"Love is the door… Chanting is the key." Bhagavan Das
Mantra literally means to vibrate the mind - when we chant, we are creating space in the mind for meditation... for transformation. We give ourselves a little space, shutting up our mental chatter for a moment.
Sometimes we chant in a foreign tongue and the beauty of the words still fills us, the mantra still has an effect on our emotional and spiritual wellbeing, whether we understand the meaning or not.
When chanting, we hit 84 pressure points in the mouth, a little like reflexology for the brain, creating patterns and new waves of information running through us - mantra can literally change our vibrations and the way we live our lives.
We live in a sea of vibrational energy - when we chant we tune into different levels of consciousness. With mantra we can chant for inner peace or for world peace, for healing or abundance - the power of mantra can clear obstacles from our path.
Mantra is the language of consciousness - it is a whispered conversation between us and God. It is sacred speech. On many levels it can wipe out the negative affects from the other conversations we have in our day-to-day lives.
We often have a conversational soundtrack going on in our heads, planning future dialogues or confrontations, reviewing old ones, things we wish we had said… and we are constantly bombarding ourselves with our own internal chat.
"We have so many thoughts going on all the time. We call it the monkey mind, because it's always jumping around," says Sada Sat Kaur, who was drawn to chanting and made it her practice. "When we chant, you're giving your mind something to focus on that's going to transform you and uplift you."
David Frawley who has written extensively on yoga, the Vedas and ayurveda says "Control of speech means avoiding aimless talking and gossiping and also avoiding critical and abusive speech. Mantra is a higher form of control of speech that develops the inner fire. The Goddess Kundalini is said to wear the garland of the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet around her neck. She is made up of mantra."
We can chant in every language of the globe, however, we often chant in Sanskrit or if you follow the practice of Kundalini Yoga in Gurmukhi. They are primal languages, they are not used everyday for speaking, they are only used for speaking to God.
"Sanskrit is a language that has been constructed at the deep levels of consciousness," says Russell Paul, mantric musician and author of The Yoga of Sound. "The sounds are specially constructed to penetrate the analytical mind and affect our nervous system very directly. In this sense, they are a short cut, and are like spiritual pharmaceuticals that enter into our soul with palpable physiological effects. It is this capability that gives mantras the very specific therapeutic and spiritual properties that are missing in our everyday language."
Even if we don't understand the meaning of the mantra, it tunes into our subconscious mind. Often we do not need to translate the meanings of the mantra, they work their magic on a subtle level not an intellectual level.
As we chant, we stimulate energy in the meridian centres of the mouth which then awaken dormant parts of the brain and circulate energy through the body. Both Deepak Chopra and Dr Dharma Singh Khalsa are starting to investigate the full power of the physical and mental effects of chanting.
Often we see the positive effects of chanting in calming the mind and the emotions, but it also has a direct effect on the body. The beat of the mantra and the repetition can calm and slow the heart.
Through mantra we can create a direct healing experience, as we can speak to the limbs and organs of the body. Mantra tunes us into universal life force energy - prana - and we can direct the healing flow of prana to wherever it is needed in the body.
Avtar Kaur is a Kundalini Yoga teacher and has just brought out a beautiful album of mantras called Aquarian Sadhana.
"Chanting was a big part of what attracted me to Kundalini Yoga. I had experienced strong blockages in my throat in my early twenties, leading to surgery that removed half my thyroid gland. Kundalini Yoga helped heal the energetic imbalances in my throat and took me on a deep journey to discovering and creating my voice as a singer, teacher and human being."
"For me, chanting is like a homecoming," continues Avtar. "It resets me vibrationally, connecting me to the universal sound current and therefore the Source. The effect of chanting in a group multiplies that vibrational experience and helps us understand in practice that we are all one. Kundalini Yoga is a technology of chanting the true name - we become what we speak, and so when we chant the name of God we become God, we become Truth. God has many names, and different mantras vibrate at different frequencies, but they are all part of the same sound current."
As mantra is vibrational, it works on the subtle bodies as well as the physical body. Energy naturally follows intention, so through the process of chanting we can create a physical manifestation of the mantra.
It takes you from the polarity of the positive-negative mind and to universal, neutral mind. It cleanses the mind and clears our divine path.
"Chanting is a sort of 'Divine therapy,' a means of cleansing the soul of unwanted psychic residue, and a process that has corresponding physiological effects," says Russell Paul.
"Chanting for me is both tuning into my heart and also, by constant practice... being more in a place of observer," says Shiuli Subaya who teaches nada yoga and is a classically-trained Indian singer. "It keeps me present and offers me an experience of timelessness. Japa (repetition of mantra) is the way I pray... the way I talk with my ever-changing mind… the way I discipline my mind and soothe it at the same time, like my only child. My practice of japa is my anchor and my best friend."
When we chant we offer ourselves up for healing, for awakening. Mantra is as much about listening as it is about chanting - you start to listen to your body, your soul, your own inner acoustics and you start listening to the sonic vibrations all around you through the natural world.
Mantra is primal power, it returns us to the source. We can see ourselves as we truly are.
Here are some mantras for you to try, if you wish:
Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha
This is a meditation for Ganesha - it celebrates him as the power to remove obstacles from our path.
Om Namah Shivaya
This mantra offers salutations to that which you are capable of becoming.
Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Namo Namo
Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Namo Namo
Prithum Bhagwati, Prithum Bhagwati, Prithum Bhagwati, Namo Namo
Kundalini Mata Shakti, Mata Shakti, Namo Namo
This mantra chanted in Gurmukhi tunes us into the frequency of the Divine mother and primal protective, life force energy. Chanting it eliminates fears and fulfils desires.