Mantra Meditation and Mudras - Focusing on Your Center and Energy

Mantra meditations use mantras which are sounds and syllables that are chanted out loud or silently during your meditation.

Mudras are hand and finger positions that stimulate healing by using energetic centers and touch points. Each position concentrates on different specific healing intentions. Often mantras will be used in conjunction with the mudras to enhance the energetic vibrations.

Using mantras and mudras can assist you with focusing on your center and reducing the monkey mind chatter.

Certain words have been used as mantras because of their sacred meaning and their sounds have healing energetic vibrations that are beneficial to your mind, body, heart and soul.
This is true even when used silently - your thoughts of these words have similar vibrations as when verbally sounded.

Often Sanskrit (ancient Hindu and other eastern religions) words are used - such as the sacred word or syllable AUM or OM which may be used to open and end a prayer as well as focusing in mantra meditation. OM resonates the vibrational tone of a non-dualistic universe as a whole. Buddhists relate OM to the crown chakra. This mantra centers the mind on the thought "I am manifestation of divine consciousness".

By using such sacred words, you take the meditation to a deeper level of consciousness and therefore the energetic vibration also becomes stronger. Similar to mudras, mantras can stimulate the over 50 energetic points on the roof of your mouth that connect to your energetic bodies.

Other sacred words/syllables that are commonly used as mantras (note: there are many translations and spellings of the mantras)include:
OM NAMAHA SHIVAYA - an appeal to God to destroy all illusion that stands in the way of perfect union.
OM MANI PADMA HUM - a six syllable purification prayer for all to become enlightened, in compassion, love, wisdom, and exalted in body, speech and Buddha mind.
EK ONG GAR - one creator, God is one
SHANTE - supreme peace

Mantras are chanted or sung repetitively to induce an altered state of consciousness. You do not have to focus the rational mind since the words don't change. This allows for a stronger connection between you and your higher self/Divine. When the singing is done in groups, the gathering is called a Kirtan.
A similar experience may happen in church or other spiritual group gatherings - using sacred words such as Alleluia or Amen repeated over and over.

Any word that is sacred to you can be used (in any language) - Love, Compassion, Divine, Oneness, Forgiveness, etc.

To continuously chant the mantra is different from using it as a tool for mantra meditation sounding - chanting is seen more as a form of prayer. This is also healing and deepens consciousness, however it is considered a separate practice, beneficial, yet providing less of the stress and healing properties that mantra meditation provides. When used in meditation, you just want to repeat the mantra enough to keep other thoughts away.

Would you like additional support and guidance for your practices? You can receive feedback and customized tips to improve your skills! See services, or connect with devaliving-training.

Here are two practices - a mantra meditation and one with a mudra - from devaliving-training. Consider using a CD to help with pronunciation and timing for your chanting (see resources).

PRACTICE 1: Mantra Meditation

• Get into your mantra meditation space and breathing - Say the mantra aloud (choose one from the above list if you like) and sit in the following silence.
• If or when that fades (other thoughts come in) repeat the mantra, be still and notice the emptiness - and continue this pattern.
• Get used to saying the mantra aloud for a little while before going to silently repeating it.
• Always start your meditation with a verbal mantra and then you can sustain it silently if you wish.

PRACTICE 2: Mudra

• Get into your meditation and center yourself-
• Hold the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb on the same hand with the remaining three fingers held out straight.
  This is called the compassion mudra - often seen being done by Buddha.
• Do this with both hands, lay the backs of your hands on your knees or lower thighs.
• Use the mantra OM verbally to start and if you like, go into silence.

Additional meditation practices and related topics:
Meditation techniques - Get the foundation for all meditations.
Energy and Intention - Discover more on energy and the vibrations that infuse sound and healing.
Mindful meditation - Another meditation using multiple aspects to create a deeper flow.
Healing meditation - Use visualization to encourage healing and restore wholeness.

Additional tools for your mantra meditation:
Healing Mudras: Yoga for Your Hands - Wonderful illustrations and easy to understand guidance for mudras.

Embrace - Deva Premal at her finest, melodic darshan chanting.

Breath of the Heart - A collection by Krishna Das to dance to as well as call and response darshan chanting.

Greatest Hits of the Kali Yuga - The greatest hits missing from the Breath of the Heart.

Om Namaha Shivaya: Deluxe Tenth Anniversary Edition - Beautiful chanting in a choral style.

Alleluia to Pachelbel Canon in D/Kyrie - Familiar music and sacred words for darshan call and response chanting.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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