In the video below, I describe my general intentions behind undertaking a practice of reciting 200,000 of the Saturn harmonizing mantra.
I also briefly recapitulate and reference a Caltech study on the formation of our Solar System, particularly the role played by the planet Saturn in saving Jupiter from spiraling into the Sun and swallowing the other planets along with it. I.e., Saturn is responsible for the fact that the Solar System, and therefore humans, still exists.
I have always been fascinated and drawn by Saturn since childhood.
Planets are like gears in a clock, and people are like little gears. It's hard to scientifically know how planets affect our existence, aside from them being there and keeping the solar system in gravitational balance. And if there are many such large gears governing us little gears, all the large gears are just noise; it's hard to discern which signal is coming from which gear, and it all seems like noise to which we simply habituate (or mostly likely never notice) and forget exists.
Mantra is a technology -- yes, it is a technology, albeit a pre-modern one; see my earlier blog post -- it utilises sound as a means of knowing.
In the Vedic tradition, Saturn is said to be the ruler of karma (i.e. cause-effect relationships). In my own practice (I have 6,000 recitations of this mantra behind me), I have noticed that the Saturn mantra increases awareness of thought-forms, tendencies, emotions, and unconscious scars that weigh down progress in life. A feeling of heaviness (Skt. tamas) can be produced, often along the central axis of the body. It's almost as if the mantra is kicking up detritus or debris from dead weight that may be being carried from the past.
2-3 hundred thousand mantra recitations is what is said in Vedic tradition to be required to achieve mastery over a mantra and its effects (Skt. mantra siddhi). What's most important is how well something is practiced, not how much of it. That said, there's something to be said for repeated practice (Skt. abhyasa). This is my first time going for a 200,000 of any mantra, and I undertake it as an experiment with a certain intentionality behind it... a mixture of intuitive, visceral, and intellectual understanding and inference.
There are no modern tools to experience the essence of a particular object. Modern science currently has no way to prove or disprove that a particular mantra is associated with what it is claimed to be associated. In the meantime, if one is feeling experimental enough, it's worth giving it a whirl. The key is to have a "self-science" approach: notice effects of the mantra, be healthily skeptical (watch out for placebo effect), and pay attention how you feel before, during, and after a practice...
If you are feeling inclined to try mantra, and it's your first time, refer to my earlier blog post on the topic. If there's enough interest, I can do a separate post on Mantra 101. In any case, begin with utterance of simple phonemes, and become embodied in your experience of them. Rather than thinking about it, feel the sensations of the sound vibrations in the body and mind. This is an empirical venture.
If you're keen to try this mantra, begin with a few, slow recitations aloud. Once you can recite it from memory, pay closer attention to the sensations. If you're wanting more, use your fingers to count recitations and maybe go up to 108 using a set of mala beads.
Also, this practice overlaps with a social sadhana on Tao Semko's website.
Day 57:
LOL, I'm perhaps running out of explicitly positive things to say about this sadhana while it's being undergone. Major unresolved psychological issues that have remained at bay thanks to expansive emotional cultivation (e.g. from Kundalini Awakening Process 1 course) is palpable on a daily basis. Ha-Tha breathing is my life saver. I have had to turn down the intensity on that breath, as I was doing it very forcefully, however, it continues to be a mainstay. I tried adding in the Lakshmi mantra for the Shh sound. It rounds off the jagged edges a bit, but nothing can stop the underlying force of Saturn. There is that wonderful Tool lyric: "Saturn comes back around / Lifts you up like a child / Or drags you down like a stone / To consume you till you choose to let this go". I had a creative vision a couple of days ago based on this lyric, where it hit me that Saturn can take one to high places and also to low places (in terms of karmic experience) --- i.e. it can accelerate karmic transitions or deepen their grip on you insofar as there are lessons to be learned from a karmic interaction. I would say that I'm at peak shittiness feeling right now. In the past days, Saturn has brought up tons of a couple of particular psychological issues that are bottlenecking hard on my psychic system. What keeps me going? The prospect of new heights. Moving things along. Experiencing more in one lifetime (i.e. a continuum of memory) than I otherwise would. To evolve so that I can more expeditiously become of better service to the highest good of all beings. Maybe that's some sort of limiting belief on some level, based up on notions of what "time" is and what timescale(s) my ego-personality is attached to. Perhaps. This is important to note. That said, it seems that I have a strong underlying meta-intention in my soul constitution to purify through tapasya, at least at this time. And great, whatever. I revel in Being as such at this time. It stokes an inner fire. It pushes the envelope in some way. I'm sure there are other vistas beyond this; more sattvic forms of purification. I welcome them wholeheartedly in due course.
I like you @gentlebot.
Day 59:
I realised what the problem has been since I began this last bout of mantras. Basically, I have not been abiding in central channel -nature. I was doing that before and things went much more smoothly. This last time I was in my qiaos and in yang wei, while my Dai was constricted, and I wasn't in chong/sushumna/central channel. Since going back into chong and doing mantra from there, the crap feeling has decreased significantly. The reason is b/c of my experience with the mantra being generally challenging, i thought that maybe I can recite the mantra without being present with it. Was I wrong or what. Everything just got clogged in my already constricted Dai. I've also started pulsating some helpful Ganapti, solar, and lakshmi bijas while I do Saturn mantras. I also note that when I started Saturn mantras, I also chose to do Ganesha and Vignesha root mantras... I now realise that this was the result of intuition/grace, as these archetypes really nicely counterbalance/complement Saturn. I've resumed these mantras. Just a note: Saturn mantra is far more effective when doing it from shen consciousness rather than only chi-based. As far as I have experienced, this applies to all mantras. Shen mantra japa addresses causal consciousness, whereas chi doesn't directly do so.
Day 1-2:
Well, what a start this has been. Glad to be back in a concerted purification and karmic healing mode! This sadhana is not for the faint of heart.
Yesterday, I felt quite heavy in my central channel. Lots of stuff bubbling up in there and coming into my periphery. I may do a mala round or two of the Namaha variation as well. Felt some tension come out of the shadows regarding throat chakra expressivity.
I'm also invoking my Higher Self and including my ancestors (via blood and DNA void access) in the fire of the mantra, which also augments the clearing.
On the second day, in between the mantra recitations themselves, I was in ajapa japa, i.e. automatic mantric recitation without explicitly/outwardly in the practice. This means the mantra is running in the background beyond the 10 mala rounds I'm doing per day. I went to bed last night and awoke this morning in ajapa japa. My dreams heavily before I actually fell asleep. I had a lot of dream-heavy sleep, which suggests a lot of reorganisation/housekeeping/clearing of the unconscious.
I slept 12 hours last night. This usually happens to me when I do karmic clearing, i.e. Sedona Method, asking inferential questions and clearing, John Jones' mirror ball, etc. This means my subtle body could use a bit more juice to keep up with the extra demands.
In order to keep up with the demands of this practice, I am now making sure to amp up my chi and jing (prana & ojas, respectively) cultivation. Especially, lots more Lower Dantien cultivation to amp up the capacitance.
For a number of mantra recitations in each mala, I am actively working on non-dual abiding (trekchöd & thogyal) as the mantra. I hope to increase this a bit more over time.
I'm doing most of the recitation under my breath or with my lips or mentally. Moving forward, I'll be doing at least one complete mala of my daily superset aloud (chanting).
If you made it this far, thank you for reading!
Day 3:
Performed Taoist Extraordinary Vessel coupled magnet treatments and feel much better -- less congestion and gunky feeling.
I treated the following vessels:
Chong - existential reorganization;
Yin Wei - processing;
Dai - expression and interface from the new perspective;
Yang Wei - re-contextualization and renewal of worldview.
Day 4:
Seems that the acute tamas of the first two days has abated, at least for now. Karmic residues are still very much present in my Extraordinary Vessels. The magnet Tx's continue to help (as always), and I'll be incorporating them regularly, as much as possible.
I tried one mala round while inverted on my OmGym Suspension System. Nothing out of the ordinary after one time. Will try again later.
Started to get into self-generating as Saturn through the mantra. Will strengthen this in the coming days.
Day 5:
Karmas continue to be in my face, althought not abrasively so. I remember now that Namadeva (Thomas Ashley-Ferrand) appeared to me just before bed on the eve of Day 2. Noticing dark (black) detritus emerging from abyssal areas of the human subtle body, coming out of hiding. Am also starting to do some self-generation as Saturn deity. When self-generating, the thogyal helps.
Day 6:
Deep dream sleep cycles last night. Am experimenting with invoking Buddha nature to assist with trekchod in the mantra. Self-generation as Saturn has an interesting feeling -- the deity is almost pitch black. Running Kundalini through self-generated Saturn is also very interesting; it feels like K is connecting various sparse and spatially distant aspects of time-space holographically within local body. Feels like there are dots being connected that may otherwise not be if the sadhana wasn't being undertaken.
Also had a peek into a Saturnian Damo's Cave while running the mantra -- lots to explore there; many causal seeds that enact a will of their own unbeknownst to the microcosmic ego-personality consciousness -- Damo's Cave is way to access (generally speaking); will be interesting to explore Saturnian Damo's Cave.
Also, incidentally, have been noticing over the past few days that when doing mantra under my breath, using my lips, I tend to maintain some jaw tension, something that I have a general habit of doing. Since chronic jaw tension can turn into TMJ and can numb some brain areas via muscles constricting the skull and overall sensory acuity, this mantra is helping me turn some attention to the jaw in general, as a coincidence... so I now work to relax my jaw during the day more b/c I happen to be doing so much mantra (#sideeffectbonus).
Over the past days there has been the motivation to do counterbalancing practices/sadhanas to assist with Saturn's effects, however another element to this could very well be that, b/c Saturn has an association with discipline, that He is playing some causal role in starting other sadhanas. Interestingly, despite doing 5 sadhanas concurrently, I feel more organized than usual -- I am able to engage in sadhanas, get adequate sleep, fulfill householder duties, and also get my work done. I'll report back on this latter point in due course, to make sure that it's not just the excitement of doing yoga :D
Day 7:
The past couple of days I've been getting mild but noticeable sensations of light pressure and heat of a 2-inch diameter at the crown of my skull. Since I've been doing a number of sadhanas, I may have to observe more closely for a few more days before I can suss out the cause. It may be some mix of the kapalabhati with the Saturn sadhana, although I don't feel this immediately after doing kapalabhati.
Also, I am doing Juru 1 (Pencak Silat martial arts kriya) using quite high intra-abdominal pressure, considerably higher than what is instructed or what is taught in KAP. I find that if I don't push down from my solar plexus while I'm drawing the belly in and pulling up on the pelvic floor, that it is quite easy for the pressure to go up to my thoracic region. In the beginning of Juru 1, I wasn't pushing down and I had the pressure go up into my physical heart, and it was honestly a bit frightening b/c my heart felt like it was being highly stressed from the internal pressure and potentially would get damaged if I kept doing that.... so I've been trying to be more careful. Note, I still feel some thoracic pressure once I exhale the Juru 1 internal breath retention... (need to talk to Santiago about this, although he's quite busy.)
In other news, during my last mala round of the day, two karmic interactions from the past (one recently and another years ago) came to me spontaneously, and almost instantly I proceeded to go into a very beautiful almost spontaneous mahamudra chöd experience with both cases -- there was one in particular (the older one) that I always had trouble facing, and with chöd it was enormously smoother. At no point did I turn away from the recall; I stayed with it, with the wish to be more present, resulting in the bliss experience of the chöd amplifying -- bliss and emptiness are truly the perfect couple. It helped to titrate the impressions of Tao's KAP3 mahamudra transmission; this wasn't effortful; it just felt like one stream converged with another. As this was occurring, I was hit by the realization of how easy and simple it is to apply mahamudra chöd to personal interactions -- hehe, now I will just have to try to actually put that realization into practice Anyway, in the experience, I consciously facilitated the clearing, and I went into deep spinal-undulating kriyas (not sure how I would handle kriyas with on-the-spot mahamudra in personal interactions... Once the kriyas subsided, I felt compelled to do Ho'oponopono with the person with whom I'd had that interaction. At least 50% of the immediate interaction karma was cleared... there are deeper soul-level and causal layers that may warrant further attention.
What a ride! Saturn really gets things moving -- and it feels good! At least so far -- I've learned that consciousness has a trick it plays on me constantly: expansive experiences transpire, seemingly almost just to prepare me for a subsequent/eventual deep dive into transformation of some kind. An analogy for Saturn: feels like boba tea tapioca balls bubbling up sushumna, each black ball being a caked up karmic sludge composite coming up for processing. Maybe I'll have a better analogy in a few weeks ;) Also, I didn't sleep relatively well last night, and as a result there was an increased effort required to pay attention to the mantra. Next time, some extra inversion and kapalabhati ought to do the trick. That was long-winded -- thanks for reading!
Day 8:
Saturn flow getting smoother, in a kind of warm golden tonicity. Correction: Saturn appears to be colored charcoal, not exactly pitch black (which is more the void). Set some intentions whilst reciting to invite causal seeds into the mantric action… Was able to maintain a fair degree of mahamudra with those causal seeds.
Day 9:
Well, last night I slept 10 hours with very heavy dreams. I basically wrote a script for a dystopian sci-fi crime drama in my sleep. Dreams can feel exhausting in a way when they take that kind of long narrative plot-twisting intensity. As with the Vignesha mantra, I tried lowering my drishti a bit toward my pelvic region.
Days 10 - 15:
The sadhana has continued as normal without interruption. The mantra feels as if it has merged with my everyday rhythm, in practice, and effect. As before, I still need to make sure I perform counterbalancing practices, as the mantra does have an overall tamasic effect. I make sure to include ancestors in the practice often by focusing on blood and DNA in various organs, tuning into the karmas of particular organs. When I actively include ancestors into the practice, the effect of the mantra feels greater.
Day 16:
I'm working on widening chong/sushumna while reciting the mantra. I am also having my ancestors chanting the mantra along with me.
Days 17 - 19:
Performed Extraordinary Vessel magnet treatments yesterday and the day prior, which helped smooth out some of the clunky tamas in the flows of sushumna. I have grown accustomed to the Saturnian flow; that said, it can be unpleasant at times, like carrying stones. Nevertheless, I continue with counterbalancing practices, in particular squats, pranayama, and lower dantien chi cultivation. More absorption in sushumna happening while self-generating as Saturn. Some nice kriyas happening. Still reminding myself to stay present in the lower chakras as well during the practice.
Days 20 - 22:
Some days, this sadhana can become a bit exhausting, given the amount of clearing and also the additional physical workouts I'm doing. I spent a few mala rounds running the mantra from sushumna in the region of my legs, with lots of shifting sensations/kriyas, awareness increasing along the backs of the legs. Felt like I was searing astral beings. I had to sleep a lot the following (last) night, with difficulty summoning the will to get out of bed. Running today was exhausting and every part of my body, including breathing, resisted running; nevertheless, I persevered and completed my run. I do lower dantien cultivation quite imperatively to keep up the prana to deal with the clearings.
Day 51:
I felt that I had to take a good break from this sadhana. It was as if my body was resisting the thought of even doing it, like an allergy. This is even with the counterbalancing practices, such as Ha-Tha breathing and Hanuman sadhana. Saturn seems to be pure tapasya. I think that moving forward, it would be good to complement Saturn sadhana with some more Taoist 5-phase practices. I used to love doing Fusion of the Elements while walking through the woods. I will try to incorporate more of this type of sattvic equanimity practice. Today I have recommenced Saturn mantra, and it felt right to do so. I will recalibrate the days to make up for the time lost. I actually lost count, to be honest b/c I was doing the mantra while traveling and was not documenting it. According to this sheet, I've lost about 2 months. I will add 2 months to the timeline, which puts the end of the sadhana t 28 September. I am happy if I get this sadhana done by the end of 2018.