Om Namah Shivaya

Om Namah Shivaya is the heartbeat of this lineage. A mantra so old it predates written language, carried forward through countless generations who discovered what Babaji kept pointing to: that the name of God is itself a living force. To repeat it is to be changed by it. To let it run beneath your daily life, beneath your work, your meals, your breath, is to invite something sacred into the ordinary.Babaji returned to this mantra again and again. These are some of the things he said about it.

"It is of the utmost importance that the repetition of God's name increases day by day.
In this way, your heart and mind will be purified.
Only then will you find God within you."

"The human mind is very fast, faster than the wind.
By working while repeating the name of God,
your thoughts are cleared, and negative, useless thoughts cannot enter."

"You are unable to understand the high value of karma accompanied by the repetition of God's name.
The mind can be purified only by Japa (Chanting with beads).
This is the only medicine for mental illnesses."

"As long as your mind and heart are impure, how can God reside in your hearts?
The water to cleanse your heart is the Name of God,
so teach everyone to repeat the Name of God everywhere."

"I don't want lazy people.
Japa does not replace karma.
Japa and karma go hand in hand.
You must be active in God's work, as did King Janaka,
who ruled the kingdom always with the mantra in his mind.
Arjun fought the battle of the Mahabharata,
constantly remembering God's name."

“When the supreme power of the Lord's Name enters the heart,
happiness begins to pervade it.
By remembering His Name,
the Lord Himself takes up residence in the heart of the devotee,
who immediately reaps the fruits of all his efforts.”

“At every moment, with every breath,
while you eat, sleep, and work,
remember the Name of the Lord.”

“No place should remain without the name of Om Namah Shivaya;
it should be spread in every street, in every house…
Om Namah Shivaya is like divine nectar; nourish everyone with this nectar.”

“When I come to this world, I always come to give divine nectar, but people always choose poison.”
“The Name of God is like divine nectar; repeat it continuously.”

At Pohoiki Ashram, Om Namah Shivaya moves through the land from sunrise to sunset. It rises with the fire in the morning and settles with the evening aarti. It lives in the hands that tend the garden, in the kitchen where food is prepared for others, in the quiet between words.

We invite you to let it live in you too. Say it once. Say it walking. Say it when you forget everything else. Babaji taught that the name carries you even when you feel too broken or too distracted to carry yourself.