Sāvitrī Gāyatrī Mantra - Mantra Meditation Upon The Light

The practice of mantras is a powerful tool for the mind and the soul. Not only is it incredible for supporting mental well-being, but it also promotes deep states of inner connection. As a spiritual practice, we are attuning ourselves to vast cosmic energies, transforming our energy and vibration from the inside out.

In this course, I’ll be sharing insights into the nuances of the production of the Sanskrit sounds that transformed my own direct experience of chanting.

The course covers an overview of the key mouth positions to help bring more energetic enlivenment to the experience of the chant. We’ll learn the timing of the sounds and the meter of the chant, the Vedic pitch or the svara, some history and background to the chant, a step-by-step breakdown of the sounds within each word, how to produce it, and their meaning. We touch on mantra as a bhakti, or devotional path, and ways you might connect to offer more love and response through your own sound and body instrument.

There is a call and response guide track where I’ll chant and then allow time for you to respond. Then once you feel more confident you can move into the cycle of 12 repetitions and join me as we chant together as a means to establish your own practice. We conclude with a bonus long form of the mantra, in a guided mantra meditation where we direct awareness and sound to each of the chakras.

A drone or bed of sound is a useful element in a sonic yoga or mantra practice. You'll hear one used in some of the tracks in this course. Should you wish to use a drone to support your own practice, please visit my profile and look for the 'Tānpūrā Drone' in the Premium Tracks.

May this profound chant support you in your own direct experience of the infinite light.

Lección 1: Mantra And Mouth Positions - Why Do We Care?

This is an introduction to mantra and its potential benefits, and the significance of producing the sacred sounds with as much accuracy as we can - a journey of growth and refinement. There is an overview of how mantras written using a transliteration framework indicate the timing and use of breath, or not, in the production of the Sanskrit sounds, and the which of the 5 key mouth positions are being activated.

Lección 2: A Prayer For Enlightenment

We consider the mystic energies the mantra is invoking and the forces it is activating, the acknowledged history and attribution of the mantra, the timing or meter of it, how the mantra is personified, what is considered the optimum time for reciting this chant, and the special utterance that begins this prayer, calling on energies through different realms.

Lección 3: Pronouncing The Sacred Sounds

A guide to the pronunciation of the words in the Special Utterance and the Sāvitrī Gāyatrī chant. Rather than covering every single letter of the alphabet, we look at some of the key elements of each word to help bring more nuance to the sounds. This is not a comprehensive review of all 50 sounds.

Special characters mentioned:
ṁ - anusvāra. This generates a nasal sound on the m, as in Oṁ.
ḥ - visarga. When it appears in a word at the end of a phrase, this character indicates we also sound an echo of the previous vowel sound. e.g Oṁ Gaṁ Gaṇapataye Namaḥ - gives us the sound 'namaha'.
Combination vowel sounds: e, ai, o, au = all get two counts. This is understood, and you won't see the '-' above the characters.

Lección 4: Melody And Timing: Call & Response Practice

We cover the melody or svara, with some pointers on what to feel or watch for in the production of the sound, preparing yourself to chant, devotion, or bhakti, and a call and response practice to help you get more familiar with the chant. In this class we introduce the sound of a drone as a backdrop to support the chant. Included at the end of the course is a 5 minute drone that you can use to help you get started with your own practice.

Lección 5: Mantra Japa: 12 Repetitions & Long Form Meditation

In this final class, we chant japa style, 12 repetitions of the mantra together. We conclude with a guided journey of the long form of the mantra, using specific sounds focussed at each of the energy centres or cakras. There are two full rotations of this mantra meditation. The transliterated words to the long form are as follows:
Oṁ bhūḥ - base/root
Oṁ bhuvaḥ - sacral/pubic bone
Oṁ svaḥ or can be said as suvaḥ - navel to top of stomach/bottom two ribs
Oṁ mahaḥ - heart
Oṁ janaḥ - throat
Oṁ tapaḥ - third eye/eyebrow area
Oṁ satyam - crown/top of head

Remember, the drone or bed of sound is a useful element in a sonic yoga or mantra practice. Should you wish to use a drone to support your own practice going forward, please visit my profile and look for the 'Tānpūrā Drone' in the Premium Tracks.

Lección 6: Tānpūrā Drone

The use of a drone provides a bed of sound that can support our chant practice. It can help us relax, connect inwards and support us to feel safer to express vocally. This is the sound of a tānpūrā in the key of G#. There are no spoken words or invitations, just the sound of the drone so you can have your own experience.

Reviews

Such a depth of knowledge shared beautifully. Thank you 🙏

Found this course just when I needed it. I have been chanting the Gayatri mantra for years now but only here in this course did I find the layers behind the chant that truly brings out the light beyond the Light. Thank you for this blessing! 🙏