How to Remove Obstacles by Chanting Seed Sounds
Transcription
How to Remove Obstacles by Chanting Seed Sounds
How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds by Evan Kopelson Table of Contents Spiritual Disclaimer:! 3 What is a Seed Sound?! 4 Examples of Seed Sounds in Various Religions! 5 Seed Sounds in Judiasm! 6 Seed Sounds in Christianity and Hinduism! 6 Seed Sounds can be found in all Religions! 6 It Doesn’t Matter What You Believe: Try it and Decide! 7 The Seed Sound for Removing Obstacles! 7 Internal vs. External Obstacles: Is There A Difference?! 9 A Short Story of How Chanting Seed Sounds Removed My Obstacles! 10 How to use the Seed Sounds of Ganesha to Remove Obstacles! 13 7 Minutes to Obstacle Removal! 14 Spiritual Disclaimer: The author is a certified yoga teacher and certified life coach. It is thru this lens that I am writing this today, with the intention of sharing concepts and practices that have helped me find peace and balance within, remove obstacles, and become more productive in everyday life and business. As you read the concepts in this document, depending on your spiritual or religious background, you may find some of my ideas to be challenging to your world view. You may perhaps even wonder if some of the concepts expressed might be in conflict with your own beliefs, and even, if reading this document would be considered somehow “bad” or “wrong” according to the teachings of certain religious institutions. While it is not my intention to challenge anyone’s beliefs, as an author and teacher it would be impossible to express my own ideas, and my own perception of reality, without speaking freely and not worrying about offending the faint of heart. Empowerment is not for the faint of heart. Moreover, I do not believe it is even possible to speak freely without taking the risk of offending someone, or saying something that is in conflict with another person’s beliefs or traditions. Finally, it is my very strong belief that any institution, religious, political or otherwise, which seeks to limit free speech or the expression of empowering ideas is not looking out for the best interests of humanity. Therefore, this document shall not contain any further disclaimers, except the following: This is a spiritual document containing spiritual teachings, not meant to be in conflict with any religion or spiritual tradition; however, read at your own peril. Your thoughts about life, spirituality, and God may be challenged, and if that is the case, it is your responsibility to seek and find balance within. Now let’s get to the good stuff. In this document, I will show you how to remove obstacles by chanting the “Seed Sounds” of the ancient Yogi’s. “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.3 What is a Seed Sound? Seed Sounds, also known as the “Bija Mantras” of the ancient Yogi’s, are Sanskrit syllables and phrases. The Sanskrit language has been around for thousands of years and is comprised of syllables. Sanskrit is the original language of the Yogi’s and the Sanskrit language is based on the Yogi concept of Sound Science. According to the ancient Yogi’s, the entire universe is made of conscious energy. As energy vibrates at different rates, the infinite “soup” of energy begins to “step down” the frequency scale until, at relative slow rates of vibration, energy becomes matter; the physical universe. Because everything that vibrates creates sound, it is also said that “the world is sound.” The world is vibrating energy, which is, in fact, sound. The Sanskrit language is said to have spontaneously arisen, like Yoga. In other words, it was never “invented” but more or less, became so. In the Sanskrit language, there are no letters like in English, but there are syllables. Sanskrit in fact, has no written language of its own but can be expressed in various “scripts” such as the Devanagri script, which many people today consider to be the written language of Sanskrit. In Sanskrit, there are certain syllables which are said to contain, in the sound vibration of the syllable, the actual power to invoke primordial energies and create real change in the physical universe. The practice of Mantra, which is another word for a sacred syllable or phrase, is said to have arisen spontaneously through Yoga, as a method for any person to bridge the gap between the physical and spiritual worlds. It is said that by chanting sacred syllables, with the intention of connecting with the spiritual world, a gateway can be opened, and miraculous results can occur as a result. “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.4 The “Bija Mantras” or “Seed Sounds” are very special Sanskrit words and phrases which, when chanted, have the power to create the vibration inside the human body of a divine or spiritual energy which can transform the person who is chanting, as well as anyone who hears the chant and allows the vibrations to permeate their being. Chanting means to sing with a devotional heart. Many religions and spiritual traditions use song and prayer to open the heart to change and to connect with God, or the Universe, or the Infinite (all the same in the philosophy of the ancient Yogi’s). Examples of Seed Sounds in Various Religions In Yoga, the seed sound “OM” is said to the “the primordial sound.” The ancient yoga texts known as the Vedas, discuss the meaning of OM as being the very sound of creation. If you believe in the Big Bang, the sound OM is said to have been the very first sound created in the physical universe, in the microinstant just before the big bang itself. If you believe in Creation by God or a Supreme Being, the sound OM is said by the ancient Yogi’s to be the bridge back to God. Whatever your background of beliefs, the interesting fact is that the seed sound OM (which the Vedas break down further into 3 separate sounds, namely, “AH - OO - MMM” or “A-U-M”) can be found in the sacred words of other religions, and of life itself. “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.5 Seed Sounds in Judiasm I was raised Jewish, and the word “Shalom” which means “Hello” and also “Goodbye” and also “Peace” contains all 3 sounds within the OM syllable. Sha - contains the “AH” sound Lome - contains the sounds “AH” and “OO” and “MMM” In the Jewish tradition, chanting the word “Shalom” opens the heart and brings Peace within. This is the same result of chanting OM in Yoga. Seed Sounds in Christianity and Hinduism In Christianity the word “Hallelujah” contains the sacred sound AH which is the first part of the Bija Mantra “AU-M.” The sound of the name Christ, especially when pronounced in the original Latin, Jesocristo, represents the One Lord of Christianity, and is similar in sound, to the name Krishna, who is the One Lord of the Hindu religion. Seed Sounds can be found in all Religions The Jewish name for God, “Adonai” (pronounced “Ah-Doe-Nah-ee”) contains the same seed sound as the name for the English word “God”. “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.6 In the Hindu religion there are other names for God, including “Ram” (pronounced “Rah-MMM”) which also contain the seed sounds from the Bija Mantra OM (“A-U-M”). Many names to express the concept of the Lord of Creation, contain the same seed sounds. Is this a coincidence? Or, did all religions spring from the same, primordial energy soup? It Doesn’t Matter What You Believe: Try it and Decide Fortunately for all of us, the questions above do not need to be answered in order for us to benefit from the practice of chanting seed sounds. Yoga is not a religion. In fact, the practice of any yoga will only serve to deepen one’s connection with your own faith. Yoga is a philosophy, a science, and an art form. Yoga is philosophy, because it presents concepts and ideas for introspection and self realization; concepts which can open the mind. Yoga is a science, because it is not dogma, and it leaves conclusions up to each individual. The way to study and practice yoga is as follows: take in the philosophy, and then get on the mat and practice, and compare your inner experience to the philosophy, and decide for yourself what’s true. Yoga is an art form because the practice of yoga is a personal expression. The Seed Sound for Removing Obstacles One of the most popular Gods of the Hindu religion is Ganesha, the elephant-faced God, who is the Patron of Removing Obstacles. “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.7 Ganesha is a favorite among Yogi’s and children because of what he represents: the power of the Elephant to remove any obstacle in its path. There are many names for Ganesha, including Ganapati (pronounced “Gone-Ah-Pot-ee”), Vigneshwara (“Vig-Naish-Warr-Ah”), and the Seed Sound for Ganesha is “GUM” (like chewing gum). It is said that by chanting “OM GUM” the Seed Sound for Ganesha, we create the vibration inside our body, and in our surrounding energy field, for the removal of obstacles in our lives. The complete Ganesha chant for the removal of obstacles is: Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha (Pronounced, “Om, Gum, Gone-ah-pot-ah-yay, Nah-Ma-Ha”) “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.8 The translation means roughly, “I salute Ganesha for removing the obstacles in my being and my circumstances, so that I may be fulfilled.” Internal vs. External Obstacles: Is There A Difference? Obstacles can be internal or external. In human development and the field of achievement and empowerment, most obstacles are in fact, internal. Internal obstacles include self doubt, worry, laziness, fatigue, anxiety, fear, envy, jealousy, and other confidence gaps. External obstacles can be personal (like a mean boss or co-worker), situational (like a dead-end job or a long stretch of unemployment), or physical (like a handicap, or being in prison). However, it is important to recognize that in Yoga philosophy, since the entire universe is made up of conscious energy, and the physical universe is but a reflection of our inner state of being, even external obstacles are internal by nature. For instance, the world famous scientist Stephen Hawking is confined to a wheelchair and can not speak without the aid of a computer device. Yet Stephen Hawking has made some of science’s greatest discoveries since Albert Einstein. For him, his “obstacle” is merely another challenge of life. Thus, it can be said that in fact, all obstacles are internal. Even a boulder on the highway is just another challenge of life to get past. “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.9 A Short Story of How Chanting Seed Sounds Removed My Obstacles Just three short years ago, I lost my savings and had to sell my piano and most of my belongings to finance the move out of the luxury apartment where I had lived for the prior twelve years. This is not the story of how that happened. It would take too long to share here. But in broad strokes, I had to leave my apartment and find a new place to live, and I didn’t have any cash reserves for a security deposit. Because I had no cash or job at the time, I had to move into the only available option I could find, which was a vinyl-wrapped wood structure about the size of a storage shed, called a Pod. My pod was located under a tree in the backyard of a small house shared by 12 people who also had issues with prosperity. During the time I lived in my pod, I got a retail job at a medical marijuana collective. It was the only job I could find, and I was blessed to get any work at all. The job was actually a volunteer job, as the collective was a non profit organization, and in exchange for the hours worked, I would get medicine and some cash stipends. I had previously become reliant on prescription drugs for anxiety and pain, and found Yoga and marijuana helped me manage my severe chronic pain and anxiety without the detrimental effects of pharmaceuticals. So I had absolutely no moral or ethical issues working at the pot shop, and indeed was grateful for the opportunity to survive and pay for my pod each month. While I was grateful for the job during the day, and for the shelter of my pod each night, I found myself going deeper into the hole of personal conflicts with my co-workers, my employers, and my housemates. I had to work 7 days a week for over 6 months straight, and this took a toll on my energy and my self esteem, at the same time alienating me from the “community” where I lived, because I was never there. I was always working. “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.10 Even though I needed the job to pay the bills at the house where my pod was located, the people who lived in the house resented me for never being around. I wasn’t there for house work parties. I wasn’t there for planting in the garden. I wasn’t there for celebrations. I just wasn’t there. As such, I was treated like an outsider by the people I lived with, and I never felt welcome when I did finally have some down time to hang out. Meanwhile, at work, because I was being run ragged and barely making enough money to survive, my energy dropped, and my normally happy demeanor turned intense. I barely smiled, and when someone would say anything to me that I perceived as criticism or attack, I would strike. This led to my being disciplined at work over a dozen times. Some days I would be sent home without compensation. Other times I would be fired, and would have to beg and plead for another chance to keep working. Thankfully, because of the nature of my job and the fact there just weren’t that many people capable of doing the work I did, I was able to keep my job even after being fired several times. This earned me the nickname “9 lives”. After one episode when I was fired and humiliated in front of co-workers half my age, just for speaking my mind to the boss who was very strict about disciplining his employees for insubordination, I decided I had had enough of being the victim. Only, I really was in a victim place; I had no idea how to get out of the situation I was in. I desperately needed money and couldn’t afford to stay in my pod without making all my hours each month. And moreover, I really wanted to get out of the Pod and the house as well, but without a job, how would this happen? I didn’t know. I sat in my car for 4 hours that night, and cried. Then I remembered something I had read years before, when I was studying to become a certified yoga teacher. It was in the book by Bhagavan Das called “It’s Here Now... Are You?” and was the story of how “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.11 Bhagavan Das went to India in the late 1950s and was indoctrinated into Yoga and the practice of chanting. Bhagavan Das talked about his Mala (prayer beads) and how he would chant mantra over and over, tens of thousands of times until the beads wore down to nothing. I was fascinated at how anyone could do anything tens of thousands of times. I didn’t get it at all back then. Many years later, I was introduced to some audio recordings by a well known expert in chanting and as I was sitting in my car crying that night, I remembered the story of Bhagavan Das and also the story I heard on one of these audio tapes, about how this other man chanted to Ganesha thousands, and tens of thousands of times in his own life, to great results. I decided, you know what? I’m here alone, in this car, I have no money, they hate me where I live, I don’t think I’ll have a job tomorrow, so what do I have to lose? I started chanting. Every day. All day. Out loud and in my head. When I woke up, and before I went to bed. When I had to speak out loud, I would stop chanting and speak, but while I was listening to others speaking, I would “reserve about 25% of my attention” and direct it inward, and would chant in my own head silently. I never stopped, to this day. I was chanting, “Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha... Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha... Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha...” over and over again. Sometimes, I would just chant “Om Gum”... “Om Gum” ... “Om Gum” ... And other times, I would just repeat “Gum... Gum.... Gum... Gum.... Gum...” As I would chant, I would feel the vibrations of the sound in my body. And as I felt the vibrations of the sound, I would connect my mind with my heart, and open a space of devotion, of surrender... “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.12 Some might call this “worship” and on some level, perhaps it is... but on another level, the “spiritual discipline” required to chant with consistency and with an open heart, is really just the application of focus and determination. It’s hard to explain what happened without using the word “miraculous” because that very night, I got a text from my boss telling me I would be welcome back at work the following day if I showed up. And each day from then on, my relationships at work improved. I never stopped chanting Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha. My relationships at the house never improved. But, I was eventually able to “think my way out” of that situation, using techniques I picked up from reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and doing the basic work from the first several classes of Mike Klingler’s Marketing Funnel Mastery. After a long stretch of being stuck, I was able to manifest a deal with the head honcho-landlord of Pod City, to trade a lot of my stuff that no longer served me but would be valuable to others in the house, for enough cash to move into the place where I live now; an absolutely gorgeous fully furnished rental with luxury amenities. It didn’t take a lot of cash either; I was lucky to find my place on Craigslist after searching for 2 weeks. The moral of the story is, that the vibrations of the seed sound opened a space, removing obstacles to my empowerment. It didn’t happen on its own, though, which is important to note. It’s not enough to “just chant” and expect everything you want to come to you. Chanting opens a space, raises a vibration, but from there it’s up to you to use your awareness and take action when required. How to use the Seed Sounds of Ganesha to Remove Obstacles To chant seed sounds, first create an intention to remove obstacles by invoking the energy of sound science. Choose your seed sound, and chant! “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.13 Chanting means repetition, and if the sound you are chanting has a rhythm you can repeat it over and over and over again. For instance, the Nichiren Buddhist practice is based on a seed sound: their chant is: “Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo”. Nichiren Buddhism is different from other Buddhist practices where desire is said to cause suffering and should be avoided. Nichiren Buddhists hold the philosophy “chant for what you want”. Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo became a famous chant when Tina Turner recognized the practice for helping her change her life for the better. I only bring up this practice to exemplify the many different traditions of using seed sounds to bring about positive change in life. There are of course many people who chant “Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo” and don’t get what they want, however. To anyone who practices any tradition of chant or prayer and who might wonder why it’s not working, I offer the following: keep chanting, and take action to create what you want. When looking to break the chains of inertia, massive action is required. Just chanting is never enough. Chant to open the heart, chant to clear the mind, chant to raise the vibration, chant to create conditions for change. “And then, you must act.” 7 Minutes to Obstacle Removal To experience the power of seed sound chanting for yourself, I recorded myself chanting with a meditation chime, and I invite you to purchase my recording “7 Minutes to Obstacle Removal” to get started practicing today. “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.14 The MP3 is a recording of me chanting “Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha” with a meditation chime. You can listen to and chant along with it. This particular Ganesha chant, I use every day in my home practice. The seed sound contained in my 7-minute recording has led to the removal of countless obstacles in my personal life. The MP3 is available for only $2.77 at my website, MFMCoach.com You can also visit the following link: http://mfmcoach.com/seedsounds May you find peace within, and may all your obstacles melt away as you chant with all your heart. OM Peace, Evan Kopelson Certified Life Coach and Yoga Teacher “How to Remove Obstacles with the Chanting of Seed Sounds” © 2012 Evan Kopelson! p.15