Day 4 - The Power of MANTRA

We already discussed in Day 3 - Healing with Music how sound can be used to improve your health and overall immune system.

The practice today is about using MANTRAS and how they can be used for beneficial effects.

Mantras originate in Vedism, a 3000 years old tradition, one of the major traditions that shaped Hinduism. As various religious/practices were formed, each adopted the use of mantras in different forms.

Mantras are melodic, mathematically structured meters containing positive phrases, words of truth, light, peace, love. Some may not have a literal meaning, yet are musically and spiritually uplifting, filling you with beautiful, peaceful, positive, light sensations.

Some may say their healing power cannot be scientifically proven, although there are many studies showing they truly can help and I believe there is deeper science in them than we can grasp at this moment.

Some say the positive effects brought by mantra chanting are just ‘placebo’ effects. But what is a ‘placebo’ effect? Isn’t it the brain moving into a healthy state, a positive frequency? What is sound? Isn’t it a vibration? Aren’t we all vibrating matter in a vibratory universe? So couldn’t there be that the chanting of mantras harmonizes our system, making us healthier and having a boosting immune system?

The French doctor, Alfred A. Tomatis, has documented the neurophysiological effects of chant on the minds and bodies of listeners. His studies confirms the categorization of sounds in - "discharge" sounds (which tire and drain the listener) and "charge" sounds (those which give energy, life and improve health). I the mid-1960s, he was called to a monastery in France to help and understand why the health of the monks was severely affected for no apparent reason. The monastery had been taken over by a new abbot who tried to eliminate Latin from the monks' vocabulary and to replace it with prayers in their own native language. Since that change the monks started getting tired and could not be as productive in their work as before when they did their usual chanting. Dr. Tomatis was called by the Abbot in June, 1967, and he found that 70 of the 90 monks were slumping in their cells like wet dishrags. He recommended they immediately return to their schedule of eight hours daily chanting. By November, almost all of them had gone back to their normal activities, their prayer and their few hours of sleep.

Dr. Tomatis succeeded in giving the monks back their health and energy without drugs or medication. He succeeded by treating them with sound only.

Of course, you can choose to listen to binaural beats or to do a mantra chanting session if you feel playful.

There are doctors who use it, there are doctors who recommend it, so let’s start all include this in our health routine.

“The cure, my dear youth, must be effected by use of certain charms, and these charms are fair words” (Plato, Charmides 156-158)

Here are some mantras I recommend. You can find more on the internet. Just choose the one that attracts you the most and feels most right to you. And start chanting!

Mantra 1:

Mantra words Meaning

OM TWAMEVA SAKSHAT SHRI //Praise

MAHALAKSHMI, MAHARASWATI, MAHAKALI //Sustainance/Wisdom, Physical/Mental Activity, Emotion

Mantra 2:

DURGA MATA JAGADAMBA // Sense of Security

RADHA KRISHNA // Collectivity

YESHODA, BUDDHA // Respect for others, Higher Ego

SAKSHAT SHRI ADI SHAKTI MATAJI // Praise

SHRI NIRMALA DEVI NAMO NAMAHA // Praise

Mantra 3:

OM MANI PADME HUM

//invoking the Bodhisattva embodiment of compassion

//translates to “Hail the Jewel in the lotus”

//OM – purifies pried

//MA – purifies jealousy, need for stimulation

//NI – purifies passion, desire

//PAD – purifies ignorance, prejudice

//ME – purifies possessiveness

//HUM – purifies hatred

//contains all Buddhism principles in a summarized form

Mantra 4:

LOKAH SAMASTAH SUKHINO BHAVANTU

// “May all beings be happy. May all my thoughts, words, actions contribute to happiness for all beings”

// helps to become aware of our connection with all the life

// helps to open our hearts to understanding, love, compassion for others

Mantra 5:

HAM-SA

// I am that

// reaffirm conscious presence

// breathing in – say – HAM – affirming “I am-ness”

// breath out – say – SA – bridging the gap between self and other, creating oneness

Mantra 6:

OM SHREEM HREEM

// Material stability mantra

Mantra 7:

Mantra words Meaning

OM TWAMEVA SAKSHAT SHRI //Praise

TRIGUNAMKA KINDALINI

//Desire, Existence, Action, Creation, Evolution, Awareness, Awakening

SAKSHAT SHRI ADI SHAKTI MATAJI // Praise

SHRI NIRMALA DEVI NAMO NAMAHA // Praise

Mantra 8: (Recommended also by Dalai Lama in the current global situation) - Tara Mantra

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA

// liberating from samsara, liberating from the eight fears

And an audio version of this last mantra: