The Chant For Universal Peace

Peace Begins as a Heartfelt Intention Within Each One of Us

Photo by Balazs Simon

Dear Ones,

I’ve long promised my lovely group of Shiva Shakti yoga folk that I would record this mantra. We are chanting the last part at the end of our Tuesday night sessions. This is one of my most cherished mantras. In fact, it is actually three mantras strung together to create a heartfelt invocation, which defines a practical route to the creation of peace and harmony in our world.

I know this chant as The Shanti Path, or the Invocation of Universal Peace. There are other Sanskrit chants with this name, but this is the one most widely used in the yoga tradition.

The Wisdom of the Forest

The first two chants originate from the teachings in the Upanishads, specifically Brihadāranyaka Upanishad, which is known in English as The Famous Debates in the Forest. It is one of the earliest Upanishads (9th to 6th century BCE). The third mantra is thought to have been part of a branch of Vedic literature that has been lost.
Upanishad, means “at the feet of…” This alludes to the wisdom that was imparted to the followers of certain revered gurus who would gather as a sangha, sitting together in the forest to listen to the teachings.

The Power of Sounding Together

Sanskrit is an incredible language that manages to convey a lot of meaning in few words. The way the sounds of Sanskrit resonate within our bodies and minds, and the way the tongue moves in our palate, creates a communication of archetypal energy that is understood beyond language. This is the reason that Sanskrit (which is the root language for Indian and European languages) is so powerful and transformative.

That said, chanting in any language with intention and love, will have a powerful effect if you are fully immersed in the chant with an open heart and open mind. Chanting or singing in a group is a very important human practice for creating group harmony, coherence and connection. Singing, chanting or sounding together is a practice for creating peace and sense of belonging.

This chant is composed of three separate chants. We are learning the final part at the moment. However, I love the whole chant and am excited to introduce it to you, as the meaning and intention of this chant is so powerful and key for our individual and collective wellbeing on the planet during this time.

Asato Ma Mantra or the Pavamana Mantra

The Asato Ma Mantra is a prayer that we might understand our reality more clearly. Everyday life is full of trivia, distraction and attachment to objects which are subject to decay. Our bodies and minds are mortal, and everyone we know and love, including ourselves, is going to one day cease to be in their physical form. By understanding our selves as individual Souls, akin to drops in the ocean of the Universal Consciousness, we can perceive that part of us, that part of every living being, that is eternal and unchanging. The deeper ground of our being that is Consciousness itself. Realisation of our true nature, our true Self, has a purifying effect on our being.

Whatever is going on in our lives, if we can establish that connection with Soul, with Universal Consciousness then we have the experience of never feeling alone. Our Soul, is longing for us to connect to, and be held and cherished by, the powerful divine energy of the Universe. We might perceive this energy as Nature, Love, Spirit, God, the Tao. The name is not so important it is the felt sense. It is subtle, so we miss it as we expect something unusual. The sense of connection to Spirit is as natural and familiar as the feeling we have when our heart is touched by a kind word; a smile from a stranger; when we are moved by poem or piece of music; or a tender experience in our lives.

Sarvesham Swastir Bhavantu Mantra

The second part of the chant is about individual wellbeing. The highly pragmatic and timeless nature of yogic philosophy never ceases to inspire and amaze me. This mantra affirms the fervent wish for all beings to experience a sense of abundance; peace and tranquility; for all beings to feel fulfilled and whole; cared for and supported.

Imagine a world in which we could create communities such as this! What a beautiful world we would live in, if we prioritised taking care of each other and made a conscious effort to create peace wherever we see division, violence and hatred. Imagine if we spent some time with wisdom teachings so that we could become more connected to our true Self, rather than identify with parts of us that defend, avoid, deny and suppress? Imagine if we were to treat all people (including the homeless, prisoners, people suffering from mental health problems, refugees and all those who exist on the margins of our society) with dignity and respect?

Karma Yoga and Svadhyaya

To achieve these worthy aims requires that each of us do both inner and outer spiritual work. It is not enough to give some money to charity and feel you have done your bit towards world peace. To create a better world requires outer work known as karma yoga or seva (service to others, without expecting reward). The self reflection and inner work (in yoga this is called svadhydya) is a commitment to identifying and bringing to light those parts of us that thrive on creating division, on othering, on comparing and despairing. It is not wrong to have these parts (we all have them). When we bring them from the darkness of our unconscious to the light of conscious awareness, they have less of a hold upon us. As such, we have the potential to become more peaceful and loving beings.

There are many ways to do this work, the guidance of wise elders traditionally supported younger people in the community to learn from their challenges. Sadly, we have lost many of the indigenous spiritual teachings in our secular, modern, materialistic society. That is perhaps why many of us have turned to the ancient wisdom of yoga for guidance. Yoga offers us myriad methods to do this inner work, and is on a par with the most up to date psychotherapeutic techniques. In fact, many psychotherapeutic modalities such as Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT); Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT); Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Psychosynthesis; Internal Family Systems (IFS); Somatic Experiencing (SE); Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) draw heavily upon Yogic and Buddhist philosophy and practice. Jung himself often referenced yoga and other indigenous wisdom traditions in his writings.

Loka Samasta Sukino Bhavantu

This is a prayer for the happiness of every being in our Universe as well as for all the ancestors and all who have come before us, and all who will follow us. No conscious being who has ever existed, or will ever exist, in all time and all space (which would include the elements, plants, animals, sea life, cellular life forms, stars, planets) is left out of this heartfelt yearning for the upliftment and joy. Every being is included.

In this way, we create harmony and peace.

Learn the Chant

This recording is a call and response. I chant each line twice. Listen carefully to the first line and then chant along with me as best you can for the second. You don’t have to pronounce everything exactly “right”. This will come with practice, my case it took years! The main aspect of this practice is your focus and your heartfelt intention.

Shanti Path - Call and Response Recording

Shanti Path

asato ma sada gamaya
असतो मा सद्गमय
Lead me from ignorance to the true Self

tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
असतो मा सद्गमय
Lead me from darkness to Light

mrtyorma amritam gamaya
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय
Lead me from mortality to the realisation of That which is Immortal

sarvesham svastir bhavatu
सर्वेशां स्वस्तिर्भवतु
Let there be abundance for all beings

sarvesham shantir bhavatu
सर्वेशां शान्तिर्भवतु।
Let there be peace for all beings

sarvesham purnam bhavatu
सर्वेशां पुर्णंभवतु
Let there be wholeness for all beings

sarvesham mangalam bhavatu
सर्वेशां मङ्गलंभवतु
Let all beings be supported and cared for

loka samastah sukhino bhavantu
लोका समस्ता सुखिनो भवन्तु
Let there by freedom from suffering, happiness and joy for all beings in all planes of existence

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः
Om Peace Peace Peace

I hope you enjoy chanting this mantra as much as I do and that it supports you to find peace within yourself and within the Life around you.

With love and good wishes,

Julia


Sources:
Amma on Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
Mantra Yoga and Ashram Chants, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati
The Ten Principle Upanishads, Sri Purohit Swami and W. B. Yeats

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