Gayatri Mantra
THE MANTRA
Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi
Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayat
THE MANTRA MEANS
Throughout all realms of experience,
‘That’
essential nature illuminating existence,
is the adorable
One.
May all beings perceive through
subtle and meditative intellect,
the magnificent brilliance
of enlightened awareness.
Listen to a recording of ShantiMayi
chanting the Gayatri Mantra 108 times
The Gayatri is
an Ancient Vigil
People all over the world are chanting this deeply moving prayer at this very same time. No matter what time of day or night you may chant, there are others chanting the mantra too. Gayatri is an ancient vigil surrounding the planet. The Gayatri Mantra is one of the keynotes for the transformation of consciousness and is an identical vibration to the vital force in nature. The mantra is chanted in its original language, Sanskrit. It is one of the oldest prayers known to humanity: its sentiment is as ancient as light. This prayer appeals to the highest wisdom, to the brilliance of the cosmos, to illuminate a realization of our true nature. The appeal requests that we become subtle and receptive to divine wisdom.
To chant the
Gayatri Mantra
purifies the chanter.
To listen to the
Gayatri Mantra
purifies the listener.
This sacred prayer spirals out through the entire universe from the heart of the chanter, appealing for peace and divine wisdom for all.
The balanced qualities
of the Gayatri Mantra
The Gayatri is a perfectly balanced mantra, yin and yang. The body or text of the Gayatri Mantra is feminine, and her message or invocation is masculine. Gayatri is the mother of the Vedas and this means the mother of all knowledge. She appeals to the masculine Savitur, which is said to be the radiance of perception and intelligence. This radiance, which is everywhere and in every experience, is likened to the radiance of our solar sun. In other words, all of the knowledge of the intricate ways of existence is contained within the syllables of the mantra. So too is the means and vehicle with which to go beyond worldly knowledge.
The Gayatri Mantra’s vibration
and influence on the physical body
Silently thinking or speaking or chanting the Gayatri Mantra influences the physical body, clears the emotional body, leading one to the inner heart (*1). Our energy-centers, levels and rhythms are activated by the measure of breaths that are drawn in through the nostrils and released during recitation of the Gayatri Mantra (even during silent repetition) (*2). This balances electromagnetic rhythm and energy currents in the body with prana. Prana is an undetectable life force energy similar to orgone (*3).
During recitation, all elements of the mantra are in use: even the breath is a precision instrument. It all works together, like an orchestra and the conductor. The breath, voice, meditation and intention efficiently and effortlessly function (like the sun efficiently and effortlessly shines.)
The Gayatri teaches
the chanter her secrets
By chanting the Gayatri Mantra, the mantra itself reveals the teachings within it. The Gayatri is flawless and whole. The Gayatri Mantra regenerates unobstructed perception in the same way that crops are renewed. For example, wind carries seeds onto the terrain. In time, and by the right conditions, wild flowers and wheat inherit the fields. Again and again an unobstructed flow, season after season. The Earth propagates her seeds and in turn the seeds flourish, grow and produce another generation. The mantra works like that: it’s seeded into your being by your chanting.
The mantra expresses and propagates its blessings within the fields of consciousness. Gayatri’s meaning is like the good season that prospers the Earth. Fruit comes forth again and again. Like a surrendered seed is carried by the wind, we too surrender our intention into the universal intention and the Gayatri flowers in places and at times that we may or may not be aware of. Gayatri is like the power in the sun. How can we really speak about such a thing? Is it comprehensible at all? Any definition that you hear may be compared to defining just one grain of sand upon infinite shores. A definition can never indicate the immense significance and intensity of this great mantra.
The Gayatri is a
pearl from the depth
It is a jewel among the treasures that have been handed down from generation to generation. To be initiated into this sacred mantra is a great privilege. The sound or even the thought of the Gayatri verse sets grace in action as we recognize the fortune we have in our life to live our highest ideals.
This Jeweled Gayatri
Initiation is a privilege for us
There was once a time when the Gayatri Mantra was not spoken outwardly: it was repeated only in silence or whispered on the tip of the tongue. This method of chanting is a very subtle and powerful way to repeat the mantra. There was a time when women did not chant the mantra. There was also a time when only the Brahmin priests and no others chanted the Gayatri Mantra.
Today everyone has the privilege to chant the Gayatri Mantra – and what an honor it is. It seems that the change came when the world events began to turn towards a darker time. Now millions of men, women and children from every walk of life repeat and chant this beautiful and powerful invocation. Because of its universal appeal and content, this mantra cannot rightfully be associated with a particular religion. The Hindus were the guardians of the Gayatri. It was they who taught it and propagated it throughout the world. You could say that the Gayatri Mantra is their offering to the spirit of humanity and the awakening of all beings. However, the scope of Gayatri’s invocation is universal and transverses all borders of secular religion.
Mantra is the
matrix of existence
Sparkling in the sunrise and clinging to the fields, the morning dew appears by mantra. Then again it disappears by mantra, in the heat of the noonday sun. Everything that appears and disappears, in all of existence, does so by the power of precise sound vibration, pitch, length and tone... by a mantra.
The Gayatri Mantra is a vibration that sets up a condition of subtle receptivity and opens our way to the unconditional Truth. Like the buzzing of a bee contributes to the full web of experience, so too, the chanting of the mantra contributes to the full matrix of existence.
Foot Notes
*1: Not only the well-known chakra system but all energy and rejuvenating centers are activated by the sound of the Gayatri.
*2: The mantra works in a multitude of ways which align the energies, magnetic currents, biochemistry and brainwave patterns on a very subtle level. Immediately or in time, one will notice the wonderful effect.
*3: According to Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) the universe is permeated by a primal, mass free phenomenon that is called ‘orgone energy.’
