CHANTS & MANTRAS

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OM (Hindu mantra-chant)

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Om is the symbol for the whole universe.

 It carries three basic sounds: A-U-M.

These three basic sounds through which all

the sounds have evolved.
So Om is the basic trinity of sound,

the synthesis of all the basic roots.
That's why Om is considered the secret mantra,

 the greatest mantra, because it implies

the whole existence,
it represents the sound of soundlessness,

 the beauty of silence.
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OM represents the music of existence,

the soundless sound, the sound of silence.

OM represents the inner most music of our being,

the inner harmony, the inner humming sound which happens

 when our body, mind, soul are in deep totality, when the visible

 and the invisible, the un-manifest and the manifest, the relative

 and absolute, the-outer and inner are in deep togetherness.

To become one with OM-the music of existence is

 to attain fulfillment.

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"Dies Irae" (Day of Wrath) is a thirteenth-century Latin hymn attributed to either Thomas of Celano of the Franciscan Order (1200 – c. 1265) or to Latino Malabranca Orsini (+1294), lector at the Dominican studium at Santa Sabina, the forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome.

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It is a medieval Latin poem characterized by its accentua stress and its rhymed lines. The metre is trochaic. The poem describes the day of judgment, the last trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the saved will be delivered and the unsaved cast into eternal flames.

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The hymn is best known from its use as a sequence in the Roman Catholic Requiem mass (Mass for the Dead or Funeral Mass). An English version is found in various Anglican Communion missals.

(From Wikipedia)

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The video below is neither a chant or a mantra,

but as a meditation piece it just seemed to fit.

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"My Sweet Lord" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in November 1970 on his multi-platinum triple album All Things Must Pass. Also issued as a single – Harrison's first as a solo artist – "My Sweet Lord" topped charts worldwide and was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in Britain. The song was originally given to fellow Apple Records artist Billy Preston to record and was released on Preston's Encouraging Words album, two months before Harrison's version appeared.

The song was written in praise of the Hindu god Krishna,

while at the same time serving as a call to abandon religious sectarianism, through its deliberate blending of Hebrew "hallelujah"s with chants of "Hare Krishna" and Vedic prayer. The recording features co-producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound treatment and heralded the arrival of Harrison's much-admired slide guitar technique, described by one biographer as being "musically as distinctive a signature as the mark of Zorro".

(From Wikipedia)

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Libera Me

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Líbera me ("Deliver me") is a Roman Catholic responsory that
 is sung in the Office of the Dead and at the absolution of the
dead, a service of prayers for the dead said beside the coffin
 immediately after the Requiem Mass and before burial. The
 text of Libera Me asks God to have mercy upon the deceased
 person at the Last Judgment. In addition to the Gregorian
 chant in the Roman Gradual, many composers have written
 settings for the text.
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Líbera me, Dómine, de morte ætérna, in die illa treménda: Quando cœli movéndi sunt et terra. Dum véneris iudicáre sǽculum per ignem. Tremens factus sum ego, et tímeo, dum discússio vénerit, atque ventúra ira. Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra. Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitátis et misériæ, dies magna et amára valde. Dum véneris iudicáre sǽculum per ignem. Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine: et lux perpétua lúceat eis.

Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day, When the heavens and the earth shall be moved, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath, When the heavens and the earth shall be moved. That day, day of wrath, calamity, and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them.

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Buddhist Chanting - Nothing But Everything

Japanese

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Shingon Teaching
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Shingon is a form of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, it is also called Shingon Mikkyo. This school was founded in 804 AD by Kukai (Kobo Daishi) in Japan. The teachings of Shingon are based on the Mahavairocana Sutra and the Vajrasekhara Sutra, the fundamental sutras of Shingon. Through the cultivation of three secrets, the actions of body, speech and mind, we are able to attain enlightenment in this very body. When we can sustain this state of mind, we can become one with the life force of the Universe, known as Mahavairocana Buddha. The symbolic activities are present anywhere in the universe. Natural phenomena such as mountains and oceans and even humans express the truth described in the sutras.

The universe itself embodies and can not be separated from the teaching. In the Shingon tradition, the practitioner uses the same techniques that were used over 1,200 years ago by Kukai, and have been transmitted orally generation after generation to the present. As Shingon Buddhists, there are three vows to observe in our lives:

May we realize Buddhahood in this very life.

May we dedicate ourselves to the well-being of people.

May we establish the World of Buddha on this earth.
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Becoming a Buddha in This Very Life

 (Sokushin Jobutsu)

 The unique feature of this Shingon Teaching is that one does not become a Buddha only in his mind, nor does one become a Buddha after one has died. It means one is able to attain perfection of all of the qualities of a Buddha while one is yet living in his present physical body. An essay on the Bodhicitta (Bodaishin-ron) says: "One speedily attained great Awakening in the very body born of mother and father." According to the Shingon tradition, all things in this universe -- both physical matter, mind and mental states -- are made up of some six primary elements. These six primary elements are: earth (the principle of solidity), water (moisture), fire (energy), wind (movement), space (the state of being unobstructed) and consciousness (the six ways of knowing objects). Buddha as well as ordinary human beings are made up of these six elements, and in this sense both Buddha and human beings are basically and in essence identical. When we realize this truth, then our actions, our words, and our thoughts will undergo and experience of faith which will cause them to be correct and purify their surroundings. This living, physical body will be able to achieve Buddhahood.

Salvation and Enlightenment

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 Shingon Buddhism grants salvation and enlightenment to human beings who would otherwise be caught in the cycle of birth and death. Once a person is able to enter the gate of this faith, he/she will be able to receive that salvation and guidance of many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. It is a religion in which that person will be fortunate enough to be able to recite the mantras that are the Buddha's own words. Kobo Daishi explained two points as its special characteristics:

1. Attainment of enlightenment in this very body.

2. The present moment that clearly teaches the content of enlightenment.

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He explained these two aspects throughout his writings like, "The Meaning of Becoming a Buddha in This Body," "The Ten Stages in the Development of the Mind," "The Meaning of the Secret Samaya Precepts of the Buddha." It is a blessings of Shingon Buddhism to make it possible to come into direct contact with the practices leading to salvation. Shingon discipline The Shingon Teachings are broad and profound, and require strict discipline to put into practice. If we do not personally practice them in our daily lives of faith, then this treasure will become a useless possession. In actuality, we must manifest the teachings and practice of becoming a Buddha in this body in concrete form. The form of this faith is the developing one's mind into higher stage and engaging in discipline. There are various meditation techniques in Shingon traditions including the practice for gaining secular benefits for others by using mantra chanting and mudra hand signs as well as seeking enlightenment in this very body for oneself.

Shingon Discipline

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The followings are some of the major forms practiced by many practitioners: Susokukan (Basic meditation to find one's own breathing pace) Gachirinkan (Moon Disc meditation) Ajikan (A syllable meditation) These practices are gateways into understanding the nature of Reality. Through these gateways we can experience many states of consciousness and as our skill develops we begin to have real insight into the nature of the unproduced state. Through these meditations we can experience the flow of energy from this state into this physical plane of existence. However, this state cannot be experienced without correct understanding of its doctrine and the guide by an authentic teacher.
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Seicho Asahi.
Northern California Koyasan Temple

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Avalokitesara mantra

Oṁ Mani Padme Hūṁ / Om Mani Padme Hum

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Avalokiteshvara (or Avalokitesvara) is a Bodhisattva who represents compassion, and his mantra also symbolizes that quality. Avalokiteshvara means "The Lord Who Looks Down
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There are various forms of Avalokitesvara (Chenrezig in Tibetan). The four-armed form is shown here. There is also a 1000-armed form — the many arms symbolizing compassion in action. And in the far east, Avalokiteshvara turned into the female Bodhisattva, Kuan Yin.
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Om, as I’ve explained before, has only a mystical meaning — suggesting primordial reality. Mani means jewel, while Padme means lotus. Hum, like Om, has no conceptual meaning. Overall, the mantra is suggestive of the bringing together of the qualities of wisdom (the lotus) and compassion (the jewel).
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Just as the lotus can exist in muddy water without being soiled, so wisdom can exist in an impure world without becoming contaminated.
The mantra is often “translated” as “Hail to the jewel in the lotus” but the Sanskrit simply can’t mean that. The central element, manipadme, seems properly to be a name, Manipadma (“The Jewel Lotus One”) with the -e ending signifying the vocative case, meaning that Manipadma — is being invoked (“O Jewel Lotus One”). If this is the case, assuming that the mantra is in classical Sanskrit, then Manipadma would have to be a feminine figure, but it’s unknown which figure that would be!
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And the Dalai Lama points out that just as a jewel can relieve poverty, so the compassionate mind takes away the poverty of unhappiness that exists in the world and replaces it with the wealth of wellbeing.
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This is probably the best known Buddhist mantra. I swear I remember hearing it chanted on an episode of the BBC Sci-fi series, Dr Who, when I was a young kid back in the 1960s, and even before that, in the 1940′s it featured on an American radio show called the Green Lama.
(From a YouTube description - author unknown)
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And last, but not least, the title cut from the

CD ADIEMUS - Songs of Sanctuary, composed by Welshman

Karl Jenkins, and performed by the London Philharmonic

Orchestra with a number of vocalists.
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Here's the "concept" from Wikipedia:

Each Adiemus album is a collection of song-length pieces featuring harmonised vocal melody against an orchestra background. There are no lyrics as such, instead the vocalists sing syllables and 'words' invented by Jenkins. However, rather than creating musical interest from patterns of phonemes (as in scat singing, or in numerous classical and crossover compositions), the language of Adiemus is carefully stylised so as not to distract the listener's attention from the pitch and timbre of the voice. Syllables rarely end in consonants, for example. In this respect it is similar to Japanese and several other languages. The core concept of Adiemus is that the voice should be allowed to function as nothing more than an instrument, an approach that has become something of a trend in recent choral writing (compare, for example Vangelis's score for the film 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), or "Dogora", a symphonic suite by French composer Étienne Perruchon). The word Adiemus itself resembles the Latin word 'adeamus' meaning 'let us approach' (or "let us submit a cause to a referee").   Jenkins has said he was unaware of this.   Perhaps even more appropriately, the song title also resembles two forms of the Latin verb 'audire' (to hear), i.e. 'audiemus' (we shall hear) and 'audiamus' (let us hear).

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THE JEWS OF JESUS' TIME

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From THE URANTIA BOOK
Part IV, 121, 7
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By the times of Jesus the Jews had arrived at a settled concept of their origin, history, and destiny. They had built up a rigid wall of separation between themselves and the gentile world; they looked upon all gentile ways with utter contempt. They worshiped the letter of the law and indulged a form of self-righteousness based upon the false pride of descent. They had formed preconceived notions regarding the promised Messiah, and most of these expectations envisaged a Messiah who would come as a part of their national and racial history. To the Hebrews of those days Jewish theology was irrevocably settled, forever fixed.
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 The teachings and practices of Jesus regarding tolerance and kindness ran counter to the long-standing attitude of the Jews toward other peoples whom they considered heathen. For generations the Jews had nourished an attitude toward the outside world which made it impossible for them to accept the Master’s teachings about the spiritual brotherhood of man. They were unwilling to share Yahweh on equal terms with the gentiles and were likewise unwilling to accept as the Son of God one who taught such new and strange doctrines.
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 The scribes, the Pharisees, and the priesthood held the Jews in a terrible bondage of ritualism and legalism, a bondage far more real than that of the Roman political rule. The Jews of Jesus’ time were not only held in subjugation to the law but were equally bound by the slavish demands of the traditions, which involved and invaded every domain of personal and social life. These minute regulations of conduct pursued and dominated every loyal Jew, and it is not strange that they promptly rejected one of their number who presumed to ignore their sacred traditions, and who dared to flout their long-honored regulations of social conduct. They could hardly regard with favor the teachings of one who did not hesitate to clash with dogmas which they regarded as having been ordained by Father Abraham himself. Moses had given them their law and they would not compromise.
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 By the time of the first century after Christ the spoken interpretation of the law by the recognized teachers, the scribes, had become a higher authority than the written law itself. And all this made it easier for certain religious leaders of the Jews to array the people against the acceptance of a new gospel.
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 These circumstances rendered it impossible for the Jews to fulfill their divine destiny as messengers of the new gospel of religious freedom and spiritual liberty. They could not break the fetters of tradition. Jeremiah had told of the “law to be written in men’s hearts,” Ezekiel had spoken of a “new spirit to live in man’s soul,” and the Psalmist had prayed that God would “create a clean heart within and renew a right spirit.” But when the Jewish religion of good works and slavery to law fell victim to the stagnation of traditionalistic inertia, the motion of religious evolution passed westward to the European peoples.
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 And so a different people were called upon to carry an advancing theology to the world, a system of teaching embodying the philosophy of the Greeks, the law of the Romans, the morality of the Hebrews, and the gospel of personality sanctity and spiritual liberty formulated by Paul and based on the teachings of Jesus.
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 Paul’s cult of Christianity exhibited its morality as a Jewish birthmark. The Jews viewed history as the providence of God — Yahweh at work. The Greeks brought to the new teaching clearer concepts of the eternal life. Paul’s doctrines were influenced in theology and philosophy not only by Jesus’ teachings but also by Plato and Philo. In ethics he was inspired not only by Christ but also by the Stoics.
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The gospel of Jesus, as it was embodied in Paul’s cult of Antioch Christianity, became blended with the following teachings:
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 The philosophic reasoning of the Greek proselytes to Judaism, including some of their concepts of the eternal life.
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 The appealing teachings of the prevailing mystery cults, especially the Mithraic doctrines of redemption, atonement, and salvation by the sacrifice made by some god.
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 The sturdy morality of the established Jewish religion.
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 The Mediterranean Roman Empire, the Parthian kingdom, and the adjacent peoples of Jesus’ time all held crude and primitive ideas regarding the geography of the world, astronomy, health, and disease; and naturally they were amazed by the new and startling pronouncements of the carpenter of Nazareth. The ideas of spirit possession, good and bad, applied not merely to human beings, but every rock and tree was viewed by many as being spirit possessed. This was an enchanted age, and everybody believed in miracles as commonplace occurrences.
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 Well my father and mother were survivors of the Holocaust so I was raised in a very strict Jewish home, not just religiously but culturally. We had “us” and “them”. My father said something really sad to me once when we talked about Jesus. He said “If Jesus knew the trouble he was going to make to the people of Israel, he would have never been born.” So Jesus was kind of looked upon - it wasn’t Jesus, it was his followers and the church and the anti-Semitism of Christians – that always obscured the person on who Jesus was. I don’t think a lot of Jewish people have ever dealt with who Jesus really is. They deal with a caricature of him. They deal with all of the rumors and things that people say. Think about it: my folks, their image of Christianity were people who wore crosses and turned the gas on my people, my grandmother and my grandfather. For them to deal with Jesus on an honest level of a Jewish Messiah living in Israel....well, most people think Jesus was Italian and the gospel happened in Rome. The idea of a Jewish Messiah and a Jewish Jesus is not something that was current in Jewish thinking.
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Jhan Moskowitz
Jews for Jesus
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As was said (John 1:11),
To his own he came,
yet his own did not, and could not,
recognize the true being of Jesus Christ, and the
indwelling Logos to which he constantly attempted to
draw their attention.
Even when he was right there in front of them,
the very lighthouse of palpitating spiritual energy,
their untrained eyes could not perceive his real nature.
They were too occupied with their
religious observances, traditional ideas, scriptural authority
and the approval of the leaders.
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Ravi Ravindra
Christ The Yogi
A Hindu Reflection on the Gospel of St. John
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FROM THE UPANISHADS

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Hidden in the heart of every creature

Exists the Self, subtler than the subtlest,

Greater than the greatest.  They go beyond

Sorrow who extinguish their self-will

And behold the glory of the Self

Through the grace of the Lord of Love.

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Though one sits in meditation in a

Particular place, the Self within

Can exercise his influence far away

Though still, he moves everything

everywhere.

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When the wise realize the Self,

Formless in the midst of forms, changeless

In the midst of change, omnipresent

And supreme, they go beyond sorrow.

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The Self cannot be known through study

Of the scriptures, nor through the intellect,

Nor through hearing learned discourses.

The Self can be attained only by those

Whom the Self chooses.  Verily unto them

Does the Self reveal himself.

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The Self cannot be known by anyone

Who desists not from unrighteous ways,

Controls not his senses, stills not his mind,

And practices not meditation.

None else can know the omnipresent Self,

Whose glory sweeps away the rituals

Of the priest and the prowess of the warrior

And puts death itself to death.

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From The Katha Upanishad

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HINDU MORNING PRAYER

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The front part of the hands (the finger tips)

are ascribed to Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, the middle part (the palm proper) to Goddess Saraswati - the Goddess of learning and the root (the part of of hand near the wrist) to Govinda (God). Therefore, every morning, one should have a respectful look at one's hand which symbolizes honest labor.
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O! Mother Earth,who has the ocean as clothes and mountains and
forests on her body, who is the wife of Lord Vishnu,

I bow to you. Please forgive me for

touching you with my feet.

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VISHNU - HINDU GOD OF PRESERVATION

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Vishnu represents that aspect of the divine reality

that maintains and sustains the creation. The endless creative force of Brahma gives life to all beings, and Vishnu's infinite sustaining force protects this life.

Just as the feminine Supreme Energy,

Vishnu has a "thousands names" which symbolize in fact just as many of his aspects. The daily repetition of Vishnu's thousand names is a living proof of his devotee's faith and ardor.

Vishnu's blue body is often depicted in blue.

The color blue symbolizes the infinite. Vishnu is represented as an infinite force. He has no form, no name, and he is incommensurable.

The garland of flowers around Vishnu's neck is a

symbol of God's worship. The precious stone decorating his neck indicates that Vishnu fulfills his worshiper's desires and the crown is a symbol of the Divine's power and supreme authority. His two earrings stand for the dual nature of creation.

Vishnu wears yellow clothing.

The yellow color is associated with the terrestrial life. The dress of Vishnu, therefore, symbolizes his incarnations as a man, fighting for justice and destruction of the evil.

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"Vishnu, the Preserver, sustains the whole creation

and has the power of manifesting himself under

numerous forms. In the great Cosmic Ocean,

He sustains both the sun of the infinite and

the eternal spirit of existence, which is the

master of the universe."
Vishnu Purana

Vishnu the Preserver, is often depicted

as lying on Ananta, a many-headed serpent.

He lives on Meru with his wife Lakshmi.

Vishnu usually rides through the heavens

on Garuda, a man-bird, endowed with

highly unusual powers, which spreads

courage and Vedic knowledge.
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His first incarnation was a fish,Matsya;
the second a turtle, Kurma; the third a wild boar, Varaha;
 the fourth a lion; the fifth a dwarf, Vamana;
 the sixth a warrior, Parasurama; the seventh a hero, Rama;
 the eighth Krishna; the ninth Buddhah.
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Very often, Vishnu appears under the form

of a young, very handsome man, with four arms

(several arms is an indication of the divine,

showing that they can perform several

functions in the same time).

In his hands, Vishnu is shown holding

a shell, a disk, a lotus, and a scepter.

The symbolism of the shell is two-folded:

on one hand it represents Vishnu's relationship

with the primordial waters and its use

as a musical instrument, reminiscent of the

primordial waters, and on the other hand

the shell represents the five elements,

and consequently the origin of manifestation.

The lotus is a symbol of the spiritual

development and cosmic harmony.

It also signifies the appearance of life on

the neutral immensity of the primordial waters.

The opening of the lotus bud represents

the realization of the possibilities contained

in the "seed" of the human being.

The scepter is a symbol of power and authority.

The disk is a solar symbol,

and the classical image of Vishnu, the ascendant,

unifying, intellectual tendency of a human being.

It represents the power that destroys the

ignorance and the darkness, just as it is a symbol

of a killing weapon, and of the sun. It destroys

the evil through the process of illumination.

Vishnu is more a god of love.

For a Vaishnavite, salvation is usually won

by bhakti, a loving devotion to God as preserver.

Vishnu is considered the guardian of mankind

and the keeper of the Dharma.

He preserves the order in the universe.

Every time the humanity decays, Vishnu takes on

the form of an avatar, a divine model coming

on earth, to show people new paths for spiritual

development. He has taken nine incarnations.

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Vishnu's tenth incarnation, Kalki,is supposed to come about
 at the end of this age, Kali Yuga. He is said to be
the cosmic rider of Apocalypse, who will take on the role of
 destroyer of what is evil on earth.

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The most important incarnations of Vishnu are Rama and Krishna.
To Hindus, Rama, who is nearly always noble and righteous, is the ideal man. Sita, incarnation of Lakshmi and his loyal wife, is the ideal woman. All sects reverence Rama. No name is more commonly given to Hindu children, and all Hindus would like to die with his name on their lips. When Mahatma Gandhi fell, mortally wounded by a fanatic assassin, he murmured "Ai Ram, Ai Ram" (O Rama, O Rama).

Krishna, even more popular and lovable, is the subject of countless stories and legends. As a youth Krishna flirts with the Gopi milk maidens and has an affair with one, Radha. These erotic experiences are interpreted symbolically. Individual souls are drawn to God as the milkmaidens were attracted to Krishna, and one should give one's self to God in complete surrender as Radha did to Krishna.

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 From the Hinduism Infocenter at 1stHolistic.com.

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