abide in the experiential knowing of your own divine essence...
Reside in the Knowing of Your Own Self
CHANTING SHREE GURU GITA
SHree Guru Gita is Swami Nirmalananda's morning chant. Just as her Guru arranged it when she was a shisya (disciple), the text is framed (like a picture frame) by opening and closing chants that make it even more beautiful. Swamiji has set us up with this sequence of chants:
1. OM svaroopa svasvabhavah namo namah: we begin and end with this Sanskrit invocation, which means, "I bow to your inherent divinity, that Beingness that is being you. Again and again, I bow."
2. Om Guru, Mere Guru, Jaya Guru Om: Swamiji wrote this chant soon after taking sannyasa initiation. She published it on her latest CD, entitled "Namah." This is a call-and-response chant, with Swami Nirmalananda singing out the call line so the yogis on the phone may respond.
The words are:
(call) Om Guru / (response) Om Guru
(call) Mere Guru / (response) Mere Guru
(call) Jaya Guru Om / (response) Jaya Guru Om
(call) Jaya Guru Om / (response) Jaya Guru Om
(call) Om Guru Om / (response) Om Guru Om
(call) Om Guru Om / (response) Om Guru Om
The words mean: OM-primordial reality, Guru-spiritual teacher & source of grace; Mere-my own, Guru-teacher; Jaya-Joyful Salutations, Guru-teacher, Om-(teacher) of primordial reality / primordial reality (as the teacher).
It gives each person who joins the chant an opportunity to sing to their own Guru, whether that is Swami Nirmalananda, or her Guru - Swami Muktananda, or another teacher who gives them the experience of their own Self.
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The next three chants are in SYDA Foundation's Nectar of Chanting, which is available at their online bookstore. They also have a pocket version of the Guru Gita, but it does not have the Universal Prayer in it (see below).
3. Guru Sandals: Baba Muktananda included this chant before the text of Shree Guru Gita, and Swamiji continues the same tradition, using the traditional melody. This is sung in unison.
4. Shree Guru Gita: Swamiji has adapted the traditional melody, used by Baba when he was alive, in order to lead chanters in finding the pronunciation of the words more easily. We chant the 182 verses that Muktananda selected in 1971, from the larger text in the Skanda Purana.
5. Universal Prayer: This chant shares the blessings accrued by the yogi with the rest of the world. Most Svaroopa® yoga teachers are familiar with this chant as it is part of their YTT Level 2 training. This is sung in unison. You can find a recording of this on Swami Nirmalananda's Beyond Blessings CD on the Amaya Website.
6 Jaya Jaya Arati Nityananda: This is a joyous chant, sung several times daily in Bhagavan Nityananda's temple in Ganeshpuri India, while a series of brass flame holders are waved in beautiful patterns in the air - all in front of Nityananda's murti (enlivened statue). A recording of one of the temple priests singing this chant is on our Ganeshpuri Music School site. Click here for the words and translation.
7. OM svaroopa svasvabhavah namo namah: Chanted three times at the end: the first is to honor the divine in the Guru; the second is to honor the divine within your own Self; the third time is to honor the divine in each other and in the whole world.
8. Silence: Sitting in a sweet and deep silence for 4-5 minutes.
9. Closing: Swami Nirmalananda closes by ringing a chime three times. She then places her palms together in front of her heart as she bows and says the meaning of our opening and closing phrase in English. Then she repeats the Sanskrit: OM svaroopa svasvabhavah namo namah.
The next three chants are in SYDA Foundation's Nectar of Chanting, which is available at their online bookstore. They also have a pocket version of the Guru Gita, but it does not have the Universal Prayer in it (see below).
3. Guru Sandals: Baba Muktananda included this chant before the text of Shree Guru Gita, and Swamiji continues the same tradition, using the traditional melody. This is sung in unison.
4. Shree Guru Gita: Swamiji has adapted the traditional melody, used by Baba when he was alive, in order to lead chanters in finding the pronunciation of the words more easily. We chant the 182 verses that Muktananda selected in 1971, from the larger text in the Skanda Purana.
5. Universal Prayer: This chant shares the blessings accrued by the yogi with the rest of the world. Most Svaroopa® yoga teachers are familiar with this chant as it is part of their YTT Level 2 training. This is sung in unison. You can find a recording of this on Swami Nirmalananda's Beyond Blessings CD on the Amaya Website.
6 Jaya Jaya Arati Nityananda: This is a joyous chant, sung several times daily in Bhagavan Nityananda's temple in Ganeshpuri India, while a series of brass flame holders are waved in beautiful patterns in the air - all in front of Nityananda's murti (enlivened statue). A recording of one of the temple priests singing this chant is on our Ganeshpuri Music School site. Click here for the words and translation.
7. OM svaroopa svasvabhavah namo namah: Chanted three times at the end: the first is to honor the divine in the Guru; the second is to honor the divine within your own Self; the third time is to honor the divine in each other and in the whole world.
8. Silence: Sitting in a sweet and deep silence for 4-5 minutes.
9. Closing: Swami Nirmalananda closes by ringing a chime three times. She then places her palms together in front of her heart as she bows and says the meaning of our opening and closing phrase in English. Then she repeats the Sanskrit: OM svaroopa svasvabhavah namo namah.