Welcome,
Welcome everyone.
Yeah,
Welcome to the second live session on the Sun Mantra,
The Surya Mantra,
Aum Haraha.
Bhūṣṇe Namah.
In the last session we focused on the sound Namah and today our focus is on the word Bhūṣṇe which carries the energy of nourishment and growth.
Let's start with a simple introduction to the meaning of the mantra even though the Sanskrit sounds itself are the meaning.
The mantra starts with Aum,
The primordial sound,
The vibration of the universe opening us to the sacred.
Then the second word is a seed syllable,
A Bhīja mantra of light and fire.
The main word of the mantra is Bhūṣṇe,
So it's the name of a solar deity in the Vedic tradition,
One of the twelve sun gods,
If you want.
And it's associated with nourishment,
Protection and guiding us on our path.
And the final word,
The closing word is Namah,
Which means I bow,
I offer myself or I surrender.
So when we chant Aum Haraha Bhūṣṇe Namah,
We bow to the nourishing light that sustains us.
So in today's session I would like to make a deep dive on the word Bhūṣṇe and I would like to explore the pronunciation,
Because in the word there are two special letters,
Two retroflex sounds,
The sound SH and N.
So let's explore together how to make these sounds.
So you can start with the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth.
And then slowly glide your tongue back,
So you will come over kind of a ridgy spot,
So you go over this spot and then you will notice that your tongue moves up again and then after a while it goes back towards your throat.
The point where you want to bring your tongue for the SH and the N sound in Bhūṣṇe is after this ridgy spot you go up and just before your tongue slides further back towards your throat.
Let's try together and if you have questions please write them in the chat so that I can address them and explain in a different way on how to find this place.
Let's make the N sound.
One more time.
And the same for the SH in Bhūṣṇe.
So let's say the word together a few times,
Bringing the tip of the tongue to this retroflex position.
Bhūṣṇe,
Bhūṣṇe,
Bhūṣṇe.
Yes,
That's it.
And so maybe we just compare this position especially for the N sound because after Bhūṣṇe we have the word Namah in the mantra and so for the N of Bhūṣṇe you want to bring the tip of your tongue to this point that we have just found together.
But for the N sound in Namah you tip the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth.
There is a tiny little strip of skin just in between your upper front teeth and that's where you want to touch with the tip of your tongue for the N sound in Namah.
So let's go a few times back and forth between those two points.
So first the N of Bhūṣṇe and then the Namah.
You don't hear a big difference but you feel a difference.
So let's say the words Bhūṣṇe and Namah touching on these points with the tongue.
Bhūṣṇe,
Namah,
Bhūṣṇe,
Namah,
One more time Bhūṣṇe,
Namah,
Yes.
Beautiful.
So let's chant the short version of the mantra a few times just to practice this movement of your tip of the tongue.
Let's chant it together in call and response so you can listen first and then you repeat or we repeat it together.
You can listen again,
We repeat it together and try to incorporate what we just learned about the tongue position for Bhūṣṇe and Namah.
So take a comfortable position sitting upright.
You can lean against the wall or sit on a chair or a sofa.
Relax your shoulders,
Relax your face and also your jaw.
You can even close your eyes and feel into the sensations in your mouth as you're chanting the mantra.
So let's inhale and listen first.
So if you have any questions to what we just did,
Feel free to ask.
Also if you missed some of the instructions,
Please feel free to just jump in and ask.
And if there are no questions,
We will be chanting the full mantra for about five to ten minutes.
So the words of the mantra are Aum Hara Hā Bhūṣṇe Namah.
And I explained that for the N sound in Namah,
You can bring the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth.
There is a tiny little strip of skin and you want to touch there each time you make an N sound,
The sound of Namah in a Sanskrit mantra.
And the N sound in Bhūṣṇe is different because there is a little dot beneath the N in the IAST transliteration and that tells us that it is a retroflex sound and therefore you want to bring your tongue further into the mouth.
So let's repeat how to find this place.
So you start with the tip of your tongue again just behind the upper front teeth and then you glide your tongue back,
You come over a richy spot,
Your tongue goes up and just before the tongue slides further back towards your throat,
That's where you want to bring the tip of your tongue for the N sound in Bhūṣṇe and the same for the K sound in Bhūṣṇe.
So this spot and the N of Namah just behind the upper front teeth.
So let's chant the mantra for five to ten minutes and just feel into it and feel free to close your eyes and really feel into these spots in your mouth but if it starts to preoccupy your mind too much just let go and just let it flow and chant.
So I invite you to take a comfortable seat so that your breath can move freely.
If you want you can place a hand over your heart space and or on your belly,
Connect with your body,
Connecting with your breath and allow yourself to immerse into the sound of the mantra because in Sanskrit the sound itself is the meaning.
We will be chanting in call and response and maybe after a while I also invite you to chant on your own.
Let's start with one Aum and repeat inhale.
