Downward Facing Blog

How to ask for traffic protection from the deities

Today was Chinese Valentine’s day. On a whim, Shane and I bought bikes and rode from Silom to Banglampu and back. It was so much fun, a bit nerve wracking with the thought that a car could swipe us so easily… Bangkok isn’t the most bike-friendly city, is it? Still, what a way to get around: I experienced interesting little soi’s and streets that I never knew existed in the six years I’ve been here using taxis, cars, and my own two feet.

If I had remembered to, chanting a mantra of protection would have been a good idea. I’m in the middle of a study of marma points, which are kind of the Ayurvedic equivalent of accu-pressure points. This concept really comes out of the Indian martial arts and the Danurveda which is one of the four upavedas. One of the means of protection of one’s body is to strengthen these points using asanas and creating mantric armor. You can place mantras at different parts of your body.

For this, one way is to recite the “mantra purusha“, a series of bija mantras chanted along with concentration in certain spots of the body, including mantras for the blood, bones, fat tissues, prana and more.

This is based out of the study of the vowels and the effect they have upon the body. For example, the short vowel I (sound like “eat”) relates to the right eye, and the long vowel I (sounds like deep) relates to the left eye. Similarly the next “u” (put) connects to the right ear, and the long version of the same vowel (shoot) is the left ear.

Sanskrit connects to the vibration of the body in this way, so a mantra is a collection of sounds with a very specific pronunciation to effect energetic pathways inside oneself and the reality that emits from that persons mind.

To begin to use mantra, a short understanding of Indian mythology is useful, as the mantras connect to energetic principles which are in-turn represented by deities. So when you know what the divine form represents, you intone it’s energetic equivalent in sound. Reality begins to shift as your mind takes on a new geometry.

For example, riding around on a bike at night in Bangkok could cause one to think of needing PROTECTION! Not really so much from people but people in cars.

The deity typically presiding over protection is the goddess Durga. The equivalent sum total of her energy is also represented in the seed mantra “DOOM”. Add a beginning of OM, which empowers all other mantras that follow, and an ending of NAMAHA or SWAHA which means, “to you I offer” or “in the name of”. In total, this comes together as:

OM DOOM DURGAYE NAMAHA!
OM DOOM DURGAYE SWAHA!

Listen to Durga mantras from Swami Niranjananda here

More on this later.

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA!
Adrian Cox