Meditation Challenge: Day #3
Meditation Day 3 – Using Japa Beads with a mantra (Ohm Nimah Shivaya)
Last night as I was reading EPL, I came across the mantra Ohm Nimah Shivayah. Other than at an occasional retreat and at the end of yoga classes, I don’t typically use or say a mantra in meditation, at least not a Sanskrit one. I guess you could argue that the word “peace is a mantra, but I just think of it as a calming word. However, after EPL gave me the helpful Japa meditation yesterday and I was planning to do it again before my regular meditation, it seemed like adding a mantra would be a good variation to the experiment.
BTW, evidently this is the basis of transcendental meditation – here’s a quick tutorial.
I grabbed my “Japa-lite” bracelet, centered myself, and began the meditation. Though I was trying to use the mantra concurrently with the breath, I found they were out of rhythm and had to keep recalibrating to get them back in sync. After a few moments of noticing this, and/or chiding myself for doing the mantra “too fast,” I decided to let the mantra show me where it wanted to go and let the breath be more of a supporting role rather than a main character of the meditation. What surprised me was that the mantra sped up quite significantly into a full-blown chant, eventually coming into a natural cadence. Then suddenly I was saying it out loud - not loudly, mind you – but saying it over and over in a confident whisper.
Om Namah Shivaya.
In general, I will say this experience was very powerful for me. I felt my energy shift and rise as I became aware of moving between times or dimensions. More specifically, I felt like this phrase tapped me into a history of healing spaces and practices, whether my own or that of people who came before me. I was deeply connected to the sound of the mantra, no longer hearing just my own voice but that of so many others saying it with and around me.
Perhaps this is the power of the mantra – the connection it has to all those who have spoken it before, whether on their own or collectively. Similarly, the power in The Lord’s Prayer and other sacred words connects us to the traditions and beliefs of others who have used them. When we say these words, we are quite literally emitting and connecting to the vibration of those who have said the same phrase(s) before us.
Well, that’s a lot to take in before breakfast. I’ll definitely do this again and investigate some other healing mantras to try out.
Other Mantras for Meditation Resources: https://cleverism.com/mantras-for-meditation/
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