For chants and mantras that focus the mind, clear energy, call for assistance, and quiet the spirit.

I am grateful for the sweet empowering sound of intentional chant and mantra. I give thanks for the melodies and words that help to clear the inner chatter to allow us to receive guidance and inspiration. Deep gratitude for the consistent response provided by the Universe to these statements and songs of clarity.

The human mind is active, creating and intending and judging and observing...on and on it seems like it can never stop. Thoughts are created and repeated and become beliefs after enough attention. The ancients learned to quiet the mind so that they could hear and receive the guidance from other dimensions within and without. They learned to use focused sound, flooded with intention or the call to a specific deity. If they gave it melody it is classified as chant. If it was a statement of intent or claim a state of being and was spoken with loose pitch over a drone, then it was mantra.

Chants are a part of every culture, “uncivilized” or not. They are the songs that put children to sleep; the songs that connected human and spirit world; the songs that connected to the Earth and her creatures; the songs that beseeched the gods; the songs that gave thanks; the songs that became tribal dances...and all the while they repeated. It is the repetition that does the work. The recurring melody impacts the cells and the brain to alter the brain waves, creating a softer, more receptive state. In that state the subconscious is tapped to allow new beliefs to take root. The altered state reduces stress and unifies a community.

Mantras call forth action. They claim an outcome through their repeated use. The intentional repetition is done a specific number of times each cycle, with multiple cycles each day encouraged. The mantras are energetically amplified by the intentions and efforts of all who have ever spoken it. Their call to deities brings results regardless of the users personal beliefs regarding the deity.

The gratitude flows from the idea behind mantras and chants. It celebrates the power of the voice to influence the outcome of our moments. It sings with the chant itself and resounds with the user’s willingness to get out of his own way. It is witness to the impact of repetition and willingness to invest in a spiritual practice. Gratitude for the rewards for our efforts.

This week explore the world of chant and mantra. The Hindu tradition is a rich source of mantras. Any positive statement of intentional power can be claimed as mantra. Seek chants in the rich cultural spiritual history of the world. Native American chants particularly resonate with North Americans. Be open to receive and the mantras and chants will come. Use them and experience the balance born in surrender and faith and trust.

Take a positive statement and turn it into a chant. Make up the melody or use a familiar children's song. See how the repetition builds a new feeling and subsequent experience.

Above all, trust in the beautiful journey of intentional sound, used for millennia to bring peace, focus, and the divine to the practitioner. Access this rich lineage by learning and using a variety of these powerful and fun tools.

Compare the characteristics and use of each:

Characteristics of Chants

Have been sung for thousands of years in cultures around the world

Are repetitious by design to help clear and focus the mind

Are often made up of powerful sounds or a statement of conscious, spiritual intention

Create a meditative, reflective mind state to relax and balance energetic bodies

Stir the spirit and activate the life force

Collective vibration amplified by chanting together in a group

Help to distract from negative, repetitive thought patterns

Can be sung together or in call and answer

Can open hearts, lift Spirits, bring inner peace, connect and unify people, align us with Spirit, ease suffering, give voice to deeper yearnings…

Characteristics of Mantras (Sanskrit for “that which protects and purifies the mind”)

Are specific, sacred statements of spiritual intention from a particular tradition, typically Hinduism and Buddhism, often calling upon specific Deities for support

Like sound seeds planted in the mind which germinate a higher vibration to clear lower frequency interference

The sounds themselves are quite powerful and directly impact the chakras and energy bodies

Amplified and empowered by the number of times spoken in the past

Repeated a specific number of times for a specific time period in a specific rhythm

Can be done in the silence of the mind or spoken in a sing song manner

Traditionally spoken 108 times using mala beads as a counter

Can quickly alter a vibration to create the desired inner state through repetition and tone

In current times mantras are both spoken and sung

Characteristics of Intentional Songs

Affirmative, repetitive songs created for specific purpose of raising vibration

Can reinforce thinking patterns to change a belief or affirm a way of being

Melodic, singable, and  written to align with chakras to amplify the purpose

Can be used as a teaching tool to reinforce a concept

Will often enter mind randomly  when specific message is needed

Typically short (4-5 lines)