The Adi Mantra & the Golden Chain of Kundalini Yoga
Excerpts from KRI Level 1 Aquarian Teacher Training manual
In Kundalini Yoga we always start a class or a personal practice with the Adi Mantra (Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo), chanting it three to five times. It is the first technology of a Kundalini Yoga student or teacher. Adi means the first or primal; mantra is the creative projection of the mind through sound.
This mantra is the first creative action. It centers you into the Higher Self and reminds your lower mind that it is not your ego that will practice or teach Kundalini Yoga.
The Adi Mantra connects us to the Golden Chain—the chain of teachers—your teacher, her teacher, his teacher, and so on. The Golden Chain is the channel through which the energy, the wisdom and the protection of the tradition flow to you.
By chanting this mantra and linking to the Golden Chain, the exercises and meditations that you practice are guided by your higher consciousness and all the teachers that have brought this opportunity to you. It makes you very receptive and sensitive to the message of your body, mind, and intuition. It is used as a link when you teach and as preparation for your personal practice. The Golden Chain is the inner spark of kundalini that is passed from person to person; teacher to student; guru to teacher; cosmos and God to Guru.
Chanting the Adi Mantra and connecting to the Golden Chain is a meditation. It is a state of consciousness. It is the link between you as a finite personality and you as a flow of the Infinite Consciousness that guides the kundalini energy.
Yogi Bhajan on the Adi Mantra
“Anytime you want to manifest a link with spirituality, Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo is the link. You manifest Infinity through the Grace of Guru Ram Das when you chant this mantra. The guardian of the Aquarian Age is Guru Ram Das. When you have lack of faith or a similar thing, you can chant this mantra. This mantra can help you, with the grace of Guru Ram Das.
Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo is a call. It is a call which can penetrate through any maya and manifest God and Guru, the Supreme Consciousness. It is the voucher of the Divine Shakti, the kundalini.” -KRI Level 1 Aquarian Teacher Training manual
Yogi Bhajan on the Golden Chain
“I brought the teachings to the western hemisphere, and I am very grateful to God that He kept me away from every ego, and I left the teachings original. Neither I added a word nor I subtracted, nor I interpreted it. I kept the Golden Chain pure and it’s up to you to pick it up, practice it, and experience it.” ~March 27, 1997
“This system has no place for pollution, no place for perversion and no place for prejudice. It’s a Golden Chain; it’s a golden line. It shall stay pure. If you relate to its purity, it will make you pure. If you will dump your impurity on it, you will get busted. If you take an alloy of metals and heat it to a high temperature, all metals will burn up except gold. That’s the Sun energy. Kundalini Yoga is the pure line; we call it gold line, gold chain. It’s a gold link. We all are sitting here because of that link.” ~December 20, 1976
How to Practice the Adi Mantra
Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position (or on a chair if needed) with the spine straight. Place the palms of the hands together as if in prayer, with the fingers pointing straight up, and then press the joints of the thumbs into the center of the chest, at the sternum.
Inhale deeply. Focus your concentration at the root of the nose between the eyebrows, your Brow Point. As you exhale, chant the entire mantra in one breath. If your breath is not capable of this, take a quick sip of air through the mouth after “Ong Namo” and then chant the rest of the mantra, extending the sound as long as possible. The sound “Dev” is chanted a minor third higher than the other sounds of the mantra. As you chant, vibrate the cranium with the sound to create a mild pressure at the Brow Point. Chant this mantra at least three times before beginning your Kundalini Yoga Practice.
Pronunciation
The “O” sound in “Ong” is long, as in “go” and of short duration. The “ng” sound is long and produces a definite vibration on the roof of the mouth and the cranium. The first part of “Namo” is short and rhymes with “hum.” The “O” as in “go” is held longer.
The first syllable of “Guru” is pronounced as in the word “good.” The second syllable rhymes with “true.” The first syllable is short and the second one is long. The word “Dev” rhymes with “gave.”
Translation
“Ong” is the infinite creative energy manifested and active. It is a variation of the cosmic syllable “Om” which denotes God in His absolute or unmanifest state. God as Creator is called “Ong.”
“Namo” has the same root as the Sanskrit word “Namaste,” which means reverent greetings. “Ong Namo” means “I call on the infinite creative consciousness,” and opens you to the universal consciousness that guides all action.
“Guru” is the embodiment of the wisdom that one is seeking. The Guru is the giver of the technology. “Dev” means higher, subtle, or divine. It refers to the transparent or spiritual realms. “Namo,” in closing the mantra, reaffirms the humbler reverence of the student. Taken together, “Guru Dev Namo” means, “I call on the divine wisdom,” whereby you bow before your higher self to guide you in using the knowledge and energy given by the cosmic self. –Physical Wisdom: Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan, available through Kundalini Research Institute or on Amazon.
Physical Wisdom: Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan - 3HO International
[…] THE TEACHERKundalini Yoga is a spiritual discipline which cannot be practiced without a teacher. However it is not necessary for the teacher to be physically present when you practice. To establish a creative link with the Master of Kundalini Yoga, Yogi Bhajan. you should be sure to tune in to his energy flow using the Adi Mantra, “Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo.” […]