What is Tratak Sadhana? Part 2: The Benefits
Tratak is an advanced technique. Seek the help of a Guru before starting its practise.
This post continues from the prior article on Tratak – click here to read.
The benefits are many
The point of tratak is to ultimately still the mind and use the resulting concentration to access soul power within.
Aside from improved focus, mental acuity and memory, other notable benefits are:
- Precognition. One may experience such heightened levels of perception that your observation skills border on precognition. IE – you can almost read someone’s thoughts or know what they are about to say before they say it. This occurs because the mind is usually attempting to process more information from your 5 senses continuously than is usually possible. Most of the time it must ‘delete’ the majority of this information flowing in and just focus on the relevant details. With the practice of tratak, one starts to delete less and absorb more.
- Influence. Your powers of influence improve as you can no only ‘read’ people better, your added awareness and mental acuity give rise to greater levels of confidence. In combination these two factors allow you to improve your oration abilities, stick to the strength of your convictions and therefore much more easily influence others.
- Siddhis. The advanced practitioner of tratak can reach the stage where their cognitive abilities can access the subtle realms of existence and channel divine power to manifest siddhis (when used in conjunction with mantras); the easiest being clairvoyance, remote vision, psychic communication, etc.
How to Attract Women: Part 4 – Soundarya Lahari Mantra for Marriage
The Soundarya Lahari holds many powerful mantras. Find the mantra to attract a partner here.
This article is the continuation of the How to Attract Women series.
Authored by the hand of God…
The Soundarya Lahari, loosely translating to “Waves of Beauty” is a masterpiece in praise of the Divine Feminine. The piece is said to be authored by Shiva himself and transcribed by Ganesha, in praise of his consort, Parashakti – the Supreme Power.
These secrets were originally provided to Adi Shankaracharya. Through a twist of fate, the Shankaracharya himself contributed a section to the hymn. The lore as to why he wrote a portion is varied but suffice to say, a portion of the original text was lost, requiring him to complete it.
There are many further sources of information on the text, including on Speaking Tree:
…and the source of many powerful mantras
The Soundarya Lahari is an incredibly powerful script. Each verse and couplet is known to have tremendous mantra-shakti.
Interestingly, for a stotra of this size, there is no Phala-sruti – the part of the prayer which describes its attributes and benefits. Instead, one is to take it as an act of pure devotion. In fact, this is actually the key to unlocking its benefits. Once you worship the Divine Feminine in Supreme form, the more pointed questions are: what will you NOT receive and be unable to perform after accessing such a powerful force? The answer is of course: nothing!
The Mantra for Attracting a Partner
Here is the verse to hasten marriage; it allows you to attract a husband or wife.
Note: The translation and transliteration have been borrowed from the fantastic website: http://www.sankaracharya.org/soundarya_lahari.php.
Transliteration:
Verse 5:
“Haris tvam aradhya pranata-jana-saubhagya-jananim
Pura nari bhutva Pura-ripum api ksobham anayat;
Smaro’pi tvam natva rati-nayana-lehyena vapusha
Muninam apyantah prabhavati hi mohaya mahatam.“
(Semi-literal) meaning:
“You who grant all the good things,
To those who bow at your feet,
Was worshipped by the Lord Vishnu,
Who took the pretty lovable feminine form,
And could move the mind of he who burnt the cities,
And make him fall in love with him.
And the God of love , Manmatha,
Took the form which is like nectar,
Drunk by the eyes by Rathi his wife,
After venerating you,
Was able to create passion ,
Even in the mind of the great Sages.”
Important notes on Procedure
Whilst anyone can chant the Soundarya Lahari, they should approach it the appropriate degree of reverence.
There is a significant level of precision required in both pronunciation and procedure. Ideally one should proceed straight from the shower into the prayer room dressed in freshly washed clothes. Light a lamp, then begin chanting as per usual mantra japa.
Learn the pronunciation from one well versed in the mantra, or if that is not possible, listen to the mantra online to learn it. A link will soon be posted to the Listen to Mantras Here page of my blog, accessible by clicking here.
Lakshmi’s Compassion Manifests as Golden Rain!
Channel the Power of Lakshmi through your life with the Kanagadhara chant
Are you lacking something?
There are times when our financial situation struggles to meet our needs. For the vast majority of the readership living in the Western World, this is not an immediate problem – but there are those who do need help.
For such needs, I would greatly recommend the Kanagadhara Stotra, a powerful hymn spontaneously composed by the Adi Shankaracharya himself to plead with the Goddess Lakshmi herself to help those in need.
The Story of Golden Rain
The story is very moving. The Adi Shankaracharya comes to the house of a poor widow when begging for biksha (alms). The widow is embarrassed that she has nothing for the acharya so gives him the only thing she has – a gooseberry from the tree outside her house.
The Shankarcharya is moved by this; despite her extreme poverty she finds it within her heart to give him everything she had. He spontaneously composes a rousing hymn to Lakshmi, pleading the Goddess to take pity on her daughter and shower her with blessings. As the great acharya prays, the Goddess herself appears, again moved by his pleading. The result is a shower of gold: the gooseberry tree outside the widow’s house rains gold gooseberries!
Give to receive
Click here to find the YouTube clip of the stotra sung by the great MS Subbulakshmi by clicking here.
Chant or listen to this everyday to see your financial situation dramatically improve!
Once your have benefited from it, don’t stop – keep going! Why? Because there are always those less fortunate than you; ‘paying it forward’ has untold benefits in terms of good karma.
A perfect complement is the Shreem mantra – see my prior posts for further details.
Follow me on Twitter: @MantraYogi
Vijayadasami: Learn for a better life!
Use Vijayadasami to channel Saraswathi's Grace into fresh learning!
Vijayadasami: more than a day of victory
In the wake of the powerful final day of Navaratri – and the final day of praising Saraswathi, the Goddess of Speech, Literature and the Arts – children in India have a tradition of learning something new or even starting a new semester at school on Vijayadasami.
It is not only children that have scope to learn and start something new today (or tomorrow depending on calendars) – Vijayadasami is an aupicious and spiritually powerful time for EVERYONE young or old to gain access to Saraswathi’s Grace.
In the spirit of this mantra-driven blog, I would encourage all to look to learning a new mantra of your choice to enhance your life in the coming twelve months till the next Navaratri. Examples of various mantras are available by clicking here.
Don’t know how to start?
Some resources and links are provided below on how one preps with mantra:
- First it is customary to praise Ganesha and wish for an auspicious start on all new undertakings. A few chants are fine to begin the invocation. Find mantras by clicking here.
- Second, praise Saraswathi with this mantra (click to follow link). A recommended count is a multiple of 16, or alternatively, 116, 1016, etc. 16 is auspicious to Saraswathi. Incidentally, it is the mantra often taught to young children before they start school to recite before studies begin.
- Third, work out what you want to learn and go for it!
The time of transformation is now! Don’t miss out!
Navaratri 2011: Victory is upon us; don’t stop now!
Celebrate Victory over Internal Evils at the end of Navaratri!
Navaratri day 9/10
Depending on your calendar, you will either be preparing for the final night of Navaratri or celebrating Dasami – the day good triumphs over a lingering evil.
For those who maintained an intense sadhana (spiritual practices) over Navaratri as a whole, the experience should have been cathartic.
It is not uncommon for one to see a vision of the Goddess in a dream or experience some good gesture or news at the end of the period in acknowledgement that the powers that be have listened and blessed you!
But what next?
Do not feel that mantra yoga sadhana ends with the final day of Navaratri; in fact it only begins!
The process of purification is over, one would have achieved the blessings of the Devi and moreover developed a clear idea of what the practices and methods are. It is an ideal time to set yourself the 40 day challenge – click here for details.
So don’t delay and make a committment today to undergo a lifechanging transformation through mantra yoga!
Follow me on Twitter: @MantraYogi
Navaratri 2011: Ward off Black Magic with Three Mantras!
Under attack from Black Magic? Put on the Armour of Mantra!
The Left Hand of God
Many believe that the use of mantra can be for evil and unholy purposes. There is some truth to this. Just like the mind and your life is malleable under the pressure of karma burn and mantra recitation to yield positive effects, others may seek to exert a negative influence. There are many influences in the Ramayana and the Mahabharat of the forces of evil employing such tactics.
But let’s not get paranoid!
There is no need to turn paranoid and assume that minor negative developments at work, college, events etc are the influence of Black Magic! For the ordinary person, it is highly unlikely you will ever encounter forces so sinister – particularly if living abroad. It is more than likely this is simply the effect of (1) bad karma catching up with you! (2) plain bad luck (3) malefic effects of planetary junctures. All of these have simple cures and specific mantras.
Peace, spiritual development and protection possible with mantras
However, for one’s peace of mind (and incidentally significant spiritual development), three powerful and well documented mantras are presented in this article to counter-act and provide excellent protection.
1. Under attack? Wear Armour!
Since medieval times, mankind has known that the soft and fallible body can be protected by something harder and stronger. Historically, this has evolved from hides and leathers to iron to bronze to kevlar and the latest lightweight bullet-proof vests.
But what about for attacks of the subtle body? One uses a spiritual armour: a kavach! Kavach literally translates to armour. There are stotras (hymns) to every deity under (and including!) the Sun for the purposes of kavach. Just put a deity’s name and the word kavach into a search engine and see what comes up!
I personally prescribe the Kanda Sashti Kavach – a stotra to Lord Skanda – click here for more details on Skanda. It is composed in Tamil; a language as Ancient as Sanskrit. If one does not understand, you can always search for a google translation.
I am told there is a wonderful rendition on YouTube. I will post this to my Online Mantra collection shortly – click here to access it – on my blog.
This stotra has terrific mantra-shakti (ie equivalent power to that of a mantra). It is recommended to recite this 36x in one day to become untouchable. I prefer to listen to it as I am not versed in Tamil. You can too!
2. Pray to Hanuman
Since Ancient times, Hanuman has been known as a powerful deity to ward away evil and black magic. See my prior post by clicking here for mantras to Hanuman. I would also recommend the Hanuman Chalisa. I have posted a link to an excellent rendition on my blog – click here to access it.
3. Pray to Durga at this ideal time of Navaratri!
Durga is the original destroyer of evil. She is a deity invoked by the Gods for the very destruction of all demonic forces which rampaged over heaven and earth in Ancient Times.
Navaratri is the absolute IDEAL time to invoke her to do the same for you.
Do not forget that she is not by any means limited to something so trivial – she will bless you with every positive development in your life hence forth. Indeed, spiritual, physical, mental, psychological, intellectual and social transformations all can happen over night by the praise of Durga over Navaratri.
She will defeat both the demons in the outside world and importantly, those within.
Don’t delay! Click here to find out how to start chanting to a better life.
Other key Navaratri articles:
<< Click here to read the Navaratri Sadhana guide. >>
<< Click here to see my collection of audio files if you feel you cannot recite the mantras accurately. >>
<< Click here to see the 3 Key Mantras for Devis over Navaratri.>>
Today is Friday! T.D.I.F!!
Thank God its Friday! Or as I like to say - Thank Devi Its Friday! (TDIF!)
Today is Friday!! What does Friday mean to you?
The end of the week is finally here! What does Friday mean to you? No more work (for some of us!)? Time with the family? A weekend getaway?
I personally love Friday. It is a prime day for Devi Worship. Moreover, during Navaratri, our prayers are amplified by magnitudes we cannot comprehend – don’t miss out on this opportunity! – T.D.I.F. (Thank Devi It’s Friday!)
How to Pray:
Prior posts have covered a multitude of mantras and sadhanas for all but today’s focus is Lakshmi.
Fridays are incredibly auspicious for Lakshmi, the Goddess of Abundance and Wealth. I would greatly recommend the following courses of action – whether you need to fix something lacking in your life, out of pure devotion or as part of a larger Navaratri routine, these two technologies are incredibly effective at pushing you toward your goals:
See my associated posts by clicking on the links above. I would also highlight my articles on how to make your prayers heard even faster – click here to see my post on Super-charging your ability to attract abundance.
Don’t miss the incredible opportunity that is Navaratri!
What is Tratak Sadhana? Part 1: The Method
Tratak is an advanced technique. Seek the help of a Guru before starting its practise.
The Yoga of practicality
Tratak is one of the 6 methods of Hatha Yoga.
The practice of tratak is key to improving one’s concentration during meditation on certain abstract mantras.
In particular, one would practice tratak for bija mantra japa – such as Kleem and Shreem.
Tratak is generally considered an advanced technique and the help of a Guru should be sought by the serious practitioner.
Concetration is vital to manifestation
It is well known that benefits from mantra japa accrue in proportion to effort. Concentration is the underlying measure of effort; the greater the concentration whilst chanting, the more powerful the results.
Tratak helps to focus the mind and dramatically improve concentration. In this way, it is not dissimilar to pranayama.
What is tratak?
Tratak is the concentrated effort of maintaining one’s vision on one particular object or area within.
There are three forms:
- Inner – one focuses on the point between the eyes while they are closed. This is the area where the pituitary gland is located within the brain.
- Middle – focus on an object at an intermediary distance; for example an oil lamp at arm’s length.
- Outer – in this method the aspirant focuses on a distant object such as the moon or stars.
The method
- Freshly shower, wear freshly washed, loose clothes and find a quiet room to practice alone.
- Sit in your usual yogic asana (posture) – such as cross legged with the spine, neck and head straight.
- One calms the mind using pranayama before starting.
- Actively avoid and repel any intense emotional thoughts. Clear the mind.
- Start the tratak method that you find most comfortable (inner, middle, outer etc).
- Keep absolutely still and quiet during practice.
- Start with 15 mins of practice and work up to 1-2hrs.
- Always practice for the same or more time than in your prior practice.
- Try to be regular in practice – at the same time every day or week, depending on frequency.
- It will take at least 3 months of continuous practice to see significant improvement in your mental state.
The Original Mantra: the Pranava - OM
Swami Mantra Yogi 