Tuning in to Kundalini Yoga

Tuning in with the Adi Mantra

Kundalini Yoga, also known as the Yoga of Awareness, is a complete practice that uses breath, movement and rhythm to bring you into a space of inner peace and calm.

When I attended my first Kundalini Yoga class, back in 2009, I had no idea what to expect. I’d been practicing Hatha Yoga for some years. A friend had been encouraging me to try Kundalini Yoga but they hadn’t given much detail about what to expect.

One of the big differences was the ‘tuning in’ at the beginning of the class. What was this mantra being chanted and what did it mean? I love to use my voice, so it was important for me to learn more.

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo, the Adi Mantra, is chanted three times at the start of every Kundalini Yoga class. You will experience this at Siri Shakti Yoga Sound classes too. It is used to create an energetic link to the teachings and the teachers who have come before us. Most importantly it connects us to our own inner teacher. By tuning in we are able to move past the ego self to experience the true essence of the teachings of Kundalini Yoga.

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.”
– Yogi Bhajan

Meaning of the Mantra

A simple translation of the Adi Mantra is “I bow to the Creative Wisdom, I bow to the Divine Teacher within” or as I like to say in class “I bow to all that is, I bow to the Divine Wisdom at the centre of my heart”

Lets take a closer look at the parts of the mantra and what they mean.

Ong is the creative energy of the total cosmos and consciousness of the Creator as experienced in the creation. It has the connotation of energy and activity, involvement without attachment and generates the Shakti life force.

Namo means to bow, or call on, with respect and receptivity.

Ong Namo calls on your consciousness to become subtle and receptive to its higher resources.

Guru means wisdom or teacher, as in a source of knowledge.

Dev means subtle, etheric, divine or belonging to the realms of God.

Guru Dev Namo calls on the subtle wisdom to guide you.

So when we chant the full mantra Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo, we are making a conscious connection to Divine wisdom and knowledge, and trusting in its guidance.

The Golden Chain

The connection to Divine wisdom is also known as connecting to the Golden Chain. The Golden Chain is a way of describing the energetic link that exists between a teacher, their teacher, their teacher’s teacher and so on back into history.

You can read more about the Adi Mantra, the Golden Chain and ‘tuning in’ in this article on the Spirit Voyage website.