THIS DIWALI WOO LAXMI THROUGH SOUND YOGA

- Kirti Tarang Pande

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Originally published in Daily Bhaskar

Good News!!!!

You don’t need to spend thousands in buying lights, crackers, sweets and all the shenanigans to woo Goddess Laxmi.

You just need one thing. You have it with you. For free! This thing is your body.

So, why confine Laxmi to your house, when you can seat her in your heart & carry her along wherever you go? It is possible & can be done in  easy steps of Sound Yoga.

However, it is my belief that you mustn’t do anything just because; “I told you so”. That’s why before I tell you the  steps, it’s important that you understand the science behind it:

What isSound Yoga?

Who is Laxmi?

In Yogic Philosophy, Laxmi is a manifestation of Brahman/ Supreme Reality. This Brahman pervades in all things. In humans, the seat is the heart.

As a manifestation of this Brahman, Laxmi is the Goddess of beauty & divine grace. While love & devotion come under beauty; health, prosperity & fertility are a part of Divine Grace.

The Sound of Laxmi

Srim is the Beej Mantra of Laxmi. It governs the prime forms of energy as magnetic force, electrical force & delight. Of all the four Goddess Beej Mantras, it is one of the softest & safest mantras to use.

Srim allows us to surrender to and take refuge in Laxmi. Once we are immersed in Laxmi, not only good things flow in life but also our heart gets faith & emotional nature gets steadiness.

Woo Laxmi in Easy Steps through Sound Yoga

1. Start your day with Opening the Heart

If Laxmi is to reside in your heart, one must open its door for her. Laxmi’s seat is a blooming lotus. So, sit in Padmasana, form the mudra blooming lotus with your hands & place it near your chest. Now close your eyes & visualize that a lotus is opening in your heart chakra & Laxmi is sitting in it in her full radiance. Bless everyone & anyone who comes to your mind with the gifts of Laxmi. Generosity of soul is the cosmic door through which Laxmi comes in.

       2. Purify your heart through Om

We all know Laxmi resides in cleanliness. With each out breath chant Om. Let the sound ‘O’ come from your heart & ‘M’ from throat. Repeat the chant five times. This purifies our heart of its afflictions.

        3. Illuminate your Heart through Surya Namaskar

It is light of the heart which lures Laxmi, she has no interest in the ones that you hang in your home. So, stand in Namaskar Mudra & pray to Surya to illuminate your heart with truth this verse:

Hiranmayena patrena satyasyapitham mukham|Tat tvam pusannapavrnu satyadharmaya drstaye||

Meaning: O Sun! Like a utensil covering the mouth of a vessel, your golden orb is the lid covering the truth. Un-lid & lead me to the Dharma of Truth.

It’s important that you link every Asana of the Surya Namaskar with inhale & exhale of breath. Each inhalation & exhalation must be in Ujjayi Breath.

Laxmi, was born after churning the ocean. The Ujjayi (sound of ocean) inhalation & exhalation teamed with Surya Namaskar churns our body & Laxmi is born within us.

         4. Energize your Lunar Side

The Beej Mantra of Laxmi has a pleasing lunar property. To prepare the body for the Chanting of the Beej Mantra, first one need to activate the lunar side through Chandra Anulom: Upon nightfall sit in Vajrasana, close the right nostril with ring finger, deep inhale & exhale through left nostril. Repeat 10 times. Once, the lunar side is activated, it is time to energize it with Chandra Bhedan: Sit in Vajrasana, close the right nostril with ring finger inhale through left nostril. Close left nostril with the thumb & exhale through right. This is one cycle of Chandra Bhedan. Perform 10 such cycles.

Now that the body is prepared, it is time to chant the Beej Mantra & evoke the Laxmi that whose sthapana we did in our hearts this morning.

         5 Srim Japa

Srim (pronounced as: shreem) is the sound relating to beauty & divine grace. It floods the senses with divine beauty & delight, promoting health, prosperity, fertility & rejuvenation.

Sit in Padmasana, close your eyes, and bring your awareness to the Laxmi seated in your heart & chant Srim. You can chant from 5, 7, 9 to 108 any odd number of times. Please note it doesn’t matter how many counts you do, what really matters is how well you link the sound of Shrim to the energy of Laxmi in your heart.

• Originally published in Daily Bhaskar

LET'S TALK ABOUT SOUND YOGA

- Kirti Tarang Pande
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The Hidden Cosmic Secret


May I tell you a secret?

It's a secret that was kept hidden from 'commoners' in Vedic Prampara. Brahmins knew the power of this wisdom pearl that they had. So they kept quiet, because in the hands of unworthy, the power could be dangerous. In silence they quivered with the vibrations of Sound Yoga and attained a state of pure bliss.

No, I am not starting a new niche in Yoga. Yoga is the science of Shiva & art of Siddhas, you & I are not qualified to make changes in it. We can only share, what we have learnt:

What Is Sound: The Western & Vedic School Of It

Modern Physics tells us that Sound is an energy.
Ancient texts of Rig Veda agree with this & add that Sound is the original form all energy. This cosmic energy of sound, always have a referent object. It is the name of that object. The name connects us to the Being that it designates.
Therefore, whenever we make a sound, we are directing awareness to the object that it corresponds to.

How Sound Yoga Harnesses & Channelizes The Energy Of Sound?

When through sound our awareness goes to an object, along with awareness goes our Pranic Energy. So, ancient Siddhas through the blessings and guidance of Shiva created Beej Mantras, which can link our Pranic Energy to the object of our desires.

What Is The Object Of A Yogis' Desire?

Yogis weren't greedy they just wanted three basic things:
1. Healthy Body, you can't meditate if you're struggling with a physical ailment
2. A mind that's free from all afflictions, again, one can either fret or meditate
3. Liberation

What Did The Yogis Do With This Knowledge?

Since, the yogis understood that Sound is the mental aspect of Pran. They used the mantric vibrations of soul to awaken the powers within.
With this power they discovered the Beej Mantras corresponding to the three wishes of a Yogi:

a. For Healthy Body:

Yogis looked at human body as a sound body & called it Mantra Purush, representing it through Sanskrit Alphabets.
For the sounds in the head & our senses, they harnessed solar energy & created 16 Beej Mantras for it.
For our tissues, they harnessed lunar energy & created 9 Beej Mantras for them
And then, there are 25 Beej Mantras for our trunk & limbs

b. For Peaceful Mind:

They created Beej Mantras for six basic Chakras & weaved them in a meditation technique, in which we travel down from our Throat Chakra towards the Root Chakra & then we come up & dissolve it all in the Third Eye Chakra.

c. For Liberation

This approach came from the Shakti School of Yoga. The yogis discovered the four Beej Mantras corresponding to four forms of Shakti, leading to liberation.

How You & I Can Incorporate Sound Yoga In Our Daily Practice?

Remember, Sound Yoga is very powerful and should only be performed in the guidance of a trusted teacher. 

a. For Energizing

Every Asana has a corresponding Beej Mantra. Once you have mastered the asana on the physical level, then check if you can relax in that asana, connect it with your breathe, now you can ask your teacher to give you the Beej Mantra.

b. For Relaxation

You can recite Mantra Purusha prayer before meditation, it withdraws the pran from all the parts of body & leave

it in the Third Eye.