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"Meditation Mantras Podcast - Ancient Chants from India by Mahakatha" by Mahakatha is an immersive and enlightening journey through the ancient chants of India. The podcast delves into the rich history and origin story of these powerful mantras, which have been used for centuries to promote sound healing and personal transformation.
Each episode features a different mantra, such as Shiva mantras, Buddha mantras, Krishna mantras, and devi mantras, with an in-depth exploration of the lyrics and meaning behind each one.
The host, Mahakatha, is an expert in the field, and provides valuable insights and guidance on how to incorporate these mantras into your own meditation practice.
Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or new to the world of meditation and mantras, this podcast offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration to deepen your understanding. Additionally, it will enhance your spiritual journey. Discover the ancient wisdom and transformative power of these sacred chants from India through the "Meditation Mantras Podcast" by Mahakatha.
In all the depictions of lord Shiva, you will find
a snake coiled around his neck. The
snake has its head upright and never
appears to move. And this still
snake represents something we humans
all have within us. Let's talk
about that and invoke lord Shiva In today's episode
of the Mahakatha Meditation mantras podcast, I'm
your host, Preeti. And in the next few episodes, I will
take you through some of the most beautiful and
powerful symbolics of lord Shiva,
who is known as the destroyer of all evil,
and yet is known as one of the most kindest,
most benevolent forms of God.
Coming back to the snake around lord Shiva's neck,
there are many wonderful interpretations of what
this snake stands for, but the
most important one, but the most profound
and meaningful interpretation of the snake,
something that we humans can learn from, Is that the
snake is an impersonation of
ego. Shiva wears
ego around his neck. Does that
mean that Shiva is an egoistic god? Not
at all. On the contrary, Shiva
finds no place for ego within his mind,
within his heart, within his consciousness, and so he
wears this ego as a mere
ornament, as nothing more but an ornament
on his body. That ego has no other
purpose, defines no part of him
other than just being an ornament
on his body. The presence of that snake around
him symbolizes that lord Shiva
has externalized his ego. He
has mastered it and conquered it
to such an extent that the snake is always
still. But for us humans,
ego is generally not just an ornament,
not just secondary to us, but it occupies
a huge space in our minds, in our
subconscious. It often takes over
our thinking, our decision-making, Our
intentions and it makes us do things that might be
disruptive to our own peace of mind and to
the peace of mind of others. That is why
we are never able to maintain a state of
meditativeness, of calmness, of peace of
mind. What breaks that state of meditativeness
is nothing but our own ego.
So if you were to visualize this ego
rising out of your body and gently
coiling itself around your neck. And
if you were to visualize this presence around you,
this snake of an ego, Still,
motionless, and unthreatened.
Perhaps we would make very different choices in our daily
lives. For instance, when somebody snaps at
you, somebody is being mean to you, insulting to
you, then this ego that is around you but separate from
your mind, it is suddenly disturbed. It moves. It
reveals its fangs and it becomes ready to attack
the person that instigated it. But with the
practice of meditation, with the practice of
Self surrender and self awareness every day.
This metaphorical snake of ego around our neck
learns not to respond. Its head
stays risen, it stays alert, always
receptive, always aware of everything that is
being said and being intended and being done.
However, the snake knows better than to react.
Instead, the snake is your ally and the
snake won't let you lose your peace of mind by
being triggered or acting on an impulse.
That is why the snake of our ego,
even when faced with the toughest conversations
and toughest situations and harshest
words, will remain still
Just like the ornamental snake around lord
Shiva's neck remains forever
aware and alert and still.
This is perhaps one of the most important
learnings from lord Shiva. Externalize
your ego. Master your ego so that it
won't react and it won't destroy
your powerful deep-rooted peace of
mind. And while this externalization of
ego sounds like a god-level accomplishment,
let's not forget that we visualized
these gods. And if our minds are capable
of visualizing, then the mind is capable
of manifesting. If we can visualize a
divine being that is free of ego,
then we can manifest and activate
and nurture that part of us that is
free of ego. And there is no greater divine
being to learn this from, than
Lord Shiva. This brings me to the mantra
for this episode which is our very special
Shiva Panchakshari Stotram or the Panchakshari
Mantra. This is a brilliantly composed
mantra that expands on the
primary chant of Om Namah
Shivai. This chant expands on the sounds of
- Om, Na, Ma, Shi, Va, and Ya - describing the
symbolics of these sounds and
channeling into the sheer energy and power
and peace that comes from each of
these sounds. So if you haven't meditated
with this mantra or haven't heard it in a
while, this is your sign from the universe. To sit down
and meditate, if you don't have it yet, you can
avail this mantra now at a 30% discount. Simply use
the code mentioned in the description below and start
meditating and start conquering your
ego. On that note, my
dear listener, thank you so much for tuning in to
today's episode. I hope you enjoyed learning
about this particular aspect of Lord Shiva.
I promise you we will cover more in the weeks to come.
In the meantime, if you are enjoying these episodes,
please take a minute to leave us a review like many
of our listeners have. And if you have a personal
story about how mantras have helped you or
transformed you, please do write to us as well.
I will see you in the next episode with a brand new
mantra ready to uncover and discuss
another common aspect of our lives. Until then,
stay blessed.