“A yogi’s meditation ends where love’s activity begins” – Meher Baba
“There is no virtue higher than Love, there is no treasure higher than Love, there is no knowledge higher than Love, there is no Dharma higher than Love, there is no religion higher than Love because Love is Truth, Love is God. This world has come out of Love, this world exists in Love and this world ultimately dissolves in Love. God is an embodiment of Love. In every inch of His creation you can verily understand His Love.” Swami Sivananda
Some of the beautiful chanters at Mind in Body asked me to post some transliterations and meanings of the chants – – -So here’s a beginning …
we started with Ganesha Mantras:
Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha (translation by Thomas Ashley Ferrand – “Om and salutations to the remover of obstacles for which Gum is the seed.”
Jaya Ganesha Jaya Ganesha Jaya Ganesha Pahimam (Jay = glory to, victory Ganesha, Pahiman – Please Protect Me)
Sharanam Ganesha (I take refuge in Ganesha the remover of obstacles)
From Jai Uttal some thoughts on Ganesha . . .
Ganesha = the elephant-headed god; son of Shiva and Parvati.The name Ganesha consists of: “gana” + “isha”.“Gana” means troops or multitudinous spiritual attendants of Shiva.“Isha” = “Lord”.Therefore Ganesha is the “Lord of the troops”. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles and is invoked at the beginning of any endeavor. He alsorepresents the earth element, the root, which needs to be solid before wecan proceed.Sharanam = refuge, protectionGan Gan = These are parts of the “bija” , or seed mantra of Ganesh; they are his core sounds and don’t carry discursive meaning. Bija mantras are said to contain the essence of the diety. Ganapati = another name of Ganesha. “Gana” means “troops” and “Pati” means Lord or protector. So “Ganapati” and “Ganesha” really mean the same thing, “Lord of the troops”. Jai Uttal
After the Ganesha Mantras we chanted :
Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheshwara
Guru Sakshat Param Brahma
Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha
One definition of the “guru principle” is the universal power of grace present as the inner Self of all beings.
The sound Gu means darkness. The sound Ru means, light.
It’s a coming together of opposites – –
Like Ha – which means Sun and Tha which means Moon
of Hatha Yoga
One Translation – –
I prostrate to that Sri Guru, who is himself
Brahma, Vishnu and God Maheshwara, and who is verily
the Supreme Absolute Itself.
Another Translation:
Guru is Brahma (The creative principle of the universe), Guru is Vishnu (The sustaining or preserving principle of the universe), Guru is Lord Maheshwara (Another name for Shiva, the Destroyer or Dissolver of Illusion). Guru is verily the supreme reality. Sublime prostrations to Him.
“Kirtan removes at once impurities of the heart, tossing of mind, and the veil of ignorance without much prolonged effort. That is the beauty of Kirtan. That is the marvellous benefit of Kirtan.
For some wise persons Kirtan is the only Sadhana (spiritual practice) … All persons of this world are Kirtanists. Even the breeze, trees, brooks, ocean-waves, burning fire, churning of curd, grinding of grinding stones, the beetles and the whistling of the engine sing Hari Om…” – Swami Sivananda
“Fix the mind on the form of Lord Hari or Lord Siva or Lord Krishna or any saint like Lord Buddha or Lord Jesus. Again and again try to call this mental image of the picture. All thoughts will die. This is another method, the method of Bhaktas.” – Swami Sivananda
Join Rick Colella and Michael Wachs for Kirtan next month at Mind in Body
(date TBA)
http://mindinbody.net/
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