Happy New Year 2016 - 21 times Omkar chanting important personal sadhana

[Ganesh L]

Sairam

The last couple of years by Swami's grace, visiting many countries and meeting varied intellectuals, it has been a great eye opening for me learning the science behind each of the sadhana Swami has put forth in the framework of SSSSO. Also, was amazed that Swami has given  them to us easy and free of cost under the umbrella of SSSSO, many were spending lot of money to understand and learn the importance of the various sadhana and science behind the same. 

I think one of the important sadhana to put into practice in the new year is daily chanting of 21 times Omkar. In one of my overseas training we were given the importance of daily chanting of Omkar on building the right balance & attitude while playing leadership roles. We were taught about how with Om chanting  we can bring synchronization between Body and Mind, overcome stress etc. OM mantra is a brain stabilizer, by practicing it one can enter deeper and deeper into the own natural state, which is also an energy medicine for human being under stress.

Swami in Balvikas guru training discourse in 1978 mentioned the following:

"You must equip yourself for this task of seva (service) by some individual saadhana done daily with sincerity and regularity. The Pranava (primeval sound OM) recital is one form of such spiritual effort. It is laid down at Prashaanthi Nilayam that the early dawn recital of Om should be done twenty one times. This number is not arbitrarily fixed; it has a significance of its own. We have the five karmendhriyas (senses of action) and the five jnaanendhriyas (senses of perception); we have also praanas (the five vital energies or airs) to sustain us. Then we have the five koshas (sheaths), enclosing the Divine Spark that is the Reality. These total up to twenty. Hence the recitation of Om twenty one times purifies and clarifies all these twenty components and makes man the twenty-first entity, ready for the final merger with Reality.

Saadhana of this sort is a must for all Sai workers for that alone can give them shaanthi and the other most valuable gift, prema (love). It will change their vision and enable them to witness Unity where formerly they were confounded by diversity---diversity of language, religion, nationality, creed, colour and caste" ---  Baba

Medical & Research studies:-

According to a research done at the Cleveland University, USA, the rhythmic tones involved in chanting create a melodious effect in the body called the Neuro-linguistic effect [NLE]. When we know the meaning of the mantra we are reciting, it creates a Psycholinguistic effect [PLE] on the body. The NLE and the PLE effects are by-products of the production and spreading of curative chemicals in the brain. The research concludes that this is the real reason why chanting provokes curative effects in us.

 

A study by Dr Alan Watkins [senior lecturer in neuroscience at Imperial College London] revealed that while chanting, our heart rate and blood pressure dip to its lowest in the day. Doctors say that even listening to chants normalises adrenalin levels, brain wave pattern and lowers cholesterol levels.Using chants as part of our exercise regimen, helps facilitate movement and flow of the body during exercise.

 

Studies prove that making chants a part of our daily yoga can help achieve greater weight loss in a shorter span of time.

 

Neuro-scientist Marian Diamond from the University of California found that chanting helps block the release of stress hormones and increases immune function. It also keeps our muscles and joints flexible for a long time.

The body’s energy and vitality are augmented by regular chanting.

 

Chanting cures depression: An 8-week study was carried out at the Samarya Center for Integrated Movement Therapy and Ashtanga Yoga in Seattle, WA, to see the effects of chanting on general well-being and particularly respiratory functions in people suffering from mild-to-severe depression. The results showed that chanting helped participants increase control over their breath and expiratory output level. The participants claimed that chanting reduced their anxiety and improved their mood. Researchers thus concluded that if done at least once a week, chanting is an effective means of enhancing people’s moods in the immediate present, as well as over an extended period of time.

In one of the study on "Analysis Of Acoustic of “OM” Chant To Study It’s Effect on Nervous System", the conclusion was that chanting OM mantra results in stabilization of brain, removal of worldly thoughts and increase of energy. It means that concentrating on OM mantra and continuously doing it slowly shifts our attention. It is reflection of the most fundamental interlocking processes in our bodies, the harmony we play echoes the harmonic relationships of every vital system i.e. our heartbeat, our breathing, our brainwaves pulsing, our neuronal firing, our cells throbbing, our metabolic, enzymatic, and hormonal rhythms and our behaviors in our addictions and our habits. In this sense OM mantra is a brain stabilizer, by practicing it one can enter deeper and deeper into the own natural state, which is also an energy medicine for human being under stress.

Wish you and your family a very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2016

Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavanthu

Sai Love

Ganesh