Mantra & Mudra: Cultivating Your Inner Garden
By: Guru Dharam
Mysticism is the study of and engagement with realms beyond the purely physical and logical, encompassing both the metaphysical and the magical. Yoga is a perfect example of such a discipline. It explores the energetic architecture of the unseen world and gives us tools to experience how subtle forces shape both our inner and outer reality.
Of all the tools yoga offers, two are particularly precise in their action: Sound, which attunes the practitioner through vibration and the sound current, and Mudra, which channels and seals that vibration through gesture.”
The Power of Sound and Mantra - Sacred Sound, Naad & Mantra
One of the factors that formal religions, spiritual groups, mystery schools, and informal societies dedicated to raising consciousness have always shared is the use of sound. Vibration, frequency, language, words, and song are used to articulate, chant, invoke, and engage with a collective higher self or a designated deity.
Mantras are sequences of sound that have a predictable psychospiritual effect on the consciousness of the person repeating them. Through repetition, the mantra elevates awareness and gives an experience of spiritual presence and identity. In the yogic tradition, this vibrational principle is known as Naad - the subtle current of sound that underlies creation itself.
The combination of sounds in a Mantra have a percussive effect on the upper palette, the keyboard of cosmic consciousness, which generates and imprints an electrochemical profile into the glandular and nervous systems. The Pranic body is regulated by the rhythm and cadence of the Mantra which in turn illuminates the energy body with its pure potential.
All of this takes place without the initiate even knowing the meaning of the Mantra; when we add a clear understanding of the words in the Mantra to our practice that projection creates a powerful unity between the innate essence of the Mantra with the unique cognitive faculty of the yogini.
The workshop, Sacred Sound, Naad & Mantra will give several examples of mantras and their effects on the practitioner.
Sealing the Power with Mudra - Magic Mudra with 5 Master Keys
Another essential component of yogic mysticism is Mudra. A mudra is a precise hand position that seals a circuit of energy into the neuropsychology of the practitioner. These energetic seals influence the flow of prana through the body and adjust the elemental forces that govern our physical, emotional, and subtle systems.
Together, sound and gesture form a profound language of transformation. Mantra activates the vibrational field of consciousness, while mudra directs and seals the energetic circuitry through which that vibration moves.
The basic 4 Mudra are created by pressing the tips of the fingers to the thumb. While yogis correlate the thumb with the earth element and see this set as channeling the planetary energies of Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun and Mercury, the Chinese sage would note that the Lung Meridian ends in the thumb and so any mudra touching the thumb would have an effect on the Lungs and what as yogis we call the Pranic Body, the physical and metaphysical apparatus by which we inhale, absorb and then Yama lead or direct the life force itself.
During my upcoming visit to New York, I’ll be offering two opportunities to explore these teachings directly. In “Sacred Sound, Naad & Mantra: A Sonic Tonic” we will work with sacred sound, breath, and mantra to experience how the sound current moves through body and mind. “Mudra Magic with 5 Master Keys” is an extended workshop exploring five rarely taught mudras that move beyond the basic elemental gestures to recalibrate the elemental forces and unlock deeper layers of the Kundalini transmission.
Join Guru Dharam for workshops this month:
Sacred Sound, Naad & Mantra: A Sonic Tonic on Saturday, April 11th from 3:30 - 5:30 PM In studio and Online!
NYC Clinic Sessions: Book a session with Guru Dharam from Sunday, April 12th - Monday, April 20th.
Mudra Magic with 5 Master Keys. Unlocking the Code of Kundalini: Sunday, April 19th from 1:00 - 7:00 PM. In Studio & Online.