Indian Mantras for Meditation
A mantra is a sacred utterance that can arouse spiritual or religious emotion. It can be a word, syllable, sound or vibration or a combination of these. In Hinduism and Buddhism, repetitions of these words or sounds are done to aid a person or groups’ meditation. Indian mantras are traditionally in Sanskrit or Pali but other languages that are believed to also have religious, magical or spiritual powers are used as well. Some mantras do not have any literal meaning or syntactic structure while others do.
Beginner Mantra Chanting
If you are new to meditation, it can be tricky to follow along with mantras in a group setting where other participants are versed in the mantras that are being chanted. While it may seem daunting to learn words and phrases in a foreign language, veteran participants of mantra chanting say that the exquisite feeling and peacefulness of mind, among many other positive feelings and outlooks on life that are produced through meditation and chanting, are beyond worth the effort it takes to be able to fully immerse yourself in a mantra.
A way to think about a mantra is a positive version of having a song stuck in your head that try as you might, you just can’t stop repeating the words, phrases and/or melody. Once you learn a mantra and start to understand its power or potential power, you can intentionally put it into your thought processes so that you are giving/getting a positive message over and over. Repeating ancient mantras over and over to yourself either out loud or silently, can be a highly powerful and healing addition to your well-being practices.
A great way to learn a mantra is to learn it with an instructor and group of people who are also learning the mantra but there are many, many ways to tap into the power of mantras, including watching and listening to them and programs about them on YouTube and other popular media outlets.
The following are ancient mantras that can help to calm your nerves and world systems, raise the energy of your vibrations, and honor the teachings of Eastern spiritual wisdom.
Om
Om is the sound of the universe.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
When om is chanted with shanti three times, it is to represent peace in the body, speech and mind.
Om Eim Saraswati Namaha Om
We call in Saraswati, the goddess of creativity and language.
This is to invoke the goddess Saraswati, known as a powerful Hindu incarnation of Shakti energy in the form of creativity, language, wisdom, knowledge, art and music.
Ad Guray Namay, Jugad Guray Namay, Sad guray Nameh, Siri Guru Devay Nameh
I bow to the Primal Wisdom, I bow to the Wisdom through the ages, I bow to the True Wisdom, I bow to the Great Divine Wisdom
This mantra is chanted for protection in all aspects of life.
Join us at the Malibu Ashram to learn more about mantras and to join us for chanting and other uplifting activities- or even just to take a peaceful and meditative walk down our semi-private entrance to the beautiful and secluded El Matador Beach.
