Share Long: > I guess it's all about mantras LOL > LoL!!!
'Bija' mantras have no semantic meaning; 'mantras' are words used in the Vedic rituals. You can do japa with bijas, but you'd need to know Sanskrit in order to chant the mantras in the Vedas. According to Brooks, the bijas are superior, just like yoga is superior to ritual acts. Why do you think the cow is now sacred in India? According to Swami Ageananda Bharati, it is clear that the Buddhist tantras preceeded the Hindu tantras, and hence, yogic practices are tantric in nature, e.g. the non-Vedic practices such as yoga, mudra, dhyana, mantra, yantra, dharani, puja, pradakshina; and monasticism, ahimsa, instruction by sutra, relic worship, edifice architecture, etc., etc. Yogic practices and thus yogins, and yogic practice, is firmly rooted in the teachings of Shakya and the Sramanas such as Natatputra. Read more: 'Mantra Yoga' http://tinyurl.com/c87rs5z "The srividya, because it consists of "indestructible seed" syllables (bijaksara) rather than words, transcends such "mundane" considerations as semantic meaning. Accordingly, a bija-only mantra is not merely esoteric but inherently superior. Because it is purely seed-syllables [bijasaras] is the purest form of mantra. It does not make a request or praise god, it is God's purest expression. Gayatri is great but it cannot match srividya because it is still in language; it is Veda and mantra but when transformed into the srividya its greatness increases" (95). Work cited: "Auspicious Wisdon" The texts and traditions of Srividya Sakta Tantrism in South India. by Douglas Renfrew Brooks SUNY, 1992
