{"id":1253,"date":"2021-01-11T15:31:04","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T15:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lensq.com\/?p=1253"},"modified":"2021-01-11T15:31:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-11T15:31:04","slug":"book-review-a-little-bit-of-mantras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/11\/book-review-a-little-bit-of-mantras\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review &#8211; A little bit of Mantras"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I grew up in a traditional Hindu Brahmin family where mantras and rituals were a part of daily life. There was a time when I was reciting hanuman chalisa every morning but I soon gave up that practise. I picked up this book to explore the science behind mantras to see if that is something I want to get back to. The book gave me the apt information I was looking for. The book starts with quoting scientific studies on people where mantras have helped in well-being. When seeing images filled with fear, people who were reciting a mantra felt calmer than people who didn\u2019t. Then the author goes further quoting different mantras and their uses and the right way to do them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key Learnings<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While there are a lot of affirmations you can say to feel good, reciting a mantra is more helpful as they have the power which has been transferred since ages<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scientific studies on mantras revealed its impact on relaxation, lower blood pressure, reduce obsessive thinking, improve focus, increase resilience, fight alzheimer&#8217;s disease.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantra practise involves &#8211; gathering attention, notice the mind wander, let go distraction and bring back attention<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are three ways to practise &#8211; speaking, singing and writing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using a mala helps in counting the mantra and doing it for the right number of times<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantras have to be written in the right strokes for them to be helpful<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantras for <strong>peace<\/strong> are Aum, Aum Shanti, lokah samastha sukhino bhavanthu. If you are reciting them, it is helpful to recite it 108 times with a mala\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AUM denotes four aspects<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A &#8211; waking state<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">U &#8211; dream state<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">M &#8211; dreamless state<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Silence after sound &#8211; Transcendental space\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantras for <strong>healing<\/strong> are called bija mantras. They are Lam, Vam, Ram, Yam, Ham, Aum. They need to be practised associating each of them with the chakra they belong to.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Soham is the mantra for \u2018I am that\u2019. It helps in connecting with the divine<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantras for <strong>clarity<\/strong> are Gayatri Mantra and aum asato ma sadgamaya. Gayatri mantra is associated with Goddess Gayatri and the Sun God.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantras for <strong>strength<\/strong> are Maha mantra, ram, jaya jagatambe ma durga. They are associated with Vishnu, Ram and durga respectively.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantras for <strong>liberation<\/strong> are aum gam ganapathaye namah, aum namah shivaya, jai gurdev.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mantras can be effective to replace negative emotions, empowering yourself, infusing food with positive energy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Should you read this book?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For an atheist or non hindu, this book provides the scientific research behind the power of vibrations of certain sounds. If you can disassociate yourself with the thought of god and devotion and consider this as a power of vibration of certain words, go ahead and read it to learn about different methods to change your life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Happy chanting!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I grew up in a traditional Hindu Brahmin family where mantras and rituals were a part of daily life. There was a time when I was reciting hanuman chalisa every &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-happiness-book-review","has-meta has-sticky-meta"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lensq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}