Mantra

"Om:Om is not just a sound or vibration. It is not just a symbol. It is the entire cosmos, whatever we can see, touch, hear and feel. Moreover, it is all that is within our perception and all that is beyond our perception. It is the core of our very existence. If you think of Om only as a sound, a technique or a symbol of the Divine, you will miss it altogether."

"Chanting and meditation of Om is the way to reach and abide in that ever blissful nature underlying our surface personality. This is bliss for no reason at all. It is unconditional bliss, a bliss that is everlasting, un-decaying, pure and stainless. Om is our blissful Self."

"Om is the Brahman, the indestructible Life force. Om is this universe. It is nameless, the Divine. It is the totality of you, I, and the whole creation. It is the totality of past, present and future of this existence."

"Perfect prayer does not consist in many words, silent remembering and pure intention raises the heart to that supreme Power."

"Silence is the language of Om. We need silence to be able to reach our Self. Both internal and external silence is very important to feel the presence of that supreme Love."

"Gayatri, the greatest and the most beautiful of all the ancient mantras, universally hailed as the Mother of the Vedas that has been chanted from time immemorial, has acquired such an enormous mystical power and transcendental importance that it continues to remain even now as the mantra which has been universally accepted as capable of unfolding our spiritual faculties in the most remarkable manner."

"There is no higher mantra than Gayatri, there is no higher deity than one’s mother."

"He who repeats Gayatri always attains Heavens"

"Gayatri is “Vedas” in a nutshell. It is out of Gayatri the Vedas have come and into Gayatri Vedas have converged. This sacred worse adorns all the vedas. It occurs in Rigveda III 62.10, in Yajur Veda III-35, XX-II-9, XXX-2, and XXXVI-3 and in Sama Veda XXX-6-3-10."

"...It is the supreme prayer, described the mother of the Vedas, named after its metre which means “the saviour of the singer”, revealed to sage Vishvamitra. Gayatri is the mantra of the real Guru, the Omniscient God. The writers of the scriptures call it the “Soul of the Vedas’."

"Vedic ritual practice honoured the sun with daily recital of Gayathri Mantra to Savitr and sacrifices to Surya."

"Mantra Upanishad: These teachings center on esoteric interpretations of specific sounds and syllables and place those interpretations into Yogic as well as Saiva, Vaishnava, and Durga theistic contexts. Typical of these works are Tarasara, Kalisantarana, and Narayana Upansihad."

"The Gayatri is a universal prayer enshrined in the Vedas. It is addressed to the Immanent and Transcendent Divine which has been given the name 'Savita,' meaning 'that from which all this is born.' The Gayatri may be considered as having three parts - (i) Adoration (ii) Meditation (iii) Prayer. First the Divine is praised, then It is meditated upon in reverence and finally an appeal is made to the Divine to awaken and strengthen the intellect, the discriminating faculty of man. The Gayatri is considered as the essence of the Vedas. Veda means knowledge, and this prayer fosters and sharpens the knowledge-yielding faculty. As a matter of fact the four core-declarations enshrined in the four Vedas are implied in this Gayatri mantra."

"Gayatri is the Mother of all scriptures (Vedas). She is present, wherever Her name is chanted. She is very powerful. The One who nourishes the individual being is Gayatri. She bestows pure thoughts on anyone who worships Her. She is the embodiment of all Goddesses. Our very breath is Gayatri, our faith in existence is Gayatri. Gayatri has five faces, they are the five life principles. She has nine descriptions, they are ‘Om, Bhur, Bhuvah, Swah, Tat, Savitur, Vareñyaṃ, Bhargo, Devasya’. Mother Gayatri nourishes and protects every being and she channelizes our senses in the proper direction. ‘Dhīmahi’ means meditation. We pray to her to inspire us with good intelligence. ‘Dhīyo Yonah Prachodayāt’ - We beseech her to bestow on us everything we need. Thus Gayatri is a complete prayer for protection, nourishment and finally, liberation."

"It will protect you from harm wherever you are --traveling, working, or at home. Westerners have investigated the vibrations produced by this mantra and have found that when it is recited with the correct accent as laid down in the Vedas, the atmosphere around becomes visibly illumined. So Brahma-prakāsha, the Divine Effulgence, will descend on you and illumine your intellect and light your path when this mantra is chanted. Also repeat shanti thrice at the end, for that repetition will give shanti or peace to three entities in you --body, mind, and soul."

"The Gayatri is perhaps the greatest and most beautiful of all the ancient mantras. It has been chanted all over India from time immemorial... in an antiquity so remote that the very memory of it has been forgotten, the altruistic use of such mantras was fully comprehended and practiced. It begins always with the sacred word Om, and with the enumeration of the planes upon which its action is desired—the three worlds in which man lives, the physical, the astral and the mental;"

"This wonderful mantra is an invocation to the Sun—of course really to the Solar Logos, who stands behind that grandest of all symbols; and the great shaft of light which immediately pours down upon and into the reciter comes as though from the physical Sun, in whatever direction that Sun may happen to be. This shaft of light is white tinged with gold, and shot with that electric blue which is so often seen in connection with any manifestation of the power of the first Ray; but when it has filled the very soul of the reciter it promptly shoots from him again in seven great rays or cones having the colours of the spectrum. It is as though the singer acts as a prism; yet the colour rays which dart forth are of a shape the reverse of what we usually find in such cases. Commonly when we send out rays of spiritual force they spring forth from a point in the body—the heart, the brain, or some other centre; and as they shoot out they steadily broaden fanwise, as do those shining from a lighthouse. But these rays start from a basis wider than the man himself—a basis which is the circumference of his aura; and instead of widening out they decrease to a point, just as do the rays of a conventional star except that they are of course cones of light instead of mere triangles."

"Actually, it doesn't matter – Krishna or Christ – the name is the same. The main point is to follow the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures that recommend chanting the name of God in this age."

"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."