Mool Mantra – Change Your Fate to Destiny
By Dev Suroop K. Khalsa
(Originally published in Aquarian Times — Summer 2003)
It is safe to say that each one of us is experiencing the pressures and stresses of the time. We are faced not only with today’s turbulent political and social environment, but we are also coping with our own private, internal landscape. We may be processing feelings of insecurity, concern, or anger from ever changing and intensifying world events. At times each of us may find ourselves dealing with the constant roiling of our mind, memories, and reactions from life-patterning, or simply coping with life. Sometimes events in our environment or feelings within us seem uncontrollable; we seem to have no influence over them but, nevertheless, we are affected very deeply by them.
How do we cope with challenges and difficult times and with the depressions in the flow of life? Many of us have tried to cope in ways that, later (or sooner), we discover really do not work. Losing your self in anything from mental fantasy to alcohol abuse or drugs may provide some relief, but only temporarily. At some point, we may have the blessing of waking up and realizing that the damage created, the pain inflicted, and the recovery time are simply not worth it and that there is a better way, a permanent and hopeful way, a simple way.
The technology of the Shabd Guru is available to serve us all. Quite simply, the Shabd Guru is ready and able to take us out of the abyss of our own misery. The words of the Shabd Guru are universal and were written for all humankind. Anyone of any faith or any background can use this technology. There is no prerequisite, no need to sign up for anything. You don’t need to be anything but you to use and benefit deeply from this technology.
So how does it work? First of all, select a verse from the Shabd Guru—any one will do—and give it a try.[1] You might select one that seems particularly applicable to your life. For example, perhaps you’re feeling limited and trapped. Correctly chanting the sixth Pauri (verse) of the Sikh prayer Japji Sahib dispels limitation. Whatever you choose, recite it 11 times a day for 40 days and see what happens in your life. Don’t miss a day! If you do, gently and lovingly, start over again. Allow yourself to experience, firsthand, the miracle of transformation through the sound current.
You’ll find the words of the Mool Mantra, or root mantra, at the end of this article. Guru Nanak, a saint and minstrel and the founder of the Sikh lifestyle, composed this simple, powerful, and universal mantra. While traveling throughout Asia in the 1400s, Guru Nanak sang these and other words and taught that all people are inherently divine and created equal by One Creator. The very first words of the 1,430 pages in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib are the Mool Mantra. They encapsulate “a complete philosophy and psychology of human potential in one compact phrase.” [2] Many things are written about the power of reciting this mantra. The Mool Mantra gives an experience of the depth and consciousness of your soul. It is often called the fate killer. (Fate is what you start with in this life. It can be changed through exerting the effort of will.) Reciting this mantra can change your destiny to complete prosperity. (Destiny is your highest potential in this lifetime.) The Mool Mantra can help you find your spiritual identity and the ways and means to live it.
In its simplest form, Shabd means “sound” and Guru means “teacher” or “knowledge that transforms you.” Put together, Shabd Guru is a special sound that is a teacher. Yogi Bhajan often says that there are two teachers—time and space—or a spiritual teacher—and that we can learn our lessons from either. While both paths lead to the same destination, time and space, or fate, is often a cruel and painful teacher. This is the commonly traveled path, with all of the associated pain of making mistakes and then arduously having to regroup and learn from that pain.
In seeking fulfillment in life, you might try to find your soul mate, gain status and achievement through your career, or strive to purchase the home you always wanted. However, the fulfillment from such endeavors is transitory. Through discipline and surrender, using the technology of the Shabd Guru, and with the intervention of a spiritual teacher who helps you transcend limitation, you can rise above fate and be transported to your destiny. The course that fate might have taken you on can be elevated to the fulfillment of your soul’s original promise when it incarnated as a human being. While the path to living your destiny is not necessarily an easy ride, there is no fulfillment on any other level that can be as deep and gratifying.
Give yourself a chance. Rather than being buffeted by the harsh winds of time, use the Mool Mantra to begin to change your fate which could be disappointing or painful, to your destiny which promises to be ultimately fulfilling and satisfying. Give yourself the opportunity to transform a life of fate into one of destiny and fulfillment.
The Mool Mantra–Guru Nanak
The language of the Shabd Guru is Gurmukhi, a language similar to Sanskrit in its power to transform. The Siri Guru Granth Sahib was written in Gurmukhi script and has been translated into English. Here we provide both the transliteration and the translation.
Ek Ong Kaar
Sat Naam
Kartaa Purakh
Nirbhau Nirvair
Akaal Moorat
Ajoonee Saibhang
Gur Prasaad
Jap!:
Aad Sach
Jugaad Sach
Hai Bhee Sach
Nanak Hosee Bhee Sach
English Translation
One Spirit Beyond
Moves within the Creation-
Coordinating
Consolidating
Continually
Creating,
And this Spirit
Within me
Is my True Identity.
It Does All
And Causes All
To be Done.
It Protects me
Through all incidents
Of Time and Space.
It fears nothing
And never experiences
Vengeance
Or anger.
Deathless
It comes into Form.
In Itself, It has
Never been born.
Flowing through the cycles
Of Birth and Death,
It moves
By Its Own
Purity and Projection.
This understanding
Shall come to you
As a sweet blessing,
As a gift.
In every moment
Continue
In Its Continual
Remembrance.
From the start
This Truth was True.
All through Time and Space
Is True.
Even now,
This Truth is True.
Nanak says,
Ever shall be True.
English Translation by Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa. Go to www.alibris.com to purchase a beautiful and inspiring complete translation of ‘Japji Sahib – The Song of the Soul’.
How-tos:
A Shabd should be recited 11 times a day for a minimum of 40 days to experience its power. Recite in English or in Gurmukhi transliteration, both are beneficial. However, reciting in Gurmukhi allows you to better access the power of the mantra, and as the words are recited in proper Naad or sound current, the tongue hits the meridian points on the upper palate, effecting a change in consciousness.
When chanting the Mool Mantra, leave a slight space, but not a breath, between the words Ajoonee and Saibhang. Do not run the words together. Emphasize the “ch” sound at the end of the word sach in the last four lines—this adds power. Work carefully to pronounce the words properly.
[1] A good resource to use is The Psyche of the Soul, available from Ancient Healing Ways at www.a-healing.com. This source includes a pronunciation guide and gives the healing qualities associated with each verse.
[2] The Aquarian Teacher, KRI Level 1 Teacher’s Training Manual. p. 81.
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