Yoga Practice & Philosophy Johann Kotze

Playing and singing this mantra in a singer-songwriter format has been a favourite for me in my own practice, or on stage. Live studio recording.

A demo styled live recording in the studio. This arrangement of the famous mantra came to me as an upbeat song. We recorded OM Mani Padme Hum and Gate Gate Parasamgate at Ross Gabriel who has a studio nearby.

Live recording in the studio of Ross Gabriel. We sing this as a 9 high - 9 low voice pattern while Janet just kept on counting the mala.

Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum.

I've been intrigued by the spiritual sound of the Gregorian chant tradition VS Tibetan chanting. We have no real clear way of hearing the ancient chants, but the more recent Gregorian music and its settings in resonant churches are also curious. Many ancient traditions used resonating sound chambers. I tend to think of Tibetan chants happening in a dzong or cave, and that it sounded more like early blues-spirituals.

An invocation means "to call on, invoke, to give”, and may be a prayer, or spell, a command in identification with certain spirits. A chant incantation may be a hymn or mantra repetition of words or formulas to perform other magic, or a formula of liberation or overcoming.

A single invocation of the Tibetan mantra: "Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum". When you chant it, you are invoking the very embodiment of Padmasambhava. The Vajra Guru Mantra is the heart and essence of Padmasambhava. It is also the mantra of all the masters, buddhas, yidams, dakas, dakinis, and protectors. From wikipedia: Padmasambhava (Skt.), or Padmakara (Skt. Padmākara; Tib. པདྨཱ་ཀ་ར་, པདྨ་འབྱུང་གནས་, Pemajungné; Wyl. pad+ma 'byung gnas, in Sanskrit transliteration པདྨ་སམྦྷ་ཝ་) means ‘Lotus-born’, which refers to Guru Rinpoche's birth from a lotus in the land of Oddiyana. Guru Rinpoche, the ‘Precious Master’, is the founder of Tibetan Buddhism and the Buddha of our time. Whereas Buddha is known primarily for having taught the teachings of the sutra vehicle, Padmasambhava came into this world, and to Tibet in particular, in order to teach the tantras. While Buddha Shakyamuni exemplifies the buddha principle, the most important element in the sutrayana path, Padmasambhava personifies the guru principle, the heart of Vajrayana Buddhism, and he is therefore known as the "second Buddha".

I recorded this as a single take to check sound on my iPad, voice and guitar, an intro and one verse, then added a harmony vocal, single take, and slide guitar to for what I think of as Tibetan Mantra Blues. Then added three more voices in a semi-Gregorian style, with a cathedral reverb. All on a 9 dollar mike. You can hear soft rain and eventually early morning traffic here and there. Tracks are all improvised first takes in Garageband, then mastered in an ancient Wavelab program.

A Seed or Bija Mantra is a single sound mantra. These simple sound syllables, such as OM, or the sound for each chakra, contain vibrational information of the Universe that helps activate conscious awareness and innate healing.

Chanting the chakra mantra literally plants a metaphysical "sound seed" in the subtle body and phsycial bodymind. LAM (root) - VAM (2nd) - RAM (3rd) - YAM (heart) - HAM (5th) - OM (3rd Eye). These sounds in synergy helps harmonise the chakras as a system, and the BodyMind in daily Earth life, and connects one’s Being with the Universe. Note that the crown chakra has no sound.

Listening to the Chakra Mantra or sounding it helps you guide your own voice, and attention, to the individual chakras and the chakra system.