By: Jodi Fischtein, 889 Yoga Teacher
How do we really feel when we chant the Hindu prayer and Peace Mantra, Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti? Close your eyes. Visualize this invocation of peace. Om, sending peace into your past, your present and into the future.
If we are new to chanting, we may feel shy about releasing our special sound into the community. We are encouraged to do so to share in the creativity of collective harmony. We are encouraged to create sacred space for our practice to commence or to signify the end of your practice.
In my first yoga class, I wondered why we chant this lovely utterance Shanti, and for three times. When I inquired, I was enchanted with the reasoning: Shanti, Shanti, Shanti is for acknowledging, calming and removing obstacles in the three realms which are the Physical, the Divine, and the Internal Realms. The three realms are referred to as Tapa-Traya in Sanskrit.
Your first “Om” sends peace out to the Physical Realm and all of its inhabitants that may be deemed as a source of conflict.
Your second “Om” sends peace to the Divine Realm or external world, regarded as spiritual, mystical and those entities, deities, spirits deemed supernatural.
Your third “Om” sends peace to your Internal Realm of thoughts and emotions. There exists the trappings of one’s own mind, the source of troubles or obstacles, physical pain, disease, afflictions in your body and mind.
As yoga practitioners, it is reasonable to say we seek to feel and share this benevolent feeling of Shanti, which revolves around patience, listening and acceptance.
I feel Shanti in waves. It is elusive at times. I question. Can the very act of being seekers, or the preparation of reaching for inner peace, in and of itself be an exhausting endeavor? Why can I not sit still? I ask myself why I prefer to lie down to meditate. This is a strong preference. Are rigid preferences a hindrance to inner Shanti? Apparently, yes.
I silently scold myself for fidgeting and rocking in meditation and during Yin yoga. It is self-stimulatory behaviors that creep into my stillness. I am still grateful for the cumulative effects of a Yin practice, which gives a fluid feeling deep in my bones. One can achieve a peaceful easy feeling when there is an understanding of patience.
I smile at my thoughts, even those that feel dark, and the ones that are quite ambitious. My oh my, with so much strife in the world, if I am lucky enough to feel safe so as to sit quietly, then I can also acknowledge my gratitude.
Some days I “try” to simply come in for a landing, and sit with myself, and accept whatever thoughts arise. If there is a calm acceptance of ourselves and of our flaws, then can we practice less judgment of others.
It is beneficial to declutter our surroundings to feel inner Shanti. If our physical space is clear, we can better understand our erratic thoughts, which is often referred to as “Citta-vrtti” in Sanskrit. We add a few vowels so as to pronounce this idea of the monkey mind, mind chatter or even mind clutter: “Chitta vritti.” In essence, the “Chitta” is our consciousness and “vritti” is our powerful mind and the fluctuations that occur. Mind fluctuations are quite nimble, whirling at around 2,000 thoughts or more per hour (debatable).
We can still seek inner peace, even on days we may not feel worthy. For example, if I was obnoxious or impatient on a particular day, I would feel that I was negating shanti, hence unworthy. In forgiving myself, I was able to witness my higher Self. Having compassion for those around me also allowed me to have compassion for myself. You can flip that, having compassion for myself allows me to accept others. I struggled with these feelings as a young girl, before I understood the concept of shanti. I would be disappointed with myself, and carried my mistakes around with me, which would drain my confidence.
The first time I felt a liberation from mind clutter and excess baggage was in 2007 at the Omega Wellness Center in Rhinebeck, New York. My two girlfriends and I were at Jivamukti Yoga center in Union Square, we felt good, and we hopped on the Amtrak to Omega.
We, the three merry travelers were drawn to the physical (asana) practice of yoga. We smuggled in our vices of wine, cupcakes, designer attire, smartphone, and cigarettes. So unworthy, right? What a sight amongst the Puritans in attendance. I happened to meet Dharma Mittra that day. He said something that set me free and gave me permission to forgive myself. It seemed too easy, like holding rosary beads at Confession. But I needed to hear it. Loosely translated from memory:
Dharma : “When you do something selfish, something not with good intentions or hurt someone’s feelings, directly or indirectly, forgive yourself. You did not do it. The Self is innocent. Your ego did that (the Mind). The real Self is good and kind. The Self would never do that. Your ego was just out of control at that time. Forgive yourself.”
That day I saw myself and this world differently. I forgave myself, and many others that my ego had blacklisted. Behind the ego, related grudge was love anyway.
So if and when you join in and chant this invocation to peace, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti perhaps you can feel a deeper connection to your true Self, to feel your heart’s desire and walk on a clear path of contentment.
http://889yoga.com/blog/uncategorized/feeling-shanti-peace/
Posted on March 31, 2015