SHAKTI MANTRAS

Application of Shakti Mantras
Shakti mantras can be used to create, sustain or dissolve the various forms, patterns and forces within us. They have particular affinities
with certain locations in the body and with specific chakras – like Hrãæ and the heart – but also have a broader effect to promote certain
types of forces, like Hrãæ as solar energy that can be used on many different levels.
The application of Shakti mantras, like that of other mantras, depends upon the goals of life that we are using them to achieve (dharma,
artha, kama, and moksha or career, wealth, enjoyment, or liberation), which gunas we are energizing them with (sattva, rajas, tamas, or
the qualities of clarity, action or inertia), or their application through Yoga, Ayurveda, Vedic astrology or other disciplines. In this regard,
the same Shakti mantra can be used in many different ways. Yet at the deepest level, Shakti mantras are meant to arouse and support the
Yoga Shakti or inner power of Yoga within us.
For example, the mantra Írãæ at an outer level connects us to the abundance of our dharma and artha, our career and financial gains,
and the fulfillment of our kama or desires. For Yoga practice, it grants devotion to the guru and the deity. In Ayurveda, it promotes healing,
growth, and nourishment. In Vedic astrology, it is the mantra of the Moon and can be used for strengthening benefic Venus and Jupiter
as well. In Vaastu, it promotes well-being, prosperity and happiness in the dwelling.
Used with a sattvic intention, Írãm has a nourishing and harmonizing force; with a rajasic intention, it has a power to promote outer
development and achievement; and with a tamasic intention, it can gain a destructive or crushing capacity. At an outer Lakshmi (Goddess
of Prosperity) level, Írãæ can grant us the abundance of the material world; while at an inner Lakshmi level, it can grant us the abundance
of the spiritual life, which is devotion, bliss and the beauty of perception.
14 Tathaastu
SpotlightHow to Use these Mantras
Please use these mantras with respect and a sense of their sacred power, along with your meditation, honoring the deity within. Generally,
seed mantras are repeated numerous times in a series of continuous meditation sittings to reach the number of 100,000, which is the
amount usually required to awaken their energy and draw it deep into our psyche. Then they can be repeated regularly as needed, even
off and on during the day, to help us maintain calm and focus of the mind, or to direct us towards the particular goal that we are seeking
through repeating the mantra.
Many people use seed mantras as their main mantra for meditation (TM mantras are usually based upon Shakti mantras, for example),
also referred to as “primal sound” or “mantra meditation.” They repeat their special mantra before meditation to take the mind more
quickly into the meditative state. Shakti mantras have a powerful effect by their sound alone, which is pranic in nature and helps decondition the mind, even if one does not understand their meaning. They are easy to pronounce as they consist of one syllable only! You
can choose one of these mantras as your meditation mantra, repeating it silently for at least fifteen minutes or around a thousand times
before meditation.
Another method is to let the mantra reverberate along with the breath. You can draw in the Shakti of the mantra on inhalation like Hrãæ
as the solar energy or pure light of awareness, and spread its energy throughout your being or into your environment upon exhalation.
When mantra and prana become one, both are brought to a higher level of power and function. One can direct the mantra along with
the breath to whatever part of the body one wishes to be healed or strengthened, or send it as a healing force for the benefit of others.
Bija mantras can be used along with Divine names, like Oæ Hrãæ Suryaya Namah! for honoring the solar deity Surya. They can be used
in combinations for different deities or aspects of the Divine, like Krãæ Hïæ Hrãæ for Ma Kali. There are many such mantric formulas
in Sanskrit literature and Hindu devotional worship. However, deeper applications and complex combinations of Shakti mantras may
require direct instruction from a teacher who knows how to adapt these mantras on an individual basis. This is the same as for any other
Yoga practice.
Tathaastu 15Oæ
Oæ is the prime mantra of the Purusha, the Cosmic Being, the
Atman or higher Self. As such, it attunes us with our true nature
and higher reality. Oæ is the sound of Ishvara, the cosmic lord, the
creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe, who is also the
inner guru and prime teacher of Yoga. It reflects both the manifest
and the unmanifest Brahman, sustaining the vibration of being,
life and consciousness in all worlds and all
creatures.
Generally, Oæ is divided threefold as
A, U and M, with A referring to
creation, the waking state and
Brahma, the creator; U as
sustenance, the dream state
and Vishnu the preserver;
and M as dissolution, the
deep sleep state and Shiva
the transformer. More
specifically, Oæ relates
to Shiva, the cosmic
masculine force.
Oæ serves to open and clear
the mind for meditation. It
brings about an ascension and
expansion of our energy. It
promotes the higher prana and inner
light and takes us into the formless realm.
It draws the sound current up the spine,
through the chakras and out from the top of the
head. Oæ also means “yes” and is said to be the sound of assent. It
allows us to harmonize with the forces of the univer