Thread opener, Hindu mantra of peace

[Toby Stimpson]

Wow, I have never seen this before...must be new. May i be allowed to open it with a hindu mantra for peace?

Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti

Namaste all :D

Tobias

[Mithrea]

Wow, I have never seen this before...must be new. May i be allowed to open it with a hindu mantra for peace?

Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti

Namaste all :D

Tobias

It is new :)

Can you tell us more about mantras?

[SylverStar]

O.o new sub-forums...yay! I need to find some good mantras.

[Toby Stimpson]

What would you like to know about Mantras?

Namaste

Tobias

[Akeyla]

I don't know a lot about them but I find that the ones I use in conjuncture with my chakra meditation work very well. Here are the ones I use. I would like to know more if possible. And do you know about different mudra's for different focusing aspects too. I love meditating and any new techniques that I can try and use are much appreciated.

So here is what I use for my chakra's

Root - LAM
Sacral - VAM
Navel - RAM
Heart- YAM
Throat - HAM
Forehead - KSHAM
Crown - OM

I've been told and using as such, that the 'a' is pronouced more like the 'aw' in yawn. And the 'm' is pronouced 'ng. Is that right?

[Starz123]

Hi,

This thread looks quite interesting. Hopefully I will try and provide some input. I am a Hindu and what I have been taught is through my parents, and grandparents. Also, on a few trips to India I met a few Gurus who have taught me a lot.

I do not know the nitty gritty details of things, but the mantra you are saying, whiles saying myself, I would try and pronounce it with ng at the end. I think that would be the traditional way.

I myself usually at night when I say my nightly prayers say this mantra. I say it 9 times. It gives me peace. It is a mantra I feel thats helps me. My grandad, being a very religious person, who has learnt through a few sages told me as a child, say this mantra when in stress, when in trouble and when you just need to relax. There are even audio tapes and people listen to it whiles meditating. Very useful.

Here it is:-

GAYATRI MANTRA :-

AUM BHOOR BHUWAH SWAHA,
TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM
BHARGO DEVASAYA DHEEMAHI
DHIYO YO NAHA PRACHODAYAT.

Now, I cant give the exact meaning, but I found it out for you, thought it would be better, here goes:-

Summary of the Mantra
Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life,
Remover of pain and sorrow,
The Bestower of happiness,
Oh! Creator of the Universe,
May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light,
May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.

Word for Word Meaning of the Mantra
Aum = Brahma ;
bhoor = embodiment of vital spiritual energy(pran) ;
bhuwah = destroyer of sufferings ;
swaha = embodiment of happiness ;
tat = that ;
savitur = bright like sun ;
varenyam = best choicest ;
bhargo = destroyer of sins ;
devasya = divine ;
dheemahi = may imbibe ;
dhiyo = intellect ;
yo = who ;
naha = our ;
prachodayat = may inspire!

I end my prayers with this chant:

Asato ma sat gamaya (From illusion lead me to the Truth);

Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya (From darkness lead me to Light);

Mrityur ma amritam gamaya (From death lead me to Immortality)

Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu (Let all the people in all the world be happy) x 3

Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (Om, Peace, Peace, Peace)

I dont know if any of this helps. But if you haven any questions, I will try my best to answer them.

[Toby Stimpson]

:) Namaste,

That certainly does help...I have a question for you though...are there any traditional Vaishnava/Shivite/Shakta prayers that you say or are you non sectarian? I try to go by a Shakta way, but I say a load of other mantras and more specifically Bhajans. As I type I have Raghupati Raghav blaring in the background sung by Lata Mangeshkar (sp?).

Tobias

P.S. To answer the question earlier...as show by Starz and Akeya...a mantra is basicly a set of power words. Almost like an enchantment...the singing of a mantra like the gayatri mantra (very famous, coming from the lotus feet of Shiva) and also to a lesser extent the most powerful of all AUM, the primordial sound that gave way to the universe...creates a power since of you. In most Indian religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and somewhat Sikhism, mantras provide a place for the inner spirit to commune with the great spirit of the universe.

[Starz123]

Its Lata Mangeshwar. And I do listen to bhajans as well as sing them and go to the mandirs.

But if you ask me anymore about indian music i would be lost! :bumpsmili
I am not much into it but my family is! :smile:

Well, with regards to your second question, its a bit well difficult for me to answer coz I might and will go on rambling! :D

Thing is I dont use some of these terms, I guess for me its more as practice kind of thing, cant explain it.

By Vaishnava/Shaiva/Shakta means you follow Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva as well the Devis (Goddesses). There are a number of mantras as well as a number of bhajans for each. I cant even begin to name the number of bhajans out there.

I personally am a Hare Krishna follower. Other members of the family all have their own path. But we all believe in all Gods and Goddesses and do not strictly follow one and disregard another. Ofcourse, we then believe all are one.

For example, in my case, today is Monday, it is Lord Shiva's day. We are vegetarians, pour milk on the Shiv ling as well as offer prasad (sweets, etc). I fast sometimes on Mondays.
Similarly, during the festival of Navratri (festival for the 9 Devis), I fasted during the 9 days and have done so since a child. Ofcourse, it is not merely fasting, there are other strict rules to abide by.

Thus, I do say a variety of prayers for each of the dieties I am praying to.

Might sound confusing, but since you have learnt about the hindu religion, then you know each god/Goddess has a day in the week as well as certain birthdays or religious days. We follow who we can and what we can. Thus, I am not a vegetarian all the time. Its personal choice.

I hope I answered your question?!?! If anything, let me know. I am sorry I cant go into a lot of details as I have never really researched my religion, its more hands on. I learn as I grow older and read more and meet more saints and scholars and pandits.

I got a question for you, by saying you follow the Shakta way, which Mata (Goddess) do you follow?

[Toby Stimpson]

Thankyou for your clarifications Ji :)

I'll answer your last question first. Since I came from the wiccan tradition which is just a western mirror to Shakti worship...I was exposed first to Kali Maa from a somewhat Pagan friend (ironic he labels himself a Muslim lol). Since then I lookd more into kalism and found to my surrpise a whole branch of Sanatan Dharma which was specifically towards Devi worship. But I felt a pulling from kali, soemthing there that appealed to me. So I learned all that I could...now my personal shrine has images of Kali, Ambaji, Morgan le fey (woho is not Hindu, but still a form of Devi), and a single image of Gopala and Radharani...I also have a few Murtis, of Shiva in the central location with Kali in the background...Ardhanarishvara, and Nataraja..and finally Ganesha.

Thats interesting, i knew that they had special days...but i do not celebrate...if you could call me a hindu at all i am a bad one lol. How did your Navratri go? i soo wanted to go by the closest Mandir, but I got discouraged becasue i didnt want brown eyes asking "why is a white guy here" lol. I certainly did sing Kalabinashini Kali on Kali Puja though! :D

On a personal note, just a quick question...you say you are of ISKON, Im just wondering if it still as big in India as it was when your Guru was alive...I know in North America it dies back becasue of soem disagreement within the organization...is the Delhi temple still open?

Namaste

Tobias

[Starz123]

Thats interesting. Kali Mata does have a certain pull. My Navratri was good. We have an Indian temple here so I do go to that. You should have gone, I don't think they discriminate like that anymore. Sure, you might hear a few whispers but not more. :lol:

On another note, mandirs are beautiful and yes there is a certain peaceful feeling when you go to one. But I don't go often as well unless I am in India for a visit. For Navrtari as well, I did my own puja at home but went on the last day to the mandir for the Havan. Thing is, over here, there are too much rubbish I feel among the Indians. They goto temple just to talk, show off and see each other, etc, It does my head in. But I do know this much, as long as you pray and your faith is strong, it does not matter where you are.

Well, I am A Hare Krishna follower but I have not joined or taken naam, as they say. ISKON is still big all over the world. You have to understand, Lord Krishna worship doesn't die because of the politics. I have been to Dehli as a child once but I am sure the temple is open. As of Bombay and its neighbouring city, I know they have a few branches there.

I live in a small country in Africa and here we have 5 branches of ISKON! Majority of the followers are not even Indian. Even in London, there have beautiful ISKON temples and the faith there is strong.

But, with Lord Krishna worship, a lot of people follow it differently. Other than ISKON, there are a number of small groups who follow a Guru who preaches Lord Krishna as a Supreme Being. A lot of this depends also depends on whether you are punjabi, Gujuratri, sindhi, etc (types of Indians!!). For example, within my sect, there are groups of people who follow Satnam Sakhi. They have Gurus they follow and they also pray to Lord Krishna. This is ongoing as the Gurus always annoint a successor. Ofcourse, due to politics, they are also separated inside themselves. Majority of my family follow this route.

My immediate family, like I said, we are open to all, but more of a follower of ISKON I guess. Thing is, my mum met Swami Prabhupadha when she was young. It wasn't for long, he was visiting her country. She learnt through him, and that was when she knew this was her true following. With me as a child, I learnt a lot of the religion through my grandad, as I am older, I have chosen to follow this. With us, you are free to choose your path as long as you feel its right and up to you.

Ok, I think I pretty much answered your question and gave you an essay!
:nonono: I tend to ramble!!!!

[Toby Stimpson]

LOL nono, thats fine...you rant away, it all serves to increase awareness of different communities.

You are very correct when you say Krishna worship should not be affected by politics...I think to take away the Krishna aspect of Vaishnavism or even Sanatan Dharma is to effectivly take the God from the focus. The reality is, Krishna is a very important icon of Hindu culture...What I always find interesting about Krishna though is how very broad his story is...although to be quite honest i do not believe strongly in the teachings of ISKON as the majority of members i have encountered (not all, as you bear witness ;) but the majority) seem to take it to a level that is almost nonthinking...and too literal, which is strange for Hinduism. But thats just me *shrugs*. If any are there any translations of the Gita you would suggest? I've been trying to find a few translations (Shankara is one I really want!!!!) But I have only been able to find a few...and again, I did not much care for the very literal view that "Bhagavad Gita: As It is" portrayed. anyway lol, I could go on as well. thankyou for the reply though!

As i sort of rewrite this...Sylver may i say that everything soemone adds...adds...so please, tell us more about your experiances...if memory serves my dear (and i havnt talked to you in ages!!!) Ganesha was loitering on your alter, last time I checked...or was it Sarasvati? talk...join...add, tis good :)

Namaste

Tobias

[SylverStar]

You guys should always write essay posts. ^_^ I like reading them. I would add to the conversation but I really know little.

[SylverStar]

Yeah it was Ganesha. I haven't actually been studing much lately. Been more content. Other than the Bhaghva Gita and a bit of the Upanishads I haven't read much more. I find it hard to find a lot of Hindu texts...mostly everybody carries Buddhism stuff...so I can't say I've learned much....So is this thread about actually about Mantras...I ran across a view on a site once which actually had audio version which is cool...cause I can't pronounce half the stuff by reading it...lol. I lost that site though. I know that there are a lot of mantras for Ganapati...but is there any main ones? I actually really like the chant Starz posted (the one you say every night)...now if only I could pronounce it...oh maybe there is a site that helps with saying the words?
Anyways thanks Tobias...sometimes I little shy specially if I feel I know little....but really what do any of us know...lol.

[Akeyla]

Just wanted to add, That I like the long ramplings too, very informative.

I have just started to look into the Hindu faiths and am still learning the basics let alone the different aspects and sects. So it is very interesting to read your posts and how you compare notes.

I recently had a white elephant walk with me during a visualization while I was meditating. His presense was very calming and uplifting. Soon after he appeared, many more animals started to show up, and they were all white. And none of them were coming from what I was visualizing. It was a very interesting experience. I'm not sure what it means but when you mentioned Ganesha, it made me think of it, and I wanted to share.

[Toby Stimpson]

Hey Akeyla and Sylver...

To answer your question about the pronounciations...I usually just dl Bhajans and Mantras online...which is quite easy really...if you go to Altavista and look aat the "audio/mpeg search" and use keywords such as "Mantra, Bhajan, Arti" soemtiems even using direct words like Namah, AUM, Sri, Maha...and so on. These are all sanskrit words used in traditional chants. Also if your looking for the Gayatri amntra...Gayatri will suffice...I have a list of the names to come amntras if you want them...just have to grab me wheile Im online lol...B ecasue i dotn have it here :(.

Namaste

Tobias

[SylverStar]

Akeyla, I had a meditation with a baby white elephant how interesting. I don't know if the journals are still up here but I posted it in my journal. It was when Ganesha first appeared into my life...so that is interesting.

Thanks Tobias...I never know how to search for things...lol. I will have to try that.

Also just realized I didn;t check any of my spellings in the last post...so I probably butchered all the indian names. ><;;

[Toby Stimpson]

Just as a sidebar, I just came across a romacized webpage of important important mantras *does happy dance*...here:

http://www.kytemple.org/hinduschoolbook.html

Some of these are basis for orthadox and liberal Hindu literature and prayer. Just thought I'd share :).

Namaste

Tobias

[Starz123]

Sorry guys I havent responded in awhile. Things been quite hectic. As you know we had a couple of festivals these past few days...Diwali, dassera, chand...juts a few things. So having a huge family, even though I am not in India, (where i dont know half of them, but apparently they know me, lol), but things still get quite crazy. As it was our New years and stuff.

Anyways, Galadraal, that website for mantras, very nice.

I agree about the way some people portray themselves in ISKON. But like you said its not all of them. But that happens everywhere, in every religion and every sector(dont know another word). Everywhere, there are a few fanatics and people who go overboard that ends up spoiling the reputation of a religion or temple or group of people. Its up to a person to decide what is right or wrong. I personally, nearly ended in a massive argument and refused to beleive a certain sect of religious people (Radha Swami) because I saw the behaviour of its followers and it disgusted me. Ofcourse, I have met their Guru and heard his talks, he never said any of what they say but still I find it more like a cult but I wouldn't insult or shun it because my parents have always brought me up to believe, you dont like someone or something they preach or believe in, you don't insult it. Its your choice, but never insult another person's guru because they are holy men, one way or another they are here just to help people. Well, I could go on and on, but leave it at that.

About the Bhagavad Gita, I will have to look into it for you. Actually, I am going to be travelling to India soon to visit family and for a family wedding. I might be able to find out more for you from there itself.

Sylverstar, about pronounciations, i wil find a site for you. But it doesnt matter if u mess it up a bit. I myself can't pronounce a few things right. In india, people laugh at me because i sing or say bhajans with a British accent. I feel very odd speaking Hindi and my own dialect, because i sound real weird with my accent. Well, I grew up speaking English! But I understand it all.

A site on Ganesh mantras ...pretty informative:-
http://www.rudraksha-ratna.com/articledt.php?art_id=163

There is a mantra my mum does, I will ask her.

AKeyla and sylverstar, your meditations with white elephants sounds interesting.

I once had a dream with Lord Ganesha. It was actually extremely strange, i thought so at 1st. But who knows.

I have to go now, but i will post more tonight.

:bubbles:

[SylverStar]

Thanks...I will check out that site....and any info you give will be greatly appreciated.