Mantra stack provided by Mugs McConnell.
It feels like, at times, that the world has been turned upside down. Even if I stay away from the news, it still manages to seep into my day. There are days when I can let it go and then other days when I feel this sense of hopelessness.
Then I ask myself: Can I affect the world with my yoga sadhana? I always felt that I wanted to be a part of the solution, not the problem, so I keep moving forward bringing with me my limited understanding of yoga and some of its practices.
What Is Yoga Sadhana?
The Power of Mantra Sadhana
On those days when I need to shift my perspective or shake up my mood, I find my meditation cushion. There are two practices that have held me and allowed me to stay connected with the world and build my capacity for resiliency.
One practice is Meditation.
When I sit, I look to grace to remind me that the thoughts will still come and go. Then, at some point I find I am reminded to turn towards our higher connection with the Divine. I bring the light from within to connect with the light of the Divine. From there I fill myself, the room, my house, pets, and family. I imagine the light moving outward into my neighbourhood, across the country to friends and family. The light gathers as we all become beams of light and then the offer is made to send the light to all other beings, to lift all beings up. When I am done it seems that I am a little lighter.
The other practice is Japa.
Japa, the repetition of sacred Sanskrit mantras with my mala beads, helps me to feel connected and keeps me more centered. Japa meditation with mantra is an ancient practice, and I have experienced how it has energetically changed the vibrations within and around me. These vibrations move outward from me, like beams of light, so that as a collective, we shift vibrations in a bigger space.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mantra Answered By Namadeva Acharya
40 Days of Japa Practice
When working with mantras, you might choose to make a commitment to yourself to do your Japa Meditation for 40 days in a row.
The 3HO website offers the following for why we make the commitment to 40 days of sadhana: the repeated effort put into a chosen yoga practice allows you to develop an awareness of and relationship with the energy it contains. You can’t really know what the transformational potential is until you’ve gotten to know both the practice and yourself through consistent repetition. It takes time to experience change. According to yogic philosophy, 40 days is the amount of time it takes to develop a new habit and really internalize the effects of the mantra’s power.
Lastly, I always remember from my SOYA 200 hr training that when chanting a mantra for others, always state that you “will not take on their karma but merely be a vehicle of grace for the work to be done”.
Chant these 5 Mantras for World Peace and Healing
The following mantra stack is intended to help in the restoration of dharma and world peace. You can say them for the healing of the whole world. Say them for peace! You can choose one of these mantra to chant, or you can say them all in this order.
Use your mala beads or play the recording during your meditation, and even during activities through the day. Allow approximately 35 minutes for the mantras if you are chanting all as a stack.
Follow along with this recording of all 5 mantras led as a stack by Mugs.
- Om Vajra Sattva Hum (pronounced Ohm vahj-rah saht-vah hoo-ng)
- Om, I invoke that supreme purifying power of the universal mind, the repository of all accomplishing and irresistible compassion as taught by the great sages and rishis.
- Om Eim Hrim Klim Chamunda’yae Vicche Namaha (pronounced Ohm I’m Hreem Kleem Chah-moon-dye-yay Vee-chey Nah-mah-ha)
- Om and salutations to goddess Chamundi, she who radiates with power and wisdom. As a form of the feminine warrioress Durga, I rejoice in her invincibility and victory over evil.
- Om Danda Nitish’tayae Namaha (pronounced Ohm dahn-dah Nit-eesh-tie-yay Nah-mah-ha)
- Om and salutations to Her who is present in the moral and legal principles of government, enforced for the maintenance of righteous life. “Danda” is like the gavel, used to punctuate the rulings.
- Om Virahaya Namaha (pronounced Ohm Veer-ah-high-yah Nah-mah-ha)
- Om and salutations to he who destroys evil for the protection of Dharma. Virya refers to the power of the mind to be committed, actively devoted, unshaken, indefatigable, and unwilling to turn back. It has the ability to realize what is positive.
- Om Shanti Om (pronounced Ohm Shawn-tea Ohm)
- Om Peace Om. May I be filled with the Universal, all-pervading peace and light of the Divine.
References:
3HO website: https://www.3ho.org/your-first-40-day-sadhana/
Namadeva Acharya’s Mantra Teacher Training manual https://sanskritmantra.com/
Images for Beams of Light by “geralt and Meditation by Activedia” from https://pixabay.com
Mugs has been practicing yoga for over 50 years, teaching yoga for over 45 years, and training yoga teachers since 1995. She is the co-founder of the South Okanagan Yoga Academy (SOYA) and the SOYA Yoga Teacher Training program. Mugs trained extensively with Dr. Hari Dickman, Swami Vishnudevananda, Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, Namadeva Acharya, and Erich Schiffmann. She is the author of Letters from the Yoga Masters: Teachings Revealed through Correspondence from Paramhansa Yogananda, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Sivananda, and Others, published by North Atlantic Books copyright © 2016 ISBN 978-1-62317-035-6. (available from Amazon and all major booksellers).
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