Chanting with you-tube before meditation. (7 day meditation challenge)
Namaste everyone,
If you wanted to do some chanting before your meditation but don't know what to chant? Look on you-tube it's got so many wonderful chants often with the lyrics given in the video. I usually pick a chant that feels right for me that day and that suits my mood. I have stuck with the original Gayatri mantra for many years, and I think it is still my favourite. I will make a more elaborate post about that sometime.
There are more then one Gayatri mantra's. Many different forms of the Divine have a mantra following the set up of the Gayatri, in which Their specific Divine quality is honoured.
In such a way our Mother Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and abundance on all levels ( spiritual, material, emotional), consort of Vishnu, the sustaining force of the universe, has a Gayatri mantra to honour Her presence in your life.
I am feeling love for Her at the moment and wanted to sing this mantra.
Below you can hear how it goes end if you like it you can sing along with this you-tube.
(It is nice to light a candle and some incense with it and if you have to offer a flower to Her.)
I hope you enjoy it!
Lots of love Clara
This was an ecotrain post, for more on meditation check out @ecotrain
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Great post @clara-andriessen ! I upvoted. If you are interested in this topic, I have similar material about mantras - https://steemit.com/esoterics/@adeptus/all-about-the-tibetan-mantras
Perfect for meditation.
When it comes to mantras I am very orthodox and conservative.
I don´t like Krishnadas´ bubble gum mantras and I don´t like
"Bollywood" mantras like the one above.
The only modern rendition of mantra, or rather bhajan in that case, I like is the George Harrison version of Govinda Adi Purusham.
Likedeeler does your conservatisms considering mantra's concern the sound of the 'music' and that you don't enjoy that or does it concern the content and workings of the mantra's? What I mean to say is, are you expressing a concern here or just wanting to say 'ney'? I ask because I don't really get where you are going with this 'bubblegum' and 'bollywood' as you obviously don't have to like it or do it.
i quite dig it! really beautiful singing
Bubblegum refers to pronounciation, there should be a law against Americans trying to pronounce Sanskrit mantras and Bollywood refers to the use of "kitschy" music in that version of the Gayatri.
Clear?
In Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, with monks chanting, there would be only the classical forms, which I like most, because of their purity and energetic effects.
Any trials, of Westerners for example, to "modernize" mantras, sometimes even to the extend of changing emphasis and rhythm takes away instead of adding/improving something, in my not so humble opinion.
My question wasn't about the meaning of the words 'bubble gum' and 'Bollywood', which was more or less clear to me, I was only wondering what you were trying to achieve by sharing that. I don't perse like people sharing their negative opinion about things so much, if it doesn't have a significant message. So I was looking for that in your words. I guess with you it seems to be that you like the mantra's to be sung without music in the traditional pronunciation and rhythm, because that is more pure to you and you think it has a greater energetic effect. Ok, thanks for sharing that. That is valuable information. And I do appreciate your involvement.
I also enjoy the veda's being chanted without background music and in the traditional rhythm and pronounciation and I have also learned to chant them like that at the Sri Sathy Sai Baba ashram in Puttatparthy. Sai Baba also recommends them being chanted like that for the vibrational benefit. I have pondered over that for some time and tried different ways and chanted veda's with the shruti box sound resonating in a different key, creating a much more feminine sound. And I find that for some mantra's this works very well for me, especially with mantra's that have a feminine energy to them like Pushpam Veda, the mantra about the lotus on the water under the moon. And I felt it doesn't take any of the vibrational benefits away but even softens it. So I don't feel that holds true for me entirely. Also I feel traditional Vedic chanting appeals to my masculine bond with the Divine, where as my feminine bond with the Divine is fed more by more melodious chanting accompanied by music. And I think we have arrived at a time where our feminine bond with the Divine needs to be appealed to again, to balance it out with our masculine connection to the Divine. I do make sure I use the traditional pronunciation and intonation, but I have felt great vibrational benefit from people who weren't doing that, so I think the strongest trigger to experience the 'Naad' is the intention and devotion of the person singing. ( Naad is the internally resonating holy vibration that is caused by devotional singing/chanting.)
Yes, you´re right, we have to find out what works best for each and every one of us, and I am not conservative and orthodox with mantras for tradition´s sake, but because I found out it usually works best for me that way.
That said, I had one of my greatest Bhakti moments once in Anandamayi Ma´s Samadhi in Kankal, when I was sitting in the hall and the tears were flowing and flowing, and I experienced so much love and purification.
I was very surprised afterwards, because I had considered Swami Sivananda to be my guru, but in the very masculine energy of Sivananda ashram I never had an experience on a level comparable to Kankal.
Wow, that sounds like a lovely experience. Yes, we need both Feminine and masculine experiences of the Divine as they nourish us on totally different levels.
luckily just one mantra will do!
Great post! i think we are going to launch the get your chant on chalenge next week!
To make a chanting challenge?
yup! is too gooodddd
Ah..Yes that's an idea... maybe have a little break between challenges though, so people develop an appetite again.