Introduction

In his book, Om Swami describes in full detail how to do Gayatri Mantra Sadhana. This book can be found here.

Summary

  • we become the kind of people we surround ourselves with
  • we speak our words carefully, use our resources judiciously to help ourselves and those around us and be eternally grateful for everything in our lives
  • Om Swami starts with the story of how King Kaushika became Brahmarshi Vishwamitra and the sacred Gayatri mantra was revealed to him. More on this story can be read here and here
  • few nice words of wisdom from sage Vasishtha to King Kaushika:
    • the one who does not seek or need anything from this world can create anything he wishes.
    • you are not defined by what you have or what you can do, but by who you are.
  • there's little hope for a person who's dark from the inside
  • When you are fulfilled, you can manifest fairly much anything in your life. It’s when we are not fulfilled that we become impatient; we become self-centered. We become tired and narrow-minded. In chasing what we could have had, we lose sight of what we already have
  • Purity and light are synonyms of enlightenment, of freedom; while the impure is trapped and confined, the pure is eternally liberated
  • four kinds of chanting
    • vachika - chanting out aloud. Can quickly tire you and also can cause restlessness when done over long periods of time
    • upanshu - only lip movements to be seen along with a whisper
    • manasika - it is not chanting the mantra in your mind, but actually recalling it
    • ajapa - a state where the mantra is chanting itself!
  • If you get upset very quickly, that means you are not progressing spiritually
  • You chant a mantra because you want to invoke the divinity within; to gain immense inner strength; to constantly purify yourself.
  • a good prayer never asks God for anything (that's actually begging!). It instead should only express gratitude
  • 3 forms of mantra sadhana:
    • nitya karma - aka daily routine. Helps refresh what you've learnt
    • naimittika karma - sort of a FD in your spiritual bank account. You chant certain mantra for a certain number of times in a given period and store it's energy to be used later (aka purushacharana)
    • kamya prayoga - chanting mantra for fulfilling certain desire
  • when you are lazy, breathe from the right nostril and it'll invigorate you
  • when you are angry, breathe from the left nostril and it'll clam you down
  • different types of invocations:
    • laghu purushacharana - duration of 3-9 days with atleast 1k chanting each day
    • sadharana purushacharana - 40-120 days with a minimum total count of 100k.
    • asadharana purushacharana - 18-24 months with an exact total count of 2.4M
    • maha purushacharana - 24-32 months with an exact total count of 3.2M comprehensive invocation has full 36 steps while the brief one has only 7