Word for word translation of
22 Sanskrit mantras
These Sanskrit mantras are all set to beautiful music by Western Kirtan musicians of renown, including - Sacred Earth, Deva Premal, Kevin James, Krishna Das, Terry Oldfield and Soraya Saraswati, Sacred Space, and Pralad and the Chants. They are all songs that are good to sing along to, especially in a group.. And all these musicians have given concerts in south Queensland where I live. I have heard them all in concert, except for Krishna Das.
Namaste Devata - Let us honour the Beautiful, o radiant ones!
Welcome to my website, fruit of much labour! It is a tribute to the contribution by these talented musicians to the culture of our people, and to their dedication in developing their music until it reaches many thousands.
Kirtan is participatory. People have been singing these sacred songs for thousands of years, in devotional setting, and we can connect with this powerful energy when we join in. kīrtana = keertana = reciting, celebrating, praising, as a dictionary word.
I find a good word-for-word translation greatly enhances the value of singing along to the CD, for we get an understanding of each word as we sing from the word sheet. This helps to unlock the hidden meaning of the mantra. Then it becomes a gem of wisdom, and a succinct poetry that conveys some Dharma theme helpful to spiritual practice and healing.
Study and Meditation....
To learn the meaning of each mantra word requires study and learning. The consciousness in study and learning is quite opposite to the consciousness of meditation. And Kirtan is a special kind of meditation, quietly resting or boisterously dancing, to focus the mind and uplift the heart. As a meditation, we focus on the sound of the words, and how it really feels to properly articulate them.
So please find your balance between singing to learn Sanskrit, and singing for meditation.
The Wisdom of the East.
The beauty of Kirtan can attract us to the beauty of the Wisdom of the East.
Buddhist and Hindu themes can provide useful guidance to our spiritual practice in daily life. They discuss enlightenment and transcendence from troubles and suffering, and how meditation training can help us with this. They also teach us to know our own desires, and to properly direct them to bring happiness and not more pain. They also describe the Sacred that dwells in our own Being, how to reconnect with this Divinity, and how to restore it into our daily lives, where it belongs.
Unfortunately, Buddhist and Hindu material is governed by religious tradition, and what is habitual is not necessarily helpful. In addition, these old religions seem reluctant to present their deeper, more fundamental themes in a clear and comprehensible form. So I wrote this website to dig deep into Buddhist and Hindu themes, and reveal their full benefit for our daily lives, in this modern Western world.
I write as a meditation adept, now with 40 years of daily meditation practice and several years experience of teaching meditation weekly or fortnightly. I had an extensive education in Buddhist meditation and philosophy. At the Buddhist Societies of Vic and WA, on their retreats and in their monastery in the 1980’s and ‘90’s. I adapt Buddhist and Hindu themes from their origins in prescribed belief and doctrine, and adapt them into a form that works for me, now, in my seniority. I hope they will work for you too.
The works of religious scholars are the starting point , not the final word, in my writings on spiritual practice and healing. My determination is to provide quality Dharma, to help people discover useful guidance to their spiritual practice. To achieve this, I had to gift thousands of hours of my prime time to mantra-translate.
If you find my work helpful, then please tell me about it. My gmail dot com address is mikebqld
Free Gift of Dharma.
My writings are also a free gift of Dharma. They are all Copyright ©, * and you are permitted and invited to copy them, and use them as you see fit, provided it is not harmful to mantra-translate. You have the right-to-copy and use.
More importantly, Dharma works best when it is free of any obligation to agree or disagree with it, from within or without. Then we can approach the Dharma with open mind, and look for something helpful for our daily life. For the true Dharma transcends mere personal opinions. It takes us beyond the ego, and all its petty likes and dislikes.
Best wishes from Mike.
Landline : 4157 6146. gmail dot com address is mikebqld
Horsecamp Rd, Horsecamp, via Gin Gin, south east Queensland, 4671.
(*. Please note that Buddhist and Hindu scriptures come from ancient tradition, belong to no one person, and Copyright © cannot be claimed for them. This applies also to their translation into other languages, when published on websites.)
