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 Shama
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snake

United Kingdom
279 Posts

Posted - Sep 07 2006 :  04:31:39 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Message
can anyone who understands the enrgetics of mantras explain to me why this mantra out of lots ive tried is the one that brings me deep peace?
thankyou very much

Kirtanman

USA
1651 Posts

Posted - Sep 08 2006 :  11:59:52 AM  Show Profile  Visit Kirtanman's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Snake,

I'm in a bit of a rush for work, but I'll throw out some "starter thoughts".

1. In Sanskrit, the word and its vibration are considered inseparable from its meaning - and "Shama" means contentment - specifically the contentment of the heart, which comes from desirelessness. So, according to yogic thought, repeating "Shama", you are literally infusing your whole system (body-mind, physical, spiritual, etc.) with this specific contentment.

2. Shama is comprised of the two Syllables "Sha" and "Ma" - Sha is the root connected with Shiva, and fire and Ma is the root connected with the Goddess (Kali Ma, Durga Ma, Shakti Ma), and water. Sha represents space (Shiva) and Ma represents the manifestation (the world) happening with Space - the eternal dance of Shiva and Shakti - the Nataraj.

So, energetically, it's a very balancing mantra - you put fire into water, and what results? (HINT: PSSSSSSHHHHH) - [Steam] - the power of the fire and water are neutralized, and you are left having peacefully transcended both.

However, energetics work on more than one level - and you're also left with a healthy balancing of both energies (on top of just transcended them) - which correspond to the third (fire) and second (water) chakras.

3. Finally, if you repeat the mantra as an English speaker, out loud - you tongue probably touches your hard palate, just above your teeth - which is the energetic point for the second chakra (and can be very powerful in helping to raise kundalini from the second chakra to the sixth -- and to balance these energies [connected with the second chakra - sexual, adrenal, etc.]

If you repeat the mantra with traditional Sanskrit pronounciation, the above will be true for the Sha syllable, but the Ma syllable is spoken with the tongue farther back, and pointed straight up -- which is the energy point for the third (fire) chakra - so you're literally, physio-energetically, helping your nervous system with that water-fire fire-water balancing ... which, not surprisingly, may well leave you in .... Shama .... the contentment of the heart which results from desirelessness [aka Balance].

Hope this helps!

Namaste,

Kirtanman

PS - Apologies for any typos, or statements that don't make sense (more than usual for me, anyway ....!) -- out the door for work, and will review later this evening.
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snake

United Kingdom
279 Posts

Posted - Sep 08 2006 :  2:23:45 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Wow ,thankyou Kirtanman for that very imformative reply,very interesting.

How do you know so much about these things?

thanks again
Shama :)
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Kirtanman

USA
1651 Posts

Posted - Sep 09 2006 :  12:04:18 AM  Show Profile  Visit Kirtanman's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by snake

Wow ,thankyou Kirtanman for that very imformative reply,very interesting.

How do you know so much about these things?

thanks again
Shama :)



Thanks, Snake - your kind words are much appreciated!



As far as how I know "so much" -- I'll actually comment on that a bit later - but now, I'm out the door to the Hindu temple down the street

Satsang (Sanskrit for "hanging out with other yogic types, likely with a teacherish person in the vicinity" - with some guru-dude, name of Pamarth? Parmath? Polymath? H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji? Something like that ...

Anyway, he looks happy in the recruiting-poster thingy advertising the event, and they're serving dinner ....

More soon --- Peace & Namaste,

Kirtanman

PS - Glad the info was helpful!
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Kirtanman

USA
1651 Posts

Posted - Sep 09 2006 :  03:56:03 AM  Show Profile  Visit Kirtanman's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by snake

Wow ,thankyou Kirtanman for that very imformative reply,very interesting.

How do you know so much about these things?

thanks again
Shama :)



Hello Again Snake,

First - "Factual Error Correction" --- Nataraj IS Shiva ("Lord of the Dance" -- Nata = Dance, Raj = Lord) --- NOT the dance of Shiva and Shakti.)

"My bad".

Tandava is Shiva's dance; I don't know what the dance of Shiva and Shakti together is called.

("Macrocosmic Mambo"?)



How do you know so much about these things?


Open Heart
Follow Intuition
Practice Daily [AYP Practices, Kirtan]
Hang out with Awakened teachers [Adyashanti, Yogani, Others]
Listen
Hang out with Consciousness-Hearted folks (in 3D & Online)
Listen
Keep Devotional / Consciousness Energy in Home
[Altar, play Kirtan music - at times very softly - near 24/7]
Read [Consciousness-Focused Books]
Google
Read [Google Results]
Read [AYP Material]
Read / Post [AYP Forum]
Listen ("Virtually")
Experiment

"Repeat"



And I say that kind of "tongue-in-cheek" ... but it's all true, and it all plays a part, in my life, anyway.

The "Experiment" part counts for a lot.

For instance, I noted that the Sanskrit alphabet [consonants] correlates to the five points in the mouth cavity (per chart created by Vyaas Houston of the American Sanskrit Institute) --

Guttural [throat]
Palatal [soft palate]
Cerebral [hard palate]
Dental [point just above top teeth]
Labial [lips, with tongue sometimes sticking out a little].

This isn't conjecture, by the way -- the Sanskrit equivalent of the "ABC Song" --- "Ta Tha Da Dha Na" (don't know the actual title, if there is one) -- look at any chart of the Devanagari letters, and you'll see what I mean.

Then, I noticed that the bija mantras - Lam, Vam, Ram, Yam, Ham - follow these 5 points in reverse:

Lam = Labial
Vam = Dental
Ram = Cerebral
Yam = Palatal
Ham = Guttural (or tongue even farther back).

I had read about how the five elements - panchabhutas - earth, water, fire, air and ether [space] "map" to the chakras, and their energies [and the bija mantras listed above]-- and Sanskrit consonants, like so:

1st Chakra, Survival, Earth, Lam, Labial (consonants, in Sanskrit)

2nd Chakra, Sexuality, Water, Vam, Dental (consonants, in Sanskrit)

3rd Chakra, Self, Fire, Ram, Cerebral (consonants, in Sanskrit)

4th Chakra, Heart, Air, Yam, Palatal (consonants, in Sanskrit)

5th Chakra, Throat, Space, Ham, Guttural (consonants, in Sanskrit)

And that's not abstract knowledge --- that's experiencing, via daily practice and (at times) massive ecstatic conductivity --- that this is how it IS --- and that if the Ajna (6th) Chakra is the command center [the use of which we evolve into, via our practices] -- that the tongue is effectively our gear-shift, per all of the above!

I never read that anywhere, specifically -- just noodled around with all of the above, until it all fell into place.

Now, is the above "gospel"? Nope. Just a seemingly solid theory, that is proving itself out, daily, in my life -- though I certainly can't, and wouldn't speak for anyone else.

It is, though, and _amazingly_ powerful toolset, that I wouldn't have discovered if I hadn't read a lot, hadn't done my best to listen and pay attention, and hadn't played around with all of the above to "see what I might see" -- and (possibly most importantly of all), if I hadn't cultivated my own consciousness through genuine bhakti, the grace of awakened teachers, and daily practices.

Shama & Namaste,

Kirtanman

PS --- I am more than willing to admit that I don't "know it all" by a long shot ... and I just came across a five elements list that connected Shi (or Sha - though they may be different) with Space, and Ma with Fire (not Water).

However, I have also seen "Ma" used in conjunction with Goddess / Feminine / Water, as in Rama:

Ra = Fire / Sun / Masculine / Shiva / Absolute

Ma = Water / Moon / Feminine / Shakti / Relative

Ultimately, it's not about the "facts and figures", but about the templates or general guidance provided by any given pointers.

Sanskrit has a very involved set of "definition shift" (i.e. "IF this, THEN that" - just like in software programming) -- so it's entirely possible that "Ma" expresses one energy when following "Na", and another when following "Sha".

(And this is a good little humility lesson for me, to not be quite so "here's the Truth!" until I have all my duckayas in a row ....



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snake

United Kingdom
279 Posts

Posted - Sep 09 2006 :  09:30:08 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Jai SatChitAnand Brother :)
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alan

USA
235 Posts

Posted - Sep 09 2006 :  1:14:18 PM  Show Profile  Visit alan's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Cool stuff, Kirtanmanthanks!

I like the way you describe all this. Your gathering of knowledge, fusing, experimentation, and sharing are inspiring. The stick-shift is great! When I chant the 'Sri Devi Khadga Mala Strotra Ratnam,' and hone my skill at producing the correct prana and mahaprana sounds, I can feel the energy move throughout my body according to the particular sounds produced. Everything seems to be included in the Khadga Mala. There's nothing like chanting for focusing bhakti. I'm a fledgling yogi, still kinda thick like a brick, so the degree of unhindered energy flow is still low. Focus, stillness, letting go, untying knots, all a process of unfolding day-by-day.

Thanks, alan

Edited by - alan on Sep 09 2006 1:48:05 PM
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