Gita Chapter 2. The Practice of Yoga
November 28, 2017
Leading your children
March 17, 2018
Sacred Chants, Kirtan, Vedic Mantras and Slokas
FREE
All being well with Stage 3 of COVID-19 will allow us to recommence Chanting from 13 July 2020.
When: Monday evening 6:30 – 7: 30 pm, during school terms
All welcome
Are you ready to deepen your yoga practice? Not with handstands, hip openers and downward dogs. What we have come to know are “yoga” in our western culture is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what this 5,000-year-old practice can offer us. If your practice been whispering to you, calling you to “something more, then the next important step along your path may well be beyond asana. Bhakti yoga is love, it’s service, it’s devotion, it’s laughing and singing and crying. It’s ritual and offering. It’s the yoga of life. It’s recognising the divine union happening all around you, all the time. The path is strewn with the seeds of sacred sound, music, story and community. We invite you to join us.
We are energetic beings. Our bodies are made up of energy that vibrates at, and is directly affected by, certain specific sound frequencies with a natural resonance that has enormous power and can stimulate the body’s natural healing down to cellular and subtle levels. Chanting generate the vibration to avert obstacles and illness, and bring about auspicious conditions.
The central content of chants is the repetition of praise, offerings and prayer. Chants and mantras are dedicated to Buddhas, bodhisattvas, protectors, sentient beings, those who are dying, beings in the Bardo and those with whom we have karmic debts. Year-long chanting is an auspicious activity and purification process that pacifies war, encourages peace and averts sickness and creates merit by purifying any remaining obstacles.
At a deeper level, our problems arise from a loss of connection with the infinite source that sustains us all. The solution is simple: reconnect. Explore the deep, inner peace arising from chanting ancient sound formulae, the vibration from which leads to spiritual evolution. It clears the head, heart, lungs and purifies the channels, re-structuring the entire pranic flow to illuminate the subtle layers of the mind which leads to liberation. Monday 6:30 – 7:30 pm.
Bhakti yoga, Kirtan and Sacred Chants
Energise through sacred sound. Invoke reverence, healing and inner joy.
Kirtan is a powerful route to spiritual development.
Chanting Sanskrit correctly charges and revitalises us on a physical and cellular level. As we chant, the throat and heart open, we breathe more deeply and activate a healing wave of prana (life energy), connecting us with the empowering energies of the cosmos and our being. Sanskrit has a unique sound vibration that resonates with the microcosm of our bodies and the macrocosm of the universe. Enlightened sages imparted it as a sublime science of sound that would elevate one’s consciousness to enlightenment. Reciting and understanding potent Sanskrit vibrations reconnects us with the subtle forces of the cosmos and our spiritual centre. It offers a window to ancient wisdom imparted by sages that reveal life-enriching truths. Modern research indicates that reciting Sanskrit bestows the same effect as deep meditation. Our aim is to make Sanskrit’s wisdom and potency accessible to you so that you may utilise Sanskrit for personal and planetary peace, healing and happiness.
When: Monday evening 6:30 – 7:30pm, during school terms
Sanskrit Mantras and Slokas
A mantra is a declaration of something true. It is like an affirmation, but more profound. It can shape your reality and guide you towards your aspirations as you really start to live it. Mantras were first found in the Vedic scriptures going back as far as 1,000BCE. They are a word or a collection of words or sounds aimed to be repeated to attain positive changes in life. ‘Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it,’ said Einstein. Energy consists of waves of moving light vibrating at different frequencies which can be altered through sound. It follows that healing employs sound and music to move energy. Sound is a crucial tool in any healer’s toolkit. Repetition of a mantra 108 times takes us beyond our usual boundaries. We lose our sense of ego and time and a feeling of ecstasy arises as the heart opens. The mind stills naturally, and we arrive at a deep state of inner relaxation and peace.
The powerful sound vibrations of Sanskrit help to release stress, calm emotions, heal the body and focus the mind. Specific mantras can also dispel negative energies and harness positive influences into one’s life. Chanting Sanskrit correctly connects us to the subtle energies of the cosmos and our being. With its perfect grammatical foundation, Sanskrit is likened to a tree that evolves from the root of grammar, stems into an alphabet and language, branches in the listener’s mind, flowers in their heart and bears the fruit of positive deeds.
