I AM mantra

[YogaIsLife]

Thanks Carson,

Well, what I mean and the idea I have is that the sages of old (indian), the first yogis, realised that different sounds had different effects in the nervous system. Thus they invented mantra meditation. That's what I meant in that it did not have a magical origin. Truth is always truth no matter where or when you are.

What I am interested in is in knowing to what degree thsi science is studied and docuemnted. Do you know of any book or books that might start to explain the effects of the different syllables on the nervous system? That is a fascinating subject for me. I guess, as we become more sensitive, we will be able to see for ourselves how each syllable or sound affects us internally (where it resonates and how). That would be a beautiful time

[Etherfish]

Don't forget that the mantra here is not to be a sound, and not to have a meaning.

[x.j.]

quote:Originally posted by YogaIsLife


Well, what I mean is that the sages of old (indian), the first yogis, realised that different sounds had different effects in the nervous system. Thus they invented mantra meditation. That's what I meant in that it did not have a magical origin.
What I am interested in is in knowing to what degree this science is studied and documented. Do you know of any book or books that might start to explain the effects of the different syllables on the nervous system?  I guess, as we become more sensitive, we will be able to see for ourselves how each syllable or sound affects us internally (where it resonates and how).

Answer: Thomas Ashley Farrand is the man!  He is pre-eminent, the best modern scholar on the energetic effects of mantras. He observes that the effect or power of a particular mantra is not tied in any way whatsoever, to an intellectual reflection or musing on its meaning or significance, but quite the opposite.  All mantras have a vibrational effect on the human organism. Many mantras have an energetic effect on a particular chakra. This fact is very useful indeed to people like him and to myself as well. There are mantras to balance the chakras. There are mantras that deepen one's sense of devotion to the Sacred. There are mantras that allow one to be in  the presence (darshan) of Siddas, the greatest sages of past times, who no longer need a physical body. Meditate in their presence.  There are mantras to attract lovers for sexual purposes, to acquire wealth, for a long life, to achieve Shambhala(Buddhist), and for malevolent purposes as well. (But take warning. The cost of doing the latter, in terms of an enormous karmic toll, is unimaginable and totally disasterous in the blackest sense of the word,...if one uses mantras to harm others or for selfish and unspiritual purposes.) As you sow, so shall you reap...

Furthermore all mantra practices have three component levels of practice: spoken, whispered, and recited mentally. Ashley Farrand's audio CD series (6 CD set) called Mantra, Sacred Words of Power is available on interlibrary loan through your local public library and won't cost you a penny to check it out. Or buy it directly from him at his website, sanskritmantras.com. He also has a number of books which all address the science of mantras. I have most all of them. All his books cover various aspects of the study of mantras, the aspects of divinity one may cultivate with their recitation, and their mythological origins as well as how to properly pronounce them. He is an absolute authority on this subject. I love this man and his work.  Look over his website.
So the science is all there in all it's glory. The science of mantra, of the Vedas, Upanishads. The Siddhas. Amazing. Short answer is that you don't need to re-invent the wheel. It's all there for the curious and for the devout.
Check him out.
x.j.

[neli]

Carson,

You are very right, they are given names of God, the UNGIVEN name of God, cannot exist, as only human beings can give or cannot give names to things or beings including God. I understand that in your opinion you have gave God the name of I AM, as in my opinion I gave him the name of ABA or Baba, but names are not important to God, but our intentions.

Sat Nam
Neli[]

quote:Originally posted by CarsonZi

Neli,

Those are GIVEN names of God....Given to god by humans.  The UNGIVEN name of God in my opinion is I AM.

Love,
Carson[^]

[neli]

YogaIsLife,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

you said:

"As I said each person is different and came from a different place/state and so it is possible that you don't feel any movement of energy with different mantras and so aim at feeling the most from a mantra".

I am pretty sensitive and can feel the movement of others mantras as well, I can even feel where in my body or soul they work. But I can't feel the I am, I wish to know the why, maybe its working at a different level, in my surroundings I think, cause I have noticed many changes in my life, positive ones, also I am more secure of myself, like if everything in my surroundings have changed, maybe its the I am that its working at this level, and I am just getting aware of it. I mean its working outside of me, not inside. Wow ![:0] this is wonderful if this mantra is working in my surroundings, cause it has changed everything, and in a very beautiful way. I'm just getting aware of this[:I].

Thanks a lot for your reply.
Neli[8D]

quote:Originally posted by YogaIsLife

quote:neli wrote:
Can you tell me what is to be overloaded ?? with what?? energy??
And why you found the I am mantra "safer", safer of what??

Yes, energy. This is a very personal and subjective thing, we all have different patterns of obbstructions, as Yogani says. I believe I had energy overloads in the past out of inquiry (and some unamed energy techniques) and have to be careful of energy running in my system without inner silence (that is why meditation was so beneficial to me even in a short time - 5 months. I truly notice it's calming/centering effects.

As I said each person is different and came from a different place/state and so it is possible that you don't feel any movement of energy with different mantras and so aim at feeling the most from a mantra. I think I am quite sensitive and what I can tell you is that with OM I feel spaced out, dizzy, not grounded at all. I have none such effects with I AM, quite the contrary. I feel more aware, more present. I say it is safe because, from day one, I felt it shielded me from any imbalance or bad feelings/thoughts that might arise inside. I had a clear feeling of it being like the mast of a ship, a centre, a solid post - whenever the sea stormed or the boat rocked, as soon as I came back to the mantra I was safe, as if I was helding on to a solid mast in a storm. This is how it is felt for me. That is why I say it is safe, and at the same time works as I notice its effects very clearly in my daily life (I was very uncentered, with many energy problems and, little by little, I seem to find this "solid rock" to be). It is a great thing!

So, do as you think it is best for you. I am just telling you my experience.

Carson, so you don't know the origin of I AM...I am looking for it as I am quite curious guy I read somewhere else in the forums (by Yogani I think) that I AM (or AYAM) has been around for a long time and I think it had also an islamic tradition. But more than that I am fascinated by the fact that vibrations have a powerful effect in our nervous system and that they can literally change (or clean) us from inside. My main interest is to know to what degree it has became a science and to what degree it is know which syllable work and how, and to what effect. For example the I AM, according to Yogani and by many who are using it, is resonating in the thrid eye and then in the spinal nerve. The OM for me has definately a different quality, a more "rounded" quality if you may, resonating around the heart/stomach area and expanding througout the whole body, like a ball expading, like waves in a lake spreading in a cocentric fashion.

I might start another thread and ask if people know of good books where one can learn more about the history of development and the science of mantras. I don't believe it has a very misterious/magical origin ("God in the form of a bird gave it to a human one magical morning" sort of thing) but I believe there is a science behind and some geniuoses souls saw that, applied it, and hopefully, documented it. Hopefully.

All the very best!

[neli]

Gumpi


I have worked with the SO HAM, while doing the Pranayama, but not now, wonderful meaning, like a "mirror" (I am he, or I am you)

I wonder if the I AM mantra works different with each one of us. Cause if it is working outside my body, it has made a real Big cleanse in my life (so beautiful and so wonderful). maybe I didn't feel it cause I was waiting to feel it inside my body not outside. If this is so, its the most powerful mantra I have worked with.
Oh God I'm so silly, I have never thought about it before ![:0]

Sat Nam
Neli[]

quote:Originally posted by gumpi

I AM obviously has a connection to SO HAM or HAMSA being the sound the breath makes naturally, and which means "I am he".  So perhaps the language is all linked by sanskrit roots.  

Also, I Am is used at the beginning of affirmations.

And, the "I" in I AM must have some connection to self inquiry meditation.

[neli]

Etherfish

Thanks for your reminding. Light has just showered upon me right now, you are very very right!

Sat Nam
Neli[]

quote:Originally posted by Etherfish

Don't forget that the mantra here is not to be a sound, and not to have a meaning.

[YogaIsLife]

quote:Answer: Thomas Ashley Farrand is the man! He is pre-eminent, the best modern scholar on the energetic effects of mantras.

Thank you x.j.! I will definately check him out.

You seem to be very enthusiastic about him. Do you think it is a science in the sense that a certain syllable or sound will have the same place of resonance in each human being? How did he came to have such a wealth of knowledge about mantras? Thank you again for the help.

Neli, well, I think you found the effect of the I AM. You say it is in your srroundings but maybe you have realised that as without so within? You surroundings change because you change inside and vice-versa. In my experience the feelings you describe as being more secure and life changing for the better can be effects of the deep meditation.

All the best in your path.

[neli]

YogaIsLife,

I think I have found the effect of the I am mantra, but I don't know if this is due to the intense meditations that I practice, although I think its the mantra, cause I have meditated for a long long time ago, and the changes were just a month ago, in my surroundings, maybe also inside me, as I feel more secure of myself and more strong, before I was not that strong, like if the I am was fuelling me with strenght. You are right, "as without so within", I don't understand why I haven't noticed this before, maybe cause others mantras I have always felt them inside my body, working on a chakra, or flowing up and down. Maybe the I am mantra is so subtle that I didn't notice where it was working on, and it was working upon my mind, and the surroundings immediately responded. WoW this is great![^]

All the best also for you.
Neli[]

quote:Originally posted by YogaIsLife

quote:Answer: Thomas Ashley Farrand is the man! He is pre-eminent, the best modern scholar on the energetic effects of mantras.

Thank you x.j.! I will definately check him out.

You seem to be very enthusiastic about him. Do you think it is a science in the sense that a certain syllable or sound will have the same place of resonance in each human being? How did he came to have such a wealth of knowledge about mantras? Thank you again for the help.

Neli, well, I think you found the effect of the I AM. You say it is in your srroundings but maybe you have realised that as without so within? You surroundings change because you change inside and vice-versa. In my experience the feelings you describe as being more secure and life changing for the better can be effects of the deep meditation.

All the best in your path.

[Christi]

Hi all,

For anyone interested, Yogani talks a bit about the effects of mantras in this post and his next one in the thread:

http://www.aypsite.com/plus-forum/index.php?topic=3473#30097

[YogaIsLife]

Thank you Christi, very useful.

Still there is something still bugging me in my mind. I realise mantra technology is very powerful (especially done like we do in deep meditation) and that is why I wanted to understand more about it. But apparently no one knows all about it still (will we ever?). I feel clearly the effects of I AM in centering me and giving more stability in my life and that's exactly why I wonder! I am amazed and at the same time a bit "scared" at how this works...

Interesting what Yogani mentions about OM being circular and expanding as this is exactly what I feel if I use it (as I mentioned above), and the feeling is not so good, not as stable and centering as the I AM.

Oh well, go figure...

[CarsonZi]

Hi YogaIsLife,

Please don't take offence to my opinion here....

After a weekend fasting in silence and meditation when I read your post the first thing that comes to mind is..."There are some things that can't be understood and can only be experienced"......  And WHY do you need to understand about mantra's and their individual effects?  How about sufficing it to say "they work" and picking one that resonates deeply within you?  Or stick with I AM and let it go.  Not trying to be arguementative in the least, this was just the instinctual thought I had when reading your post.  This is under the hood stuff and thinking about it and wasting time trying to understand it will only serve as an obstacle.  Sorry this isn't more helpful.

Love,
Carson[^]

[YogaIsLife]

Hi Carson,

I understand your feelings but that is not where I come from at all. As I read in many books and yogani himself has said, this is a powerful technique with subtle and profound effects. The thing is that different mantras or sounds have different effects. And of course, we don't know exactly what effects or how they work until we try it, if we are sensitive enough, no?

It is like drugs I guess: wouldn't you like to know the effect they have on you? Or would you just take anything? Would you just eat anything? Well, people are different in this respect I guess...I know where I came from and how unstable I felt and how this mantra I AM is working, almost like magic. So, of course, I am puzzled and would like to know more. I am sorry to say but that kind of argumentation comes from the dark ages: just believe and don't ask why. I am glad to live in a scientific open age where people are allowed to ask questions and look for answers. I think this is healthy, although it can be tough I agree. I guess it is my nature to wonder and search for answers, it is an impulse I have. It can be bad, it can be good...

[CarsonZi]

I think you misunderstood my post.  I understand completely the need to be able to wrap your head around things, but what I'm trying to say is "striving for knowledge" is an obstacle to true understanding.  Only personal experience can show you certain things.  And I think mantra effects are of this type of thing.  You won't be able to "understand" the effects of a mantra without personal experience of it.  So if you need to know what each mantra does to you, then you will have to start using a different mantra every year or something and judge their effects that way.  No book can TELL you what a mantra will do for you. IMHO.  And sometimes you don't really NEED to know what each mantra does.  You say I AM works for you right?  So why do you need to know if other mantra's work just as well?  If it ain't broke don't fix it.  Again just my opinions, and you don't need to listen to me.  I am of the same "nature" as you, I'm very inquizitive and need to understand everything, but this weekend showed me that the only way to truly understand something is to let go of it and let it show itself to you.  Some things you can't force yourself to understand, and only when you stop trying to understand it at all will things become clear as day.

Love,
Carson[^]

[YogaIsLife]

Hi Carson again, thanks for the reply.

Yes, I understand now what you mean. And I don't want to know what other mantras do (I don't it even care to "know" everything in the universe), I am just curious about what I AM does and how. Why does it worked so well in me, for example? I don't expect noone to answer to me this directly, but that does not stop me from searching (by the way, this is not something I do on purpose, it is my nature, as I said), gathering pieces here and there, and in my own experience of using the mantra, of course.

The thing is that I AM really changed me, and I have been struggling for this kind of stability for years not getting any (making things worse along the way) and then this comes along. Now I feel a bit "dependent" on it for stability, understand? It is a whole new world. And I would prefer not to be dependent on nothing (if that is possible) or, if I need to be, at least I would like to have a glimpse at why and how it works. I think this is fair enough.

A lot of doors are opening up I think. Join that with an inquisitive mind and voila! - you get a neverending thirst for understanding and knowing. I think I am quite sensitive and believe me I have struggled for anwers for some time. Then AYP came along and it worked and I don't know why! It is like taking some kind of magic pill! What is in it?

And, just as a side note....I am not complaining