Notes From the Road

I grew up with the Aquarian Sadhana, an early morning practice that includes doing Japji, yoga and chanting. My parents would bring me down to the sadhana room all bundled up in blankets. My mother said when I was little I would always pop up out of my blankets and sing along with the chants when they started. Later as a teenager and in my early twenties I really identified with the chants as I began to compose tunes for them on my guitar. And now as a mother these chants have brought great comfort and peace to our home.

The following is what I know and have experienced personally from these chants. I hope that you enjoy reading this and that it in some way helps your practice.

The first chant is the Long Ekongkars. I learned that every fear, every emotion, every physical discomfort could be channeled into Long Ekongkars. With a straight spine, chin locked in and plenty of breath I soon discovered that this mantra has the power to cleanse anything. It vibrates from the central channel, the Shushmana, and actively purifies and cleanses this channel and connects the entire charka system.

Wah Yantee is the mantra of creativity and renewal. This is where the joy begins and the journey. The tunes for me are totally different every morning. Sometimes I am surprised by the energy of this Mantra because it is so creative in nature and yet so ancient. It is the most secure creative energy that we have available to tap into. For any creative person out there, you must know the importance of being secure in your creativity and that is why I tap into this mantra every morning.

The Mul Mantra connects you to the Infinite Truth where there is no question, boundary, or lack of energy. Whatever thoughts or ideas that may mislead you will be corrected in this Mantra. This Mantra corrects you, without you knowing it because very simply you vibrate with its eternal truth and it becomes your eternal truth. All of the sudden things that were unbearable to deal with, challenges that you didn’t know how to deal with, thoughts that kept coming back uninvited are brought to light. The eternal truth always comes into play and relaxes things… that’s all that is needed. Then you see what is real and what is not.

Sat Siri Akhal is the Mantra that prepares us for death, for that moment when the Prana leaves the body and the soul answers for all vibrations, all thoughts, and all actions. The penetration of this Mantra helps us to guide our lives so that we take the right course on a day to day basis, and are in the Infinite Flow at the time of death.

Then following this comes Rakhe Rakhanhar. This is the most powerful Mantra that can be practically applied for protection. I have used it many times in my life. The beautiful thing is that it is a Mantra for protection that not only surrounds you with protection but your entire community. People don’t understand the level of protection that I am talking about; it is real and strikes down any negativity coming your way. It is essentially a very sweet and beautiful Mantra. Many musicians will choose beautiful and lovely tunes naturally because of the energy that this Mantra vibrates. However, the affect is like a steel sword as used by the fiercest warrior you can imagine. This combination of sweet and fierce actually protects our innocence.

The Waheguru Waheguru Waheguru Wahejio Mantra is where the chanting practice goes very deep into the psyche. First of all it is really long. So after you have gotten into it, enjoyed it, gotten thoroughly bored of it, then it takes hold of you. It is in this moment of boredom that if you stay with it and allow the rhythm of the words to keep beating on your consciousness that Guru Ram Das will come in and lift you into a place where the mind has no domain any longer, where it is between you and your soul and the vibratory frequency of your own consciousness. We all have complete awareness, we are all enlightened beings, and this Mantra takes us into that state.

Finally we are ready for the healing of Guru Ram Das when we chant to him at the end of Sadhana. The sun is usually rising or the first light is coming depending on where you live and what time of year. But this sensation of the sun rising perfectly describes the feeling of this Mantra. It is the Infinite space where Guru Ram Das exists and you are right there with him. It is the time for your inner most prayers, the ones you didn’t even know existed, the prayers that come from your Soul.

There are many incredible and beautiful morning sadhana recordings. You can check some of the CDs available here. Currently I have recorded one sadhana album, and it is called Amrit Vela. You can find Amrit Vela by following this link.

Love,

Snatam Kaur