Many people have heard of Mantras and have wondered: What are Mantras? How do they work? They hear of them from someone who has been practising yoga, or someone who’s working with a Guru – A lot of Mantras are given in secrecy between teacher and student. But now in this time of Kali Yuga – the information age that we are in – Mantras are becoming more accessible again. But what are these Mantras and how can they help you?
I have begun this blog as a way to demystify this ancient practice of repeating Sanskrit Mantra so that you can feel comfortable in using this wonderful and very powerful tool. In the coming weeks, months, years – I hope to be a source of support, knowledge and guidance to help people use this great tool to develop their spirituality, transform the karma they were born with and to effect positive change in their lives.
So, what are Mantras and how do they work?
Mantras are a group of words or sounds that revolutionize the energetic makeup of the say-er. Mantras work by transforming the sayer's vibration to a much higher plane allowing them to operate on a different level of awareness and with time a mantra can bring the say-er across the great ocean of illusion to illumination.
We will go into the nuts and bolts in later weeks as to how this is done.
The Mantras I will be teaching here are in the language called Sanskrit – which is an ancient spiritualized language from the East. Sanskrit is an energetic language, meaning, it is not so much what it means, but it’s the vibrational effect on the body that makes it so powerful.
We are born with a certain amount of karma that we have decided to take on in this particular incarnation. In my 26 years of actively pursuing the spiritual path, I have seen Mantra work in my own life in deep and subtle ways. I believe it can mitigate one’s karma.
Mantras are repeated by Hindus, Buddhists, Jainist’s, Sikhs and millions of people all over the world. They are not a religion, repeating mantras is akin to meditating. You can include them into your practice whatever your beliefs are.
So, the first Mantra that I will be teaching you in this blog is one of Lord Ganesha’s. Lord Ganesha is the remover of obstacles. He also goes under another name Ganapathi. It is on this form of Ganesha that our first Mantra is to:
OM GUM GANAPATAYEI NAMAHA
Om and salutations to the remover of obstacles for which Gum is the seed.
Say this Mantra 108 times in the morning and 108 times at night. If you have a difficult situation you need help with – say it for 40 days.
This is the perfect Mantra for overcoming difficulties like finding a job, problems with relationships – really any situation that needs obstacles removed from it.
A word about the Vedic gods and goddesses that some of these Mantras refer to…. it is my understanding that The Divine is vast and also extremely benevolent. The Divine will come to the seeker in whatever form is best for them. That is why there is much variety – so many images of God.
The Divine has no form but will come to us in these ‘Masks of Eternity’ as Joesph Campbell spoke of them. The Vedic gods and goddesses and also, for example, the Tibetan Buddhist’s different deities like the Green Tara or Manjushri – are forms we have created in order to understand and have a relationship with these Divine energies such as Divine Wisdom, Divine Compassion etc.,
Don’t get me wrong, the energies these ‘forms’ represent are very real and powerful – these forms help us to relate to these specific energies of the Divine and how they interplay with each other.
It helps us also to have these ‘forms’ of the Divine in a human-like form – even if they have trunks:-) so we can accept them easily. But, don’t get too caught up with the images if they bother you – focus instead on the feeling you feel while repeating these mantras. Your own experience will guide you.
Lastly, I am here – and interested in lending a helping hand in your own discovery. Would love to hear your experiences.
With Love,
Aly M. Dunne
