Mantras: Bridges to the Divine
By: Maggie Wilcox
Energy of the Breath
Our voice has power due to its connection to our breath. When our breath stops, our spirits move on. With breath, we are infused with the energy all around us. Have you ever noticed how practicing yogis have glowing skin? This is in part because of their deep and complete breathing practice that infuses the body with energy and assists in maintaining yoga asanas (poses).
Our words then become one with the breath. They help us to express our needs and desires. Once we are heard, we can more fully listen to the words of others. Air is sacred to many cultures and is the breath of the Divine. This is why positive affirmations work. Our words have power.
Mantra Practice
Hindus, Buddhists and even Native Americans have practiced chanting for thousands of years. In the Hindu tradition, the repetition of a mantra is called Japa. This repetition allows you to access the Divine and shift your current mundane reality. You merge with the Divine. You become one with the God/Goddess energy. This practice is said to remove your taste for worldly experience.
You can chant mantras out loud or to yourself. The characteristics of the mantra will reflect the deity honored by that mantra. So you might chant Ganesha’s mantra to remove obstacles in your life or Lakshmi to open yourself to abundance. Mantras are different than prayer because you are taking an active part to shift out of your mundane reality and into non-ordinary reality. By chanting continually, you access a higher vibration. By connecting to this vibration more and more, your own vibration will also shift to a higher vibration. The sludge no longer sticks; it now slides off.
Karuna Reiki® and Chanting
Karuna translates to compassionate action. Not only are you driven to be compassionate, but you also ACT upon that compassion that swells in your heart. The Mahakaruna (great compassion) is Avalokiteshvara whose other embodiments are Kuan Yin and Chenrenzei. Avalokiteshvara means “the sound that illumines the world.” I can attest to the amazing heart opening that occurs after the Karuna Reiki training. After the training, you no longer love conditionally, but literally become love itself as the divine joy flows through you.
In Karuna Reiki® we are taught to use our voices for healing. We chant and tone healing symbols over the recipient’s body in order to balance and raise their vibration. The healing sounds lift out negative residues and fill the person up with sound and light. A very deep healing can occur via sound healing. Our bodies resonate to a drum’s beat, a bird’s song and the waves crashing to shore.
In Karuna Reiki® we first empower our voices with healing energy, then chant the healing symbols guided by our intuition. The energy of the sound that then flows is guided by some very high vibrational beings of white light. A practitioner’s own vibration must be able to hold the angelic vibrations in order to channel it for the recipient. This is why it is recommended that you be a Reiki Master for six months before taking Karuna Reiki®.
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Norse Chanting
The Norse were a group of people used to describe the ancient cultures of Scandinavia, Iceland, Holland, Greenland and Anglo-Saxon England. The Norse used a form of chanting their runic alphabet called Galdr. It was believed that the runes connect its owner to the universal energies that shape our lives. They were said to control the weather, past, present, future and all aspects of life on this planet.
In Norse mythology, the God Odin received the runic alphabet after he hung upside down on a tree for nine days and nine nights. Some of you may recognize this visual from the Hanged Man card in the tarot. Using Galdr connects you to Odin via the runes’ chanted sounds. Typically, you don’t chant all 24 runes in a row, but rather you should pick a goal and choose a few runes whose connection would benefit that goal. Frequently runic chants were done over a cup of mead. By drinking the chanted infusion, you would bring the divine energy inside of you.
Here are two links to mantras you may wish to learn.
Hindu Lord Ganesha – Om Gaum Ganapataye Namaha
Tibetan Buddhist Chenrenzei – Om Mani Padme Hum
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