Tag: Mantra

Lord Ganesha: The Lord of the Ganas Within

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हिरण्यगर्भादारब्धां शेषव्यासादिमध्यमाम्।
स्वामिश्रीरामपादान्तां वन्दे गुरुपरम्पराम्॥

hiraṇyagarbhād-ārabdhāṁ śeṣa-vyāsādi-madhyamām,

svāmiśrīrāma- pādāntāṁ vande guru paramparām.

How do we understand Lord Ganesha/Ganapati, and why is it beneficial to invoke him? Gana means “a group.” And isha means “the lord,” who is the leader of that group, that community. The name, Ganapati, means the same thing. Gana means “group,” and pati means “leader.” Whenever there is a summation, a company, a collectivity, a community, a Sangha, Lord Ganesha is the ruler. For example, Ganesha is the leader of the pancha jnanindriyas (the five organs of sense perceptions) and the pancha karmindriyas (the five organs of actions). Who rules this Sangha of Indriyas? Ganesha! When we invoke the Ganesha energy, these become purified.

For example, one of our karma-indriyas is our legs. Invocation of the Ganesha energy within us helps our legs go in the right direction in life. Likewise with our hands. Are they eager to serve? Do they help and support others? Likewise all other indriyas,  Is our speech pure and positive and truthful and beneficial? Do our eyes and ears pay attention to things which are positive. If we invoke lord Ganesha, he gives them the right direction. If we invoke the energy of Lord Ganesha within us, it is more likely that our emotions will become purified and stabilized. If you are the leader of a group, such as a country, it is more likely that your country will prosper in the right direction, if you pay homage to Ganesha.

There are many stories and symbolism about Lord Ganesha. From Goddess Uma (Parvati), Ganesha is born. Uma is Shakti-svarupa – the manifestation of the essence of primordial energy. Lord Shiva is considered as Jnana-svarupa (the manifestation of the essence of knowledge). For any undertaking in our life, we need both knowledge and energy. We need jnana-shakti as well as kriya-shakti. Just having ichcha-shakti or sankalpa-shakti is not enough to carry out any undertaking without the right knowledge and the capacity and capability to do. Lord Ganesha is the son of both of these (Shiva-Shakti) energies. He rules the force of stabilization between the two and has this quality of balance, calmness and peacefulness before, during and after the completion of our work.

Ganesha is the presiding deity of Muladhara Chakra, which has four petals — manas, buddhi, ahamkara and chitta. If the four functions of the mind are unruly or go on strike, who do we talk to? The union leader – Lord Ganesha.

It is desirable to have these four functions of mind balanced. When these four are in balance, all our undertakings will be successful. That’s why there is Riddhi (prosperity) and Siddhi (success), where there is Lord Ganesha. Those are his two brides. They accompany us naturally, when we are stable and in balance.

We have heard Swami Veda Bharati and Swami Ritavan Bharati say that Lord Ganesha rules the Muladhara Chakra, and gives stability. Lord Ganesha’s physical manifestation is generally depicted as having a bottom-heavy body; he has that gravity and heaviness. Lord Ganesha is connected with the Earth element at the Muladahara Chakra. How can we live in harmony with the Earth? Are we a burden to the Earth? Am I mindful in the application of the Ganesha principle in my life? Are we mindful of the application in the way we are living our lives? We may need to reflect upon and contemplate, with sincerity and devotion to assimilate the meaning of Lord Ganesha.

We need to inculcate that stability in all the aspects of our life. Invocation of the Ganesha energy would give us emotional stability, financial stability, stability in our relationships, and stability in all our undertakings in life.

Lord Ganesha gives us a solid foundation for our practice. Swami Ritavan said, “When our asana on our meditation seat has become steady, balanced, stabilized, then it reflects in our daily life also. Same time, same place. We need to put forth the effort to achieve the desired results. We can ask ourselves the question: “Do I really value stability in my life? Do I really value mental peacefulness? Do I really value having the four functions of my mind stabilized?” If I value those things, no matter what it takes, I will do it.

We need to take full responsibility. If something within has become destabilized, we need to stabilize that.

If we are in a situation where adversities come, we will refuse to become miserable because we would have gained emotional stability. We can collectively and individually make a commitment to purify our actions and emotions and to invoke the blessings of the Lord Ganesha and the entire Himalayan Lineage to remove the obstacles on our spiritual path.

2022: The Year of Mantra

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By way of the blessings of the Lineage, we are introducing 2022 to be the Year of Mantra.

The entire title for the Observance this year is: 2022, the Year of Mantra: Language of Soul, Mind, and Word.

Recently, the Ganesha Gayatri mantra was received and instilled as a Sangha initiation with a one-year observance for 2022. The sankalpa, the mantra, and its pronunciation along with the introductory purification prayer are all explained in our previous newsletter and can be read here – https://ahymsin.org/ganesha-gayatri-mantra-2022-new-ahymsin-sangha-practice/

This special mantra practice along with your daily meditation practice will be complemented by this Svadhyaya (self-study) practice that is being introduced for the Sangha members. The book we will use is “Mantra and Meditation“1 by our dear Swami Veda. Since it was published many years ago, you would already have it in your personal library, or are using a translated version in your language.

Each month you will have a theme or chapter to read, study and contemplate. Then you will test the principles in your meditation and apply them in your daily life.

Your homework for this coming month is:

After reading the forward and introduction read, study and contemplate upon the chapter 7 “Subtle origins of Sound”. Test these in your meditation, and then submit a sentence or two of your experiences and insights to me (SwamiRitavanBharati@gmail.com). Remember, if it is still a question, then you must test it, contemplate upon it, and resolve it until it becomes an insight for you.

Mantra and Meditation

Introducing our theme:

In the multitude of spoken words, in numerous Mother-tongues over millions of years, the source of language is traced to its origin in pure love.

Love is the language of the soul, and knowledge is the language of the mind.

Love that bursts forth the energy of light transforming pure knowledge into the thought becomes spoken words. The articulated speech, given meaning when heard, is limited in conveying understanding of the intention, and much more. When examination and judgement of the spoken word rests in an assignment of meaning to “words”, one is unable to grasp the language of the soul.

Throughout this year, our AHYMSIN Sangha will devote energies to studies and practices that awaken the light of love through experiences of meditation and meditation in action.

Each month our Full Moon Illuminations newsletter will share observations and insights from members across the globe.

Where does language come from?

Swami Veda, in his book – “Mantra and Meditation” explained a verse from the Shiksha of Panini, a 7th century B.C grammarian; and further interpreted it in the writings of Bhartṛhari in his Vakyapadiya:

atma buddhya sametyarthan mano yunkte viwksaya

manah kayagnimahanti  sa  prerayati marutam

marutas turasi caran mandram janyati svaram

“Atma, bringing together its purpose (intent) with the help of buddhi, gives a command to the mind by producing a desire (intent) to speak. The buddhi instills the desire (intention) to speak in the mind. The mind awakens the fire in the body from the navel center. That agni impels the prana and air. The air moves through the lungs and through the vocal cords, comes into the mouth and becomes a sound [that is articulated].” (pg.90-91, Mantra and Meditation)

Sankalpa and Intention for the Ganesha Gayatri Japa as the collective Sangha mantra for 2022

Collectively, as the Sangha, we vow towards a pillar like stability and stillness in mind and emotion, perseverance in asana, daily meditation (same time, same place), removal of obstacles and sadhana and in daily life and in relationships, purification of buddhi, resolved on enlightenment, harmony with Mother Earth with a resolute commitment to Ahimsa and non-violence (Mother Earth has suffered enough and we can play our part, even more so now), protection and security through freedom from all fears. Everyone is seeking security from the unknown, from the complex, from the animosities, the greed, the hatred. That protection, that security is necessary for us to feel grounded and stable, to be able to move into our higher realms of life, with relationships and our service to humanity.

Q & A on Mantra Japa

Question: If I am experienced in japa and have a standard and consistent daily practice, and I usually complete 4 malas in 40 minutes; can I count the amount of my japa to be the same when I do not use the mala beads?

Answer by Swami Ritavan Bharati: The mental level of speech or madhyama stage of japa has multiple levels. When an experienced meditator becomes adept at identifying those levels within the ekagra (one-pointed) state of mind, they will experience a rhythm and frequency of the japa that can be tested and measured. Using the mala, you remember the mantra 108 times with each bead, maintaining the same level of experience for the same duration of time.

For example, in your meditation, you can observe your japa on three different levels2:

  1. You do a mala with the breath. Exhale the mantra, inhale the mantra, and watch how long that takes.
  2. Then you do a mala with the ordinary repetition that you do; many people do it somewhere between the articulated word and its thought in the mind.
  3. Then you do the mala at a deeper level, where mantra is like a heartbeat, the mantra arising deep in the mind like a pulse beat.

Work out how long it takes you to do the mala at those three levels over a long period of time. The experienced meditator is then adept at noting the level of japa in the mind and knowing the amount of japa within that period of time.

Try to be consistent with the same length of meditation and the same level of concentration during that period to gage your count of japa. Test yourself again, especially during moments of emotional ups and downs. When this is tested repeatedly as consistent, then you can infer the same number of japa even when not using the mala beads.

Editor’s Note:

1. The book – Mantra and Meditation, was written by Swami Veda Bharati before he took Saṃnyāsa, when he was known as Pandit Usharbudh Arya. The book is available on Amazon and Amazon India. It may also be available at your local center and bookstores.

2. For further reading, please refer to Swami Veda’s writing – https://ahymsin.org/guidelines-for-spiritual-living/

Mantra

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Swami Rama explains what mantra means in the below video shared by Kamal Didi and the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust, India.

The transcript of the short talk is also shared below.

Now, I will explain to you what mantra means. Mananāt trāyatē, that’s meaning of, it’s a Sanskrit word, mantra, which means that which dispels the darkness of ignorance, that which guides, that which leads, that which enlightens. There are 4-5 meanings, many meanings, you see. So, there are many mantras which are chanted, but there are many mantras which are just remembered. And there are many levels of remembering mantra. You remember a mantra silently, where your mind follows the mantra towards silence, because silence, mantra leads you to silence.

You remember mantra superficially – how much money have I received today, nononononono… Oh, my husband says like that; Ok tomorrow morning I will show… You see. It depends on how, what mantra you have. There are varieties of mantras; best of the wines are never taken in paper cup. Nobody takes, he will be a fool who takes that, he will not have best of the wine. One who has got best of the wine will also have chalice.

So there are special, very special mantras when the traditional teachers impart those mantras to their students. When they come out with overwhelmingly the height of gladness, they impart that mantra, come on, do this. And it is perfect; you don’t have to do anything. It’s a gift received from the tradition through a particular teacher. It’s a great art, it’s great philosophy, it’s complete spirituality in it.

The Importance of the AHYMSIN Community Saumya Mantra Practice

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Once again let us come back to our practices. The practices that no doubt each of us have by way of those daily routines of sadhana, but by way of having time, making time, honouring time to intensify, to deepen, to nurture another part of our spiritual life that we have always hoped for – the opportunity to address in addition to our daily meditation for spiritual renewal, for that rejuvenation of the spirit by way of our own mantras, also knowing yourself to be not the meditator, but the very way in which the meditation can flow, a flow that actually is arising from the samasti citta, from the universal mindfield where those saintly minds, the Masters in their bodiless forms remain as mind and thereby extending their blessing honouring that role that they continue playing in blessing humanity and thus bringing grace toward for us by way of our meditations to receive.

Along with the personal mantra, we have our community mantra, the Saumya mantra, and it’s not a coincidence that the Saumya mantra was introduced a year ago. For when we look at when such collection mantras are brought forward to our awareness, we find that there are preparations for that inner strength. Swami Veda brought the first recognition of the Saumya mantra to the community back at the turn of the millennium. Only then did he address what this pacification of the mindfield on a universal scale would mean and would be necessary.

And he gave such a beautiful address The Perennial in the Millennium, meaning how to envision the future, because it was only within a number of months later that the United States experienced a trauma of that terrorist act that brought an entire change of consciousness through the community of the US citizens. But it actually affected the entire globe. And it actually gave us at that time a mirror to look at ourselves, and yet how we acted and reacted has continued some theme in our humanity of fear and protection and [of] securing our small little concept of self. He recognized that this was coming; he asked us to begin the Saumya, and we continued that for this period of time plus an entire 3-year segment.

And now that mantra is coming back to us a year ago. We too are preparing and have actually prepared the groundwork for what is now happening which has once again shown us that we must think of the future in a positive way, in a vision, that will create the themes of this perennial in the millennium, that we once again will come back to and reread and contemplate on and secure in our mind very clearly a vision for our future.

And that’s not imaginary; it’s not fantasy; it is the reality of that first yoga, that first way in which humanity has a collective harmonious mindfield of the saintly. This is how they lived, and this is how a segment of that consciousness has continued to mature and manifest in each of the many yugas that have continued from that point. So whether we simply say “Oh, this is the Kali Yuga” and again and again, we simply blame our own ignorance, our own pain and sufferings that is outside of us. We have the opportunity to go inside. We have the opportunity to envision the prominence of that perennial that remains and thereby create the future that we wish for.

Swami Rama reminds us that we are the writers of our own manuscript day by day. In this lifetime for our next lifetime. So, how will we compose this life and write the book of life that will then be a chapter for the next manifestation of this Jiva Atman?

Editor’s Note:

This article was also published in the May 2020 edition of the AHYMSIN Newsletter.

Shiva-Sankalpa-Sūktam

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OM yaj jāgrato dūram udaiti, daivaṁ 

tadu suptasya tathaivaiti,
dūraṅgamaṃ jyotiṣāṁ jyotir ekaṁ,
tan me manaḥ shiva-saṅkalpam astu.

yena karmāṇyapaso manīṣiṇo,
yajñe kṛṇvanti vidatheṣu dhīrāḥ,
yad apūrvaṃ yakṣaṁ antaḥ prajānāṁ,
tan me manaḥ shiva-saṅkalpam astu.

yat prajñānam uta ceto dhṛtiś ca
yaj jyotir antar amṛtaṁ prajāsu,
yasmān na ṛte kiñcana karma kriyate
tan me manaḥ shiva-saṅkalpam astu.

yenedaṁ bhūtaṃ bhuvanaṁ bhaviṣyat
pari-gṛhītam amṛtena sarvam,
yena yajñas tāyate sapta hotā
tan me manaḥ shiva-saṅkalpam astu.

yasminn ṛcaḥ sāma yajūṁṣi yasmin
pratiṣṭhitā ratha-nābhāvivārāḥ,
yasmiṁś cittaṁ sarvam otaṁ prajānāṁ
tan me manaḥ shiva-saṅkalpam astu.

suṣārathir aśvān iva yan manuṣyān,
nenīyate ‘bhīśubhir vājina iva,
hṛt-pratiṣṭhaṁ yad ajiraṁ javiṣṭhaṁ
tan me manaḥ shiva-saṅkalpam astu.

OM shāntiḥ shāntiḥ shāntiḥ.