Nyasa: Placing Sacred Energy Within
In the previous article, we discussed Mudra and in this article we will discuss Nyasa.
In Sanskrit, “nyasa” means “to place something.” You might have heard the word “sam-nyasa,” which roughly translates to renunciation. This word comes from “nyasa” itself, as renunciation involves placing or dedicating oneself to a spiritual path.
Nyasa: Connecting Body and Mantra
Installation: In tantric practices, nyasa is a technique where you touch different parts of your body while reciting specific parts of a mantra. This is like “placing” or “installing” the mantra’s power within yourself.
Rudra: Rudra Namaka before chanting this powerful mantra, practitioners touch various body parts and associate them with different names of the divine. For instance, “agni-hotra” (a sacred fire ritual) is “placed” on the thumb.
Map in the body: This creates a link between the physical act of touching and the internal recitation of the divine name. It is like creating a physical map of the mantra within your body.
Sandhyavandana: Similarly, during Sandhyavandana, specific parts of the Gayatri Mantra are “placed” on different fingers and body parts before chanting. For example, “tatsavituh” is associated with the thumb, “varenyam” with the index finger, and so on.
Newar Buddhism: In Newar Buddhism, a branch of Vajrayana, the “Tara Samdhi” practice includes nyasa as its fifth stage. This shows the importance of physically integrating the spiritual practice into the body.
Nyasa for Beginners
Kara-Nyasa: This involves touching different parts of your hands while reciting mantras. It’s a great way to prepare for meditation or chanting. It is a simple way to use the physical body to trigger the internal repetition of the mantra.
Creating a Trigger: Think of nyasa as creating a physical trigger for an internal action. By touching a specific body part, you’re reminding yourself to connect with the mantra and its energy.
– Imagine your body as a finely tuned instrument, and nyasa as the act of pressing specific keys to activate its internal resonance.
– Each touch on a designated body part acts as a tactile cue, a physical trigger that initiates a corresponding mental or energetic response.
– Just as pressing a button on a remote control activates a specific function on a device, touching a body part in nyasa serves as a direct link to the associated mantra or deity, prompting an internal invocation or visualization.
– This physical action serves as a consistent reminder, a tangible anchor that pulls the practitioner’s awareness inward, aligning their physical sensations with the intended spiritual energy, and thus deepening their connection to the mantra’s power.
Advance practices: Lear how to install parts of Mantra in your body before chanting – from a qualified Vedic scholar and adopt the same in your daily chanting practices.
In Simple Terms:
Nyasa is like creating a physical connection to a mantra by touching different parts of your body. It’s a way to infuse your body with the sacred energy of the mantra, making your spiritual practice more powerful and focused. It is a way to make the mantra a part of your physical being.
In the next article, we will discuss “Prayaschitta”
Madhwesh K
Vedic Tribe
