Sound & Mantra - Shabd Guru
Guru Nanak, the First Guru of the Sikhs, saw the pain of people everywhere. He experienced the vast flood of information from the entire cosmic consciousness. And he laid down perfectly the patterns of the Shabd Guru that command the brain and mind with rhythm, sound, concentration and breath. Those Shabd patterns are a legacy to be used and shared with all as an antidote to the maladies of the times. The Shabd Guru technology is for everyone, for in every human is the Light of the same Creator.
SOUND AS TEACHER
"Shabd" means sound. "Guru" means teacher or knowledge that transforms you. The simplest meaning of the Shabd Guru is a special sound that is a teacher. But what is it that we learn from the Shabd Guru and how does the sound act as a teacher?
Look at a deeper definition of Shabd Guru from its root structure."Shabd" comes from Sha- and -bd. "Sha" means the expression of the ego, the attachments we identify with. "Bd" means to cut out/off or to eradicate. The root meaning of the Sha-bd is that which cuts the ego. It is not just any sound. It is not just a sound of wisdom or a song of truth. It is a sound that cuts away the ego which obstructs the truth from you.
Ego is formed by the mind's constant automatic processing that attaches us to and identifies us with objects, feelings and thoughts. The ego is not inherently bad. It is just limited.
The ego is useful and even necessary for functioning. But when your actions are attached to the ego as if it is your real nature annd as if it defines your reality and scope, then you create pain, unhappiness and problems. Your spiritual reality is that you are part of a vast creation. In experience, you are a creature that is not separate from the larger matrix of life and consciousness. You can act with passion and commitment as you remember and intuitively connect to the larger Self that is you and to the larger world in which you act.
The ego creates a kind of forgetfulness. You forget the Creator. You forget vastness. The energy of the mind begins to act in narrow ways with petty feelings and limiting beliefs. You act according to the information patterns of only a small part of your potential and experience.
What is the alternative? If we cannot base our identity in the known or on any limited postion of ego what can we do? Act egolessly. Base an identity in the Infinite and the connection to your sense of the Infinite. That may seem a great or mystic accomplishment, but it is the natural state of the Self. We are part of the Infinite by nature. It is only the mind that forms a limited sense of self. We do not need to create an Infinite self. It already exists. That existence is called Sat Naam-Sat is reality, truth or existence. Naam is the identity or creative name. We are all in essence a reality that vibrates and creates. Most of the time we act as if we are not. That is the pain imposed on our life by ego. The Shabd removes that pain by removing barriers which prevent us from perceiving the Real Self.
The practice of jappa of the Shabd Guru changes the frequency of all our words. When we speak from ego our words carry a hook, a calculation for what we believe we need or want. When we speak egolessly our words go the heart of the person and speak wisdom that is true regardless of advantage. Words spoken in ego are ruled by impulse and intellect. The words tuned by the Shabd Guru are ruled by integrity, intelligence and intuition.
It is the function of the Shabd Guru to make our ego nothing so we can serve and be served by everything. In a cyclone you go to the eye of the storm to escape its turbulent power. In an Age swirling with chaotic change, the path to the center of the storm is through the Neutral Mind, established by quelling the conscious and subconscious reactions to the ego. A sense of identity based on the experience of the subtle and the Infinite within us is the only source of stability and power in the Aquarian Age.
The second word in the phrase shabd Guru is "Guru". In its inner Naad, or atoms of sound, it becomes Gu-Ru. Gu means darkness or ignorance. Ru is light and knowledge. Gur is a formula or instruction. A Guru then is that which gives a Gur, a formula or technique,that transforms darkness into light, ignorance into knowledge, the gross into the refined.
When you repeat the patterns of sound and thought in a Shabd, those thoughts counter the direction and intensity of the habitual thoughts based in ego.
In time we will unravel many of the mysteries of the complex relationship of sound, brain, neuro-endocrinology, psychology and behaviour. From the movement of the tongue to its reflexes to the neuro-endocrine cascades leading to the change of mental state.
Because the reflex points are stimulated by the movements of the tongue, you get the maximum benefit from the pattern of a Shabd by consciously repeating the sounds out loud. Rotating the tongue over the 84 reflex points in the pattern of the Shabd produces the maximum impact on the gross level of the neuro endocrine system. As the Shabd gets established in the nervous system and your subconscious, every cell of your body will resonate sympathetically and vibrate the pattern with you.
A mantra is a syllable, word or phrase in one of the sacred languages (like Sanscrit and Ghurmeki) and sometimes in English, which elevates or modifies consciousness through its meaning, the sound itself, rhythm, tone, and even the reflexology of the tongue on the palate. Mantra is "The Yoga of the Mind". Some of the most frequently used follow:
ONG NAMO, GURU DEV NAMO is the the Adi Mantra that precedes Kundalini Yoga practice, tuning one in to the higher self. Ong is "Infinite Creative energy in manifestation and activity" ("om") or Aum is God absolute and unmanifested) name is "reverent greetings", implying humility, Guru means "teacher" or wisdom Dev means "divine or of God" and Namo reaffirms humility and reverance. In all it means, "I call upon Divine Wisdom". All the mantras listed below can be learnt at Yoga Classes Poole.
AD GURAY NAMEH, JUGAD GURAY NAMEH, SAT GURAY NAMEH, SIRI GURU DEVAY NAMEH is the Mangala Charn Mantra, and is chanted for protection. It surrounds the magnetic field with protective light, and means "I bow to the primal Guru (guiding consciousness who takes us to God-Realization), I bow to wisdom through the ages, I bow to True Wisdom, I bow to the great unseen wisdom."
SA TA NA MA
Is the Panj Shabad expressing the five primal sounds of the universe. "S" is Infinty, "T" is life, "N" means death and "M" is birth. (the 5th sound is "A".) This is one of the most frequently used mantras in Kundalini Yoga.
SAT NAM
is the Seed Mantra or Bij Mantra and it is the most widely used in the practice of Kundalini Yoga, Sat is truth, Nam means identity, or to call on the truth, expressing the reality of existence. Chanting this mantra awakens the Soul, and more simply means "really".
WAHE GURU
Is the Guru Mantra, the mantra of ecstasy. It is not translatable, but chanting it elevates.
