Yesterday, I had my first chanting experience in a group of 12 people. To say that I liked it would sound stupid. It cannot be easily described in words. It was a unique experience. I realized how powerful sound is. It can improve concentration, affect our body through its vibrations, and probably can affect our soul as well if it is coupled with the right motivation.
We were doing 108 OM mantra recitations after a short introductory meditation. I listened to the sound and enjoyed synchronizing my voice with everyone in the group and feeling the resonance in my body. Reciting the mantra helped me to completely focus on the sound and calm my mind effectively. By the middle of the 108 mantras, I felt that the Earth is breathing and we are breathing with her in unison when we breath in and breathing out the sound OM. THis was the most important activity that everyone participates in, breathing together in the act of creation and distraction, expansion and contraction, very beautiful and essential nature of everyone and everything. I felt the love of the Earth and oneness with her and with everyone in the group.
Towards the end of the recitations, I felt movements of energy in my lower back, and my hands, especially the left one. When we finished reciting the Mantra, Jeff was leading the meditation. I was in a state of bliss and deep relaxation. He said that we should open our hearts and feel love and joy in our hearts. I tried to open my heart, but found pain there instead of joy. I was surprised and asked "Why do I have this pain?" and received the answer immediately: "This is unused love to yourself". It made perfect sense to me, I accepted the answer, understood that I need to love myself more, and the pain went away. Then I felt something that I have never felt before. My body became very light, I almost didn't feel it at all, and I was almost floating or ready to leave the body. It was like a desire to leave the body. It felt very good too. Then we had to come back to the room, unfortunately.
Today at the Tara Dance class we talked about the power of Mantras. I thought that it would be nice to meet regularly with friends to recite different mantras. I send some information about mantras to my friends from the class.
So far I don't know much about mantras. I only know three of them
OM
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha
All three are great and very powerful. I like the concentrated power of this words. Below are a few links about each of them I found useful.
1. Om Mani Padme Hum (or Om Mani Peme Hung in Tibetan) So beautiful!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4noQ0MD1_8s&feature=list_related&a=GxdCwVVULXc08C14OC66ItqaLf4P3Jc0&list=ML&playnext=1
Some explanation is here:
http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meaning-of-om-mani-padme-hung.htm
2. The explanation of the mantra OM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7ofPdEgsoQ&feature=player_embedded
3. Another explanation on the Tara Mantra: http://www.fpmt.org/teachings/lzr/tara.php
Jeff (teacher) gave us a very powerful motivation to do chanting. In addition to helping with concentration and focus and having health benefits, singing mantras helps to remove Karma or shift Karmic focus. I like this explanation because it makes sense to me. I've heard people who said that after meditating for a while they quit smoking, or stopped overeating. Because they have burnt Karmic seeds that were created by repeated ly craving food or cigarettes in the past. I want to be free of the influence of past thoughts and emotions.
I will definitely use chanting in my daily practice!
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