Hi and welcome.
Are you ready to sing together?
I hope so.
I'm grateful you're joining me today.
I'd like to share with you today the Heart Sutra mantra.
First,
I'm going to share with you the spoken word before we sing.
The mantra goes like this.
Gathe gathe paragathe parasam gathe bodhi swaha.
So what does that mean exactly?
The meaning in a nutshell of this particular mantra is that by letting go of our preconceived notions,
Opinions,
Attachments,
That we become open to all the wonders of life around us.
It is about the ability to empty sometimes our already full cup that from this emptied place that we can refill our cup again with the newness of life in connection with all that is around us.
More specifically what the words mean individually is gathe refers to being gone from suffering and moving into awareness.
Paragathe is movement from suffering all the way to the other shore to the other side into a state of mindfulness.
Sam refers to that we are all moving in this direction as a community together.
Bodhi is in reference to enlightenment or the light within us.
And swaha has the meaning of welcome or hallelujah or yay as in we did it.
That would be the modern version.
I first learned this mantra when I was volunteering in the Garden of a Thousand Buddhas in Arleigh,
Montana in the United States.
I practiced singing this mantra during morning meditation as I walked the gardens.
Now we can sing it together and I'm happy to guide us.
Before we sing what I'd like to do is have you call into your heart an image of yourself both full of life and at the same time letting go and filling back up again with the inner light of the divine connection.
You may also call into your heart your family,
Friends,
Community,
And world offering this song up as a prayer.
Mantras are meant to be repeated phrases in order to invoke the prayer that the meaning of the mantra holds.
So we will sing this together 11 times as part of a practice.
I hope you enjoy singing with me.
I'll have you bring your hands into prayer position in front of your heart breathing gently closing your eyes and singing this mantra from a place of presence,
Groundedness,
And unity.
Gathai Gathai Paragathai Parasangathai Bodhisvaha Gathai Gathai Paragathai Parasangathai Bodhisvaha Gathai Gathai Paragathai Parasangathai Bodhisvaha Gathai Gathai Paragathai Parasangathai Bodhisvaha Gathai Gathai Paragathai Parasangathai Bodhisvaha Gathai Gathai Paragathai Parasangathai Bodhisvaha Take a deep breath in,
Inhaling this practice into your body,
And exhaling gently.
We'll finish this practice with three Aum's.
Aum Aum Aum Namaste.
Have a beautiful day.
