Power of Mantra: Why do we chant every Saturday?
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THE YOGA CONNECTION
Power of Mantra: Why do we chant every Saturday?
By Mantram (Mary Baird)
Om tryambakam yajaamahe sugandhim pushtivavardhanam; urvaarukamiva bandhanaat mrityormuksheeya maamritaat.
"Om" all by itself is a mantra, a familiar sound vibration that we chant to calm our minds and harmonize our energies as we begin and end yoga classes. The longer series of Sanskrit sounds and phrases listed above is the Mahamrityunjaya mantra, chanted weekly at Satyananda ashrams around the world and here at the Atma Center each Saturday. This particular combination of sounds has the powerful aim of transforming negative energy into a positive force and bringing healing to those in need. Traditionally this mantra is chanted for "victory over death" – to purify and heal the spirit during the transition from this life.
At the Atma Center, we begin each session by remembering individuals listed in our chanting book who may be ill or suffering due to obstacles in their lives. Then the group chants the mantra 108 times. It is the repeated vibration of the sounds from deep within each of us that contributes to the desired effect.
The chanting affects us, too, says Swami Satyaprakash, who directs a SATYANANDA YOGA® center in Birmingham, UK:
"Chanting the Mahamrityunjaya mantra can relieve the feelings of impotence we experience, typically when a friend is seriously ill, or when a marriage breaks down and children are involved. . . . Frequently we feel that we are not doing enough. One of the most powerful ways in which we can serve the person and their family is to chant for them daily. . . . We emerge from the practice feeling more positive, less burdened and more able to bring light to those around us."
[YOGA magazine, Aug 2007, pp. 35-36]
Commenting on her own experience during these sessions, Shantibindu, an Atma Center teacher who attends regularly, says: “Throughout my life, I’ve experienced profound effects from various chants. It’s like acknowledging and summoning a force larger than yourself. Chanting the Mahamrit, which I’ve done for several years, I become like a subtle motor that keeps rotating a healing force through me. A special awareness arises which starts with the energy of the mantra coming through me and then leaving out through my heart. I feel it traveling first to close people in my life and then spreading out to my community, my country, my whole surroundings. It is the way my teacher [Atmarupa] leads this chant that takes me on this journey. By the end of the session the energy in me travels like a rocket ship to all ends of the earth. I feel I am acting as a conduit when I chant this mantra, just witnessing the healing flow. The practice moves my spirit and my world.”
All are welcome to attend the free Saturday chanting sessions (4:30pm) and to enter names of loved ones anytime in the book near the front register.
Atma Center Store: Unique Holiday Gift Ideas
Subtle, soothing scents: Shoyeido and Nag Champa incense - Bennington Aromatherapy Candles (paraffin & pure soy)
Wide variety of 2008 calendars filled with stunning illustrations: Chakras, Yoga Poses, Mandalas, Deities, Nature Scenes, and more
The varied sounds of Yoga on CD: Kirtan, Singing bowls, Mantra chanting, Music of India – many titles
Ambiance for meditation: Dhotis and shawls from India – Zafus and Zabutons (Hugger Mugger cushions) – Unique tea light holders – Yoga Fountain – Chime Clocks (Now & Zen)
Print this page out and bring it in for
10% off
Any one store item OR -
Any purchase over $100
Valid December 2007
[One coupon per customer]
Giving as a Yogic Practice
By Sannyasi Atmarupa
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
Winston Churchill
The holiday season is upon us, and for many, this is a time of gift giving. In the midst of the marketing and retail craziness, this is a relevant time to look at the process of giving and how giving can make us better yogis.
Giving is becoming a popular topic. Recently, ex-President Bill Clinton published a book entitled “Giving – How Each of Us Can Change the World.” “Giving Circles,” groups of middle class professionals who each pledge an amount and then pool the donations, are providing support to small, worthwhile organizations that are challenged to find funding through grants or philanthropists. There are currently 1.4 million nonprofit organizations in the US with more than 1 million tax-exempt, and this does not take into account nonprofits with annual incomes of less than $25,000.
In our Western culture of abundance, some people are apparently beginning to realize life should be more than accumulating stuff. After all, as they say in the South, “I never saw a U-Haul trailer behind a hearse.” In other words, you can’t take it with you. Concerns about global warming are beginning to make us more conscious of our ‘carbon footprint’ on the world. As a more global perspective awakens, a realization is dawning of being a part of a bigger whole, and this is at the very core of yogic teachings.
In the first three sutras of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, yoga is defined as reaching a state when the whirlpools of the mind are blocked. Then - tada drashtuh svarupayevasthanam – the seer resides in one’s true essence. The mind unites with universal consciousness instead of identifying with the sensory perceptions and the material world. This connection leads to a state of bliss. There are no attachments in this state of bliss. No possessions to worry about. No bills to pay. No angst of relationships. Patanjali goes on to say that to overcome the pain of identifying with the world around us, we must engage the practices of yoga over a long period of time (abhyasa) and experience a sense of nonattachment (vairagya).
Nonattachment does not mean detachment. It is not a state of uncaring. In fact, it means to be fully present and engaged in the world, but with the realization your time here is finite and all that you have is temporary and transient. As Andre Gilde has said, “Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to give possesses you.” I remember Swami Satyananda saying that in India if a villager has one pair of shoes, he considers himself fortunate and takes very good care of those shoes without ever thinking about having a second pair. As Westerners, we may have 20 pairs of shoes and still want more – and our mind has many more thoughts about those shoes - to find a place for them, keep them clean, match our clothes – the shoes begin to occupy the mind. Now look at this in the context of all that we own. Our mind becomes possessed by our possessions. How much do we really need? How much can we let go?
There are so many aspects of giving and the reasons we are reluctant to give, but time and space is limited. In this season of giving, take a moment to consider the words of Swami Sivananda:
"The water of the Ganga cannot decrease if thirsty people drink it. So also your wealth cannot decrease if you do charity. Share with others whatever you possess, physical, mental or spiritual. You will expand. You will experience oneness and unity of life. Strip yourself of the veils of limitations. It is easy to fight in the battle, but it is difficult to give a gift silently without manifesting pride and self-glorification and without expressing to others. Charity must be spontaneous and unrestrained. Giving must become a strong habit. Give, give and give.”
Atma Center Calendar of Coming Events
| Dec. 14 - Jan. 3 | Three-Week "Mini"-Session begins. Please note there are no classes Mondays and Tuesdays. |
| Dec. 30 | Beat the Winter Blahs! workshop, 1:30-3:30 pm, $25 early, $30 at the door, limit 15 students. |
| Jan. 1 | Yogia in the New Year workshop. Start 2008 off right! 10 am - 1 pm, $35 early, $40 at the door, limit 15 students. Click for details and registration |
| Jan. 4 | Six-week session of yoga classes begins. Register online |
| Jan. 6 | Yoga Therapy - Depression. 1-3 pm, $40, limit 8 students. Click for details and registration |
| Jan 12 | Sanskrit classes begin. Learn the language of yoga in this series. First class on the Sanskrit Alphabet is today and Jan. 26, 1-4 pm. Click for details |
| Jan. 13 | Eye Love Yoga! Yoga practices to improve the eyes. 1-3 pm, $25 early, $30 at the door, limit 15 students. Click for details and registration |
FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, click here.
This newsletter is provided to you by the Atma Center, 2319 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. [216-371-9760 www.atmacenter.com] The Atma Center is one of three places authorized worldwide to offer advanced training in SATYANANDA YOGA® through Yogic Studies and Teacher Training courses.