Mantras are "words of power." They are sounds for personal and planetary healing. The word "mantra" is Sanskrit and may be translated as the "thoughts that liberate from samsara (the world of illusions)." Mantras are listened to or recited for many different purposes; as a means of achieving different states of consciousness; to create resonance with specific attributes of divine energy; and to manifest different qualities, from resonating the chakras to embodying compassion. Mantras are found in all the different sacred traditions including Judaism and Christianity—the "Hail Mary" or "Amen" in the Christian tradition, or the "Shema" [pronounced sh’mah] or "Shalom" in the Hebrew tradition are the equivalent of mantras, as is any repetition of prayer, chant, or sacred sound. The prayers, chants, and sacred sounds of the Native American tradition or the Islamic tradition may also be considered mantras. In fact, there is virtually no spiritual tradition, including those of indigenous peoples, in which the recitation of sacred sound as mantra does not occur.
While there are many mantras that are quite long and complex, people are often looking for short mantras that may be easily sounded together in a group. Please note that it does not seem to matter in what pitch, frequency, or keynote the mantra is chanted with regard to the effect of the sound.
OM
Of all the sacred sounds on this planet, the one that is most often chanted is the OM. Undoubtedly, at any given moment, there is someone, somewhere, chanting this sacred mantra. The OM is considered one of the oldest vocal sounds in existence—many speculate that it has been chanted for untold thousands of years. It is considered to be the "first of all mantras," the original, primordial sound—the mantra of creation.
OM is a mantra from the Hindu tradition, a Sanskrit word said to be the sound from which the universe and all of creation first manifested. While pronounced OM, certain Sanskrit scholars state that it is written as AUM. Many consider the two words to be interchangeable. OM is said to be the sound that contains all sounds—it is the totality of all other sounds. Swami Sivananda Radha says, "The cosmic sound AUM, or its condensed form, OM, is the origin of all other sound. OM is everything. It is the name of God."
OM is a multi-dimensional sound and as such may be understood a number of different ways. One understanding is that OM (or AUM) represents attributes of the major trinity of Hindu gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Another understanding is that the A represents the physical plane, the U the mental and astral planes and the M, all that is beyond the reach of the intellect. AUM or OM is the initial syllable that begins almost all mantras. Thus OM represents the Infinite, the One Mind, the all-embracing Consciousness—that which is the very essence of existence.
THE DIVINE NAME
The Divine Name is a newly rediscovered sound that is universal in its origin and said to be encoded within our DNA. This is not simply a word, but a vocalized sound that can shift the vibratory rate of all who experience it. In addition, many sources believe that the Divine Name was the most sacred of sounds found in the Old Testament—the foundational book of the Abrahamic traditions, which is responsible for over half the planet’s religions. The Divine Name was said to be so powerful that it became prohibited from the Old Testament and then became lost for over 2,500 years. The Divine Name is composed of a harmonically related series of vowel sounds that resonates all the chakras. This sacred sound begins at the crown chakra at the top of the head, goes down to the root chakra at the base of the spine, and then returns to the crown chakra.
The power of this sound is extraordinary. The Divine Name is composed of vowel sounds with specific resonances that can be experienced by anyone, regardless of their spiritual path, religion, or belief system. Because of the universality of this sound, knowledge of this sacred sound has now been found in many different traditions throughout the world, from Native American to ancient Egyptian.
The Divine Name puts the person chanting it into deep meditation with higher levels of consciousness. Along with the powerful spiritual effects of this self-created sound, the Divine Name can be used to create extraordinary health benefits for us on a personal level, balancing our chakras and our electro-magnetic field. Through learning to create this sound we’ll activate our innate God force; generating major positive changes and transformational healing for ourselves and the world.
Contained within the Divine Name are the sounds of three mantras OM/AUM, AH, and HU. Many perceive the Divine Name as not only a universal sound, but that it is also the personal name of God.
