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From: SifGreyWillow (Original Message) Sent: 11/11/2007 5:56 PM
Feminine Power Mantra Meditations

Invocations of the feminine, dynamic/power aspects of divinity, using several of the most revered mantras of the Vedic tradition.
Om Eim Hrim Klim Chamandayei Vichei Namaha
The first mantra releases the qualities of Wisdom combined with Power. The growth of these qualities within automatically increases self-confidence along with the ability to accomplish one's goals. This mantra is chanted 108 times.
Hrim Srim Klim Param Eshwari Swaha
This mantra is the foundation for the Great Feminine spiritual discipline practiced by the followers of Shiva in Northern India. It is chanted 108 times.
Om Eim Klim Sau Sau Klim Eim
The Lalita Mantra given by the Sage Hayagriva releases within that feminine energy that will accomplish an endless variety of material and spiritual objectives. It is chanted 108 times.
Now come the basic building blocks of the feminine trinity: Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga.
The 108 names of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga are chanted. Then short mantras for each are chanted:
Saraswati mantra: Om Eim Saraswatiyei Swaha
Lakshmi mantra: Om Sri Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha
Durga mantra: On Dum Durgayei Namaha

How Mantras Affect Your Health
Mantras work directly upon our karma: the accumulated latencies and tendencies with which we are born. The vibrations of these ancient formulas work through the chakras to increase the flow of beneficial energy throughout the subtle body where these latencies and tendencies are stored. Mantra therapy starts by increasing the total amount of energy available for all of our activities. Certain mantras used singly or in combination can greatly accelerate the quality and quantity of energy used in the healing process. However, if the karmic propensity for a given condition is overwhelming, mantra therapy will not remove the difficulty any more than conventional therapy will. In this case, mantra therapy work will still lessen the karmic baggage you take into future lives.
The energy created through mantra practice may lead one to forms of therapy quite different from the ones used initially. Thus, some unexpected new form of treatment may appear as fruit of mantra practice. Investigate it. Ultimately, we do not know through which door the route to recovery might manifest, and it may be in some form of conventional or traditional care of which we had been previously unaware.
How To Conduct Your Mantra Intensive
Though you may desire immediate results to become visible from your dedicated mantra practice, most results take time to manifest. Minor difficulties might be affected in as little as two weeks, but more deeply rooted problems can take longer to begin to achieve noticeable results.
Practice all mantras in the therapy session for 108 times each in one sitting. For each of the two intensive therapies included it will take one hour to complete. Do the practice every day for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of 40 days. The full forty-day program will produce the best results. For deep-seated problems, a 120 day program is recommended. At the end of your program, stop daily chanting and take a break for at least one week.
Precaution: Mantra therapies are no substitute for conventional, traditional or ancient forms of medical care. If you have a problem, be sure to consult the health care practitioner of your choice. These mantra prescriptions are intended to supplement the course of care you choose to follow.
Saraswati — The Power of Knowledge and Speech
Parvati — The Power of Consciousness and Spiritual Growth
Lakshmi — The Power of Abundance
Durga and Chamundi — The Power of Protection
Kali — The Power of Destruction of Negative Ego
Lalita — The Great Feminine with a Thousand Powers
Radha — The Power of Divine Love
Kuan Yin — The Power of Divine Compassion
Tara — The Power of the Divine Mother

For Creating Abundance
Invite Abundance Into Your Life Through the Power of Sacred Sound
According to the Vedic tradition, the term "abundance" applies to every dimension of our lives, from material wealth to spiritual sustenance and growth. With Mantra Meditation for Creating Abundance, you are invited to engage the practice of sacred sound to invite positive changes in your finances, your career, your creative pursuits, and your search for inner wisdom.
Mantras, teaches Thomas Ashley-Farrand, are highly evolved sound formulas first developed in ancient India that can influence the subtle energies both around us and within us. Now, with a leading teacher of the tradition, you will learn to use 20 classic mantras created specifically to remove hidden obstacles and open the doorways to more materially and spiritually favorable conditions.
These sacred sound chants require only a few minutes per session. Try them for 40 days (the traditional amount of time required to achieve their desired effects)--and be prepared to observe the beneficial changes that lie ahead! Complete with printed reference guide.
1. Introduction
2. How to create your own mantra program
3. Om Sri Dhanvantre Namaha
4. Om Shanti Om
5. Om Mitraya Namaha
6. The Six Divisions of Shakti
7. The story of the creation of the universe
8. Om Shrim Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha
9. Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha
10. Sahasrara Im, from the Lakshmi Tantra
11. A guided spiritual practice for prosperity
12. The Maha Lakshmi Astakam
For Physical Health
Strengthen Your Physical and Energetic Health with Mantra Sound Healing
Your physical body is animated by life energy. And, according to India's science of sound healing, you can gather and direct that healing life force through the power of sacred sound. With Mantra Meditation for Physical Healing, Thomas Ashley-Farrand--one of the most acclaimed teachers of mantra in the West--guides you syllable by syllable into a rich 40-day program of mantras to strengthen your natural healing potential.
Mantras, teaches Ashley-Farrand, initiate vibrations within key areas of the body to release energetic blockages through their influences on your body's chakras (energy centers).
Now, through clear guided instruction, you will begin to learn how to voice 21 authentic mantras to fortify your health, address specific forms of illness, clear energy blockages, and draw in prana, the vital life force of the universe. Includes a special meditation practice to guide you to the most effective mantra for your specific health concerns. Complete with printed reference guide.
1. Introduction
2. How to create your own mantra program
3. The four varieties of karma
4. Om Hiranya Garbhaya Namaha
5. Om Shreem Mitraya Namaha
6. Om Arkaya Namaha
7. Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha
8. The mantras of the planets
9. The Navagriha Pida
10. Om Ram Ramaya Swaha
11. The Apadamapa Mantra
12. The Hanuman Mantra
13. The Markandeya Mantra
14. The Gayatri Mantra
15. Two mantras for the eyes
16. The Dhanvantari Mantra
17. The Mantra Prayer of Dhanvantari

Extract: Some Simple Mantras, If You Are Just Starting Out
A Selection from The Ancient Power of Sanskrit Mantra and Ceremony, Volume I
Some of you may be interested or even fascinated by the discipline of mantra, but feel somewhat overwhelmed by the array of mantras and disciplines, astotaras and pujas you find in these pages. If so, then this chapter will be of use to you. The next few pages contain some simple mantras and their common application. They have been compiled from other chapters throughout the rest of this book, drawn from the various headings of the deities or principles involved. These mantras address various life issues which we all face from time to time. If you want more information or more mantras relating to the deities or principles involved, consult the appropriate chapter.
Ganesha: Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha
Rough Translation: 'Om and salutations to the remover of obstacles for which Gum is the seed.'
The story of Ganesha is found in the chapter devoted to this principle. But for your immediate need, you need only know that for seen or unseen obstacles which seem to be standing in the way of your progress or achievement, either specifically or generally, this mantra has proved invaluable. It has been used it with great success not only in India, but here in the West dozens of people have related to me their success in turning things around in their life by using this mantra.
Lakshmi: Om Shrim Mahalakshmiyei Swaha
Rough Translation: 'Om and salutations to that feminine energy which bestows all manner of wealth, and for which Shrim is the seed'
This mantra has not only been used for the purpose of attracting prosperity, but also for drawing in proper friends, clearing up family misunderstandings and quarrels, and smoothing some health problems. As we all know, there are many different kinds of wealth. As you use this mantra, focus on the kind of wealth you wish to manifest in your life.
Durga: Om Dum Durgayei Namaha
Rough Translation: 'Om and Salutations to that feminine energy which protects from all manner of negative influences, and for which Dum is the seed.'
Durga is the Divine Protectress. Typically shown riding a lion or a tiger, Durga has a hundred arms, each with a different weapon of destruction. Yet her face is exquisitely beautiful to behold. The interpretation is that to the pious and the sincere seeker after truth, her sight can produce ecstacy and a variety of beautiful forms. But the negative, harmful or demonic, her countenance is as terrible as Kali, except she shows more weapons of destruction than Kali (who is described later).
Saraswati: Om Eim Saraswatyei Swaha
Rough Translation: 'Om and salutations to that feminine energy which informs all artistic and scholastic endeavor, and for which Eim (pronounced I'm) is the seed.'
Saraswati holds a musical instrument, the vina, in one hand and a rosary in another hand. She spans the world of mundane knowledge and spiritual understanding. Those pursuing any artistic or educational endeavor whatsoever will gain greatly from the practice of this mantra.
Shiva: Om Namah Shivaya
This mantra has no approximate translation. The sounds related directly to the principles which govern each of the first six chakras on the spine...Earth, water, fire, air, ether. Notice that this does not refer to the chakras themselves which have a different set of seed sounds, but rather the principles which govern those chakras in their place. A very rough, non-literal translation could be something like, 'Om and salutations to that which I am capable of becoming.' This mantra will start one out on the path of subtle development of spiritual attainments. It is the beginning on the path of Siddha Yoga, or the Yoga of Perfection of the Divine Vehicle.
Rama: Om Sri Rama Jaya Rama, Jaya, Jaya Rama
Rough Translation: 'Om and Victory to Rama (the self within), victory, victory to Rama.'
Rama was an Avatar who came several thousand years ago. His sole purpose was to show how a person should live a Divine Life while living in a human body. A short story about the esoteric meaning of his life is found in the chapter devoted to him. You will recall from the previous chapter that Mahatma Gandhi practiced this mantra for over 60 years. This mantra will 'take one across' the ocean of rebirth. In a more immediate way, it is most powerful in reducing negative karmic effects no matter in which life they might have occurred. I have also had a powerful spiritual healing experience (for another person), while using this mantra intensely.
The Planet Saturn: Om Sri Shanaishwaraya Swaha
Rough translation: 'Om and salutations to the presiding spirit in the planet Saturn.'
Saturn is the planet of lessons. It is closely related to the karma we may encounter in a given lifetime. It also stands as a gatekeeper to some of the higher vibrations to which we aspire though spiritual development. By offering salutations outwardly, one clears certain internal obstructing energy patterns. But Saturn has received an overly negative reputation from some astrologers. There have been circumstances where very positive things manifested in people's lives unexpectedly, apparently as a direct result of working with this mantra.
Internally, Saturn energy is predominant in the spleen, knees and skeletal system. However, as Saturn moves through the various astrological signs, it 'triggers' karma we may have stored under astrological configurations found in that sign. Therefore, the use of the Saturn mantra can mitigate and even clear certain categories of karma which appear in our lives. This mantra has been used with great success personally. And I have received reports of its efficacy from many other people.
Subramanya: Om Sharavana-bhavaya Namaha
Rough translation, 'Om and salutations to the son of Shiva, who brings auspiciousness and who is chief of the celestial army.'
The positive effects of this mantra may not be so clearly seen or described as some of the others: a seeming increase in good fortune or luck; the ability to make the best of a set of circumstances which may occur; an increase in positive mental or emotional disposition; an easier route to becoming physically fit. Yet these few phrases do not begin to exhaust the benefits of using this mantra. It seems to brighten or optimize nearly everything in life.
Rama (Healing Mantra):
Om Apadamapa Hataram Dataram Sarva Sampadam
Loka Bhi Ramam Sri Rama Bhuyo Bhuyo Namamyaham
This is a long mantra to put in a chapter for those just starting off, but is placed here because it is the most powerful healing mantra I have ever encountered. The very rough translation is, 'Om, Oh most compassionate Rama please send your healing energy right here to the earth, to the earth (twice for emphasis.)'
I have seen this mantra completely cure one person from a schizophrenic break who was in a locked ward. The psychiatrist said he would never lead a life on the outside again. In the middle of a 40 day sadhana done in his behalf, he was living in a 'halfway house' for those on the road to recovery. After 40 days of a spiritual discipline done on his behalf, he was on his own. He has since graduated from Art School which he attended on scholarship, and is working as an artist.
Another individual who was on medication, took off spurning his pills and disappeared for a time. After a 40 day sadhana done on his behalf, he had stabilized his life and was back on his medication without complaint.
A woman I know was in constant pain for four years. She undertook this discipline and after just a few weeks was in less pain than at any time she could remember over the past several years. She is still doing the mantra an expects to be pain free relatively soon.
Although the mantra is long, it is simple to say phonetically. If you can, say it 108 times in a sitting. If you are just starting out, this may initially take up to one hour. After you are comfortable with the mantra, it will only take you 30 minutes.
Bodhisattwa Avalokiteshwara (Called Chenresig in Tibetan Buddhism):
Om Mani Padme Hum
Rough Translation: 'Om, salutations to The Jewel of Consciousness (the mind) which has reached the heart's lotus.'
This mantra is practiced more than any other in the world. It is pre-eminent in producing a state of dynamic compassion in the sayer. Dynamic means that this compassion contains as part of it the ability to powerfully manifest in both subtle and obvious ways. One of the simple yet profound teachings which accompanies this mantra is the concept that when the mind and heart become united, anything is possible. The implications of this simple thought are staggering. If you want to change the world for the better, this mantra should be in your spiritual toolbox. For more on this mantra, see the chapter on the Wesak Festival.
A dedicated group of followers of Kuan Yin use this mantra to invoke her as an emanation of Avaloketeshwara, while others use the mantra Namo Kuan Shi Yin Pu Sa.
Getting Started
Start by picking some aspect of your life you wish to improve or some vexing problem you would like to solve or dissolve. Then pick a mantra which seems, to you, to apply. Offer a prayer to God, in whatever way you relate to God. Ask for God's blessing in accomplishing your objective in doing this spiritual discipline.
Once you have decided to undertake the discipline and offered your prayers, then pick a place where you will say your mantra for a certain number of times each day. If possible, obtain a rosary of some kind and do your mantras in some multiple of 108. If getting a rosary is not possible, then decide on a certain amount of time you will spend each day saying your mantra. It can be five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes or even an hour. For your first experience, any time up to twenty minutes is advisable.
The reason for taking things easy for the first 40 day commitment is due to the cumulative action of the mantra. For the first few days, all will probably go smoothly. Then as you progress, you may find that things start to get in the way of your doing the discipline: You oversleep; there is some minor emergency; you get a cold, whatever. This means that you are beginning to effect the inner 'something' for which you undertook the mantra. You are beginning to encounter inner resistance. That inner resistance manifests as outer obstacles to your discipline. It has almost become a joke in many spiritual circles in which the practice of mantra is common, that something of a very surprising nature happened on day 33 or 35 of a 40 day sadhana. It has happened to me and many others with whom I have spoken on innumerable occasions over the last 22 years.
Develop a sense of humor about it, and be thankful. There is no better indication that your efforts are working than to have small upheavals in your life while you are in the midst of a 40 day mantra discipline. Ask anyone who has undertaken one and they will have some interesting stories for you.

DEFINITIONS OF MANTRA:
Definition # 1: Mantras are energy-based sounds.
Saying any word produces an actual physical vibration. Over time, if we know what the effect of that vibration is, then the word may come to have meaning associated with the effect of saying that vibration or word. This is one level of energy basis for words.
Another level is intent. If the actual physical vibration is coupled with a mental intention, the vibration then contains an additional mental component which influences the result of saying it. The sound is the carrier wave and the intent is overlaid upon the wave form, just as a colored gel influences the appearance and effect of a white light.
In either instance, the word is based upon energy. Nowhere is this idea more true than for Sanskrit mantra. For although there is a general meaning which comes to be associated with mantras, the only lasting definition is the result or effect of saying the mantra.
Definition #2: Mantras create thought-energy waves.
The human consciousness is really a collection of states of consciousness which distributively exist throughout the physical and subtle bodies. Each organ has a primitive consciousness of its own. That primitive consciousness allows it to perform functions specific to it. Then come the various systems. The cardio-vascular system, the reproductive system and other systems have various organs or body parts working at slightly different stages of a single process. Like the organs, there is a primitive consciousness also associated with each system. And these are just within the physical body. Similar functions and states of consciousness exist within the subtle body as well. So individual organ consciousness is overlaid by system consciousness, overlaid again by subtle body counterparts and consciousness, and so ad infinitum.
The ego with its self-defined "I" ness assumes a pre-eminent state among the subtle din of random, semi-conscious thoughts which pulse through our organism. And of course, our organism can "pick up" the vibration of other organisms nearby. The result is that there are myriad vibrations riding in and through the subconscious mind at any given time.
Mantras start a powerful vibration which corresponds to both a specific spiritual energy frequency and a state of consciousness in seed form. Over time, the mantra process begins to override all of the other smaller vibrations, which eventually become absorbed by the mantra. After a length of time which varies from individual to individual, the great wave of the mantra stills all other vibrations. Ultimately, the mantra produces a state where the organism vibrates at the rate completely in tune with the energy and spiritual state represented by and contained within the mantra.
At this point, a change of state occurs in the organism. The organism becomes subtly different. Just as a laser is light which is coherent in a new way, the person who becomes one with the state produced by the mantra is also coherent in a way which did not exist prior to the conscious undertaking of repetition of the mantra.
Definition #3: Mantras are tools of power and tools for power.
They are formidable. They are ancient. They work. The word "mantra" is derived from two Sanskrit words. The first is "manas" or "mind," which provides the "man" syllable. The second syllable is drawn from the Sanskrit word "trai" meaning to "protect" or to "free from." Therefore, the word mantra in its most literal sense means "to free from the mind." Mantra is, at its core, a tool used by the mind which eventually frees one from the vagaries of the mind.
But the journey from mantra to freedom is a wondrous one. The mind expands, deepens and widens and eventually dips into the essence of cosmic existence. On its journey, the mind comes to understand much about the essence of the vibration of things. And knowledge, as we all know, is power. In the case of mantra, this power is tangible and wieldable.
Statements About Mantra
Mantras have close, approximate one-to-one direct language-based translation.
If we warn a young child that it should not touch a hot stove, we try to explain that it will burn the child. However, language is insufficient to convey the experience. Only the act of touching the stove and being burned will adequately define the words "hot" and "burn" in the context of "stove." Essentially, there is no real direct translation of the experience of being burned.
Similarly, there is no word which is the exact equivalent of the experience of sticking one's finger into an electrical socket. When we stick our hand into the socket, only then do we have a context for the word "shock." But shock is really a definition of the result of the action of sticking our hand into the socket.
It is the same with mantras. The only true definition is the experience which it ultimately creates in the sayer. Over thousands of years, many sayers have had common experiences and passed them on to the next generation. Through this tradition, a context of experiential definition has been created.
Definitions of mantras are oriented toward either the results of repeating the mantra or of the intentions of the original framers and testers of the mantra.
In Sanskrit, sounds which have no direct translation but which contain great power which can be "grown" from it are called "seed mantras." Seed in Sanskrit is called "Bijam" in the singular and "Bija" in the plural form. Please refer to the pronunciation guide on page 126 for more information on pronunciation of mantras.
Let's take an example. The mantra "Shrim" or Shreem is the seed sound for the principle of abundance (Lakshmi, in the Hindu Pantheon.) If one says "shrim" a hundred times, a certain increase in the potentiality of the sayer to accumulate abundance is achieved. If one says "shrim" a thousand times or a million, the result is correspondingly greater.
But abundance can take many forms. There is prosperity, to be sure, but there is also peace as abundance, health as wealth, friends as wealth, enough food to eat as wealth, and a host of other kinds and types of abundance which may vary from individual to individual and culture to culture. It is at this point that the intention of the sayer begins to influence the degree of the kind of capacity for accumulating wealth which may accrue.
Mantras have been tested and/or verified by their original framers or users.
Each mantra is associated with an actual sage or historical person who once lived. Although the oral tradition predates written speech by centuries, those earliest oral records annotated on palm leaves discussed earlier clearly designate a specific sage as the "seer" of the mantra. This means that the mantra was probably arrived at through some form of meditation or intuition and subsequently tested by the person who first encountered it.
Sanskrit mantras are composed of letters which correspond to certain petals or spokes of chakras in the subtle body.
As discussed in Chapter 2, there is a direct relationship between the mantra sound, either vocalized or subvocalized, and the chakras located throughout the body.
Mantras are energy which can be likened to fire.
You can use fire either to cook your lunch or to burn down the forest. It is the same fire. Similarly, mantra can bring a positive and beneficial result, or it can produce an energy meltdown when misused or practiced without some guidance. There are certain mantra formulas which are so exact, so specific and so powerful that they must be learned and practiced under careful supervision by a qualified teacher.
Fortunately, most of the mantras widely used in the West and certainly those contained in this volume are perfectly safe to use on a daily basis, even with some intensity.
Mantra energizes prana.
"Prana" is a Sanskrit term for a form of life energy which can be transferred from individual to individual. Prana may or may not produce an instant dramatic effect upon transfer. There can be heat or coolness as a result of the transfer.
Some healers operate through transfer of prana. A massage therapist can transfer prana with beneficial effect. Even self-healing can be accomplished by concentrating prana in certain organs, the result of which can be a clearing of the difficulty or condition. For instance, by saying a certain mantra while visualizing an internal organ bathed in light, the specific power of the mantra can become concentrated there with great beneficial effect.
Mantras eventually quiet the mind.
At a deep level, subconscious mind is a collective consciousness of all the forms of primitive consciousnesses which exist throughout the physical and subtle bodies. The dedicated use of mantra can dig into subconscious crystallized thoughts stored in the organs and glands and transform these bodily parts into repositories of peace.