Indian Religions

"Shanti is the Sanskrit word for peace. If the quality you have chosen is calmness or peace then you can repeat “Shanti” as your mantra....add Om with the Sanskrit word for my goal. Repeating “Om Shanti Om” would be an effective alternative. Om is a powerful mantra used extensively in the East. Combining Om with Shanti gives the mantra a beautiful chant like quality and is a joy to repeat over and over again."

"Shanti – peace - is a most essential quality expressed in the ancient Vedic texts of the Upanishads. It is invoked at the beginning and the end of each Upanishad chapter."

"There is group of special shanti mantras found in vedic texts, such as the Upanishads. At he close of each Upanishad chapter, for instance, the word shanti is chanted three times, as a mantra. This is to remove the three kinds of suffering – personal, external and atmospheric"

"The use of Mantras is deeply rooted in Tibetan Buddhism. They are short prayers that are thought to subtly alter one’s mind and and make a connection with a particular Buddha."

"When Tibetans chant a mantra associated with a particular Buddha, they are not simply asking for the blessings and aid of the Buddha – the final goal of the practice is to become buddhas themselves, since buddhas are sentient beings who have actualized the highest potential that we all possess."

"A mantra is a powerful word or phrase that may or may not have meaning in the same way as a sentence. Compare spells, incantations and prayer formulas in other spiritual traditions. The term is a Sanskrit word mantram that combines the root manas (mind) with tram (protection) so the literal meaning is mind-protection."

"The Bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara who is called in Tibetan, Chenresi [often spelled Chenresig or Chenresik] is said to have given a special mantra to Nagarjuna who left it to Lion-face Dakini to transmit to Padmasambhava, whose activity confirmed Buddhism as the predominant religion in Tibet."

"This [mantra] is the 'Six Syllable - 'or the 'Mani Mantra' Om Mani Padme Hum."

"Each one of the 6 syllables is directed at one of the six realms of existence. Saying the mantra is like praying for and helping individuals in all possible situations. When you say this mantra, you are behaving as a Bodhisattva, with the mindful intention of working towards the enlightenment of all sentient beings, without exception."

"Each syllable is considered to purify a specific human failing or "obscuration"."

"In many tantric Buddhist practices, but most notably during Guru Yoga, wherein we link with the continuity of a lineage, we meditate on OM, AH and HUNG as the Three Lights."

"Om is white and placed at the brow. It represents the Form Body or Nirmanakaya. It is associated with w:VairocanaBuddha Vairochana."

"Ah is red, placed at the throat centre, and represents the enlightened speech of the Buddha. It is associated with the Sambhogakaya or Enjoyment Body. It relates to Buddha Amitabha and the lotus family of deities."

"Hum (or in Tibetan, hung) is blue. Placed at the heart center, it represents the Dharmakaya or Truth Body. It stands for Enlightened Mind, associated with Akshobya and the vajra family of buddhas."

"The mounting total of mantras that are chanted, muttered and murmured is usually reckoned by means of the mala [Tibetan tenwa,] or string of prayer beads."

"It is said that the merits of Om mani padme hum, the Six-Syllable mantra, are innumerable and cannot be fully described even by the Buddhas of the three times."

"The body of those who keep this mantra will transform into a vajra body, the bones will transform into relics of the Buddha and ordinary mind will transform into the wisdom of the Buddhas."

"Whoever recites the mantra even once will obtain immeasurable wisdom. He or she will eventually develop compassion and be able to perfect the Six Paramitas (virtues). He or she will be born as a universal monarch. She or he will achieve the irreversible stage of a Bodhisattva and finally attain Enlightenment."

"If this mantra is carved onto rocks and mountains, and a human or non-human being comes into contact and sees it, he or she will develop the conditions to be a Bodhisattva in the next life, and thereby relieve suffering."

"It is said that the sands of the Ganges and drops of water in the ocean can be counted but not the merits resulting from the recitation of this mantra."

"Every day Jains bow their heads and say their universal prayer, the Navkar mantra. All good work and events start with this prayer of salutation and worship."

"These five salutations are capable of destroying all the sins. Mangalancha Savvesin:Padhamam Havai Mangalam:"

"This is the first happiness among all forms of happiness."

"In the above prayer, Jains salute the virtues of the five benevolent. They do not pray to a specific Tirthankara or monk by name. By saluting them, Jains receive the inspiration from the five benevolent for the right path of true happiness and total freedom from the misery of life. Jain prayers do not ask for any favors or material benefits from their Gods, the Tirthankaras or from monks and nuns."

"Namo Arihantanam - White Color: Arihant is a perfect human being. White color represents Arihant. The white color is the mother of all colors; it is a blending of all colors. It represents pure knowledge."

"Siddhanam - Red Color: Siddha is a pure consciousness or a soul without any Karma attached to it. Both Arihant and Siddha are known as Gods in Jainism. Red color represents Siddha."

"Namo Airiyanam - Yellow and Orange Color: Acharya is a head of the Jain congregation. It symbolizes the organizational power,Yellow or orange color represents Acharya. Both Yellow and Orange show wisdom, power to accomplish the goal, and discipline or strong will power in the life."

"Namo Uvajjhayanam - Green and Blue Color: Upadhyay is a teacher, which shows how to awaken powers and maintain balance of body, mind, and soul. Green or Blue color represents Upadhyay."

"Namo Loe Savva Sahunam - Black Color: Sadhu (monk) is a spiritual practitioner. The practitioner must be protected from worldly attachments and must destroy negativity. Black color represents monk."

"The Adi Granth opens with the Mul Mantra, the basic statement of belief: “There is one Supreme Being, the Eternal Reality. [This Supreme Being] is the Creator, without fear and devoid of enmity, immortal, never incarnated, self-existent, known by grace through the Guru."

"w:Mul Mantar}Mool Mantra means Root Formula for Life and Liberation. The mantra is:"

"Mul Mantar is the name of these twelve words. A mantar (mantra) is an empowering formula for repetition; mul {pronounced to rhyme with English ‘pool’) means a root (it is etymologically akin to the muli, or white radish). It is as if the whole of the Guru’s teaching (and of Sikh spirituality) grows from and draws sustenance from this statement. His longer compositions develop this theme, and provide the basis for Sikh theology."

"In Hindu devotional tradition, “yantra” is the general term for instruments of worship, namely, idols, pictures, or geometrical diagrams. A yantra may serve as a (1) representation of some personification or aspect of the divine, (2) a model for the worship of a divinity immediately within the heart after the paraphernalia of outward devotion (idols, perfumes, offerings, audibly uttered formulae) have been discarded by the advance initiate, (3) a kind of chart or schedule for the gradual evolution of a vision, while identifying the Self with its slowly varying contents that is to say, with divinity in all its phases of transformation. In this case the yantra contains dynamic elements."

"Yantra is an instrument designed to curb the psychic powers by concentrating them on pattern, and in such a way that this pattern becomes reproduced by the worshipper’s visualizing powers."

"Yantras are mystic diagrams and geometrical designs on which certain lettered or syllabic characters are written. They are made for the most diverse occasions and purposes. They are drawn or engraved on strips of palm-leaf or copper or gold foil and have the significance of amulets. They are worn in a little metal case round the neck or upper arms or even loins, as protection against any possible danger or harm. Some are made to injure another person or to augment the power of a spell against somebody."

"...when the Goddess is invited to take her place, before the moment of worship, the yoni mudra is made since the yoni, the female organ is her pitha or yantra. The yoni can never be regarded by Tantric adept otherwise than an altar."

"A yantra symbolically represents the human body and psyche. Most are circles enclosed in a square outer form with four gates. The square represents the ego consciousness, while the circle represents the unconscious. Whenever something unconscious becomes conscious, it is symbolized by a circle or a round shape, becoming a square or a cube. The square outer layer of a yantra represents the act of entering the circle, or the unconscious entering the consciousness."

"By regularly meditating on a specific yantra, you can tune in to the corresponding archtype to focus its healing energies in your psyche and foster personal growth."

"Yantra is an instrument of fastening."

"Similar to a person who is not attached to external pleasures but enjoys happiness in the Atman (soul), the person who perceives Brahman in everything feels everlasting joy."

"I charge you — forget the names you bear, forget the words I speak as soon as they are uttered. Look, rather, upon the Nameless within yourselves, which arises as I address it. It hearkens not to my words, but to the reality within me, of which it is part. This is the atman, which hears me rather than my words. All else is unreal. To define is to lose. The essence of all things is the Nameless. The Nameless is unknowable, mightier even than Brahma. Things pass, but the essence remains. You sit, therefore, in the midst of a dream. Essence dreams it a dream of form. Forms pass, but the essence remains, dreaming new dreams. Man names these dreams and thinks to have captured the essence, not knowing that he invokes the unreal. These stones, these walls, these bodies you see seated about you are poppies and water and the sun. They are the dreams of the Nameless."

"This is the great lesson that we are here to learn through myriads of births and heavens and hells — that there is nothing to be asked for, desired for, beyond one’s spiritual Self (atman)."

"Pray all the time, read all the scriptures in the world, and worship all the gods there are …[but] unless you realize the Self (atman), there is no freedom."

"The whole universe is one in the Atman. That Atman when it appears behind the universe is called God. The same Atman when it appears behind this little universe, the body, is the soul. This very soul, therefore, is the Atman in us."

"The weak, the fearful, the ignorant will never reach the Atman. You cannot undo, the effect must come, face it, but be careful never to do the same thing again. Give up the burden of all deeds to the Lord. Give all, both good and bad. Do not keep the good and give only the bad. God helps those who do not help themselves."

"Learning and wisdom are superfluities, the surface glitter merely, but it is the heart that is the seat of all power. It is not in the brain but in the heart that the Atman, possessed of knowledge, power, and activity, has its seat."

"Always discriminate—your body, your house, the people around, and the world are all unreal like a dream. Always think that this body is only an inert instrument. And the Atman within is your real nature."

"After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains--one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states, and states must ever change; but the nature of the Atman is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it."

"Above all, beware of compromises. Hold on to your own principles in weal or woe and never adjust them to others’ “fads” through the greed of getting supporters. Your Atman is the support of the universe—whose support do you stand in need of?"

"Is there any sex-distinction in the Atman (Self)? Out with the differentiation between man and woman— all is Atman! Give up the identification with the body, and stand up!"