Peace Peace Peace – Ranchor Prime

By Alchemy 09/12/2011

Have you ever wondered why, at the end of a meditation, we chant Om shanti shanti shanti, repeating the Sanskrit word for Peace three times? Here is one explanation which I like.

I first learned this beautiful chant when visiting Hindu temples as a young monk in the 1970s. At the end of hours of bhajans during which the women took the lead, singing their songs of devotion for Krishna and Rama with joy and emotion, everyone would join in singing the gayatri mantra, followed by Om shanti shanti shanti.
The first Peace is for the self, adiyatma; the second is for the world, adibhuta; and the third is for the heavens, adideva.
Atma means self, which includes body, senses, mind and intellect. All these can be sources of pain or pleasure.

Bhuta means living beings. The world is made of limitless beings, great and small, all of whom can give us either pleasure or pain.
Deva means the higher powers who control our lives and our destiny on earth. They are the nature spirits and earth fairies, who give us abundance; the angels who protect us from harm; and the great devas who govern the planets and the heavens, such as Bhumi, Mother Earth, or Surya, Father Sun. They can leave obstacles before us and they can also shower us with blessings.

So for a peaceful life for ourselves, for our world and for the heavens, all together we chant Om shanti shanti shanti.

The Bhagavad Gita has much to say about peaceful living. Drop into my Gita class at Alchemy, every Tuesday at 4.30pm