Bija Mantra
The Bija Mantras are known as the “seed sounds”, or the one-syllable sounds that activate the Chakras. We use the the Bija sounds to open us to the meaning of what these Chakras hold, empowering, motivating and potentially healing us through practice. There is much mis-conception about the Chakras. At the most basic level, they are wheels or vortexes within the body that both receive and radiate energy. There are seven of them and they start at the crown of the head and then are strategically found down through the body to the base of the spine.
Below is a list of the seed mantras, condensed versions of the sound of an element that correlate to a Chakra.
- Muladhara – Earth Element – LAM – Self-Preservation – I am Safe
- Svadhisthana- Water Element – VAM – Self-Gratification – I am Creative
- Manipura – Fire Element – RAM – Self-Identification – I am Strong
- Anahata – Air Element – YAM – Self-Acceptance – I am Love
- Vishuddha – Space Element – HAM – Self-Expression – I am Expressive
- Ajna – Mind – OM – Self-Reflections – I can See
- Sahasrara – Consciousness – Silence – Universal Consciousness – I am Divine
It is said that the use of Bija Mantras in practice sparks a positive neurological effect and harmonise the physical and subtle bodies by using sound, vibration, words and their meaning. Words have a powerful way of telling a story of what we experience. Opening us to the constellation of sensation and the symphony of sounds they evoke, empowering, motivating and potentially healing us. This prepares us to go from the verbal to the non-verbal realms, returning to the expanded state of consciousness where we feel free from the limited beliefs of the smallness of Self and rest in all sounds, vibrations and the silence between, dissolving back into the mystery of it all.