioned this about nitrous oxide, and that they had confirmed their observations with their peers. I think that this brainwave or level of social awareness preexists the monad, and that chanting the Shiva mantram connects me with this. It places me in the abstract or impersonal aspect within the muddled cosmos of my mind, thus giving me a solid foundation from which to proceed.
And basically, doesn't that define the aim of the idea "salvation?" That is, freedom from delirium or insanity, infirmness of mind, I mean; a way to put one's thoughts in working order. If I reunite with a fundamental aspect of all humanity (which I take this wave or function to embody), how could I fail to understand my compatriot? By fixing my mind in this pattern through worship of Shiva through chant, I hope to achieve not only mental solvency, but as AC detailed in 8LOY, ascendency into higher grades. And it does seem to work.
H_O
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Original post: Crucible of Light
[QUOTE=Harmonic_Order]And the mental space cleared or indicated has the very old feel of a tomb recently opened. I speculate that the fresh, clear memories from my childhood only symbolize the uncovering of knowledge of an ancient time of antiquity congruent, in terms of the age of humanity, to the years of my early childhood. "Ontogeny recapitualtes phylogeny." [/QUOTE]
These crisp memories of childhood I completely concur with - the sames things seem to be kicking themselves up for me. I used to have a very poor memory, especially for earlier events in my childhood. Now they daily swim to surface in perfect clarity - the feeling I get is of things lodged in my subconcious that have become lodged in a poor position. The work causes them to lift to the surfce, where they may be examined and replaced in their correct position.
My partner has described it as removing each layer of the aura, polishing it and placing it back. It feels a little like that, indeed.
I don't have too much to add, beyond the fact that I'm adoring reading this. I wish you well on this path - it seems you've found your calling, at least for now.
CoL
[QUOTE=Harmonic_Order]And the mental space cleared or indicated has the very old feel of a tomb recently opened. I speculate that the fresh, clear memories from my childhood only symbolize the uncovering of knowledge of an ancient time of antiquity congruent, in terms of the age of humanity, to the years of my early childhood. "Ontogeny recapitualtes phylogeny." [/QUOTE]
These crisp memories of childhood I completely concur with - the sames things seem to be kicking themselves up for me. I used to have a very poor memory, especially for earlier events in my childhood. Now they daily swim to surface in perfect clarity - the feeling I get is of things lodged in my subconcious that have become lodged in a poor position. The work causes them to lift to the surfce, where they may be examined and replaced in their correct position.
My partner has described it as removing each layer of the aura, polishing it and placing it back. It feels a little like that, indeed.
I don't have too much to add, beyond the fact that I'm adoring reading this. I wish you well on this path - it seems you've found your calling, at least for now.
CoL
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Original post: BloodStar Nebula
Moldavite
Moldavite
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Original post: Harmonic_Order
After a while chanting the same mantram, I find that the melody gets a bit dry. I have experimented with using the melody of whatever music anyone happens to play at the time. I can now chant silently while meditating, doing Tai Chi, carrying on a conversation, and watching television. It tends to repeat, echo, or just re-play in the back of my mind. My words flow more easily off the tongue, and I feel a little more creative.
I do need to remind myself that I do not intend to convert to hinduism, though. This remains, after all, an experiment. I saturate my experience with images of Krishna, images of Shiva and Shakti, chant CDs, tantrik readings, etc.; nevertheless, I only do this b/c Crowley suggested it. When the experiment comes to an end, I ought to keep progressing toward my goal of becoming an insider. I want to experience this mysterious Thelema for myself. It has occupied my attention for too many years to give up now.
H_O
After a while chanting the same mantram, I find that the melody gets a bit dry. I have experimented with using the melody of whatever music anyone happens to play at the time. I can now chant silently while meditating, doing Tai Chi, carrying on a conversation, and watching television. It tends to repeat, echo, or just re-play in the back of my mind. My words flow more easily off the tongue, and I feel a little more creative.
I do need to remind myself that I do not intend to convert to hinduism, though. This remains, after all, an experiment. I saturate my experience with images of Krishna, images of Shiva and Shakti, chant CDs, tantrik readings, etc.; nevertheless, I only do this b/c Crowley suggested it. When the experiment comes to an end, I ought to keep progressing toward my goal of becoming an insider. I want to experience this mysterious Thelema for myself. It has occupied my attention for too many years to give up now.
H_O
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Original post: Harmonic_Order
I have continued varying the chant among three variations of "Om Nama Shivayaa" and changing the melody. At a certain point during the day, my brain "bonks" on the chant if I do not. I have to maintain the interest. Today I woke up by grabbing the mala and chanting myself awake. I have held the chant in awareness almost 100% of my waking hours, even during complex manual tasks at work. I fantasize about a deva or guru ushering me into a new sphere, saying "Welcome to Shivadarshana. As you can see, it's quite something-else." I daydream that I earn the rank of sannyasi, or recluse.
I characterize these ideas as symptoms of the bhakti-yoga I have set as my task. In other words, they only come to mind because I have made Lord Shiva the object of my devotion. I took AC's advice in that I have saturated my field of awareness with Lord Shiva, and now my everyday thoughts have centered around Him and everything that He symbolizes.
I plot a hypothetical work of art: a hand-made nataraja statue, with all relevant symbolism. At my Yule circle, I performed certain rites to Shiva and Shakti. I wear a mala bracelet and chant on a 108-bead mala. I dance to the mantram while visualizing the nataraj; alternatively, I watch an image of it on my notebook's screen. The air in here smells like an hallucinogenic oil which I diffused last night, which bears His name. I performed a rite to Shiva while under its effects; then I put on a CD of jungle music and danced until I had to stop.
Something else I wanted to mention, which partly motivated me to post tonight, has gone into the unconscious, here. What did I want to rant about? Oh, yes: War. "Here we soar at the zenith of technological progress and the utmost peak of our country's influence, and still we ocupy our time and money with war. We wage war with armaments, with espionage, with disinformation, with economics. And we still have most of the nuclear arms left over from the Cold War at the ready. Not only that, we have resumed building tactical, small-yield nukes and nuclear "bunker buster" arms. We have nerve gas and biological arms. And what will we do when we have conquered our enemies, down to the last little one? We will have a good, long victory dance in the ashes; for only ashes will remain. Only no-one will see it..."
Where will this conclude? How will I know I have succeeded? Presumably, some momentous event will mark off the point where I can stop. In bhakti-yoga on Lord Krishna, one never stops until one dies. Yet, one knows success by a personal, face-to-face visitation by the Supreme being Himself. (...) Well, I will read up on the subject more. I doubt that if anyone reads this thread, they would believe me if I said I got a face-to-face visitation by Shiva Himself!
H_O
I have continued varying the chant among three variations of "Om Nama Shivayaa" and changing the melody. At a certain point during the day, my brain "bonks" on the chant if I do not. I have to maintain the interest. Today I woke up by grabbing the mala and chanting myself awake. I have held the chant in awareness almost 100% of my waking hours, even during complex manual tasks at work. I fantasize about a deva or guru ushering me into a new sphere, saying "Welcome to Shivadarshana. As you can see, it's quite something-else." I daydream that I earn the rank of sannyasi, or recluse.
I characterize these ideas as symptoms of the bhakti-yoga I have set as my task. In other words, they only come to mind because I have made Lord Shiva the object of my devotion. I took AC's advice in that I have saturated my field of awareness with Lord Shiva, and now my everyday thoughts have centered around Him and everything that He symbolizes.
I plot a hypothetical work of art: a hand-made nataraja statue, with all relevant symbolism. At my Yule circle, I performed certain rites to Shiva and Shakti. I wear a mala bracelet and chant on a 108-bead mala. I dance to the mantram while visualizing the nataraj; alternatively, I watch an image of it on my notebook's screen. The air in here smells like an hallucinogenic oil which I diffused last night, which bears His name. I performed a rite to Shiva while under its effects; then I put on a CD of jungle music and danced until I had to stop.
Something else I wanted to mention, which partly motivated me to post tonight, has gone into the unconscious, here. What did I want to rant about? Oh, yes: War. "Here we soar at the zenith of technological progress and the utmost peak of our country's influence, and still we ocupy our time and money with war. We wage war with armaments, with espionage, with disinformation, with economics. And we still have most of the nuclear arms left over from the Cold War at the ready. Not only that, we have resumed building tactical, small-yield nukes and nuclear "bunker buster" arms. We have nerve gas and biological arms. And what will we do when we have conquered our enemies, down to the last little one? We will have a good, long victory dance in the ashes; for only ashes will remain. Only no-one will see it..."
Where will this conclude? How will I know I have succeeded? Presumably, some momentous event will mark off the point where I can stop. In bhakti-yoga on Lord Krishna, one never stops until one dies. Yet, one knows success by a personal, face-to-face visitation by the Supreme being Himself. (...) Well, I will read up on the subject more. I doubt that if anyone reads this thread, they would believe me if I said I got a face-to-face visitation by Shiva Himself!
H_O
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Original post: KCh
And why wouldn't at least one person agree that you did indeed experience Shiva?
I will not go to great lengths to ramble in circles about whether or not your experience is objective or subjective. That is irrelevent. The point is to find what is 'convienent'. For isn't that what all our created symbols tend towards? It is convienent to classify your experience as 'Shiva'.
Eternally, truth is relative.
And why wouldn't at least one person agree that you did indeed experience Shiva?
I will not go to great lengths to ramble in circles about whether or not your experience is objective or subjective. That is irrelevent. The point is to find what is 'convienent'. For isn't that what all our created symbols tend towards? It is convienent to classify your experience as 'Shiva'.
Eternally, truth is relative.
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Original post: m1thr0s
m1thr0s
One of the only things that make the gods "useful" to us is their ability to manifest right in front of us. Hindu gods/goddesses are famous for this kind of spontaneous appearances. There is nothing especially difficult to accept about this. Krishna actually went to war with Arjuna and hung out with him and shared his chariot etc...discussed religion and politics and just generally hob-nobbed with the troops! Anyway, no need to apologize for that I think...Well, I will read up on the subject more. I doubt that if anyone reads this thread, they would believe me if I said I got a face-to-face visitation by Shiva Himself!
m1thr0s
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Original post: Harmonic_Order
My chant becomes more and more difficult! Having read about all the religious observances of a shaivite, I feel like a slacker. But I have to recall that i entered into this phase on the word of the Master Therion, and not on the word of a guru. Aleister Crowley said that this practice would lead me to higher grades of consciousness, and I have never read a single assertion of his that turned out false.
My mind invents a fictional world where I have much more on the ball than I do. I have, my boasting mind tells me, much more important tasks than this. In truth, I haven't. From the age of about fifteen I have espoused and followed the admonition of the great saints and prophets, to eschew material possessions and turn away from friends and family. Ambition I abhor, wealth I despise. To my mind, every rich man had to wade in blood to get his money. I have whole-heartedly followed the scent of magic, and I do know that conventional religion does just what the prophets say it does. But I feel certain that the magickal path has validity as well. I could no more turn back to the mundane, non-religious path than... something painful and counter-intuitive.
So I keep chanting. Some aspect of my unconscious mind keeps telling me that ihave big material plans, that fucking and drinking and marriage and children rank so much higher than advancing my intelligence. But I recognize this now; it kept me from learning to play guitar. It kept me from pursuing my Master's degree. It kept me from learning to paint; from writing my novels; from displaying my photography; from making friends. This same separate apartness has ruined so many other areas of my life, and now it stands out in stark relief. It wants me to stop chanting! Not because chant holds some ultimate secret; I mean well, it might! However, this thing, or idea, or whatsit, dislikes the idea of me mastering or advancing in any field. Just because it wants to keep control over me. Like apathy with a mind of its own.
But I won't cave this time. This task doesn't take enough effort. It takes no energy whatsoever to chant. I can do this dead tired, dead drunk, or half-dead with 'flu. When I get through with this, I can play guitar however i please. I can date whomever I want. My inertia will dissolve. This reasonless chimera stands between me and anything I want to accomplish--I don't necessarily care about flashy siddhis, I just want to live an extraordinary life. I want to accomplish for myself, and think for myself. I used to consider it rhetorical, this idea of "think for yourself." But now it really seems as if my own thoughts hang in peril of falling into the thrall of Eastern churches and Western government. My individuality looks like hanging in the balance.
And i understand that I Individual must dissolve MySelf in something, to perish before the altar of some ideal, in order to survive. There, a paradox! I have to reunite with some ongoing struggle in order to accomplish anything. Otherwise, I run the risk of zombifying to the phallus of a cause hostile to my aims. Like MLK said, "If a man doesn't stand for something, he'll fall for anything."
All that said, I do feel in love with the world. I donated some money to the relief orgs after the tsunami, and I feel at peace with the ruin. I look at people's faces, and no matter what they look like, I seem to love them. I see something to love in all faces. It gets on my nerves, but the idea persists anyway. And I keep reading tantrik texts, the Bhagavad, and listening to/chanting along with mantra.
Additonally, I notice that now the topography of my thought-background gradates. No longer a plane of "Om nama shivayaa shivayaa nama om," it now boasts mountains of "Om nama shivayo, nam shivayo, nama shiva" and "Shivayaa namaha, shivayaa nam om." Different versions of the same mantram, as well as different mantra entirely, take the place of the original "Om nama shivayaa" in the thought downtime. Whereas before, what did I think previously? Did I have silence? Did I have dreamtime? What the Hell ran through my Mind in the space between volitional thoughts? Now, it comprehends unto me like a topographical map. When I pass the piedmont of volitional thought, I ascend the mount of "Om Nama Shivayaa Shivayaa Nama Om." When I lose track of that, I pass into the gorge of "Shivayaaa Namaha, Shivayaa Nama Om." When my attention strays from that, I find myself in the backwaters of, what in the blazes? "Om Mani Padme Hum." I haven't used that mantram since 1995. Why does it come up now? Maybe it ran continuously beneath my conscious awareness all along?
A weird idea occurred to me. These mantras have the same rhythm as the thought of this Supreme, alien Being which dreams this whole thing. When a human chants, he harmonizes with that rhythm and calls himself to the Supreme Being's attention within the dream. That way, one may turn into a recurring character in esteemable or exciting roles. If one enters into true love with or for that SB, one might arise as a character in the next dream after the SB awakens. And, according to Hindu (Vedic) lore, the Universe dies every time 1) Shiva blinks and 2) every time the dreaming Vishnu awakes. So, according to this wild-hair thought of mine, if one performs the devotion well enough to enter consciously into a love relation with the dreaming SB underneath the devoid illusion of mundanity, one comes back as a favorite character in the next reality-dream. Does it have truth value?
And your author does not even smoke drugs to reach this level of way-outness! I thank my higher controller for leading me on this experiment, for sure.
H_O
My chant becomes more and more difficult! Having read about all the religious observances of a shaivite, I feel like a slacker. But I have to recall that i entered into this phase on the word of the Master Therion, and not on the word of a guru. Aleister Crowley said that this practice would lead me to higher grades of consciousness, and I have never read a single assertion of his that turned out false.
My mind invents a fictional world where I have much more on the ball than I do. I have, my boasting mind tells me, much more important tasks than this. In truth, I haven't. From the age of about fifteen I have espoused and followed the admonition of the great saints and prophets, to eschew material possessions and turn away from friends and family. Ambition I abhor, wealth I despise. To my mind, every rich man had to wade in blood to get his money. I have whole-heartedly followed the scent of magic, and I do know that conventional religion does just what the prophets say it does. But I feel certain that the magickal path has validity as well. I could no more turn back to the mundane, non-religious path than... something painful and counter-intuitive.
So I keep chanting. Some aspect of my unconscious mind keeps telling me that ihave big material plans, that fucking and drinking and marriage and children rank so much higher than advancing my intelligence. But I recognize this now; it kept me from learning to play guitar. It kept me from pursuing my Master's degree. It kept me from learning to paint; from writing my novels; from displaying my photography; from making friends. This same separate apartness has ruined so many other areas of my life, and now it stands out in stark relief. It wants me to stop chanting! Not because chant holds some ultimate secret; I mean well, it might! However, this thing, or idea, or whatsit, dislikes the idea of me mastering or advancing in any field. Just because it wants to keep control over me. Like apathy with a mind of its own.
But I won't cave this time. This task doesn't take enough effort. It takes no energy whatsoever to chant. I can do this dead tired, dead drunk, or half-dead with 'flu. When I get through with this, I can play guitar however i please. I can date whomever I want. My inertia will dissolve. This reasonless chimera stands between me and anything I want to accomplish--I don't necessarily care about flashy siddhis, I just want to live an extraordinary life. I want to accomplish for myself, and think for myself. I used to consider it rhetorical, this idea of "think for yourself." But now it really seems as if my own thoughts hang in peril of falling into the thrall of Eastern churches and Western government. My individuality looks like hanging in the balance.
And i understand that I Individual must dissolve MySelf in something, to perish before the altar of some ideal, in order to survive. There, a paradox! I have to reunite with some ongoing struggle in order to accomplish anything. Otherwise, I run the risk of zombifying to the phallus of a cause hostile to my aims. Like MLK said, "If a man doesn't stand for something, he'll fall for anything."
All that said, I do feel in love with the world. I donated some money to the relief orgs after the tsunami, and I feel at peace with the ruin. I look at people's faces, and no matter what they look like, I seem to love them. I see something to love in all faces. It gets on my nerves, but the idea persists anyway. And I keep reading tantrik texts, the Bhagavad, and listening to/chanting along with mantra.
Additonally, I notice that now the topography of my thought-background gradates. No longer a plane of "Om nama shivayaa shivayaa nama om," it now boasts mountains of "Om nama shivayo, nam shivayo, nama shiva" and "Shivayaa namaha, shivayaa nam om." Different versions of the same mantram, as well as different mantra entirely, take the place of the original "Om nama shivayaa" in the thought downtime. Whereas before, what did I think previously? Did I have silence? Did I have dreamtime? What the Hell ran through my Mind in the space between volitional thoughts? Now, it comprehends unto me like a topographical map. When I pass the piedmont of volitional thought, I ascend the mount of "Om Nama Shivayaa Shivayaa Nama Om." When I lose track of that, I pass into the gorge of "Shivayaaa Namaha, Shivayaa Nama Om." When my attention strays from that, I find myself in the backwaters of, what in the blazes? "Om Mani Padme Hum." I haven't used that mantram since 1995. Why does it come up now? Maybe it ran continuously beneath my conscious awareness all along?
A weird idea occurred to me. These mantras have the same rhythm as the thought of this Supreme, alien Being which dreams this whole thing. When a human chants, he harmonizes with that rhythm and calls himself to the Supreme Being's attention within the dream. That way, one may turn into a recurring character in esteemable or exciting roles. If one enters into true love with or for that SB, one might arise as a character in the next dream after the SB awakens. And, according to Hindu (Vedic) lore, the Universe dies every time 1) Shiva blinks and 2) every time the dreaming Vishnu awakes. So, according to this wild-hair thought of mine, if one performs the devotion well enough to enter consciously into a love relation with the dreaming SB underneath the devoid illusion of mundanity, one comes back as a favorite character in the next reality-dream. Does it have truth value?
And your author does not even smoke drugs to reach this level of way-outness! I thank my higher controller for leading me on this experiment, for sure.
H_O
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Original post: KCh
Every experience soever is Truth unto itself. How you choose to concieve of this "Will" is up to you.
For let it be known once again that the Thinker exists only by virtue of the Thinkers Thought.
When one changes the Thought, one changes the World.
Every experience soever is Truth unto itself. How you choose to concieve of this "Will" is up to you.
For let it be known once again that the Thinker exists only by virtue of the Thinkers Thought.
When one changes the Thought, one changes the World.
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Original post: Rin Daemoko
I adore the use of chanting mantras. In my avatar pic, you can see in the foreground a mala made of 108 beads wrapped around my wrist. It is made of lapis lazuli (twas a gift from
pride is a virtue and another friend
), I haven't even taken it off when I go to shower. I feel such peace when I recite Avalokitesvara's mantra in rapid succession like an echo. (Om mani pedme hum.)
I also enjoy doing a full-on Medicine Buddha or White Tara practice. At the end of the chanting, I feel so clean and clear. My mind is focused and at peace. I have downloaded to Ravi Shankara's rendition of the Six-Syllable Mantra (Avalokitesvara's) and it is delicious. I can't help but chant along with it. Hell, I do it in the shower. The acoustics ... wow.
I adore the use of chanting mantras. In my avatar pic, you can see in the foreground a mala made of 108 beads wrapped around my wrist. It is made of lapis lazuli (twas a gift from
pride is a virtue and another friend
), I haven't even taken it off when I go to shower. I feel such peace when I recite Avalokitesvara's mantra in rapid succession like an echo. (Om mani pedme hum.) I also enjoy doing a full-on Medicine Buddha or White Tara practice. At the end of the chanting, I feel so clean and clear. My mind is focused and at peace. I have downloaded to Ravi Shankara's rendition of the Six-Syllable Mantra (Avalokitesvara's) and it is delicious. I can't help but chant along with it. Hell, I do it in the shower. The acoustics ... wow.
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Original post: DropAndRiver
When I recite Om Mani Pedme Hum, my body feels like it is vibrating (mostly in my lower back, almost near my tailbone). Sometimes, when I chant mantras, I hear this loud ringing in my ears that is very resonating and I feel like my head is heavy yet floating to the heavens, and my body is small and sinking into the ground. I love mantras, and I find great meaning in them.
When I recite Om Mani Pedme Hum, my body feels like it is vibrating (mostly in my lower back, almost near my tailbone). Sometimes, when I chant mantras, I hear this loud ringing in my ears that is very resonating and I feel like my head is heavy yet floating to the heavens, and my body is small and sinking into the ground. I love mantras, and I find great meaning in them.
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Original post: DropAndRiver
When reciting Om, one brings a large amount of air out of the body and releases it with an open mouth when saying O, and yet closes the mouth and merely vibrates the throating (holding in air) when saying M. The mouth expands in an almost perfect circle, and then it closes completely.
To the average person, that seems very mundane. Even still, an alchemist can see the power in this word. The using of the word Om as a mantra does indeed describe the universe and its forces very well. It contains the following:
1)Expansion (the opening of the mouth)
2)Confinement (the vibrating force being held in by a closed mouth)
3)Seizing (the intake of air)
4)Release (the releasing of air)
5)Integration (the blending of two opposites as a fluid whole)
6)Femininity (the open hole of the mouth)
7)Masculinity (the straight line of the closed mouth)
8)Activity (the actual recitation of the mantra)
9)Inactivity (the period inbetween two Om's)
10)Vibration (obvious)
Its power lies in the way it merges opposites and unites one with neutrality.
When reciting Om, one brings a large amount of air out of the body and releases it with an open mouth when saying O, and yet closes the mouth and merely vibrates the throating (holding in air) when saying M. The mouth expands in an almost perfect circle, and then it closes completely.
To the average person, that seems very mundane. Even still, an alchemist can see the power in this word. The using of the word Om as a mantra does indeed describe the universe and its forces very well. It contains the following:
1)Expansion (the opening of the mouth)
2)Confinement (the vibrating force being held in by a closed mouth)
3)Seizing (the intake of air)
4)Release (the releasing of air)
5)Integration (the blending of two opposites as a fluid whole)
6)Femininity (the open hole of the mouth)
7)Masculinity (the straight line of the closed mouth)
8)Activity (the actual recitation of the mantra)
9)Inactivity (the period inbetween two Om's)
10)Vibration (obvious)
Its power lies in the way it merges opposites and unites one with neutrality.
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Original post: DropAndRiver
Bumpity Bump Bump Bump...
Has anyone ever noticed a difference in the effects of Buddhist and Hindu mantras? I am focused on Hinduism so I have not used a great deal of Buddhist mantras.
Bumpity Bump Bump Bump...
Has anyone ever noticed a difference in the effects of Buddhist and Hindu mantras? I am focused on Hinduism so I have not used a great deal of Buddhist mantras.
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Original post: Rin Daemoko
Very interesting stuff on the connection between the Om and Alchemy. It's very appropriate considering the purpose of the mantra. Alchemy and Om touch upon the base "something" of the Universe, of the Mind.
I can't say I have noticed a difference - probably because I have not used Hindu chants. Are Hindu chants in Hindi, or are they also done in Sanskrit? I know that the Tibetan chants are done in Tibetan which has the same sound system as Sanskrit (with variation, of course). I'm not sure about chanting in Mandarin/Cantonese or any of the other languages of the East/Southeast Buddhist Countries. I have chanted in Japanese before, though, and I find it wonderful. The sounds of the Japanese language are so focused and precise.
Very interesting stuff on the connection between the Om and Alchemy. It's very appropriate considering the purpose of the mantra. Alchemy and Om touch upon the base "something" of the Universe, of the Mind.
I can't say I have noticed a difference - probably because I have not used Hindu chants. Are Hindu chants in Hindi, or are they also done in Sanskrit? I know that the Tibetan chants are done in Tibetan which has the same sound system as Sanskrit (with variation, of course). I'm not sure about chanting in Mandarin/Cantonese or any of the other languages of the East/Southeast Buddhist Countries. I have chanted in Japanese before, though, and I find it wonderful. The sounds of the Japanese language are so focused and precise.
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Original post: DropAndRiver
Well, mantras are traditionally done in Sanskrit, but a modern follower of Hinduism is free to develop mantras in Hindi (such a task is usually reserved for priests: Mantras are to prescriptions as priests are to doctors). The thing about using modern languages for mantras is that they are less able to pierce through the conscious and into the subconscious (just as sigils are easier to use if you don't know what they mean). Mantras in Hinduism often focus on the Devas externally, but once one has meditated on them extensively, one can see that they are speaking of the same truths western mysticism does. They are very similar to Buddhist mantras, but there are notable differences. Hindu mantras tend to be a bit longer and more difficult to pronounce (there are many sounds in Hindi and Sanskrit that Romance Languages just plain don't have, so the average English speaker can encounter some difficulty). For example:
Buddhist Mantra: Om Mani Pedme Hum
Hindu Mantra To Ganesha: Aum Gajananam Bhootganadhisevitam Kapitthya Jamboo Phalcharu Bhakshanam Umasutam Shokvinashkarakam Namami Vighneshwar Padpankajam Aum
Wow. Yeah.
The Hindu mantra translates to:
Elephant faced, worshipped by the existing beings, of all living beings, tasting the elephant apple (kaith) and jambolana (jamun), the son of Uma, destroyer of grief, I bow to the lotus feet of Ganesha who is the Lord of all.
That has as many interpretations as it does letters.
PS: To hear some classical mantras in Hinduism, go to http://www.sanatansociety.org/indian_music_and_mantras/sounds_of_tantra_mantras.htm ... the man who recorded them is very old and toothless, so he sounds funny (it is really cute, in my opinion).
Well, mantras are traditionally done in Sanskrit, but a modern follower of Hinduism is free to develop mantras in Hindi (such a task is usually reserved for priests: Mantras are to prescriptions as priests are to doctors). The thing about using modern languages for mantras is that they are less able to pierce through the conscious and into the subconscious (just as sigils are easier to use if you don't know what they mean). Mantras in Hinduism often focus on the Devas externally, but once one has meditated on them extensively, one can see that they are speaking of the same truths western mysticism does. They are very similar to Buddhist mantras, but there are notable differences. Hindu mantras tend to be a bit longer and more difficult to pronounce (there are many sounds in Hindi and Sanskrit that Romance Languages just plain don't have, so the average English speaker can encounter some difficulty). For example:
Buddhist Mantra: Om Mani Pedme Hum
Hindu Mantra To Ganesha: Aum Gajananam Bhootganadhisevitam Kapitthya Jamboo Phalcharu Bhakshanam Umasutam Shokvinashkarakam Namami Vighneshwar Padpankajam Aum
Wow. Yeah.
The Hindu mantra translates to:
Elephant faced, worshipped by the existing beings, of all living beings, tasting the elephant apple (kaith) and jambolana (jamun), the son of Uma, destroyer of grief, I bow to the lotus feet of Ganesha who is the Lord of all.
That has as many interpretations as it does letters.
PS: To hear some classical mantras in Hinduism, go to http://www.sanatansociety.org/indian_music_and_mantras/sounds_of_tantra_mantras.htm ... the man who recorded them is very old and toothless, so he sounds funny (it is really cute, in my opinion).
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Original post: Rin Daemoko
Wow ... yeah, Hindu mantras are much longer. I agree with you in regards to mantras in English. I know that in many guided Buddhist meditations, I have heard that knowing the precise meaning of the mantra is not as important as knowing the sound of the mantra. Because the vibratory sound is the true essence of what's being said. This is probably because for many of the Tibetan Buddhas, the mantras are their names (in some sense).
The longest Tibetan Buddhist mantra that I know if is the 100-syllable mantra of Vajrasattva:
Om, be-dza-sah-do-sa-ma-ya, ma-nu-bah-la-ya,
be-dza sah-do deh-nu-bah-de h-cha, zhe-jo-mi-bah-wa,
soo-do-ka-yu-mi bah-wa,
soo-poo-ka-yu mi-bah-wa,
an-nu-la-do-mi-bah-wa,
sa-er-wa, sid-di, mi-bu-la-ya-cha,
sa-er-wa, ka-er-ma, soo-cha-mi, ji-ta-moo, see-li-yam, gu-ru-hum, ha ha ha ha hoh,
bah-ga-wan, sa-er-wa, da-ta-ga-ta,
be-dza-ma-mee-mun-cha, be-ji-ba-wa,
ma-ha-sa-ma-ya, sah-do-ah, hum-pei.
Translation: Om Vajrasattva, please keep your vows!
Vajrasattva, empower (reside in) me and make me firm [in my Buddha nature]!
Make me satisfied [via the bliss of the Dharma Realm],
Be favorable,
Be nourishing for me!
Grant me all the magical attainments!
Indicator of all karma :
Make glorious my mind.
Hum! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hoh!
Blessed One, Diamond of all the Tathagatas:
Do not forsake me; make me as a diamond!
Great being of the vow AH!
Wow ... yeah, Hindu mantras are much longer. I agree with you in regards to mantras in English. I know that in many guided Buddhist meditations, I have heard that knowing the precise meaning of the mantra is not as important as knowing the sound of the mantra. Because the vibratory sound is the true essence of what's being said. This is probably because for many of the Tibetan Buddhas, the mantras are their names (in some sense).
The longest Tibetan Buddhist mantra that I know if is the 100-syllable mantra of Vajrasattva:
Om, be-dza-sah-do-sa-ma-ya, ma-nu-bah-la-ya,
be-dza sah-do deh-nu-bah-de h-cha, zhe-jo-mi-bah-wa,
soo-do-ka-yu-mi bah-wa,
soo-poo-ka-yu mi-bah-wa,
an-nu-la-do-mi-bah-wa,
sa-er-wa, sid-di, mi-bu-la-ya-cha,
sa-er-wa, ka-er-ma, soo-cha-mi, ji-ta-moo, see-li-yam, gu-ru-hum, ha ha ha ha hoh,
bah-ga-wan, sa-er-wa, da-ta-ga-ta,
be-dza-ma-mee-mun-cha, be-ji-ba-wa,
ma-ha-sa-ma-ya, sah-do-ah, hum-pei.
Translation: Om Vajrasattva, please keep your vows!
Vajrasattva, empower (reside in) me and make me firm [in my Buddha nature]!
Make me satisfied [via the bliss of the Dharma Realm],
Be favorable,
Be nourishing for me!
Grant me all the magical attainments!
Indicator of all karma :
Make glorious my mind.
Hum! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hoh!
Blessed One, Diamond of all the Tathagatas:
Do not forsake me; make me as a diamond!
Great being of the vow AH!
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Occult Forum Archive
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Vedic chant for trance
Original post: DropAndRiver
I plan on ordering a mala via internet sometime in the near future. Not so much for the purpose of counting, but more so to use it as an anchor with which to transition into the shamansque mystic state of mind more readily.
I plan on ordering a mala via internet sometime in the near future. Not so much for the purpose of counting, but more so to use it as an anchor with which to transition into the shamansque mystic state of mind more readily.