Mantra Mondays:
From Looping Thoughts
to Liberating Rhythms

7:00-8:00 PM EST
Five Mondays

September 29th 2024 - October 27th 2025
with Upayadhi, co-guiding teacher of Space2Meditate

Join us for an exploratory 5 week series diving deep into the transformative practice of mantra meditation within a Buddhist context. This course is designed for practitioners from secular or mindfulness backgrounds who are curious about expanding their meditation toolkit through the powerful practice of sacred sound; though the course will also be compelling to practicing Buddhists who wish to deepen or refresh their engagement with mantras.

Over five sessions, we'll cycle through different traditional mantras, learning both their pronunciation, rhythms, tunes and meanings, while exploring various approaches to integrating them into your personal practice. You'll discover how engaging voice, breath, and body together can interrupt repetitive thought patterns and open new dimensions of awareness and receptivity.

This course offers a unique opportunity to explore the devotional aspects of Buddhist practice through mantra work, examining how sacred sounds can create healing, concentration and relaxation simultaneously. Importantly, we will place them in tradition context, and open the relational field to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas they evoke and invoke. We'll investigate the somatic, psychological, and spiritual benefits of vocal meditation practices, and how they can cultivate what might be described as a more mythic or expanded way of moving through daily life.

What You'll Learn:

  • A range of traditional Buddhist mantras and dharanis (protective chants)

  • How mantras can support us to metabolize difficult emotions and mental states, especially fear, rage and despair

  • How to develop a relationship with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and their qualities through mantra practice

  • Techniques for working with voice, breath, and body in meditation

  • How mantra practice can interrupt mental loops and habitual patterns

  • The role of devotional practice, such as building altars and making offerings

  • Methods for establishing a sustainable home mantra practice

Approach: Experiential learning with guided practice, discussion, and take-home resources sent after each session (recordings, hand-outs)

Instruction: Dharmacharini Upayadhi, who has been working with mantra practice for over 20 years, will be leading all sessions. You can read more about her background here.

Who Might Attend: Meditators with some experience who are Buddhist-curious and interested in exploring beyond purely secular approaches, or Buddhists who would delight in a focused journey through mantra practice. No prior mantra experience necessary—just an open mind and willingness to experiment with new forms of practice.

Format: Weekly 60-minute online sessions via Zoom

When: Mondays at 7PM Eastern, beginning September 29th

Suggested Contribution: Sliding scale $90-$160-$230. Please contribute at the level appropriate to your situation. All sessions are recorded and sent out to registered participants along with handouts and resource materials. If you need a scholarship to attend please reach out: no one will be turned away for lack of funds.