Various types of meditation are available, and this number continues to increase as the practice of meditation becomes more and more mainstream. While many forms of meditation have taken to technology and are available through online courses and apps, a handful of practices are still taught in their traditional form.
One of these traditions is Vedic Meditation.
About Vedic Meditation
Vedic meditation comes from ancient India. The term Vedic originates from the Sanskrit word Veda, or knowledge. The Vedas are the ancient Indian body of knowledge that is the source of Ayurvedic medicine, yoga, and Indian philosophy.
The Vedic meditation technique is practiced by sitting comfortably with eyes closed and gently using a specific sound, or mantra, to naturally settle the mind and body into deep rest. This state goes beyond thought and is referred to as transcending.
A Brief History of Vedic Meditation
Vedic meditation starts with the Vedas, ancient religious texts from India that serve as the base of Hinduism and yoga. People read about it in the Vedas. Also, Vedic meditation is the first kind of meditation from which all other types come.
This type of meditation uses calm sounds or words to quiet busy thoughts. It helps you feel better by reducing stress and helping you sleep well.
There are 4 texts: the Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and Atharva-Veda. The Rig Veda, the oldest of these texts, invokes courage, happiness, and peace in its readers.
Meditation was practiced only by a few in India for thousands of years. In 1953, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi toured the Far East, USA, and Europe, bringing meditation worldwide.
All other forms of Indian meditation arose from Vedic or transcendental meditation.
Also Read: Full Moon Meditation: Benefits, How to Do?
The Science of Vedic Meditation
Just as the ancient yogis say good things about Vedic meditation, science has also backed its benefits for good health. Vedic-based meditation has the most science behind its effectiveness.
Science has proved that rewiring our brains through neuroplasticity can change our DNA. In that sense, Vedic meditation works similarly, rewiring our mind, body, and emotions, which can help eliminate hereditary diseases and ailments.
Key Components of Vedic Meditation Techniques
Here are five of the major aspects of this style of meditation:
1. Vedic Meditation Uses Mantra
Vedic meditation uses a particular type of mantra called a bija mantra. Bija means “seed,” as the seed is planted and, through daily practice, watered so the beautiful flower grows.
This type of mantra works on the vibrational level of sound. When we use words like “love” and “compassion” as our mantra, we focus on these words so they will naturally grow.
Naturally, as we think of love in our heads, this stimulates our thoughts. All the times you felt loved or didn’t feel loved naturally pop into your mind. However, using a mantra without meaning, the sound is engineered to take our mind to more subtle states of being.
A teacher gives you your mantra based on your life stage, but there are also other reasons why a teacher would give a specific one.
2. Vedic Meditation Is Effortless
This technique has no concentration and no forcing of the mind. Vedic meditation embraces thoughts as a component of the meditation. During the practice, favor comfort, so practice using back support rather than a rigid spine.
3. Vedic Meditation is for Busy People
Vedic meditation technique is for busy people with busy lives and even busier minds. So, it is practiced twice a day for 20 minutes. This is the time-tested duration that optimizes the eyes-open productivity.
This technique lets you keep all your beliefs and everyday daily habits. You don’t have to adhere to a religion, believe the method will work, wear different clothes, or eat a specific diet. Vedic Meditation welcomes you just as you are, without any condition of having to change.
4. Vedic Meditation is Taught in Person
Vedic meditation teachers are a life-long resource for you to answer questions that surface during practice and help advance your practice.
By learning in person, you exchange energy between the teacher and you. This initial energy interchange is part of the technique, and it helps you realize if the teacher is the right person to teach you.
When you acquire knowledge of Vedic meditation, you can join in on any group meditation across the world, which means you can benefit from the knowledge of the whole collective community.
5. Vedic Meditation has a Gratitude Ceremony
A gratitude ceremony is performed before you receive any eyes closed technique in this tradition. Vedic Meditation is an oral tradition; lineage can be traced back thousands of years.
By performing the gratitude ceremony, you ensure the remembrance of the long list of masters of knowledge who have come before you. It also makes it so the initiator teaches from a place of humility.
Also Read: Origin and History of Meditation (Full Timeline)
Vedic Meditation Mantras
Vedic meditation mantras are particular sounds or words used during the practice of Vedic meditation. They have been passed down through generations and are considered sacred in the ancient tradition of Vedic science.
These mantras are chosen by a trained Vedic meditation teacher based on the individual’s unique qualities and needs. They are meant to be repeated silently in the mind during daily meditation, helping to quiet the busy thoughts and bring about deep relaxation.
Some examples of Vedic meditation mantras include “Om” and “So Hum.”
Significance of Vedic Meditation Mantras
Mantras are formed through Beej mantras. Like a seed is the main part that later becomes a tree, similarly, beej mantras recitation helps you command the big mantras.
Some properties of beej mantras are mentioned below:
- It is not intentional and has no one meaning.
- It is not written or spoken.
- It is silently repeated during meditation rather than being recited aloud.
- One mantra is given to each meditator.
- New meditators are given bija mantras by a Vedic meditation instructor with professional training.
- The only way to receive Bija mantras is in person.
- The mind is not hypnotize by bija mantras.
Role of Vedic Meditation Mantras
In Vedic meditation, mantras are fundamental because they play an indispensable role in helping you achieve focus and intention. Mantras are repeated phrases or sounds that help quiet the mind and bring a sense of calm.
They have been used for centuries to deepen self-awareness and connect with mindfulness. Repeating these mantras during meditation creates vibrations that can affect your well-being.
Additionally, these vibrations can promote healing, transformation, and increased self-awareness. By unlocking mindfulness and power within you, Vedic meditation mantras can guide you toward a more peaceful and centered state of being.
Also Read: Impact of Meditation on Brain (Effects, Changes, Benefits)
List of Vedic Meditation Mantras
- Om: This sacred syllable exhibits the sound of the universe and is often chanted in several spiritual practices.
- So Hum: This mantra translates to “I am that” or “I am that I am.” It connects with the existing moment and one’s true self.
- Om Mani Padme Hum: This Buddhist mantra means “Hail to the jewel in the lotus.” It aids compassion and is related to the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokitesvara.
- Aham Prema: Translates to “I am love.” It focuses on cultivating self-love and kindness towards oneself and others.
- Sat Nam: This Kundalini yoga mantra means “true identity” or “truth is my name.” It helps in building a connection with one’s inner truth and authenticity.
- Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu: A Sanskrit mantra that is a prayer for happiness and peace for all beings. It conveys the intention of wishing happiness and harmony for everyone.
- Gayatri Mantra: This Vedic chant is regarded as one of the most powerful mantras. It is related to Goddess Gayatri, which encourages enlightenment, wisdom, and intellect.
- Om Namah Shivaya: This Hindu mantra honors Lord Shiva, representing transformation and consciousness. Chanting promotes clarity, inner peace, and spiritual growth.
- Om Shanti: Shanti means peace. Chanting this mantra invokes a sense of serenity and calmness within oneself.
These are some examples of popular mantras in meditation practice. There are multiple other mantras with unique meanings that individuals can explore depending on their personal preferences and spiritual beliefs.
Benefits of Vedic Meditation
Some benefits you get if you perform Vedic meditation daily are.
1. Protects From Negative Energies
Many people use mantras to escape evil forces, incidents, or accidents. For worldly desires, chant mantras to fulfill worldly or material desires. To fulfill any wish, one hopes to fulfill one’s desires with the mantra of some deity, goddess, or other powers.
2. Provides Good Memory & Concentration
Mantra binds the mind into a system. When the mind is tied into a scenario, the individual becomes mentally powerful, increasing engagement. Improved concentration and learning power of mantra gives better concentration and learning power.
When you chant a mantra, its vibrations activate the chakras on the face and head, increasing the mind. Regular chanting of the mantra produces a hormone that keeps the mind calm and relaxes the body, making it more accessible to focus.
3. Emotionally Balanced And Calm
Emotions have physical and mental components, so as the thinking gets clearer through Vedic meditation, your feelings become more transparent. One connects with the positive energy and powers at this moment by continuously chanting your Ishta or any powerful mantra.
If there’s any obstacle in your life, you can solve that problem by chanting mantra.
4. Think Clearly And Creatively
Relaxing and generally having a lower stress level at the moment allows the brain to function better, making you more creative and productive. When a person is anxious, he is surrounded by negative thoughts, making the situation more dangerous.
To avoid thoughts, chanting any mantra develops confidence and positive energy in the mind that ends grief and pain. It calms the person mentally.
5. Helps to Sleep Soundly
Vedic meditation nourishes a healthy nervous system, allowing for a deeper and more restful sleep. Mantra helps get the grace of divine powers. It is called that mode, which awakens and absorbs the invisible occult power. Finally, a mantra is the method of developing the secret power.
6. Builds Self Esteem
Everyone must love and respect themselves to be truly happy, yet many lack self-esteem. Ingrained patterning in our nervous systems from life experiences can leave us with low confidence, unworthiness, and optimism. Vedic meditation powerfully purifies our nervous systems of negative patterns that have long held us back. Our authentic sense of self comes shining through.
Some other benefits of Vedic Meditation include:
- Normalizes blood pressure and cholesterol
- 50% fewer visits to the doctor
- More energy during all activities
- Increases creativity
- More accessible learning of new things
- More joy from life
- Slows down the aging of the organism
- Better work and sports performances
- Develops the brain capacity and intelligence
- Helps to stay on top of things and improves emotional stability
- Improved relations with close persons and colleagues
- Optimizes weight
- Improved immunity, fewer illnesses
- Reduces allergies and asthma
- Prevents the burnout syndrome
- Faster reactions and reflexes
- Better memory
- Helps in dealing with challenges and difficult situations
Also Read: 33 Facts About Meditation (Scientific, Surprising, Unknown)
Step-by-Step Instructions to Practice Vedic Meditation
Mostly, meditation is 20 minutes, which you can do anytime. However, the best results will be if you practice it in the morning hours after you wake up or just before you sleep.
To practice Vedic meditation, all you have to do is:
- Sit in an agreeable place with your feet on the ground and turns in your lap. Leave your legs and arms uncrossed.
- Close your eyes, sit calmly, and take a couple of full breaths to loosen up the body.
- Feel the breaths and neatness.
- Open your eyes, and after that, close them once more. Your eyes will stay shut amid the 20-minute practice for more focus.
- Rehash a mantra in your brain. This is commonly a Sanskrit sound mantra that you can get from a meditation teacher or YouTube.
- When you perceive that you have an idea, mainly come back to the mantra
- Following 20 minutes, move your fingers and toes to push yourself back into the world.
- Feel good about yourself and your emotions.
- Sit for a couple more minutes and prepare yourself for the day. Keep moving until you feel prepared to proceed with your day’s task.
- Motivate yourself for the more significant things and see each person with an excellent and positive perspective.
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Conclusion
Vedic meditation is a unique silent mantra dating back to 3000 BC. This ancient practice promotes self-awareness and improves the practitioner’s health and overall well-being through proven effects on brain function, stress-related physiological processes, and perceptions of stress.
Like any other skill or activity you learn, getting the complete benefits of Vedic meditation takes time. However, practicing it will make you sensitive to subtle body, mind, and emotional states – becoming a keen observer of yourself. So, you may notice small shifts in your stress level, mood, and well-being quite quickly as you practice.
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