Speak Your Mantras Regularly
Say The Series Of Mantras Known As Baja Strings
Certain sounds such as “ah,” “bam,”, or “da,” cannot be translated into a literal meaning but have the power to create great transformative growth and expansion in humans at the physical, emotional and spiritual levels. Such sounds are called “Bija” or Seed Mantras—mantras being sounds that are repeated for meditation purposes.
Our use of seed mantras is based, in part, on the concept of the Five Elements as described in the Vedas, perhaps the Earth’s oldest literature, dating back 5000 years.
Once you know the subtleties of the Five Elements, even a brief time in nature will confirm that Ether (the space in which anything happens, the Void), Air (anything that is in motion and eternally dynamic, gives movement to biological systems), Fire (the power to transform, burn, and illuminate, the heat and radiant energy that exists in all metabolic and chemical reactions), Water (unstable, continuously flowing, the life-sustaining nectar), and Earth (the solid state of all matter, the source of all nourishment) together provide the building blocks of all material existence. Every object is unique because it contains a particular mixture of these Elements.
To have a mantric impact on anything, therefore, one will need a system for saying a series of mantras—-hence the need for Bija strings.
Bija strings affect what is outside of you and what is inside of you, which is only natural based on one of the most important lessons to be learned along the Heartwood Path:
The outside is inside all of us.
Given the pervasive and interconnected aspects of the Five Elements, usually you will need to employ the powers of more than one element through the use of mantras. This requirement is true whether you are working to create (Fire makes Earth, for example) or destroy (Water quenches Fire). Affecting the multifaceted nature of life and the interactions of all things requires the stringing together of various sounds in a long strung-out mantra. If you wish to string more than one Bija Mantra together, say them in descending order; by which I mean, start with the sounds associated with the Ether, then descend to the Air, then descend to Fire, then Water, and finally to Earth. The mantras for the elements and the chakras are presented below now so that you will be prepared for the following activity, which will also demonstrate why you need to know about seed sounds:
Ether
Like a vessel that contains everything, our first transcendental element, Ether, is space. More specifically for our purposes here, Ether is the shape of the musical octave where all tones exist. It is perceivable when we experience the noiseless sound behind silence. Witnessing this sound will be covered later in this course. Being the shape of the octave and not the notes, or rhythms, or volume, exhibited by the other elements, Ether is either silent or open and resonate. Some associated seed sounds are “om,” and “ah.”
You are the space that is ether. To help remember this association, activate the throat chakra (Fifth Chakra) by repeating the correlated mantra: “ham,” pronounced “hum.”
Air
Volatile, shifty, breezy, and transparent, the transcendental element of Air is more commonly called the “mind” and the “intellect.” When a person is controlled more by their rational mind than by their emotions, when a person is philosophical and full of ideas, that person exhibits the element of Air. Air has speeds that are fast to very fast, a volume that is loud to very loud, and a pitch that is high to very high. Some associated seed sounds are “gam,” “nam,” “cam,” “jam,” “tam,” and “kam.”
You are air. To help remember this association, activate the heart chakra (Fourth Chakra) by repeating the correlated mantra: “lam,” pronounced “yam.”
Fire
Bring light into darkness through your vision, burn with enthusiasm, be volatile or out of control and you will be exhibiting the transcendental element of Fire. Fire is present when you move with purpose in a single direction. The speed of the element of Fire is moderately fast to medium. Its volume is moderately loud to medium. Its pitch is moderately high to medium. Some associated seed sounds are “dah,” “na,” “ta,” and “da.”
You are fire. To help remember this association, activate the power chakra (Third Chakra) by repeating the correlated mantra: “lam,” pronounced “lum.”
Water
Water manifests itself as flowing creativity. When you are involved with reproduction and sexuality you are up to your navel in the transcendental element of water. When the speed is moderately slow and the volume is medium to low, and the pitch is medium to low, you are likely exhibiting or experiencing the element Water. Some seed sounds associated with water are “ba,” “ma,” “ya,” “ra,” and “la.”
You are water. To help remember this association, activate the sex chakra (Second Chakra) by repeating the correlated mantra: “vam.”
Earth
As the foundation for the other transcendental elements, Earth is exhibited when you are real and have your “feet on the ground,” when you are solid, when you are factual and when you are reliable. Without this transcendental element there is fear and insecurity –– two emotional conditions that force a person to compensate by being rigid, dogmatic, and opinionated. The speed of the rhythm associated with Earth is slow to very slow. Its volume is low to very low. And its pitch is low to very low. Associated seed sounds are “va,” “sah,” and “say.”
You are the Earth. To help remember this association, activate the root chakra (First Chakra) by repeating the correlated mantra: “lam,” pronounced “lum.”
Sometimes saying the mantras––words or sounds repeated to aid concentration–– may evoke or present an action that is too powerful or too soon. To soften the effects of mantras, to use the mantras as a sweet devotion, or to create a sort of time-release effect: place the mantra “Om” before and the mantra “Namaha” after certain pure mantra sounds. Here are some examples of how to buffer or give a time-release effect when tired and at the same time do some other things:
to slowly infuse strength and stability into your soul say “Om Hoom Namaha,”
for a slower development of wisdom and learning say “Om Aim Namaha,”
to slow down the pace of new beginnings say “Om Gam Namaha,” and
to awaken passion gradually or to bring satisfaction into your life at a slower pace say “Om Kleem Namaha.”
To The Sounds Of Healing…
