Many years ago when I started a yoga practice, I had no idea what it would reveal to me. I was just hoping for a little extra strength and flexibility, and I did what I could to avoid all the spiritual trappings of the practice. But, somehow, as it does, the yoga did its job. Over the years it brought me through physical, psychological, and emotional revelations that I can’t imagine would have taken place otherwise.
One of the most powerful insights has come through the use of sound and mantra as a basis for the practice. I was born with a hearing impairment that gave me a unique relationship to sound. As a child, I would feel sound, vibration, tone, and intonation in order to more fully access my world. This was second nature to me, but through my studies of yoga (and physics!), I suddenly found a reason behind my special relationship to sound. Just as important, through yoga’s rich mythology, I also gained context and meaning to better understand how the inner and outer practices of yoga work. It is from this perspective that I have always practiced and taught, fueled by the belief that sound has the power to harmonize us and myth brings forth what is alive within us. It is in this spirit that I always end my lectures and workshops with these words: Don’t miss the vibrations.
This book covers a lot of ground. It presents twenty-one mantras or chants that stem from our yogic tradition — some with tremendous historicity and some that are more modern derivations. It also describes the myth, text, or context each mantra comes from or is associated with, and it explains how these rich myths relate to our modern-day spiritual practice.
My hope is that, with this guide, you will come to use these chants in your spiritual practice in a variety of ways. In your personal practice, you may chant in order to fuel your meditation, with or without accompaniment (sometimes chanting to yourself in the shower is as uplifting as chanting on the floor with a harmonium!). If you are a yoga student, you may discover that these chants come up in your classes or in the music the instructor plays. If you are a teacher, these chants can be used as jumping-off points for enriching classroom discussions of yogic wisdom and lively mythology. Even if your yoga practice includes zero āsana (physical postures), you can use these chants as your sole spiritual practice. Let their vibrations and related myths uplift your mind, outlook, and sense of well-being to generate an overall feeling of harmony. There is no wrong way to utilize these chants and bring them into your own spiritual practice. Let them help and support you on your spiritual journey.
The mantras, their corresponding myths, and the spiritual guidance they contain are all connected through vibration, which is encompassed through the practice of nāda yoga. The principle of nāda yoga — the yoga of sacred sound — plays a key role in any type of yoga practice and is held sacred in all yoga practices. In yoga, making a personal connection with the source is paramount, and it is held that the nature of the source is vibration. Wherever we look in yoga practice, we find the reference to this internal, sacred sound, known as nāda. The nāda is said to arise from the heart and is the vibrational equivalent of our own personal oṁ (
). In order to access this sound, and refine our internal listening to connect with it, we start by refining and tuning up our outer listening. This can include both the acts of listening to music as well as making music. The yogi enhances this dynamic interaction with sound through mantra. Mantras work on not only the mind and attitude of the chanter (or listener!) but on the internal energetic body of the chanter (and listener). As we harmonize our mind and body through the chants and bring into tune our psyche and heart through the mythology, we create a self that is in sync with our highest vibration.
In this book, by weaving together chants, tales, and spiritual philosophy, I hope to give you a feeling-sense of how the vibrations are brought to life by the mantra, how the mantra is vivified by the story, and how we are enlivened through the embodiment of the myth and mantra. This isn’t merely a theory to understand but a practice meant to be fully embodied and experienced. The transformative power of vibration is something you must feel and verify for yourself. There is no wisdom that is more important than the self-evident wisdom that arises when we put theory into practice.
Mantras and Chants
A mantra, as it relates to the yogic and Vedic traditions of India, is a Sanskrit phrase that encapsulates some higher idea or ideal within the cadence, vibration, and essence of its sound. A mantra can be as simple as a single sound — such as chanting the well-known sound oṁ — or as complicated as chanting a poem that tells a grand story or gives instruction. Whatever mantra is chanted, no matter how long or short, the purpose is the same: it is meant to act like a skeleton key to help you bypass the mundane matters and mental chatter of the day-to-day mind in order to reach a transcendent state of awareness and self-realization that is, quite frankly, indescribable. Every yogic practice provides the means for us to do this — such as āsana (postures), meditation, and prāṇāyāma (breath work) — but mantra practice and nāda yoga are uniquely simple and universal. If you can form a thought, you can do a mantra practice. The simple act of thinking a mantra is a start to a genuine practice. The silent repetition of the sound oṁ while driving, for example, can be a starting point. Eventually, our practice might grow to include chanting while meditating, attending lively mantra-based musical performances (kirtan, or kīrtana), or perhaps even chanting a longer mantra 108 times aloud to celebrate the New Year. As I’ve said, there is no wrong way to use a mantra.
In the United States, mantra has gained popularity largely through the musical kirtan (kīrtana) tradition. Popular kirtan musicians such as Krishna Das, Deva Premal, and Dave Stringer have brought these Eastern chants to life by giving them some good old American rock-and-roll flair. While the kirtan tradition in India began around the ninth century, its look and feel hasn’t changed much even as it has evolved to incorporate Western musical proclivities. It has always had (and still has) a fairly simplistic call-and-response-type format, where the leader will chant a phrase that is repeated by the audience. This typically becomes more lively and fast as the chant continues. In India, various instruments are used — typically the harmonium (similar to an accordion in a box), the tabla (classical Indian drum set), and the cartals (tiny cymbals). Those instruments are still present in many kirtan settings today, yet the music is often Westernized through the incorporation of all sorts of instruments, like the guitar, bass, and even a proper Western drum kit (like how Chris Grosso and I perform!). What is wonderful about many of these yogic and Vedic traditions is that they are quite malleable. So long as the intention is still sealed within the practice, the practice — even if it is modernized and Westernized — does not lose its efficacy.
So while some choose to chant mantras in a kirtan setting, others have long used mantra in spiritual practice in accordance with daily rituals, meditation, or as a way to bind fellow students of a tradition. Many use a mantra during their morning worship practice to invoke an intention or particular deity. Many practitioners also stay focused in their meditation practice by silently or quietly chanting a mantra. And some traditions claim certain mantras as part of their tradition — almost like a secret handshake. In many Eastern spiritual traditions, it is common at the beginning and end of a spiritual practice to chant a mantra or oṁ. Mantras are also commonly used as prayers for peace, health, or well-being. Mantras can be used to focus the mind and empower whatever spiritual practice we embark on. Mantra is fuel for the inner spiritual fire.
In truth, you don’t need to know or do anything more to use mantras in your own daily practice, but don’t be afraid to experiment and try something new. Read through all the mantras in this book. Say them out loud. If any resonate with you, keep using them. Sometimes people are reluctant to chant mantras they don’t know the meaning of, but that is one reason I wrote this book! Also, keep in mind that there are many more mantras than appear in this book, and all are efficacious. Mantras are beneficial compilations of vibration that help to uplift you.
Finally, if you are brand-new to yoga or Eastern spiritual practices, know that chanting mantras doesn’t make you a Hindu. By chanting, you are not joining a religion or expressing your belief in any religious dogma. The aim is spiritual, not denominational. The power of mantra lies in the vibrations, and these vibrations work on many levels, whether the sayings are pronounced out loud or silently, correctly or incorrectly. The benefits of chanting do increase with more accurate pronunciation — just as pronouncing any foreign language correctly makes it more intelligible — as well as with better understanding of the meanings, but the simple act of saying a mantra will still bring the mind and heart into alignment with its subtle goal, which is to bring heightened self-awareness and a deeper sense of peace and calm.
With that in mind, I encourage you to simply begin a mantra practice in whatever way that feels right, using this book as a guide. Start simple, such as with oṁ, and incorporate other, longer, or more complex mantras as they resonate with you. Some mantras may appeal to you because of their sound, while others may become attractive as you understand their context, underlying mythology, and intention. Over time, as you use each mantra in your life and practice, it will become like a friend whom you come to know more and more deeply. The mantra may start out as a little gem that lightens your day, but after years of saying it, it may also become a bright light that guides you through the darkest of times. Through practice, we make these mantras our own so they help us on our spiritual journey.
The Historical Context of Mantra Practice
The mantras compiled in this book come from a variety of sources within the vast scope of the Vedic tradition. The Vedic tradition is a broad term that defines the text and rituals coming out of the historic Indus Valley, and it is based on one of the world’s most ancient spiritual texts: the Veda (a.k.a. Vedas). Many Vedic texts are said to have been simply “received” by ancient saints (called rishis or ṛṣi) as opposed to being authored by a specific person. It is from the tradition of the Veda that we derive the original practice of mantra. These historic source texts were founts of wisdom that were unlocked by those who could read them — namely the Vedic priests. They would bring the knowledge and tradition of the texts to the people via ritual chanting and fire ceremonies. Even today, chants like the Gāyatrī Mantra (page 65) are largely unchanged from their Vedic roots.
Over time, other important source texts arose within the Eastern spiritual traditions, and more mantras emerged from them. For example, the Purāṇa (Puranas) are the source of much of the mythic history of the East. They contain mantras and have been the source of inspiration for modern mantras. Many of our current spiritual and yogic leaders in the West have looked to the Purāṇa for mythic inspiration, and they have written simple kirtan chants to invoke the energy and essence of various iconic deities. Mantras also embody the focus of specific spiritual traditions. For example, the Mahā Mantra (page 153) of the Krishna Consciousness tradition helps practitioners enliven and enlighten their spiritual quest for a deep, internal relationship with Krishna (Kṛṣṇa).
Mantra represents an unbelievably accessible and widespread tradition, one that extends from the millennia-old mantras of the Veda, which are chanted widely in yoga class and teacher trainings, to the contemporary composers of the kirtan tradition, who have brought mantra to life with a Western twist. Mantras remain popular in today’s spiritual practices, and yet modern-day spiritual practitioners have had no single resource that brought them together and illuminated them. I hope this book fills that need, for after all, knowledge is power. Tracing these venerable vibrations to their source shows us not only the history of the yogic practice but also how we have evolved it and moved it forward to suit our current needs and cultural matrix. Because mantras are of no use if they don’t speak to our modern-day psyche.
Mantra Categories and the Yogic Tradition
The mantras in this book are divided into two sections, which I have labeled “Classic Mantras” and “Traditional Kirtan.” These categories are loose and unofficial, but they help distinguish two basic types of mantra. The classic mantras tend to come from older Vedic or yogic source texts, and they tend to be chanted during yoga practice without musical accompaniment. The traditional kirtans are almost always deity-focused chants that are often used within the lively, musical kirtan tradition, and they incorporate call-and-response chanting. Kirtans may have no specific textual derivation and may even be rather recently derived. In any case, these mantra categories are not absolute. You may find that one mantra could easily fit within the other category, for as you may have gathered by now, there are few rules within this tradition and many exceptions. The labels are not important, for there isn’t just one correct way to chant a mantra. As I say, you can adapt them freely in whatever way enhances your own practice.
Each mantra entry also introduces the source text for the chant (if it has one) and suggests how to interpret or think of the chant’s meaning. When discussing source texts, I commonly refer to the “yogic” and “Vedic” traditions, but for this book, they are largely one and the same. The Veda is the source of all yogic traditions, and I am interpreting the mantras from a yogic point of view. Simply put, a yogic point of view looks at the esoteric or mystical meaning. Nowhere in this book will any of these texts be referenced as religious doctrine. Rather, I explore the mantras — and the source texts they come from — as sources of inward-turning inspiration. That is the yogic aim, and it is maintained throughout.
A Word about Sanskrit, Translations, and Spellings
Vedic and yogic mantras are all based in the language of Sanskrit (Saṁskṛta). In this book, I include three versions of every chant: the proper Sanskrit, a transliterated version (which is the version you speak), and the English translation. However, I have also taken care to use the transliterated spellings for most of the important and commonly used Sanskrit words, and I have included a select glossary at the end of the book. Sometimes, to ease understanding, I’ve put the English spelling in parenthesis after transliterated Sanskrit. However, a few Sanskrit words are now so widely adopted within the English language that I have left them unitalicized, even though they are spelled the same in transliterated Sanskrit, such as yoga, mantra, karma, dharma, bhakti, and guru.
Interestingly, when writing this book, deciding when to follow accepted English usage and when to maintain proper Sanskrit proved a challenge. For example, properly transliterated Sanskrit words are generally not capitalized or pluralized, but that bucks with the sensibilities of English grammar. While I have usually used Sanskrit spellings and diacritics, I’ve deferred to American styling of proper names, so that they appear roman and capitalized. I think this simply makes for easier reading. What I hope is that the approach in this book strikes a happy medium between readability and faithfulness to the original source language of the yoga tradition.
The reason for including the transliterated Sanskrit is simple: this book is about sacred sound. In this tradition, sacred sound is fueled by the language of Sanskrit, which is a vibrational language that expresses the essence of what it describes. For example, the Sanskrit word abhaya is often translated as “fearlessness.” But the word is not merely that. It is the state of being fearless as well as the fortified attitude with which one has strived to achieve this state, and the way one is received when this state is embodied. Abhaya expresses all of these things effortlessly through the vibration of the word itself, which if repeated over and over (like a mantra) will eventually communicate its essential meaning within us. We will feel the word’s power start to shift us so that we embody the state of fearlessness. Understanding this essential, vibrational power of Sanskrit lends potency to our practice of mantra and chanting.
There is great magic in the source language of yoga. In his book The Power of Myth, scholar Joseph Campbell describes Sanskrit as “the great spiritual language of the world.” Indeed, all of yoga’s primary texts are written in Sanskrit, and there is great benefit in stretching one’s mind to incorporate what the original vibrations contained. Otherwise, things can become lost in translation. Just like dating someone whose native tongue is not your own, learning this foreign language will give greater understanding and strengthen the shared bond between you and yoga.
As for the mantras, even with the Sanskrit transliterations, they can appear like tongue twisters. So much of mantra practice is about pronunciation, so it may take some time and dedicated practice to develop a true comfort level during chanting. To this end, audio files of every mantra in this book (plus more!) are available online on my website at http://alannak.com/musicians-mantras/mantra-library. These sacred mantras have great value in and of themselves as conductors of sacred vibration, but they also have philosophical value in what they impart to the yoga practitioner. While all of the mantras (from both sections) contain a variety of the forty-nine unique sounds in the Sanskrit language, their messages contain unique and specific information for the chanter. Whether we derive this information through the vibrations of the chant itself, through understanding the meaning of the words, or by embodying what the mantra puts forth, these mantras are containers of yogic wisdom that enhance not only our practice but who we are as human beings.
How to Chant: Some Practical Instructions
As I’ve said, there are no hard and fast rules for chanting. It can be done silently or aloud, in a group or on one’s own. The act of speaking the mantra (even silently) allows the mantra to do its job. However, you can strengthen and improve your practice by also focusing on the meaning of the mantra and pronouncing the Sanskrit correctly. Even so, without any intention and with halting pronunciation, you will still derive a benefit from a mantra practice, just as for someone trying to get into shape, any exercise is good exercise.
Whether you are new to chanting or not, here are some general tips for chanting and for developing or improving your mantra practice:
To start, practice one chant consistently for as little as five minutes a day. It could be a vocalized repetition of the sound of oṁ in the shower, or quietly repeating the Gāyatrī Mantra upon waking. Get into the habit of speaking Sanskrit regularly. Get used to the patterns and sounds, and soon the chants will come more easily and naturally. Match saying the mantra with the regular, steady rhythm of your breath. This will help the mantra to regulate your autonomic functions and put your breath, body, and mind into better alignment. If you practice this regularly, you may find that the mantra appears in your head throughout the day as a touchstone of steadiness and stillness. That’s great — it means the mantra is working!
Choose a chant that resonates with you, and incorporate it within a meditation practice. If you don’t already have a meditation practice, starting one is actually very simple. Find a quiet, comfortable place, sit up nice and tall, and close your eyes. Then either silently or quietly chant the mantra. If you haven’t memorized the chant, lay this book out in front of you, open to the proper page, and say the mantra over and over until there is a natural flow. While you chant, let the mantra fall into rhythm with the pattern of your breath. If you are saying the mantra out loud, focus on the vowels, as this is the source of the most powerful resonance. If it helps, place one hand over your heart to feel the vibrations inside your chest.
While there is no wrong way to chant a mantra, it is nice to adopt a style or mode that is either “common” or “traditional.” The style of Vedic chanting has only three tones: the one you speak at, one tone above, and one tone below. This makes it easy for everyone — no matter what your voice sounds like — to try and chant. A good example is the Asato Mā chant, which you can find online in my website’s mantra library (http://alannak.com//musicians-mantras/mantra-library). It is a prime example of this style of Vedic chanting. Some modern-day teachers and kirtan singers make the mantras sound fancy and more sing-songy, but they don’t need to be. Start simple. Find a rhythm and a tone that works for you and keep at it.
If you like kirtan — the lively practice of call-and-response chanting set to uplifting music — sing along! Seriously. Put on a kirtan CD and sing along as if you are part of the crowd. The great music of the kirtan style will liven up your mantra practice, and if the spirit moves you, grab a tambourine, stomp your feet, clap your hands, and let the spirit of the mantra carry you away. Chanting kirtan is typically call-and-response, but this doesn’t mean you can’t do both the call and the response. If you’re alone, sing all the parts to yourself. When kirtan chanting is done in groups (such as in yoga class or at a concert), a leader “calls” and the audience “responds.” It is a simple practice — it is meant to be. This helps make it universal and accessible.
If you attend a yoga class, kirtan, or satsaṅga (a.k.a. satsang, a spiritually-based group event), you may find that the teacher will chant a mantra differently than you learned it. If so, just go with the flow and focus on the vibration and intention of the chant. You may even discover that you like this version better! Also, some mantra practitioners believe that there is only one correct way to chant each mantra, but this just isn’t so. If this were the case, then mantras would only be efficacious when chanted in a particular way, and there is no evidence for this. The most traditional Vedic schools of chanting maintain a simple rhythm and pattern for some mantras, but those mantras can also be dressed up in a kirtan-type setting. Not only is this okay and appropriate, but it can breathe new life into them!
Whether chanted in a traditional or modern setting, on your own or in yoga class, with or without music, silently or aloud, mantra will move you. It will touch the deepest parts of yourself that few other spiritual disciplines can reach. Start with a mantra practice that feels comfortable and expand your horizons from there.
Same Source, Separate Traditions: Yoga and Hinduism
The universality of these mantras might be one of the reasons why they (and their source texts) have stood the test of time. While many spiritual traditions have songs or chants that express wholeness, compassion, and unity, the eloquence with which Vedic and yogic mantras express these uplifted human values has a lyrical quality that unlocks the heart of the practitioner in ways that we cannot imagine, but only experience. While the mantras have long been practiced as a part of the yogic tradition, the growing popularity of yoga in the West has made them accessible as exceptional tools to heighten the experience of our spiritual practice. As the mystical arm of the larger Vedic tradition, yoga is a way to enhance our spiritual depth and strengthen our belief system, even if it differs from yoga’s Vedic origins.
Yoga evolved around the Vedic and Hindu cultures in India, and so its wisdom incorporates a lot of the same language, mythology, and philosophy. However, yoga differs in that it points the practitioner inward, to the mystical or esoteric source of internal spirituality, similar to the way that Gnosticism does within the Christian tradition, Sufism within the Islamic tradition, and Kabbalah within the Jewish tradition. While certainly related to Hinduism, yoga doesn’t require participants to embody the religious aspects of the Hindu tradition. This is similar to the way people — like Madonna! — have incorporated Kabbalistic practices into their daily repertoire in order to enhance their spiritual well-being. In general, the mystical traditions of most religions are designed to lead us inward, to our highest state of being, rather than outward to an externalized expression of faith.
Though yoga evolved alongside Hinduism and is sourced from the same Vedic wisdom, their intentions are fundamentally different. Yoga leads practitioners to an internalized, mystical, and esoteric understanding of their highest self. Hinduism focuses outward to the more traditional and canonical structure of the faith. Like a pair of siblings who grew up in the same household, one an extrovert and one an introvert, Hinduism and yoga have a shared history and a common goal, but different means of getting their points and practices across. So, while many of the myths, texts, and philosophical underpinnings found in this book may have a shared relevance across the Vedic, yogic, and Hindu traditions, our point of view will be through the yogic lens — the lens that shows the internal structure of our highest self.
The Universality of Yogic Mythology
One of the exceptional aspects of the yoga tradition is its all-inclusive nature. It accepts all practitioners, no matter what their original spiritual or religious background, and helps them experience the numinous in their lives. But, because the numinous cannot be named or described, the number one way in which this kind of psychological and spiritual information is conveyed is through mythology.
Mythology is the language of the unconscious. It gives shape, meaning, and context to the archetypes of the collective unconscious, and that allows us, in turn, to give shape, meaning, and context to the stories that play out within our lives. Mythology is an essential part of our human psyche. And it is critical to cultivate a meaningful mythology within each of our lives. This is particularly important in our modern world, when so few traditions, religious and otherwise, provide this. Perhaps we grew up within a religious tradition that, for whatever reason, we have since walked away from, but it is important that we still continue journeying toward a mythology that enlivens our psyche — that gives our life meaning. We need to find out, as Carl Jung asked himself, what myth we are living by.
What is a myth? Put most simply, myth is metaphor. Joseph Campbell often described myth this way. As he explained, through metaphor, we are better able to understand ourselves and the world. For example, in the myth of the Bhagavad Gītā, the hero Arjuna has an intense dialogue with his chariot driver, Kṛṣṇa (Krishna). Arjuna is about to go into battle, and seeing that his enemy’s army is both enormous and partly composed of his family and friends, he is filled with doubt and tries to chicken out (for more on this story, see the Mahā Mantra, page 153). This metaphor speaks to all of us. We can all imagine ourselves as Arjuna, faced with the challenge of the spiritual journey. As we cope with our own fears and doubts as we approach our life’s battles, we can turn to the myth of Arjuna to provide a meaningful perspective on our own situation. Myths aren’t necessarily true in the empirical sense — even when they refer to real, historical figures and actual events. Myths embody deeper truths about the nature of life, and they often embody important guidance or life lessons. Myths bring meaning to our lives and help us to navigate life’s difficulties like an old friend leading us by the hand. From the yogic perspective, myths help guide us on the journey inward, which is possibly the most fruitful journey there is.
Mythology helps us cultivate and deepen the relationship between the ego and the higher self, between ourselves and those we love, and it helps us bring forth what is alive within us into the world. Mythology gives us the tools, means, characters, rites, context, and lessons so that we can then live, embody, vivify, and restore the verve to our life.
As it turns out, the yogic tradition has awesome mythology. The rich stories found within the original source texts — whose history spans millennia and whose true authors remain cloaked in mystery — help shed light on the challenges, trials, and tribulations of life. While precise dates are largely unknown, we surmise that the Vedas, widely regarded as the world’s oldest known spiritual texts, are at least five thousand years old. The Vedas laid the extensive groundwork for the Indus Valley tradition, but beginning somewhere around 1500 BCE, their grand scope was eventually distilled into the more concise spiritual texts known as the Upaniṣad (Upanishads). Around the start of the Common Era, we start to find the riches of the story-filled Purāṇa (Puranas). All of these texts feature an enormous body of rich mythology that provides us with fantastic metaphors for life and the human condition.
Though these truths are universal, the shapes that they take within the yogic mythological tradition are highly varied. There are said to be 300 million gods in the Vedic pantheon. Alain Daniélou, author of The Myths and the Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism, states it eloquently this way:
Hindu mythology acknowledges all gods. Since all the energies at the origin of all the forms of manifestation are but aspects of the divine power, there can exist no object, no form of existence, which is not divine in nature. Any name, any shape, that appeals to the worshipper can be taken as a representation or manifestation of divinity.
In other words, all manifestations of yogic mythology are simply reflections of one numinous source, and they provide endless avenues by which we can discover that source within ourselves. Or, as Eknath Easwaran, student of Gandhi and founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, once described this, “Yogic myth has the genius to cloak the infinite in human form.”
Archetypes, Mythology, and the Unconscious
The infinite is indeed within. Deep in our own psyche — within everyone’s psyche — lives the framework of the human journey. These structural archetypes are the substructure of thousands of years of our collective hopes, dreams, desires, failures, and fears. These archetypal, shared experiences of the collective unconscious provide a common architecture for the stories — that is, the myths — we tell ourselves about our humanity, about our struggles and triumphs. When dressed up, brought to life, and vivified through our imagination, our mythic stories allow us to witness what is deeply inside us at play in front of us. Myths give us the context and the capability to bring our inner world out. This is actually a critical part of our psycho-spiritual development process. As we delve into our spiritual practice, what we discover within will need to come up and out. The spiritual journey of the yoga practitioner will bring us face-to-face with the inner reaches of our unconscious — the part of our mind that is not known to us, which includes not just the autonomic functions, but the hidden drives behind nearly every action and reaction. Once we go inward, myths help us to bear everything we discover by giving our internal elements context. We gain a greater understanding of their nature and place in our lives.
What exactly are the things in our unconscious that myths help us see? Basically, anything (and all the things) we don’t want to look at about ourselves. These might be positive aspects of ourselves that we don’t want to admit, but most often these are the negative aspects that we refuse to acknowledge. This is our dark side, what Carl Jung would call our “shadow,” made up of the things that we have repressed, ignored, or otherwise left in the unconscious to be discovered at a later time. The question, though, when that later time arises, is will we be ready and willing to look at that shadow? And will we invite that shadow to come forth and show us where we are still not free? As long as what is buried in the unconscious remains there, it will prevent us from unleashing our full potential.
Spiritual transformation, particularly in Eastern spiritual practices, asks us to delve into the dark side. Nobody likes it. It’s not popular. But every hero in every mythic tradition has to uncover and explore their own dark side in order to discover their light. Many people in spiritual traditions today tend to be so focused on their light that they leave no room for the potent power of the shadow to show them what is really alive within them. Think about Luke Skywalker when he is being trained by Yoda on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back. Yoda tells Luke to enter a cave, where he must slay his greatest fear. First, Darth Vader appears, but after Luke beheads the Sith lord, the mask cracks open to reveal Luke’s own face inside. The true nature of what Luke fears the most is not Darth Vader but rather his own darkness, fear, and anger. Overcoming this personal darkness is the hero’s greatest task, and it’s important because, as Carl Jung is rumored to have said, “until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” Until we bring forth what is lying in the unconscious, we are ignoring the part of ourselves that brings this world to life.1
Mythology does that for us. It accesses the parts of our psyche that are yearning for a voice and expression. Through myth, we can come to know all the parts of our self and learn to accept ourselves entirely — the good, the bad, and the ugly. In our spiritual journey, mythology gives us the footing we need to navigate the rocky crags and sketchy footholds of what lies inside of us. As we delve inward, we discover that these seemingly dangerous territories are actually the tempered structures that give us a formidable strength that allows us to navigate anything. Through myths, we see that what was once a dangerous cliff is an opportunity to soar, and what was once a great monster is our greatest ally.
Further, while mythic archetypes are by definition enduring, their meanings are not scripted. They can have different meanings for different people. In this way, the metaphorical power of myth is both universal and specific; it places each of us within the context of the larger human journey and also helps us make sense of our individual, personal, and unique journey. Myths are neither factual reports nor dogmatic, rigid lessons that can only be interpreted and understood in one way.
How this works is a mystery, and author Joachim-Ernst Berendt, in his book The World Is Sound: Nada Brahma, captures this well when he writes, “To our western mind, legends and myths hail from ancient times, but the only reason they do so is because we have banished them there. In reality, they are now. They have come into existence because people need them. The rationalist believes he can do without myths. He doesn’t want to be made uncertain of his ‘belief’ that the rational mind is omnipotent.”
We need mythology, and we need what mythology brings to us: hope, inspiration, and meaning. We can find this when we embrace the truth of myth without needing it to be factually true. Literalizing myth removes its inherent universality, and it is precisely this mysterious quality of enduring malleability that enlivens myth and enables it to be meaningful for us.
The Music of the Spheres
Through the mantras and myths in this book, you will discover a vibrancy and illumination that will enliven your life and outlook. All the elements of the practice — the sounds of the words themselves, the vocalized chanting, and the mythic understandings the mantras represent — elevate consciousness and are cohesively bound together with the power of vibration. One of the great links between the conscious and unconscious — and between human beings, cultures, and even particles in our universe — is the power of vibration and sound. This is the core thread that holds our experience and understanding together. It’s uncanny how everything is cradled in vibration — whether lying in wait to be born as something new, brought to life by the music of the spheres, or transformed forever by the unifying power of harmony. Throughout time and across the world (and the universe), we are bound together by music. Through chanting and sacred sound, we discover a force that unifies us that is both explainable, measurable, and numinous in its affective quality and inspiration. In fact, as Candace Alcorta writes, “the human ability to make and be moved by music is a universal human trait. Like miracles, music is intimately interconnected with a sense of the sacred, the numinous, and the divine. Music not only represents the sacred; it also calls it forth and embodies it, as well.”2
Music has the unique power to unite. If we learn to harness the power of music and its underlying vibration, we can use it to elevate our own state of awareness as well as to develop our interconnectedness with the world around us. Music is hard-wired into our brain. Despite the fact that, evolutionarily speaking, humans have no need for music, as Alcorta writes, “humans are born with the genetically encoded neural structures necessary for the analysis and processing of the acoustic, pitch, and temporal properties of music.” So music is not a frivolous aspect of our humanity, but rather an innate part of who we are. All of us have the ability to recognize, listen to, and enjoy music. Through music and sound, we elevate our mood, connect with others, and enliven our spirits. In a room full of music, something magical happens. It’s called entrainment.
This is such a fantastic word.
Entrainment is the process of vibrations falling into sync with one another, which happens because the universe tends toward harmony. The technical term is “mutual phase-locking” and its ramifications for us are significant. When two oscillators are pulsating in the same field, they “lock in” to the same rhythm and become entrained. If two muscle cells from a human heart are placed next to each other in a petri dish, they will eventually pulsate in the same rhythm — and two people sitting close together will also discover their heartbeats (and breath!) eventually coincide. A good lecturer with a captivated audience will cause the brain wave function of the audience to lock into phase together. Entrainment also describes how large schools of fish move in tandem with one another, never colliding, as do flocks of birds.
As Joachim-Ernst Berendt writes, it seems that “entering into harmonic relationships is the goal not only of music, it is the goal of atoms and molecules, of planetary orbits, of cells and hearts, of brain waves and movements, of flocks of birds and schools of fish and — in principle — of human beings. All of them (or better: the cosmos, the entire creation) have harmony as their final goal. They are all moving to realize Nāda Brahmā, the world is sound.”3
It’s no wonder that mantra, kirtan, and the music we make with our own heartbeats is powerful medicine to heal the schism of the psyche and the split of disconnection that is the source of much disease. The sacred vibrations and sounds of the Sanskrit language, in particular, are an anecdote for the anomalous vibrations that give rise to discord and a feeling of being “out of sync” with our thoughts, words, and actions. These sacred sounds empower us to realize the harmony that is quite literally waiting to be recalibrated within us and to reconnect with the symphony of hearts that occupy a room of people chanting together. No wonder we feel better after chanting oṁ (), or participating in a kirtan, or meditating with a mantra. Sacred sound and vibration access the fundamental pulsation of our life energy and bring it into accord with the entirety of our being.
This is how the yoga always does its job.
It realigns our spirit. It calls forth that which is alive inside of us. It reintegrates the lost parts of our psyche and vivifies our hopes and dreams while synthesizing all that we’ve tried to block out, helping us to recognize that everything is awesomely okay.
Mythology takes us into the depths of our inner self, reveals hidden truths, and then leads us back out again. Sacred sound reintegrates all the parts of the self so that we can find balance and harmony both within and without. By discovering the mythology behind the mantras, we have the complete means to discover the most fundamental teaching of yoga — that we are whole, complete, and perfect just as we are.
In this spirit, I bring these wonderful myths and mantras to you.
Don’t miss the vibrations.