Throughout the world the use of mantra or ritualized chanting has been quite popular; regrettably in western society it is almost forgotten.  Our system of ritualized chanting has become a repetitive verse of prose on the radio.  Still the power of even this radio chanting can clearly been seen by an observer.  Often on the radio, one will hear a song that they can relate to personally or emotionally.  This can generate powerful emotional states that can elevate their psychological state or validate their emotional state.  Obviously it can work in reverse also, adding to depression or other form of mental suffering.  Clearly changes of emotional and psychological states through repetitive words can create profound effects within an individual. 

 India has been a repository and caretaker of the sacred knowledge of mantra for the past 35,000 years or more.  Through the related sciences of Yoga, Ayurveda, and Vedic astrology a powerful system of healing and meditation can easily be tapped by even the novice. 

 First we must examine what a mantra is.  While this can be a vast and complex subject, this paper allows for only a introduction.  A mantra is literally a sound formula designed to produce a specific result within a practitioner.  Mantras can be fine tuned for the body as a whole, for the cellular level, or on the more subtle aspects of the mind.  The can be quite complex and remarkably beautiful in its simplicity.  Let us start with one of the many basic approaches to mantra.  Organs of the body are divided into two categories:  1) Hollow, 2) Solid.  An example of a hollow organ would be the stomach; likewise a solid organ would be the liver.  When a mantra is chanted aloud, sound waves not only travel from our mouth but ripple through the body.  Sound waves will travel through hollow organs and resonate within the hollow chamber of the organ creating additional frequencies within the organ. These new low frequencies will continue through the body. The speed in which sound will travel through hollow organs verses solid organs will be slightly different.  The differences in speed will be very subtle.  This will result in more complex frequencies being generated within the body from the mantra being chanted.  These complex frequencies are focused into the tissue or cells that require healing or detoxification.

 For the novice, chanting in a group will enhance the effects of the mantra and allow for physiological and psychological effects from the other practitioner’s voices.  Since the subconscious mind perceives each individual voice, this will allow for increased repetitions of a mantra to be experienced more quickly.  As an example, if 11 people chant a mantra 108 repetitions, this would result in 1,188 repetitions for the subconscious mind.  That is why chanting aloud can be more beneficial for beginners.  The advanced practitioner can achieve the same effects through silent repetition of the mantra.  The novice can also gain benefit from silent repetition depending on the actual purpose and goal of the mantric repetition.

 The Sanskrit alphabet consists of 50 letters[i] and 5 mouth positions[ii].  This allows for more complex frequencies than can be observed in English.  It is my theory that each sound corresponds to different areas of the body and different types of cells and tissue.  In yoga it is taught that the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet correspond to various nerve ganglia located throughout the body.  The specific frequencies of the Sanskrit alphabet or mantra generate a focused and healing sound current for these tissues and cells.  In an optimum situation resulting in complete healing on the cellular level.  On a mental and emotional level it can result in metal and emotional detoxification (this can occur on the physical level also, resulting in the cleansing of toxins on the cellular level). 

 Traditionally this would be achieved through what is called japa, repetition.  The traditional numbers often used in India for japa would be 108.  This is called a mala.  Traditional repetitions of mala could be 1,3,5,7,11,21,51.  These numbers may vary some within different yoga systems.  There are many mantras that are very long in the Indian system and require much study of Sanskrit to realize their true potential.  Often people in our society start with what are called Bija mantras, these are one or two syllable words that subconsciously convey a deeper meaning to the mind and body.  In the tantric teachings Bija mantras are considered to be the best mantras for the current age that we live in.  I must agree with these teachings, bija mantras are simple, powerful, and easy for people to work with.  Though I must add that the effort to learn basic Sanskrit is well worth the effort and opens a student to extremely powerful mantras that can be pages in length. 

 If a person has many toxins, be they mentally, emotionally, or physically.  It is often good to take the approach that less is more.  I have often observed with many people, due the amount of toxins, that 108 may cause them to process the toxins too quickly.  This can easily be remedied by starting with a number such as 11 repetitions.   This can be increased to 22, 27, 54, and then slowly build to 108.  The number of repetitions of a particular mantra to gain its complete effect can easily move into the millions.  This is especially true in Vedic astrology.  It is common to have seen 10,000 repetitions and up for countering the effects of planets.  To meet the required number of repetitions these types of mantra would be performed over days, weeks or more.  These numbers should not discourage anyone; I have observed many people benefiting from repetition of a mantra one day a week for 108 repetitions.

 It is often best to receive the mantra you are going to practice from someone knowledgeable in this science.  The primary reasons are: to make sure it is the right mantra for you, to ensure proper pronunciation of the mantra, to make sure it is balancing to your body’s constitution, and to maximize it to your Vedic astrology chart.  It is often taught in India, receiving a mantra from a realized being will add to the power of the mantra.  While I do believe this is a valid point and worthy of consideration, it has been my experience that the proper pronunciation of a mantra and a sincere heart will take a student very far also.  For this reason I will provide some bija mantras for practice:

 Ram pronounced Rahm.  This is an excellent mantra for general protection from negativity.

 Om pronounced Ohm.  This is probably the most widely known mantra.  It can make a person spacey and can be aggravating to Vatta types in Ayurveda.  Om is considered a pranava sound or sacred sound.

 Hriim pronounced Hrrrreeeeemmmmm.  This is considered a pranava sound or sacred sound in many Tantric systems.  It is believed that this mantra has the power to remove the power of illusion over you.

 There are several additional mantras such as the Gayatri or Mahamrityunjaya mantra that would be highly recommended if the goal were healing.  These are a little longer and best learned from a knowledgeable teacher or are available on audiocassette or CD from Universal Yoga.  You should also be able to find them on cassette or CD from a variety of teachers at your local new age store, or the internet