Siddhis from 5th Chakra and Abilities from Other Chakras?

[WanderingNomad]

As the title alludes to, I was once reading a Yoga website that said that Siddhis or "powers" come from the fifth chakra, but as we all know the 6th chakra and heart have their own abilities. I had found numerous sites that mentioned that there were 10 Siddhis, ranging from the ability to not eat for long periods of time to mastery of movement through space etc etc. So which is it ? Is it only those 10 siddhis that come from the 5th chakra and everything else comes from the others ? Why is the 5th chakra so important for all that stuff while the other chakras are mostly known for having 2 or 3 abilities...


Thanks

[Tom]

Since you are reading about Yoga you are probably familiar with the exercises to draw energy - prana - from the air and store it in the body: pranayama. Try breathing without stimulating your fifth chakra, as in, without involving your throat. It isn't as easy as it sounds.

According to Lama Yeshe, a famous Buddhist teacher, in his book "The Bliss of Inner Fire" if you want to use psychic abilities or siddhis you should focus on the navel chakra. It is a lot like saying that using the NEW system you store energy in the subnavel storage center so that when you want to use your abilities later you will have the spare energy available to draw from.

All seven primary chakras have siddhis associated with them. The base chakra is related to the element earth. The second chakra goes with water. The third goes with fire. The fourth with air. The fifth with space / ether. I've seen extensions of this which assign thought to the third eye and Light to the crown chakra. If you'd like a rapid yet balanced approach to activating the siddhis through the main chakras, repeat the mantra "On Namah Shivaya" a couple of thousand times every day for a few months. It is the mantra of Shiva, as it sounds like, and it activates the elements within the primary chakras. When you master the elements within yourself, at the same time you gain mastery over them in your environment. If you are wondering, no ... those mantra repetitions are not as easy as they sound. In a couple of days if not weeks you will probably stop doing it.

[WanderingNomad]

I already tried it for a few days, far too short a time but its definitely interesting, the first mantra I ever saw that was supposed to balance everything. I gotta ask though do mantras cause specific colors to appear in your aura or thoughts in general ? I was practicing this one day and couldn't help thinking of the color pink all around me....

[Rayson]

Tom- I like the feel of that mantra as it vibrates within me, however I don't normally chant something repeatedly without knowing what it means. Do you have any info along those lines?

[Tom]

The "Om" is for the third eye and the "Namah Shivaya" part is for chakras 1-5. Chakra #7 is brought into balance and activated by #6.

Seeing colors is nothing to worry about. Pink is often associated with the heart chakra, even though its color is green. The heart chakra can also have violet and gold associated with it.

My favorite song (you might have seen me link to it before) for the Shiva mantra is here ... http://www.box.net/shared/static/ns9fyvcjgh.mp3 ... it has a lot of words to it that I can't quite catch.

As has been recently explained to me several times, a lot of mantras are little more than the name of someone - in this case, Lord Shiva - to ask for help. It is like when someone says your name: it gets your attention. Where you direct your attention, energy flows also. I'm sure you would definitely be listening if someone called out your name thousands of times every day for months or years. The "Namah" is there to make it respectful, and I suspect the ending "-ya" on Shiva's name is either grammatically correct as an ending to indicate that you are speaking to Shiva, rather than that Shiva is speaking. Either that or it is another honorific. Om doesn't really translate at all well. Chanting it tends to raise the quality of the energy in the area around you. I have read that it is the shortest name for God, if that helps, or for all the energy of the universe if you prefer. Mantras don't tend to be translated; their meaning is their energetic effects.

[Rayson]

I sorta stumbled onto this on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aum_Namah_Sivaya


Tom- I downloaded that mp3 you linked here. I've really been enjoying it. Thank you.

[Tom]

That is a much clearer explanation for "Om Nama Shivaya" than I could recollect. Thanks for linking to it.

[Rayson]

No problem! It's very cool stuff. Thank you again for sharing it with us.

[WanderingNomad]

Ya it is definitely a helpful mantra, now... though I have a new problem/annoyance.. between this mantra, making psi balls every other day for at least 30 minutes, the middle pillar meditation almost every single day, my 6th chakra feels like its going to explode like a balloon ! It isn't painful and I can still concentrate but I'm way to calm even for me. Obviously it was stimulated before the mantra... but is it possible I'm pronouncing the the first part right and missing something on the others ? It is.. Aum Num ha Shi why right ? I can still feel my other chakras when doing this, but the 5th and 6th have been growing thicker and stronger ever since Monday. With the 5th chakra , the front and back of my neck are on like a light house more strongly than it has ever been before. I thought that maybe that is because I'm well chanting and it uses my voice.... so made sense that the 5th chakra should do something......

To give a better idea of how I say it, if that matters......

Auuum Nuum haa Shi whyyyy

I have done that for 30-40 minutes before having to get up and do something because well I start feeling like my body is vibrating and I'm dizzy but sitting still and strangely enough it may sound weird, but I feel like I'm in my body sideways ? like I'm facing the wrong direction even though I'm still sitting in the chair and am not moving.

How many minutes do you do it for ?

[Tom]

Maybe I forgot to tell you ... anyway ...

It is 6 distinct syllables:

Om
Nah
Mah
Shi (Shee)
Va (vai)
Yah

I'm told that the general rule is 125,000 repetitions per syllable and then you are done. Plan on 1,500,000 repetitions and it starts to make sense that you are going to want to do several thousand every day. There will be side effects and many of them will be uncomfortable, as you may have noticed, but keep going anyway and have faith that the end result will be worth it. You will probably end up wanting to do more ... that 1,500,000 is somewhat of a minimum. It doesn't take long to say "Om Namah Shivaya" however, so it is not as bad as it sounds. This is why it is helpful to have a mala - 108 beads on a string - to help you keep count.

[WanderingNomad]

Thanks again, I will try that tonight and see if I can get the rest of the lower chakras to feel like the 5th and 6th, my heart chakra always feels active but the first and second ones are really hard to do anything with, I've found that making psi balls uses the third chakra a lot though....

so is it possible that my mispronunciation was why I wasn't getting all the lower ones too ?

[Tom]

The energy goes where it is needed most. It will change over time with use of the mantra. It is possible that you are feeling some of the chakras more than others because that is where the energy is currently going and something is working its way through. The next thing may or may not be with your first and second chakras. Pronouncing the mantra correctly is a good idea - that was my reason for downloading that song - but your intent is more important. A lot of mantras were brought from India to Tibet and in addition to errors in copying them, transliterating them from Sanskrit to Tibetan was a real problem. There was a story I read which would be perfect here:

http://www.purifymind.com/DailyPra.htm

"If a practitioner has strong faith, then even if they make some mistake they will still receive benefits. Once in India there was a famine in which many people died. One old woman went to see her Spiritual Guide and said `Please show me a way of saving my life.' Her Spiritual Guide advised her to eat stones. The woman asked `But how can I make stones edible?', and he replied `If you recite the mantra of the Goddess Tsunda you will be able to cook the stones.' He taught her the mantra, but he made a slight mistake. He taught OM BALE BULE BUNDE SÖHA, instead of OM TZALE TZULE TZUNDE SÖHA. However, the old woman placed great faith in this mantra and, reciting it with concentration, she cooked stones and ate them. This old woman's son was a monk and he began to worry about his mother, and so he went home to see her. He was astonished to find her plump and well. He said `Mother, how is it that you are so healthy when even young people are dying of starvation?' His mother explained that she had been eating stones. Her son asked `How have you been able to cook stones?', and she told him the mantra that she had been given to recite. Her son quickly spotted the mistake and declared, `Your mantra is wrong! The mantra of the Goddess Tsunda is OM TZALE TZULE TZUNDE SÖHA.' When she heard this the old woman was plunged into doubt. She tried reciting both the mantras but now neither of them would work because her faith was destroyed."

[WanderingNomad]

I had never heard of anything like that :) pretty surprising *looks at rocks on the ground and smiles* I did try the syllables that you said, whether it was just that particular chakra's turn to be activated I do not know, but I did feel my earth chakra for the first time in quite a while.

[Aunt Clair]

Thanks Tom et al . I learned a lot from this thread . I love mantras and was not familiar with this one . I appreciate your lengthy explanations and links .

http://members.iinet.net.au/~curran/smiles_files/image103.gif

[Zak]

Wow, coincidence?...

I just got back from a life altering trip to Egypt which I am writing a long post about and will post sometime tomorrow if anyone is interested...

The thing is, is our group had this eccentric egyptologist tour guide. He really took to me and was so open hearted that our whole group absolutely loved him. He was into sound healing and encouraged us to sing and tone at the temples we were at. He would also chant Om Namah Shivaya off and on throughout the day. I would always join in with him nd he's just smile at me and say words of encouragement about my path in life.

He would sing the words in a little four line phrase to a tune which isn't like the one in the song although it is a very great song :p

Om Namah Shivaya
Om Namah Shivaya
Om Namah Shivaya
Shiva Om Namah

I guess it's kinda hard to get the sense of the tune as I don't know if I can figure out the notation...

This seems easier to memorize than the long complicated song :p But the fact that it's a tune get's you "tuned" into to it a lot deeper and I find it automatically starts in my head and continues without much effort whereas a mantra can become almost chore-like.

I'll try recording it and putting it on here, maybe tomorrow...

[Chris_com28]

I'm still trying to remember to remeber the mantra. So do you have any personal experience with the mantra, Tom?

[Tom]

Sometimes I'll be in a mood to work with a mantra, but you really get the results from a mantra you have to be willing to put in the time to repeat the mantra at least 100,000 times and if you are really serious about it, at least 1,000,000 times. We aren't talking about seeing how fast you can spit the words out, either, although you will tend to get faster at it with time. You have to say it each time with as much of your attention as you can put into it while keeping the purpose of the mantra in mind the whole time. The more you can learn about the mantra as you practice with it, the better. It will help to maintain your enthusiasm for the practice. Generally you will want to say the mantra at least 1,000 times every day so you can get through it in a couple of years. You will start to get results in a month or two. I'm doing good if I say a mantra 1,000+ times at all the first week total. It just isn't my thing. I prefer to sit still and be quiet when I meditate and if I were to take up a mantra it would be while riding the bus, going to the grocery store, or at work doing my job - and it is hard to count out mantra repetitions that way. I've considered making a recording of myself saying a mantra that I can say the mantra along with, so that when the recording ends I can just add however many of them to my total that was on the recording, but even then I can see myself for whatever reason not saying them all along with the recording and not knowing how many I actually said. If I'm going to say the mantra I want it to be for a specific purpose and not being able to really count them all is the main obstacle to my choosing to do the practice. It is not good enough for me to just estimate a calendar date when I can assume I am ready to switch to a different mantra.

[Zak]

That's really interesting to hear Tom. I'll keep that in mind for my later practices with IIH.

I can nw see how much the unballanced or neative mantras have an effect on us and the way we are as people. Things like "I'm not good enough to..." or "I feel sick because..." are definetly the ones to weed out of unconscious repetition!

[sono]

Thank you for reminding me about that mantra & for the link posted to the mp3. . . I have just listened to it & feel energy prickling up & down my entire body. I have been using the Guru Rinpoche mantra for the past few weeks, but for some reason have felt very depressed.

Previously, I have used the maha mantra; then Om shri rama, jaya ram jaya jaya ram; om shri ganapataye namah & the Tibetan Om mani (or masi ) peme hung; but for an instant energy sensation nothing has come close to the Om namah shivaya. Some people from Hindu tradtions might have been put off the Siva mantra by being taught that Shiva is on an intermediary plane, below Krishna as the supreme deity. . . but it really is worth investigating for oneself.

Thanks again!

[Zak]

Something I learned from a workshop on sound healing I attended recently...

Om mani padme hum has 2 different pronunciations even when both written this way. As far as I can tell they both do a fairly similar thing though. The following are the pronounciations:

Vedic or Indian version- Om ma-nee pad-may hoom

Tibetan version- Om ma-nee pay-may hung

This was told to us by Lama Tashi http://chantmaster.org/ who was a co-facilitator at this workshop. He's a very interesting monk and unfotunately non of his samples are currently up on his web page to hear his incredible voice. He is the ex-head of the Dalai Lama's chant choir at Drepung Monastery in India.

[sono]

Thank you! Unfortunately the link is still under construction, but will check at a later stage. I know the two om mani padme (or peme )hung pronunciations & have heard that there is an "esoteric" one in which mani is pronounced as "masi". . . . . have you ever come across that one?

All the best

[Zak]

No I haven't. I'll look it up sometime!

[ButterflyWoman]

It is 6 distinct syllables:

Om
Nah
Mah
Shi (Shee)
Va (vai)
Yah


Ah hah! So that's what that is! I've got Anoushka Shankar's latest album, Rise, and it's got a few songs with vocals (this album is a more modern interpretative music, some jazz influences, etc., and it's not purely classical Indian sitar music, though there is a lot of sitar, naturally). One of them uses those syllables. I could hear the "Shiva" bit, but I didn't know what it was about.

Now I know. Cool. :)

[Zak]

She is an amazing musician. It helps to grow up in a household where your dad is the most well known sitar player in the world of course :p

[ButterflyWoman]

She is an amazing musician.

Yes, I agree.


It helps to grow up in a household where your dad is the most well known sitar player in the world of course :p

Thank you, George Harrison. ;)

[DM*Cubic]

I think the notion that siddhis come from the fifth chakra is interesting due to the magical power attached to "the Word" in Christian thought. Here's a quote from the Gospel of Thomas:


Gospel of Thomas, Verse 48: "Jesus said, 'If two make peace with each other in this one house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move away,' and it will move away.'"

It seems to me at first glance that this verse means, when it is taken literally, the following: once we have fully transcended duality and achieved full understanding of how the universe works, we will be able to command and shape it. This would seem to take place through words (perhaps a metaphor for symbolic thought?), hence the manifestation of siddhis from the fifth chakra.

Then again, Mohammed had some problems moving mountains... so who knows? We shall see when we shall see.

[CFTraveler]

When I first read it I interpreted in the way that our minds, whose subconscious minds and conscious minds don't always work together, would unleash our creative power if we can get both of them together into a good working relationship.

[Ann]

Thank you for posting the link to this mantra Tom. I love this, it is so beautiful. I'm not very familiar with mantra's, but I've listened to a few of them before and found the Gayatri Mantra and now this one to be two of the most powerful ones. I could actually feel my spine straighten and the crown chakra open towards the end of this piece. Again, thanks.