Bija Mantra

Seed mantra

Bija means seed, and a bija mantra is a mantra which is usually of one syllable. A bija mantra is a sacred vowel and each mantra resonates with a particular chakra. The mantras help restore balance to the chakras.

Within each human being lies the power to affect change through the power of a chant, the spoken words, or even a gentle whisper. The body's chakras or energy centers, so closely intertwined with their corresponding regions of the body, can be represented in sound, which parallels the energy pattern of the chakras and is symbolic of their essences. These unique sounds are the bija, or seed, mantras. The mantras are the one-syllable seed sounds that, when said aloud, activate the energy of the chakras in order to purify and balance the mind and body. When you speak the bija mantras, you resonate with the energy of the associated chakra, helping you focus upon your own instinctive awareness of your body and its needs.

• OM is the most renowned and expansive of the bija mantras. It is the mantra of assent and the form of creation, causing energy to surge upward and outward.
  
• KRIM (pronounced as 'kreem') stimulates and transforms the lower chakras, awakening and purifying the body.
  
• SHRIM (pronounced 'shreem') is associated with the head and third eye and, while promoting health, can be used to flood the senses with delight and beauty.
  
• HRIM (pronounced 'hreem') holds creativity and healing powers. Speaking it has the power to awaken and purify the heart.
  
• HUM (pronounced 'hoom') destroys negativity and inspires vitality throughout the body.

In traditional Hatha Yoga, the seven cleansing bija mantras associated with the chakras are:

LAM for the earth chakra (1)
VAM for the water chakra (2)
RAM for the fire chakra (3)
YAM for the heart chakra (4)
HAM for the throat chakra (5)
AUM for the third eye (6)
AH for the crown chakra (7)

But the seed mantras, which are vessels of a self-generating power, are by no means truly rigid. The meaning of each seed mantra can be subtly changed through their intonation and the intention of those who speak them. When you chant the bija mantras, either one at a time or in sequences most often beginning with OM, your mind will be gradually become attuned to the mantras' finer frequencies until the source energy is reached and the mantra becomes the seed of spiritual energy of the chakras.