| Pollution has never before reached such a high level so as to make the environment unfit for livings beings. In none of the previous Yugs have so many diseases manifested and plagued mankind. The increasing corruption as well self-centeredness of individuals only makes the inhabited world worse. The physical world is just a mirror of the etheric worlds. In order to induce a change in the physical one would have to begin in the subtler world and not the other way around. The mind is the most powerful tool for bringing about this change. In fact, contamination first manifests in the mind as a selfish thought, this selfish thought permeates into a whole society creating distrust and greed, making the natural resources scarce and hazardous. Add to this the gross misuse of ancient mantras and practices, which only increase the environmental pollution.
The whole creation emerged from the just one sound that of ‘OM’. Every sound in the creation has effects a change in the physical body which might be positive (sur) or negative (asur). So for someone who has experienced the power of chanting mantras, it is distressing to hear frivolous use and wrong pronunciations of basic mantras all around. Incorrect chanting of a mantra can have disastrous effect while chanting of the right mantra has immediate positive results, not only changing our environment but also our very body.
A mantra is a combination of sounds which is chanted by the siddh of the mantra to manifest a desired energy in the physical world. Every sound of the mantra should be shudh (lucid) and the crests and troughs in a mantra should be strictly adhered to with complete reverence. Even the simple chant of ‘om’ essentially has three sounds, representing the trinity, Brahma Vishnu and Shiva, corresponding to the three forces Creation, Preservation and Transformation. These three forces are active in the physical as, `aaaa’ [as in ahem], `oooo’, (as in ouch) and `mmmm’ as the sound of the male bee. Chanting these three sounds in succession maintaining awareness of the lower body during `aaa’, the middle body during `ooo’ and head during `mmm’ has the direct effect of balancing the vibrations of the individual cells in the body. There several sub-sounds within these which range from a shrill to a whisper and even to silence (the sound of silence is the most powerful when heard). Each sound signifies a certain energy and so one has to be extremely cautious when chanting mantras.
Another abhorrently distorted practice is that of havan. Nowadays, havans are performed for everything and by everyone, a quick solution to problems and way to the bank. In earlier times, when a havan was performed it cleansed the atmosphere, there was no black smoke around. I can say this with conviction because I myself have attended such havans. The attendees are not restless but even during the longest of the havans the people feel serene and peaceful. The smoke that comes out of the agni actually is aromatic and dissipates diseases and other negative energy of the attendees. The samagri and samheda are so pure, the mantras chanted so shudh that a havan releases positive vibrations in the environment and removes toxicity. This is the reason why yogis have a fire (dhuni) lit always and yet they stay healthy and glowing. The element of fire can never be polluted and anything that goes into it becomes cleansed. So ensure that not only the materials used in the havan are pure, but the thought that goes into it also is and especially the one who performs is doing it with the right
intention.
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