--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Richard J. Williams" wrote: > > > > Michael Jackson: > > Spent some time talking to someone who was close to Marshy > > (a former governor) and was told that the TM mantras are > > not meaningless Vedic sounds > > > So let's review once again: > > In TM you get only one single bija mantra. > > The TM 'mantras are 'bija' mantras, seed sounds, that have > no semantic meaning and they are not words found in a > Sanskrit lexicon (I think we've been over this before.) > > There are no bija mantras mentioned in the Rig Veda. That's > because the bija mantras are from the Tantras which were > composed much later during the Gupta Age in India. > > > they are Hindu mantras and the practice of TM is actually > > a Hindu devotional practice > > > The TM bija mantras are Tantric bijas - 'Hinduism' and > the devotional sects came much later: Shivaism and > Vishnuism. The devotional sects have their origin in the > prevalent Mahayana Buddhism. > > > of chanting the names of aspects of Goddess. > > > TM bijas are not used in chanting - they are esoteric and > secret seed sounds from the Sri Vidya sect in Karntaka, > which was founded by the Adi Shankaracharya at Sringeri. > > 'Chanting' only became popular in India after the rise of > the Chaitanya sect whose mantra does not contain any bijas. > > > He also said that contrary to what we were were told, in > > India people speak these bija mantras out loud, sing them > > to the skies if they so desired. Thoughts on the matter? > > > When is the last time you heard a large group of Indians > chanting 'AING!'? >
Well, you do hear it through loudspeakers regularly when you live close to an Indian temple, which I do when I'm in India.