Consists of:

• 1-MANTRA YOGA

Using mantras for Enlightenment.

The mantra seeks to make our enlightenment a practical experience.

Something we can do through the body and mind down to the tips of our toes and through all emotional mental and physical states.

The type of mantra that will work requires that we understand the Chakra centres of our body.

• 2-KUNDALINI YOGA

Kundalini energy flows up and down between the centres.

In Sanskrit these are called Chakras, which translates as “wheel”.

It’s a centre that takes in and gives out energy

Traditionally there are sounds associated with the chakras.

However the traditional sounds for the centres are not commonly used as “every day” mantras for repetition.

There is however another way to access the energy of the chakra so that the negative energy is moved up and out the body, and the Divine energies move down to the specific chakra that is being focused upon.

This focus is achieved with specific Bija mantras or seed mantras.

• 3-SHAKTI YOGA

The seed mantras are allied to the Goddess Energy and to the spiritual path of Shakti, (Divine Energy seen as female in presentation).

They are in essence Tantric mantras. The word tantra means: “go out into the world”, or “to weave’”. Tantra Yoga simply is about applying the spiritual processes, so as to be out in the world instead of seeking introspection. Yes this does include sex! After all that is a major component of most lives!

By using seed mantras which relate both to specific Shakti forms, and to a chakra, we can infuse our yoga practice throughout the whole body.

As we meditate on all the chakras and their Shakti connection, we release the negative power and receive the Divine power.

(Tantric mantras can produce awakening of the Kundalini, the primal energy of Shakti).

• 4-SIDDHA YOGA

The spiritual journey is open to anyone at any time. There are no rules which say you must have a guide, a teacher or a guru. The word guru means “one who leads from darkness to light”. A guru must be already in the light to be able to reach out and help others to attain the same illumination. A guru can only affect others to the degree of that guru’s own achievement. Such a guru is a Siddha Guru.  Siddha means: “with full yogic powers”.

The spiritual aspirant will submit the dross, the mundane, and the un-enlightened mentality for the guru’s inspection. The guru prescribes the “medicine” and the aspirant then moves on to the next stage – whether to take the “medicine” or not.

When the guru is approached in the appropriate manner, then the guru becomes the means for rapid progress on the spiritual journey. A  Sat Guru is Enlightened in Truth Awareness, and is therefore a Siddha. This knowledgeable awareness can be “transmitted” by the Sat Guru to a student, by subtle means that are not easily understood by a novice. In Sanskrit the word for this transmission is Shakti-Paat,which isthe transmission of Shakti energy by the Sat Guru to awaken the Kundalini.  In Hinduism and Buddhism this energy transference is known to also awaken the “third eye”, and allows the “sleeping Kundalini serpent force” to rise up through the spine.

You can choose your cat to be your guru, indeed as you can choose any person as a teacher. However if you wanted to learn to fly jumbo jet would you take lessons from a bus driver? The importance of finding a Sat Guru may be overlooked or ignored in haste to develop one’s spiritual experience within a short term time-frame. (Rather than looking at the need for a long-term, solid, and productive pathway).

Processes occurring as a result of practice of the four Yogas

The spiritual growth may seem negative in experience!

When the chakras are awakened the negative energies within them come out.

The tendency is that addictions, fear, depression, and anxiety etc. can bubble to the surface, and could thus create significant problems. (Eventually these are eliminated through the crown chakra at the top of the head).

This is a clearing process, but it can seem destructive temporarily.

It can be also problematic for a person practicing tantric kundalini awakening, using seed mantras, without guidance.

Mantra used with Chakras = Detail

The top most chakra, the crown chakra, (and also the Ajna chakra between the eyes), is allied to the “bench mark” mantra AUM or OM, which is also a seed mantra. The prime mantra of them all!

Unlike all the others, OM is not specific to female/male energy.

If this is the sound of the universe, the Cosmic Soul, that transcends everything. It is theoretically the key mantra for renunciate monks, or sannyasins, as is enhances focus on the formless form, transcendent to the world and human life. Using it on its own one can achieve awareness or knowledge of the formless God/Higher Power/Cosmic Consciousness.

These seed sounds have not been developed, but arise naturally from the Cosmos and inhabit every part of our body, functioning to a specific rhythm, pulse, and purpose.

In descending order after the crown and “third eye” chakra, the seed mantra described below refers to the energy of Sarasvati, (the Goddess of learning) and is based in the throat.

Then the Maya energy in the heart chakra. Maya or Mahamaya as the Goddess, is the loci of our illusion, the world and the created universe. Seems real! Then seems to change, then vanish. Our dreams disappear. Our lives disappear! It’s real enough to the unenlightened person, but really we are not solid bodies at all! (Check Quantum physics, plus the scientific perspective regarding the atom “dance” of so-called solid matter).

Next mantra is associated with the Goddess of wealth, or position, or even food, in the navel area, extending around the stomach area. Without food there is no life, and no offspring, (the fundamental “possession”). Lakshmi is the Goddess energy associated here. This energy includes also sexual and blissful elements.

Then the two lower chakras are associated with the sexual energies or the “dark” Goddess Kali

Sahasraram  Chakra            Crown chakra  (see note below).

Ajna Chakra              3rd eye – OM

Vishuddha Chakra    Throat chakra

Anahata Chakra                    Heart Chakra  

Manipura Chakra                 Solar plexus  chakra

Svadhisthana Chakra           Sex  chakra

Muladhara Chakra   Root chakra

The repetition, (Japa), of bija mantra, is thus to be allied specific to each chakra. This is not found easily in ancient traditions and is quite a secret teaching!

Om or AUM has always been associated with the third eye or the spot between the eyebrows even when it has not been associated with Kundalini energy or chakras. It is also connected to the crown chakra, especially when the sound “trails off “ into a long “Mmm”  AH is also  for the crown chakra, but practitioners of OM chanting may wish to focus on the final drawn out “M” sound of OM, trailing out of the crown and then out to the ether. This is a very powerful meditation, which may not come easily until other centres have been purified using other sounds.

OM is thus the most well know and expansive of the bija mantras as it leads into the “soundless” space, to formless Samadhi. (Deepest meditation without thought forms). It can cause the Shakti energy to surge upward and outward beyond the Kundalini chakras.

It is in a place where there is a subtle vibration that signifies the Transcendental Divinity. Om proceeds from deep down in the body at the level of the stomach and moves up towards the chakra between the eyebrows, and terminates with what is called the Chandrabindu, (“the point on the moon”). This is shown above the M letter like a quarter moon with a dot above it.

The M sound moves into a subtle vibration and ends with that dot which is one with the Divine.

Other bija mantras also end with the Chandrabindu.  However their meanings are often somewhat obscured, simply because it is necessary to understand their connection with the energy form of Shakti and specific chakras.

The seed mantras are part of tantric lore, Goddess worship, Shakti/ kundalini energy in a broad sense. Thus the seed mantras should also be considered in terms of both external focussed meditation and for the “reverse” flow of energy back down the body through the chakras. This is an essential concept of tantra and helps spirituality to be also external life based.

Aim, Hrim, Srim, Krim, Klim

Use the seed mantras as below

Crown                                    Sahasraram Chakra – OM

Brow (3rd eye)                      Ajna Chakra – OM

Throat                                    Vishuddha Chakra – Aim

Heart                                      Anahata Chakra – Hrim 

Solar plexus                           Manipura Chakra  Shrim

Sacral                                     Svadhisthana Chakra – Krim

Root                                       Muladhara Chakra – Klim

Om (Source of all)

AIM – (pronounce Aiim), the bija mantra of Saraswati, the goddess of learning.

HRIM (pronounced Hreem) is is the mantra of the Divine Maya. Through it we can control the illusion power of our own minds. Mahamaya, is the goddess of power over the created universe (of illusion).

SHRIM (pronounced Shreem) is a mantra of love, devotion and beauty, relating to Lakshmi, the Goddess of Beauty and Divine Grace, who gives us the good things of life, including health. It aids in fertility and rejuvenation. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth (in its broadest sense).

KRIM (pronounced Kreem) is the great mantra of Kali, has a special power relative to the lower chakras, which it can both stimulate and transform. It a main mantra of the Tantra. It should be used with care. Kali, the fierce goddess, has the power to destroy.

KLIM – (pronounce Kliim), the bija mantra of Kameshwari, the goddess of desire or contentment and satisfaction.

OM AIM HRIM SHRIM KRIM KLIM (In that order)

These seed mantras could be used for personal wish or desire gratification. In tantric view this is not necessarily “bad’ – just practice at a base level. Ultimately in the tantric view, such diversions are temporary, as the repetition of mantra will always want to lead to the high purified spiritual levels. At such levels one is moved more into the heart and higher chakras, and the Divine etheric space, above and around. Then the mantras of choice would change.

OM or SOHAM are preferred.

Soham:  So, signifies God or Guru, and Hum signifies oneself. Repetition is an acknowledgement of one’s essential oneness with God and one’s spiritual teacher. It is to be repeated as one takes a breath in for the first part, and as one exhales for the second. It is also to be repeated when one is already in a quiet calm space, which may require use of other spiritual exercises. With this mantra one can enter into an extremely deep transcendental calmness. The process of repetition with awareness of breath and deep meditation practice is the path of perfection – the Siddha Yoga. 

Summary

What is Bija Mantra? Bija means seed. “The bija mantras are one-syllable seed sounds that, when said aloud, activate the energy of the chakras in order to purify and balance the mind and body. When you speak the bija mantras, you resonate with the energy of the associated chakra, helping you focus upon your own instinctive awareness of your body and its needs.”

What is a chakra? In Sanskrit, chakra translates into “wheel”. These “wheels” can be thought of as vortexes that both receive and radiate energy. There are 7 major chakras, in the human body. They run from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. Emotions, physical health, and mental clarity affect how well each chakra can filter energy. This in turn dictates how pure the energy is that’s emitted from different regions of the body.

To truly understand the transformative power of bija mantras, we need to realize that any form of sound in the universe is vibrational energy. Human speech or words is also a combination of sound waves each of which resonates at specific vibrational frequencies. According to ancient Indian texts as well as the latest works in quantum physics, the whole universe was created through cosmic (sound) energy which was then followed by heat and light energy and eventually life forms. So sound vibrations are intimately connected to our prana or “life energy”.

OM is the most important of all mantras. All mantras generally begin and often also end with OM. It connects us with the guidance power of the inner Guru.

All mantra lore and knowledge can be enhanced by repetition of:

Om Guru Om

Kundalini and Shakti. Otherwise known as the serpent power, kundalini is considered to be like a coiled snake of energy at the base of the spine when dormant. When awakened, it arises in a sinuous movement through the center of the spine to the crown of the head, through the chakras.

Shakti is also considered to be the universal energy or Goddess energy, the creative force of the Divine. In one sense the masculine aspect is the transcendental and the female is the creation. It does depend on which school of thought of philosophy one reads. For some there is only one unified being, and the world is Maya, illusion. Those who are devotees of the Goddess, see the journey within the manifested world as the way to liberation or higher consciousness. This does involve partaking of all the world offers. This is the true meaning of tantra, the spiritual acceptance of the external reality, and all its temptations. (And of course, it’s sufferings)!

Other yoga paths are key also.

(See writings on: Gyana, Bhakti, Karma, Raja Yoga. The yoga paths of Knowledge, Devotion, Service. Plus the Kingly path – Raja Yoga.

The practitioner seeks perfections or siddhis, so as to gain ability, control and knowledge, regarding all aspects of life.